Tanooki Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Super Mario was Gottlieb, I believe. Yes the arcade play version, but the home one was just a re-sticker of the common Playtime pinball setup. Google it you'll see what I mean as they did quite a few. My Zizzle Marvel Superheroes model may have recently died. Right now, it boots up, but cycles through all the sounds and lights non-stop, like it's stuck in a loop. Obviously, I can't play it. I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot it. I'm hoping it's just a bad power supply, but who really knows at this point. You're right it does sound like a loop but would a power supply cause a loop? It sounds more like a feedback loop somewhere, perhaps a short causing the problem so it won't kick over. It could be something as stupid as a popped piece of solder/wire so it can't detect the start button of all things so it just runs and runs. When my zizzle was bad in the first spot I had to rewire a few things from the parts John mailed me. The volume wheel was mostly fried so it was either off, almost off, or ear bleeding were the choices. The right solenoid was basically toast, it decided when it felt the need to work. The power button was somewhere between those 2 annoyances so it would just light up and act like it wanted to go and just sat there and played dumb. Once I pulled off the bad parts and wired in the new ones it lived for that time I said until the main board rolled over and died. That was one very sad trip to the apartment dumpster outside that day once I realized I couldn't get a replacement board without ruining another working unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 That was one very sad trip to the apartment dumpster outside that day once I realized I couldn't get a replacement board without ruining another working unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Trust me I tried anything I could do tearing it down to fix it and it was just done. People back then didn't have a bunch of spare boards for it lying around as it had been discontinued already at that rate so I was screwed as ebay came up dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Trust me I tried anything I could do tearing it down to fix it and it was just done. People back then didn't have a bunch of spare boards for it lying around as it had been discontinued already at that rate so I was screwed as ebay came up dry. A cosmetically damaged or broken table could have provided a working PCB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 A cosmetically damaged or broken table could have provided a working PCB. I'm very well aware of that, but I couldn't find one. There was no way I was going to pay freight level shipping on another busted table to farm parts from it as I'd have been better off just buying another working used one at that point as people weren't willing to pull parts. I looked locally and came up dry in driving distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillLoguidice Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I'm very well aware of that, but I couldn't find one. There was no way I was going to pay freight level shipping on another busted table to farm parts from it as I'd have been better off just buying another working used one at that point as people weren't willing to pull parts. I looked locally and came up dry in driving distance. Indeed, and it's not like these are really available anymore. It must not of been a particularly lucrative business, because no one has seemed to try it again. It's a shame too, because it really did offer a good pinball experience for a fraction of the price of the real deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 It wasn't. From my understanding the problem was at $300 for a new one the price wasn't as much the issue, but the practicality of the thing. Sure it was sturdy and handled well, but when you got down to it, it's not that far removed from the 1980s Tomy Astro Shooter I have and in some ways inferior. Zizzle just had some pop bumpers, the side lanes, a couple flippers, the cheap raised ramps, and that's it. The ramps didn't even set off any special events or stuff it was point, as were the bumpers the rollovers and the rest. At least the Tomy unit while it wasn't with ramps in the air, had mechanical rewards to it where you could go into hyperspace and it set off a light array and point racking moment, as did the drop hole on the left...both of which fed the ball off to central right where it would sling it towards the drain in the center. The flaw if there is one with the Tomy was crappy bounce back from the slings around the various sides of the table. It can be fixed in the stupidest way imaginable, womens hair supplies, scrunci hair bands. Buy a pack of black ones, the smalls, and if you wrap them around all the existing black rubbers on the table they add a huge upgrade in being springy like a real table. It gives weight to both speed and the sense of the ball so it doesn't feel quite as much like a loose kids toy. And that's the issue, a childs toy that you can buy for $50 in the box has more going for it than the $300 zizzle aside from the lack of a tiny LED for score and music. Even if you bump up to the $100 level you can get any of those tables like the Tomy that have full sized legs on them bringing it to nearly the size of the zizzle as well for still a 1/3 of the cost. ZIzzle over engineered the parts and quality of what is there, yet cut some lousy corners on the electronics making them beyond fragile for age and usual usage so it ended up being grossly expensive, impossible to store without effort, and gave no true value over some ear candy and a calculator like LED panel for points, from a Tomy 80s device or a modern Marvel, TMNT, Spongebob, etc stand up. That's why you can't get parts. People have working ones won't strip them, and those with a busted one don't want to bother pulling parts as they want the whole thing gone so it's a loose loose on Zizzles. Buy to use, when broken, buy another to use as parts will cost you as much with a busted box to pull hopefully working pieces off of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Zizzles are anything but sturdy. Hot glue all over the underside of the playfield will show you how sloppily they were put together. A lot of cost cutting happened and it shows. I bet they still would have been viable at twice the cost considering the base price of a NIB Stern at the time was still about $3,500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 They're sturdy compared to the plastic toy ones is what I meant. Obviously they cut corners, pretty sure I said they were kinda cheap. I remember all the hot glue and some taped in place wiring too to keep it from sagging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azuritko Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) Hi, this is my actuall collection of real bumper action toy pinballs. The best one is Tomy Astro Shooter. I have 4 Atomic pinballs and missing Tomy Starcom pinball to have them all. The smallest is Galoob pinball. In the link is a video how it is working. It has reall bell. No electronic one. I know also about Stunt jumper pinball, it is still missing in my collection. And I want to ask if someone have any type of astroshooter for parts, my plexi glass is broken so I need to change it. And Atom pinball on fourth picture has broken sound. It is not working and biggest difference between Atom and Atomic pinball is sound package. So also if someone