Brand new user and TMNT Pinball owner in the same day!!

GrndMstr

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Brand new user and TMNT Pinball owner in the same day!!

Hello all! I was just approved for new member use. I am really happy to be here with people that share my appreciation of arcades and pinball machines. I also picked up my first pinball machine today. It is a Data East Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) unit. I got a great deal on it. It works perfectly minus a few burned out bulbs. I yanked the glass out today and examined the playfield. It has more wear then I originally noticed but that is to be expected on a unit that is 20yrs old. I wanted to start replacing the bulbs and give the playfield a good wax. I was wondering if anyone had some good insight that they would be willing to share with me? Also, is it tough to replace the light bulbs on a pinball machine? I see that they are twist and turn but it looks like many are difficult to get to even with the playfield raised. I also noticed that part of the playfield was blocked off by what looks like factory installed bumpers in the top left corner. Behind these bumpers are scoring options and what looks like a solenoid operated exit door. I was wondering if anyone knew why this was blocked off? I appreciate your time that you spend looking at this thread and hope to hear from you in the future.

Chris
 
Hi there! You are my first post reply :D I am quickly getting caught up in this highly addicting hobby. I paid $1k for it. I found it on Craigslist. The cabinet has no huge scratches or gouges. The back glass is perfect as well. I recently went to an arcade auction and there were only 3 pinball machines there. Two of the three were in poor shape. Even in their rough conditions they still got $2100 and $2400 respectively (South Park and Attack from Mars). I know my machine isn't the most highly rated machine out there but the price was right and I can always trade up later. Besides being able to say I have my own pinball machine is cool. Thanks for the welcome, I am glad to be here!
 
$2100 and $2400 respectively (South Park and Attack from Mars)

2400 for an ATTACK FROM MARS !
thats cheap but then if it was in rough shape maybe thats not too bad
seems like they are selling for 4-5 grand

1k for yours seems like a good deal

yea this hobby is addicting
when you rent your second storage unit is when you have to start worrying
:)
 
2400 for an ATTACK FROM MARS !
thats cheap but then if it was in rough shape maybe thats not too bad
seems like they are selling for 4-5 grand

1k for yours seems like a good deal

yea this hobby is addicting
when you rent your second storage unit is when you have to start worrying
:)

I know AFM is one of the more highly rated machines. Being new to the game I am not sure what it costs to "shop" a game out. Right off the bat it would have needed a new dot matrix screen. Just about every light bulb was burned out on it. One of the coin mechs was messed up and the rubber didn't look the greatest. It did play and the balls seemed to move around like they were supposed to. It was hard to see the playfield because so many lights were burned out. This is my amateur assessment. I am sure the more experienced people here would be able to see more of it's flaws. I don't know if the deal was worth what it would cost to restore. I am hoping to learn that from this site over time :D
 
Welcome to the addiction. TMNT is a fun game, I sold mine a while ago.

is it tough to replace the light bulbs on a pinball machine? I see that they are twist and turn but it looks like many are difficult to get to even with the playfield raised.

You can replace some of the bulbs from the bottom of the playfield, but the rest you will need to remove the plastics on the top to get to so that you can replace them.

I also noticed that part of the playfield was blocked off by what looks like factory installed bumpers in the top left corner. Behind these bumpers are scoring options and what looks like a solenoid operated exit door. I was wondering if anyone knew why this was blocked off?

I don't understand what you are referring to here, A picture would help.

Download a copy of the manual, and read through it. It will answer a lot of your questions. You can find one here:
http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2509
 
Hi there! You are my first post reply :D I am quickly getting caught up in this highly addicting hobby. I paid $1k for it. I found it on Craigslist. The cabinet has no huge scratches or gouges. The back glass is perfect as well. I recently went to an arcade auction and there were only 3 pinball machines there. Two of the three were in poor shape. Even in their rough conditions they still got $2100 and $2400 respectively (South Park and Attack from Mars). I know my machine isn't the most highly rated machine out there but the price was right and I can always trade up later. Besides being able to say I have my own pinball machine is cool. Thanks for the welcome, I am glad to be here!

If that was the auction in West Bend, I believe that the AFM went for $3200 or $3400 not $2400. The machine was a complete mess, the playfield had very bad wear by the flippers on both sides, the DMD was shot, and I think it also had some board issues. There was also a Firepower 2, that went for $500 that had almost all of the paint worn of the playfield. I could not believe the price that anyone would pay the prices that they did for those pinballs.
 
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Bought a LAH from a guy that had a TMNT pin and a tattoo on his arm with their logo. Nice guy and a good deal on my pin. Pins are only fun if you like them. Don't worry about what people like or don't like. Some really crappy rated games are fun and some of the "A" list game aren't depending on your taste. Have fun with your new pin and learn as much as you can. There are more to be had. Welcome to the group.
 
I also noticed that part of the playfield was blocked off by what looks like factory installed bumpers in the top left corner. Behind these bumpers are scoring options and what looks like a solenoid operated exit door. I was wondering if anyone knew why this was blocked off?
Chris

I'm no pinball wizard, much less own a pinball machine at the moment, but I decided to thumb through that manual. It appears the area you are talking about is a captive ball target zone. You'll first see a description of it on page 9, Switch Part Numbers on page 29, if I'm correct it had something to do with the manhole or sewer hole light.........which is annoying when they can't reference it by the same name.......

Hope that helped.

I saw TMNT on the recent thread on the main page, couldn't help myself.
 
Hi guys! I appreciate the warm welcome that I have received here. It seems like very few people around my area appreciate these machines for what they are. I also appreciate the good info that I have received. The links to the manual and the research that you have done for me have been a huge help. Kastawaykid, apparently we were at the same auction because it was the West Bend auction. That AFM machine was trashed. I thought it ended at $2400. Apparently I heard the closing wrong. I thought $2400 was outrageous for something that messed up. Accepting a price of $3400 should be considered robbery. To each their own. A fool and his money are easily separated.
 
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