Home Pinball Machines

[simbalion]

Lately I've been pondering collecting some of the home pinball machines made by various companies from the late 70's into the early 80's. I already have a Coleco War Of The Gods stored away that I need to dig back out. I've seen various units for sale over the years, but have always turned my back on them due to regular pinball guys always telling me that they are nothing but trouble and the lack of parts. Still, I see these machines as a unique era in the history of home gaming where you could go from a handheld game, to a console, to even a (half-scale at least) fully functioning pinball. The holy grail would be a Mattel Electronics Las Vegas Pinball. That unit looks very nice. Anyone here ever tinker with the home pinball units? I realize they have limitations and drawacks, but I think they are fairly unique and wish companies could make units like that again today with the technology we have now.

[Austin]

I think the issue with home pinballs from the old days is that they tend to be extremely basic, a few exceptions aside (a home version of Fireball, for instance). One or two main shots if you're lucky. So, they take up a large chunk of space, but offer little compared to the real deal gameplay-wise. I'm sure it would still be interesting to collect them if you have a lot of space.

 

I'm not terribly familiar with the mechanics myself, but based on what I have seen, I do know that some use the standard 44/47 bulbs for playfield lighting. I'd assume something like the home Fireball is like the more recent Stern home games (Batman, Iron Man) that use the same parts from their full production games.

 

I'll be curious to know what other people say. If you don't get much feedback here, I'd suggest signing up at Pinside as there's a lot of knowledgeable people there.

[Austin]

I am looking at the schematics for that Las Vegas Pinball. It looks like it's pretty well made. The main issue is finding parts. For the pop bumpers the style looks pretty standard for the time, so I wonder if Bally parts are compatible (or at least the brackets and other mounting parts).

 

The flipper coil setups are definitely not standard though, or at least I don't think they are. The bats themselves are probably interchangeable with common bats on the market (in particular, the manual shows a bat reminiscent of Gottliebs, a two-part piece that screws together).

 

There are part numbers in the manuals, but unfortunately a quick online search doesn't show any available replacements as far as I can tell. Again, I'd be curious if any common parts for other manufacturer's machines are compatible.

 

Thanks to the manuals and schematics, it should at least be easy to troubleshoot any wiring/electrical issue.

 

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/3820/1977_Las_Vegas_Service_Manual_with_Parts_List_and_paginated_schematics.pdf

[cjameslv]

Never like the look or play of the home units until i saw a newer transformers one at Flipperspiel here in Vegas. Absolutely amazing machine. A little bit smaller in height and length but not by much. I believe it is a full size playfield but much thinner housing. So there is some exceptions but that's the only one ive seen so far that i would consider a must have.

[scotty]

I was disappointed when I FINALLY got to play ALIVE! By Brunswick. It looked sooooooo good in the Sears Christmas catalog every year, but finally seeing it and playing it 30 years later...... well.....

[CRTGAMER]

Anyone here ever tinker with the home pinball units? I realize they have limitations and drawacks, but I think they are fairly unique and wish companies could make units like that again today with the technology we have now.

 

I own two Home Pinball Tables; Tomy Atomic Pinball and Tomy Astro Shooter. I do not consider the Tomy Pinball tables as just toys although they were marketed as such. Both have features of real Pinball tables including motorized Score Number Wheels, Sounds, Steel Painted Playfield, Flippers, Rollover Score Switches, Reactive Bumpers and Slingshots that are controlled by solenoids. Pinball collections in consoles are great and are important in preserving real Pinball Tables to play in a digital format. However, the small tables are also good to collect, another diversion in capturing the real feel of a Pinball game, the fun of the steel ball hitting the "glass."

 

Review including internal pictures:

 

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=614562#p614562

 

[ComputerSpaceFan]

I own two Home Pinball Tables; Tomy Atomic Pinball and Tomy Astro Shooter.

I have them as well and even Stunt Jumper. Ironically I just posted my third video about them in this thread here.

[simbalion]

I have a Tomy Atomic Pinball. Quite a fun piece and almost a work of art in how they made it work!

[Cammy]

How is your home pinball collection going, did you ever end up adding to it? I would love to see some photos or videos of your War of the Gods machine, I have never seen one before except for an old black & white promo photo. I own several 3/4-sized pinball machines from the 2000s-onwards and must admit, the earlier models seem a lot nicer than most of the more recent ones, with the exception of the Zizzle machines maybe. The old Star Explorer would be my holy grail but they're impossible to find here in Australia (and the Zizzles were never released here). My most recent addition however is the Star Galaxy pinball machine, which was made by a company who bought some of the assets from Zizzle after they went under. The components inside and the layout have been improved, but the complex game modes are gone and it scores similar to all the other crappy home pinball machines.

