No Good Gofers project

WadeLanham

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I picked up this NGG late last winter/early spring from an operator who has given me some great deals on serious projects in the past. I was pumped when he offered this one up because it had been on my watch list for a while! It's a lot of fun to play, and the "mostly" kid-friendly graphics and theme were a plus (my girls were turning 3 and 5, and were scared of my Twilight Zone.) I really like the colors and graphics on it, and I really enjoy the play too.

He sent me a few pics which gave me an idea of the overall condition, and I could see that the cabinet looked fine, the playfield had some minor wear, and the game was mostly complete and booted. I made him an offer based on my expectations from past dealings/game condition and he accepted.

While looking the game over on-site, I could see that it mostly played, but was missing the slam ramp, some flippers were dead, and numerous features weren't working. After getting it home, we found some other issues as expected, such as a dozen switch errors, dead pop bumper, and the gophers and their ramps weren't working properly. Mostly it was mechanical stuff, fortunately. We spent a week or two playing it without the slam ramp, and fixing everything we could find.

Finally I broke it down and started shopping it. Took a few months to complete, mostly due to only be interested in working on it for an hour or two. Every single thing was removed from the playfield top including the pop bumpers and ball guides, every thing that touches the ball on the underside was removed and cleaned. I didn't need the game to be perfect, but I wanted it to be clean since I plan to keep it. I couldn't run the plastic ramps through the dishwasher because they were too large, so I had to clean and polish them by hand which doesn't work as well. I pulled the harnesses and dishwashed those, sanded, cleaned and painted the inside of the cabinet.

Polished existing legs (turned out pretty nice!)
New leg levelers and bolts
Repainted coin door
Cleaned playfield parts
New clear posts
New flasher domes
New rubbers
Reproduction Slam Ramp
Added Slam Ramp playfield decal
New playfield spinning disc decal
Cleaned black gophers and repainted their faces
Regrained most of the stainless
Added or replaced parts for repairs, such as coils, sleeves, bushings, transistors, gopher catches, etc.

Some things I'd still like to do but I'm not real motivated to do, especially as time goes on...
LED's (have a full kit in my TZ and I like it for the most part)
New cabinet head decals

I still enjoy the game, but my girls have pretty much lost interest. They rarely play it anymore now that the newness has worn off. :) They still play some of my videos pretty often though. I'm just glad they're at the age where I can play my games and they can do other things, without needing my attention constantly. Those of you with kids know what I'm talking about. :)

Wade
 
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Some before pics.

Wade
 

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Pics while it was in progress.

Wade
 

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It's almost finished in these pics, couple of minor parts still getting fixed.

Wade
 

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Thanks! These are usually in pretty good condition aside from the slam ramp damage, otherwise these have no major weak areas, and the slam ramp damage is pretty well hidden with the decal. On this one, I actually had to fill the gouges in the playfield before putting the sticker down.

I think this is a fantastic game for the money. It looks and plays great, is challenging, and has some humor. It hasn't gone up in price like a lot of the surrounding Bally/Williams pins. My best guess on why is 1) the colors/art/kid-like theme might not be liked by everyone, especially someone who likes dark or monster themed games and 2) it is not highly original - if you have a couple other Pat Lawlor games then this might feel like a re-run.

Wade
 
Thanks for sharing! It's always really cool to see the story behind the game. It is a fun game and seems to be the one the people who aren't into pinball really dig. Not sure what you paid, but as you know the price has gone up on these and would imagine you'll turn some profit it you ever sell.

Mine had most LED's (Frosted CT's) in the inserts and PF GI. It really looks great. I had to get some for the back box and that really made it pop. Did you look into the target sticker set? That really looks good on this game too. I put them on mine right after I got it. I also put in CT flashers in most of the flasher inserts and ramp domes. Really helped. Also put on some Cliffy switch protectors where the ramps drain on them. My PF is decent so I didn't want to beat it up more. Not sure if yours needs that or if you even care.
 
Yeah, the price was good enough there's really no way I could go wrong. Of course if I figure all the time I put into shopping it, I would have been better off just buying a mint one.

I've seen the target stickers and the only ones I really like are the cart wheels which I think are a nice improvement, the targets for wheels just plain red look goofy IMO. The others are a bit busy for my taste, it seems like it would make the targets blend in a little more rather than stand out. I like the Treasurecove backboard decal also but the repair cost was getting too high so I held out for the time being. :)

This playfield has enough wear already that I'm not worried about more wear on the switch drops. It was well played before I got it so any tiny bits of wear in the home won't make any difference.

The LED's I'm really interested in, just haven't got around to it yet and don't want to buy the whole $225 cointaker kit. I'm getting close to taking an inventory of the playfield lamps and making an order with cointaker. I like the frosted dome CT lights really well on inserts. Just need to take some time to figure out exactly what I need!

Wade
 
I just used a little wood filler and got it as smooth as possible, then stuck the sticker down. It looks pretty good unless you're REALLY looking closely.

Wade
 
Yeah, the price was good enough there's really no way I could go wrong. Of course if I figure all the time I put into shopping it, I would have been better off just buying a mint one.

I've seen the target stickers and the only ones I really like are the cart wheels which I think are a nice improvement, the targets for wheels just plain red look goofy IMO. The others are a bit busy for my taste, it seems like it would make the targets blend in a little more rather than stand out. I like the Treasurecove backboard decal also but the repair cost was getting too high so I held out for the time being. :)

This playfield has enough wear already that I'm not worried about more wear on the switch drops. It was well played before I got it so any tiny bits of wear in the home won't make any difference.

The LED's I'm really interested in, just haven't got around to it yet and don't want to buy the whole $225 cointaker kit. I'm getting close to taking an inventory of the playfield lamps and making an order with cointaker. I like the frosted dome CT lights really well on inserts. Just need to take some time to figure out exactly what I need!

Wade


I agree Wade. The wheels for the cart are the #1 reason I did the kit but put the others on too and don't mind them.

I wouldn't buy the whole CT kit. Get cool white frosted for GI, color match inserts and flashers (I did and does look better than most games with LED's) and some for the backbox. I'd give you my list but most of it was done and I had some spares. I really only needed a few but I do have my list for backbox if you need that.
 
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