First Pin Rollergames, Happy and Pissed At Same Time

Good advice from everyone above. We've all had that "acquisition fever" where you want the game too badly and ignore sensibilities. But that's the way you learn. The pin looks to be in great shape and after some tuning should be a real nice one to play. A Pin will always be a "labor of love". This is a great pin to start off with as it has minimal issues. Once you get them addressed, you will have very little maintenance to do and be able to enjoy.

But be careful - you are going to catch "more pin-it-tis" (MORE PIN NIGH TUS) and want more of them. Just ask Gatordad....

I have 7 myself. It is addictive. And I want another one - high speed 2 the getaway is on my radar.

Bill
 
$800 is cheap for that title in nice condition, which is what it appears to be(from what I can see).
A couple bulbs out, a flipper that got stuck and misbehaving pop bumpers are not a deal breaker, and really not that hard to correct if you ask for help here.

One really should never buy a hobby item they don't at least intend to learn how to do repairs on, or have plenty of disposable income to pay someone else to do it.

When I got my first pin I lifted the PF and was in total disbelief...and I've tinkered with electronics since I was a little kid. It just looks worse than it is...trust me.
 
Pins are super easy to work on, and you've got the best repair guide in the galaxy at: http://www.pinrepair.com/

Look up your title and start reading, stuck flippers and non-working pop bumpers are quick fixes and documented very well.

While I can sympathize with buying something as working and then having problems with it, anyone that owns any pinball machine will tell you that you MUST be able to fix them yourself. That's the nature of the beast, and if you are going to insist on hiring the repair work out, you'll never be happy.

My favorite part of the pinball hobby is the repair and restoration!
 
Mike Doyle said:
Pins are super easy to work on, and you've got the best repair guide in the galaxy at: http://www.pinrepair.com/

Look up your title and start reading, stuck flippers and non-working pop bumpers are quick fixes and documented very well.

While I can sympathize with buying something as working and then having problems with it, anyone that owns any pinball machine will tell you that you MUST be able to fix them yourself. That's the nature of the beast, and if you are going to insist on hiring the repair work out, you'll never be happy.

My favorite part of the pinball hobby is the repair and restoration!
Click to expand...

Out of the loop a little Mike? The guides on Pinrepair haven't been available for awhile now.

http://www.pinwiki.com/
 
It does sound like your issue are relatively minor but I do feel your pain.

I just bought a Funhouse From a guy names Joe Kirby in the Boston Area.

"100% working"

I called on a bunch of favorites to get it to Buffalo. Had a friend in Columbus that use to live in the area...his buddy picked it up. He dropped it off at another friend to shipped it to Buffalo.

When it got here Rudy's eyes don't move right...the top line in the display is out and the game reset about every third game.

He's claims it's all a 'causality of the move' yet I found an RGP post from the guy that had it before him asking about the display issue (same problem..top line out) and also had a resetting issue

Tis my fault for having a machine shipped in without playing it. Now I'm combing Cliffy's pdfs to figure out the problem. Ultimately it sucks but I'll definitely learn something from fixing it..I think I got the resetting thing figure out..just gotta order some parts

Either way...pop the hood...stick your nose in there...you're going to have to do it sooner or later being a pin owner =)

Good Luck!
 
MonsterBash said:
It does sound like your issue are relatively minor but I do feel your pain.

I just bought a Funhouse From a guy names Joe Kirby in the Boston Area.

"100% working"

I called on a bunch of favorites to get it to Buffalo. Had a friend in Columbus that use to live in the area...his buddy picked it up. He dropped it off at another friend to shipped it to Buffalo.

When it got here Rudy's eyes don't move right...the top line in the display is out and the game reset about every third game.

He's claims it's all a 'causality of the move' yet I found an RGP post from the guy that had it before him asking about the display issue (same problem..top line out) and also had a resetting issue

Tis my fault for having a machine shipped in without playing it. Now I'm combing Cliffy's pdfs to figure out the problem. Ultimately it sucks but I'll definitely learn something from fixing it..I think I got the resetting thing figure out..just gotta order some parts

Either way...pop the hood...stick your nose in there...you're going to have to do it sooner or later being a pin owner =)

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

I would have been pissed in your situation as well. Maybe I was under the impression that a late 80's early 90's machine wasnt going to be that "fragile." I mean I have beat the hell out of VIDS in some long distance moves, bumps, bangs etc and they always fire right up. This pin I was super careful with, rode inside a Ford Edge with AC on and drove careful over every bump in the road and all this stuff pops up. Ughh

Luckily I found a couple fellow klovers in NJ that are going to try to help me out.
EagleTG and Russmyers
 
Is your playfield Diamonplated?
Just out of curiosity, as I also own this title and am trying to find out how many got the Diamond Plate...
It is a great pin and I hope you give it a chance...Its not the pins fault it doesnt work right ;-)
I would look into getting a cliffy protector for your ramp if it doesnt have one already installed as that one takes a poundin!
If you need help feel free to PM me and I can shoot you my number if all else fails.
ENJOY!
 