[Crimefighter]

I've played this one -- Big Top by Wico.

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_pinball/wico/58000201.jpg

[Tartfox]

I too would love to see a video (or at least some high quality color photos) of the Coleco War of The Gods machine. Cammy I don't think you want the Star Explorer machine, the gameplay is severely limited due to the fact that the flippers don't work independently. But if you already knew that and want one anyways, never mind my comment.

 

I've been trying to get a Star Galaxy machine but they rarely came up in the United States and the cost of one plus shipping from overseas would be too much. There are some other home pinball machines that caught my eye but they're so rare I almost doubt that anyone can lead me to them.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Tartfox

[Cammy]

I got mine shipped from the UK to Australia which is further than just about anywhere, sure it was a little pricey but it was worth it! There aren't many left, and I have a feeling after these are gone they'll be impossible to find and go up in value without a doubt.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mightymast-Galaxy-Professional-Pinball-Machine/dp/B0087Z56TA

[Tartfox]

Thanks for the link Cammy! I did do some further research on the game and it seems that it's far too easy to accumulate multiple lives, making this a game that's too easy to play. Can you confirm?

 

simbalion never did show us what the 'Battle of the Gods' Coleco machine looked like, but I did come across this- the only image I've ever seen of the pinball machine. I see two flippers on the playfield but due to their placement I can only assume there's 4 in total, with the other two being just above the drain/outhole.

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by Tartfox

[Tanooki]

That game is so unknown even the IPDB doesn't have data on it, a place holder with 2 terrible images of a smashed machine.

 

I would say if you're looking, if it has to be newer look into the Zizzle ones if you have to, but I'd go older but be aware. There was something, forgot the name maybe wonder mega or wizard or something, they cheaply tied both flippers both buttons so they never fire alone which sucks, but they're alright for a basic EM like general layout. The suggestion for best of the best ever would be the home version of Fireball, in a way better to keep up than the original arcade one because it was an EM which most people can't figure out how to repair, get parts for, or shop out for internal failures. The home was a very early solid state type so it's just boards, and they can be dealt with far better being electronic than a hell of a lot of moving little parts, also perhaps less likely to fail as less can be more when breakdowns occur.

 

I wish I could help more, but beyond also suggesting looking up what Brunswick (known for billiards tables) put up (again check google or ipdb) I can't give a lot, but that database tends to have some/lot of qualified reviews by owners/former owners. www.pinside.com has a great forum that isn't newb jerky where you could sign up and ask about and with the mass of private single system owners (like myself) to service/large room owner level type people there someone will have some answer that works.

[Tartfox]

I would say if you're looking, if it has to be newer look into the Zizzle ones if you have to, but I'd go older but be aware. There was something, forgot the name maybe wonder mega or wizard or something, they cheaply tied both flippers both buttons so they never fire alone which sucks, but they're alright for a basic EM like general layout. The suggestion for best of the best ever would be the home version of Fireball, in a way better to keep up than the original arcade one because it was an EM which most people can't figure out how to repair, get parts for, or shop out for internal failures. The home was a very early solid state type so it's just boards, and they can be dealt with far better being electronic than a hell of a lot of moving little parts, also perhaps less likely to fail as less can be more when breakdowns occur.

 

I used to own a (Revision 2) Zizzle Marvel machine, but there were so many design flaws with it that I didn't keep it- sold it as quickly as I could. That's how much of a bad impression it made with me. I get far more enjoyment out of the Tomy 'American Pinball' tabletop machine because it's built with more care than what Zizzle attempted.

 

If I were to go with Brunswick my top choice would be 'Circus', followed by 'Alive' and 'Aspen'. I'm also interested in picking up 'Route 66' by Saitek.

[Tanooki]

I had picked up the original Pirates from them for $20 from some dudes arcade basement as it was having a few issues but was fairly functional (hit and miss.) Long story short I actually found the email off a weird google search for the designer John Popadiuk known for full size gems and struck up a conversation with him. He was impressed I wanted to repair the thing and sent me all the parts I needed and a few spares. For what it was worth I put a lot of hours on it and it was fun, but it was no replacement for an original or some other styles of the 2/3 that were made nicer decades earlier. Eventually the main board on it blew out beyond repair so it hit the dumpster sadly. I've seen some people who have done lots of mod work to make them more sturdy from failing but also with new toys, basic motion and LED arrays that make it pop. I've seen the Alive table somewhere before it was surprisingly fairly nice looking.

 

Currently I just have my Pin-Bot machine, and then a boxed up Tomy Astro Shooter that works great too, but under that it gets into weird stuff like my boxed up WIld Fire handheld pinball type stuff.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Tanooki

[Kroggy]

I have w star explorer pinball machine works needs legs tlc.  In mn here in states $100