What happened to the Earthquaked Earthshaker pinball?

Over the years, probably one of the most asked questions I’ve gotten from people is, “Whatever happened to that Earthshaker you were working on?”

People are referring to this video series: Williams Pinball Earthshaker Looks Like It was in an actual Earthquake!

I picked up this game nine years ago. Pulled it out of a filthy house where the game had sat for years, no legs, no glass, non-operational, in a house full of cats. The game looks like it has numerous things living in it, and the cabinet became a cat scratching post.

The more I looked at it, the more problems I found. The game had been monkeyed with in more ways than I’d seen with any other machine. Nonetheless, I managed to actually, finally get the game to boot up, but it was so horribly mangled in so many ways, it would take years to acquire the necessary parts at reasonable prices, so I stored the game and would pick up parts here and there over the years, hoping one day to restore the game.

Last year a friend inquired about the game and I realized, I didn’t have the time any time soon to tackle this project. I had so much going on I decided to sell it to a friend who I knew would invest the time needed to bring this treasure back. So I gave him all the parts I’d collected, including original cabinet artwork that I got from Gene Cunningham of Illinois Pinball.

The other day, my buddy Josh contacted me to let me know he had finished the restoration and if he could bring the game to the PinChurch to share with others. I jumped at the chance to see what progress had been made with the game, and share with everybody else.

Before I show you the AFTER, take a look at these two BEFORE videos:

You can find more details on the repairs and early restoration here.

Here’s a video of the restored Earthshaker – check it out – amazing work!

Here are some pictures:

Pinball Stories #25: Super Minty Mata Hara Dream Pickup – PinballHelp.com

You ever run across one of those pinball deals that turns out to be so sweet, you are afraid you’re going to get mugged getting the game into your vehicle? This is one of those deals. A really amazing find that I didn’t expect..

Pinball Stories #22: A Very Special Prototype from a Special Person

Sometimes an opportunity comes along that is really special, and you’re reminded of how awesome people in the pinball community can be. Here’s one such story.

Sound designer extraordinaire Chris Granner donates his personal prototype Taxi to the PinChurch

Pinball Stories #21 – A grail game from a special place!

I’m a firm believer of being patient in the pinball hunt. I’ve always wanted a Bally Wizard EM. It’s such a great game and has such beautiful artwork. They made a bunch of them so why has it taken so long? Because they’re an A-list game and often command A-list prices and I wanted a good deal. I waited and got more than what I wanted…

Here’s a video I did when I first picked the game up: https://youtu.be/kXVg88WqMIo

Pinball Stories #18 – My hate/love relationship with Sega South Park

Welcome to another episode of Pinball Stories. By the way, if you haven’t already please subscribe to my YouTube channel – every little bit helps!

Everybody probably has pinball machines they like, and some they don’t like, but what happens when you have a game that you alternately love in some respects, but can’t stand in others? This is one of those games for me, Sega/Stern’s Southpark!