SgtSmackaho said:
Is your playfield Diamonplated?
Just out of curiosity, as I also own this title and am trying to find out how many got the Diamond Plate...
It is a great pin and I hope you give it a chance...Its not the pins fault it doesnt work right ;-)
I would look into getting a cliffy protector for your ramp if it doesnt have one already installed as that one takes a poundin!
If you need help feel free to PM me and I can shoot you my number if all else fails.
ENJOY!
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

Does not appear to be diamond plated as it does not say it on the bottom of the playfield and I think the ones that have it mention it there.
 
SgtSmackaho said:
Is your playfield Diamonplated?
Just out of curiosity, as I also own this title and am trying to find out how many got the Diamond Plate...
It is a great pin and I hope you give it a chance...Its not the pins fault it doesnt work right ;-)
I would look into getting a cliffy protector for your ramp if it doesnt have one already installed as that one takes a poundin!
If you need help feel free to PM me and I can shoot you my number if all else fails.
ENJOY!
Click to expand...
+1 on the cliffy for that ramp! I have this pin and have a cliffy on mine protecting what is left of the ramp :D It's definitely an underrated game (probably due to theme..which oddly enough..I like..but then again, I remember the tv show). The gameplay is a lot of fun, good rules set and I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you get it going. Good luck
 
I will say this: that's a good looking Rollergames! You'll soon discover that every time you move one of those suckers, you'll have an issue. Choose a good spot!

Recently moved 5 working pins to a location for an event and luckily enough 4 of them decided they were cool with it. Never trust a system 80! We took two (Genesis and Hollywood Heat). Heat got there and wouldn't power up, Genesis got back to the shop isn't working now. Such is pinball!
 
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Just wanted to say $800 for a Rollergames with a few small issues really isn't that bad. Pins ALWAYS have problems after a long car ride. Yeah, you might have to do a little more work than you thought but it's still not a bad deal. That was in pretty nice shape also I would buy it as-is from you for $800, I live in MN though :)
 
Crazy Climber said:
That was in pretty nice shape also I would buy it as-is from you for $800
Click to expand...

Me, too! I wouldn't feel bad about that price at all. You should see this Heavy Metal Meltdown I paid $300 for. I'm a doofus and didn't take the glass off and really look at it. Pretty beat, but I fixed the issue the seller was having in less than 3 mins! Now I have a working HMM with a jacked ramp and 6 out of 10 playfield.
 
machfelon said:
Got it for $800

IMHO thats a tad high for the title. But as I said it was advertised here as 100% working.

But pins are very pricey in NJ and not many to chose from in that price range. Could have bought a Fire! local for 100 more but that game has no pop bumbers. Although that would have solved my pop bumber issue cause it doesnt have any ;)
Click to expand...

I think the game is worth $800 but I paid $600 for mine. It's definitely one of Steve Richie's best.
 
Rule #1 - all people are to be considered untrustworthy lying sacks of shit until proven otherwise.
I cannot tell you how many times I've dealt with people that claim the game is 100% and you get there and there's a metric shit ton of bulbs that are out or a fucked up ramp that they claim (well I bought it that way and it works fine) or "huh I didn;t know about that not working" or "It just blew out" ... the list goes on and on. I took a pin in a few months ago and the seller told me there was only 1 bulb out. 23 bulbs later I was done. Moron.

Rule #2 - BEFORE you plug a machine in when you get it home you pull the back glass off and press on all connectors and make sure a connector didn't come off in transport.

Hopefully ya'll can find a bit of humor in this.

So as far as transport goes, these things are old and brittle. It takes next to NOTHING to have a diode break loose (cold solder joint) or a wire to break loose. Forgetting to remove pinballs before transport is not a good idea either ;)

Your flipper issue - does it automatically flip up when power is supplied? If yes probably a locked on coil and/or blown transistor.
Does the flipper stick ONLy after you hit the flipper button but can press the flipper bat back down and it stays down? If yes then it's not a locked on coil, could be the flipper button leaf switch is needing to be adjusted. If it only sticks up when hit and can be pressed back down then I'd bet it's a typical mushroomed nylon flipper bushing or simply not enough gap between the flipper bat and pawl so wits causing unnecessary binding.
 
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EagleTG said:
Which is unfortunate, as you are right, it is hella-fun to play.
Click to expand...

I love how the game tosses the captive balls around in that caged track... a good example of the unique design things that seem non-existent at Stern. When's the last time they actually came up with a feature that wasn't sniped from Bally/WMS?
 
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