Bally Strikes and Spares...My First.

Chicken4U2

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After restoring/repairing many things through the years, and always wanting to get a few arcade games to fool with, I just bought my first. It is a Bally Strikes and Spares. The back glass is pretty nice, but the playfield has some crappy touch-ups. The lights come on when I plug it in, but nothing else seems to work? Somebody mounted a switch in the lock hole, and wired it in to bypass the coin slots. Anyway, my many questions....I really want to restore it, but financially, would it make more sense to restore or just fix and clean it up a bit? Based on my crappy pics, am I better off just replacing the power supply and MPU? I've done plenty of soldering on electronics, so I'm not afraid of that, but just didn't know if they are worth a salvage attempt. I'm planning on either trading or selling this for something like a pac-man, some sort of race car game, and/or a pin that is more kid/family oriented, but still want to fix or restore this one first, just because. Thanks for any help or pointers!

Jon
 

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Why are you replacing anything at this time? MPU doesn't have battery damage, so there's no reason to replace it. Honestly, the playfield doesn't look too bad, either.

Cosmetically, I would hit the PF with a magic eraser and just do basic cleanup and see how it looks. Then, I'd focus on getting it working. If I remember correctly, you can count the flashes on the MPU when you boot it up -- where it stops tells you what is going wrong. If it makes it to 7 flashes, you're in game.

I would try to do a quick & easy cleaning & troubleshoot and enjoy the game. Replacing MPU/Board & doing playfield touchups is more trouble than it's worth in my opinion.
 
CPR will be making new playfields for this game. It is a great game with chimes, roll over targets, killer back glass, but solid state electronics. It is one of the few fun games from that period, unlike Kiss, Star Trek etc. Art was done by Kevin Oconnor. That was the first pin I bought and I have 2 project machines still in storage.
 
Pretty collectable game. In the shape it's in now, Maybe $400. Working but not restored, $600. Fully restored with a new playfield, plastics, and repaint, $1500.

I have one and love it, but it's a pretty simple game with art that Men love.

Just depends on how much you want to spend on it for the rewards. I don't restore to resell, I restore to keep and play. I'll fix up to resell, but restores take too long and too much effort to be worthwhile.
 
Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated. The light on the MPU just stays solid, never blinks, even if I press the test button inside the door? Fuses F1 & F4 were blown when I got it. F4 blew several more times before I found the wire that was causing it, but F1 has been fine. The bulbs light up, but not the number displays, and no sound. The bottom edge of the MPU is bubbled loose from I guess battery acid, and there are a lot of orange solder joints on the rectifier board.

I'm known for being too picky for my own good at times, and I always get the urge to tear into everything to make it perfect. Sounds like I'm better off just fixing this one and selling for a different one. Somebody did a crappy job touching up the PF, and there is also a clear laminate or contact paper type stuff over parts of it. Luckily the original manual and a trouble shooting book were inside it, so that is a great help. I guess I did ok then, at $200? :D

Any opinions on a fun, yet kid friendly pin? I really would like a pac-man also, and one of the race car booths that I remember playing when I was a kid. Anyway, thanks again.
 
I'd just flip it for $300-$400 and try and find a pin that works better as a starter. Your first pin should work - at least that's what I think...

-Al-
 
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