have Atom pinball for parts, I am looking for inside electronics. Thank you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aajhFjzkpWE Edited March 15, 2017 by Azuritko 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I've seen parts for the Astro Shooter pop up on ebay but the price on the stuff really varies from nice to argh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azuritko Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I've seen parts for the Astro Shooter pop up on ebay but the price on the stuff really varies from nice to argh. Main problem is postage cost, so I need only needed part to make postage cost lowest ass possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerSpaceFan Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 The smallest is Galoob pinball. In the link is a video how it is working. It has reall bell. No electronic one. I know also about Stunt jumper pinball, it is still missing in my collection. DSC_0246.JPG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aajhFjzkpWE I'm jealous of your Galoob pinball, I've been looking for that one. I have a Stunt Jumper which is truly awesome, if you can find it get it. Mine was out of Germany and was a very reasonable price tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azuritko Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I'm jealous of your Galoob pinball, I've been looking for that one. I have a Stunt Jumper which is truly awesome, if you can find it get it. Mine was out of Germany and was a very reasonable price tag. With Galoob I was lucky. I am watching one stunt jumper for reasonable price, but postage cost is 25 euros. Almost twice of price of pinball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillLoguidice Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 This is intriguing, although a bit too DIY for my tastes for the price: http://www.recroommasters.com/24_Virtual_Pinball_Machine_p/rm-xt-24-pin.htm I have often considered a virtual pinball machine over a single physical pinball machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 Theyre interesting as Ive seen them at action the last few years at the Louisville Arcade Expo but ultimately they're kind of lacking (and I've seen full size not the mini that link peddles.) The basic ones have a dual screen format for the digital back glass up top, field on the bottom, and they run into the thousands since its a complete kit (not hundreds for that empty shell you linked.) They still feel fake though, more like youre just playing on an oversized tablet with all those shortcomings around certain aspects of it. Once you have the control handed over to the pinball frames buttons it is nicer. It just doesn't feel right though because you don't get that natural ball play from a real system, no feel for the mechanicals moving or the ball banging off stuff, no plunger to get all precise with for skill shots (unless you can get one with a digital knockoff part with that.) It's cool, it's a space saver, and far less nasty to repair than a crap ton of wires, plastic bits, bulbs, and the rest ...but if you really love the real deal it may or may not fall short. With the invention of the Pinball Arcade/Stern PB Arcade you can get some really great results and space saving too so it's a real decent option. In a screwy way like me getting a NeoGeo cabinet vs another arcade. I can fill a room with just a few machines, or I can get dozens of cartridges and slot them to 1 system and have a full arcade still. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 The vitual cabs are interesting, but every one I have tried has had noticeable input lag. Really takes me out of the experience. At that point, you are better off just playing the emulations on a normal PC setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerSpaceFan Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 If Pinball Arcade eventually supports PSVR that's all I'm ever going to need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 (edited) If Pinball Arcade eventually supports PSVR that's all I'm ever going to need. A friend let me try the VR version of TPA with his cheap cell phone headset. It was pretty convincing. I'd love to try it on a PC where the visuals don't have to take a hit. Despite the wonky physics being even more noticeable due to the realistic viewpoint, it was still pretty awesome. Edited May 18, 2017 by Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Just a thought, can't really make a tabletop pinball out of it without some insanely wasted skills, time and supplies....but TPA was put on the Nintendo 3DS very early into its existence with a physical card that 7 tables on it but they titled it Pinball Hall of Fame the Williams Collection. Being that it's 3DS it obviously has 3D mode and when you crank that thing to full depth it really does make it feel like you're much more so playing on a real table than just the beautiful flat images the game tends to just give on all the other formats. I guess it's somewhat of a halfassed VR version of the game before there was a VR version. There are 7 tables and 3 of my 80s favorites are on it (one being PinBot which I own for real) Pin-Bot, Black Knight, and Space Shuttle. The others were Taxi, Funhouse, Gorgar, and Whirlwind. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerSpaceFan Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 (edited) I see Willy just got a Tomy Atomic Pinball but it looks like it needs some work. Let's hope he opens it up to repair cuz I need to make notes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veKt12GFDc4 Edited July 12, 2017 by ComputerSpaceFan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koifish Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I have the American Pinball, it's fun but I wonder sometimes if the 'Add Bonus' markers in the right ramp are actually functioning correctly. But then I'm not really sure what the Add Bonus spots are for gameplay-wise. Do they increase the value of the Milky Way shot? Or is it for some other purpose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koifish Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Addendum to previous statement: the right ramp "add bonus" switches do appear to work (noise us made on contact) but it is not very responsive. Only on rare occasion does making the shot actually trigger the bonus. I think I need to look up a repair guide to remedy this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Addendum to previous statement: the right ramp "add bonus" switches do appear to work (noise us made on contact) but it is not very responsive. Only on rare occasion does making the shot actually trigger the bonus. I think I need to look up a repair guide to remedy this issue. If there is a microswitch underneath the actuator, the microswitch may be bad. Many microswitches, if they're built like arcade parts, are easily replaceable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koifish Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 If there is a microswitch underneath the actuator, the microswitch may be bad. Many microswitches, if they're built like arcade parts, are easily replaceable. I found some images of the internals online. From the look of things,the design actually uses a piece of sheet metal with a perforation cut out as the 'switch'. I need to verify though. I'm going to do some tinkering and see what I come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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