Pinball Toys for EM's

zoggynog

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Hey folks,

Fairly new to the forums here...but I wanted to get your opinion.

Is there an age when a Pinball is "too old for toys"?

Based on availability I would say the market seems to think so. EM games seem to get no love. Perhaps that's just because less folks own older pinball machines?

I ask because I own a 1961 Gottlieb Foto Finish Wedgehead that I'm currently beginning to restore, and I've read so many cool posts on pinball toys/mods for newer pinballs.

I started thinking, it would be cool to add a few "age appropriate" toys to my playfield. Or perhaps make a topper of some sort.

Due to the horse races theme of my pin, I'm pondering adding some 60's metal toy horses and Jockeys. Or perhaps figure out how to rig up some little fake cameras with flash bulbs.

I'd want to keep the toys running on EM tech though. No LED's or PCB's. Also, I would want to build them to be completely removable, of course.

Is this idea, stupid...or just not explored?

Thoughts?
 
Toys are stupid. The only reasonable reason to add them to newer production games is if they were originally part of the design and the bean counters cut them from production.

EM machines are clean and non-cluttered, why would you want to change that?
 
Hey Oryk

I see your point.

I must say, I read a thread earlier today where someone down in Austin was doing a bang up job restoring/modding a Bally Star Trek. Even going so far as to add fiber optic star effects to the playfield.

It was pretty much met with overall praise, yet I would have a hard time not calling it a more "classic" pin...and mods like that don't just remove off the field. I'll be curious to see if anyone else feels differently.

BTW I learned something, I never thought about the extra toys/mods being cut from production. Just figured a modding community had grown up around newer pinballs. Thanks for the info.
 
I think people don't do it much because the "pinball toy decorations" age came much later than EM's.

Toys that actually do something as part of the game and interact with the ball: cool.
Toys that are just $0.99 toys screwed to a playfield plastic: suck.

Stern has given playfield "toys" a bad name because they've put so many action figures on their games that basically do NOTHING. Looks like a freakin' toy display case. I'm not a big fan of plastic toys, when I'm standing at a pinball machine, I prefer to play pinball. :)

Wade
 
Hey folks,

Fairly new to the forums here...but I wanted to get your opinion.

Is there an age when a Pinball is "too old for toys"?

Based on availability I would say the market seems to think so. EM games seem to get no love. Perhaps that's just because less folks own older pinball machines?

I ask because I own a 1961 Gottlieb Foto Finish Wedgehead that I'm currently beginning to restore, and I've read so many cool posts on pinball toys/mods for newer pinballs.

I started thinking, it would be cool to add a few "age appropriate" toys to my playfield. Or perhaps make a topper of some sort.

Due to the horse races theme of my pin, I'm pondering adding some 60's metal toy horses and Jockeys. Or perhaps figure out how to rig up some little fake cameras with flash bulbs.

I'd want to keep the toys running on EM tech though. No LED's or PCB's. Also, I would want to build them to be completely removable, of course.

Is this idea, stupid...or just not explored?

Thoughts?
I've said it before, to me EM machine's are like a classic car and these newer (post mid-late 80's)SS machines are like a Dodge neon with a stupid spoiler ,a stupid tail pipe that sounds like a weed eater and some stupid looking rims. Point is you don't mess with a classic and 99% of people who own them understand this, but there's always the 1% that do something stupid like making it a different theme or white trash it out with a bunch of non original crap. JMO
hope this helps
Glennon
 
I've said it before, to me EM machine's are like a classic car and these newer (post mid-late 80's)SS machines are like a Dodge neon with a stupid spoiler ,a stupid tail pipe that sounds like a weed eater and some stupid looking rims. Point is you don't mess with a classic and 99% of people who own them understand this, but there's always the 1% that do something stupid like making it a different theme or white trash it out with a bunch of non original crap. JMO
hope this helps
Glennon

Don 't hold back,my friend....tell us how you really feel ;)
 
thanks!

thanks for all the opinons!

Based on feedback so far, I have formulated a plan.

I found a company a while ago that made me a custom reccliner out of a starwars cab. They say they can do a coffee table out of my pin for next to nothing.

I promise I wont put any 99 cent toys in, or on top of it.

I might hang a remote control holster from the coin door however.

Wish me luck!
 
Wait, you're going to kill your pin and turn it into a coffee table instead of restoring it to playable condition??? No, I do not wish you luck in this effort. (I hope that was sarcasm, and not your real plan!)
 
Don 't hold back,my friend....tell us how you really feel ;)
I think most know how I feel. Hacking good EM pins up is pathetic in my opinion. A retheme ,making furniture or adding stupid toys. Now if the thing is toasted beyond reason and a guy take the playfield and makes a coffee table out of it I guess that would be ok,but expect to be made fun of. Retheme is the stupidest of all(example the Bill Paxton one that has popped up here). If you can spend the time to retheme it why not just restore it? Besides who's going to buy it if you want to sell it and you know nobody's going to pay the outrageous price that one would ask for it.

Glennon
 
must_not_feed_the_troll.jpg
 
Actually,the Bill Paxton was a home made,custom unit.
Yeah I know ,but Bill Paxton really? That's borderline mental. There's another one floating around here where they hacked up a Gottlieb Quick Draw with a stupid monster hotrod truck theme and everybody was drooling over it. Dummest thing I've seen next to the fake Black Hole in another thread. Why not take that time and effort and restore it properly? This is just my opinion and by all means people should do whatever they want with their stuff. I'll look forward to seeing them on CL for some outrageous price so I can make fun of them.

Glennon
 
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You all are missing the biggest issue: feasibility. How do you expect to put a toy on an early SS or EM, when the playfield glass is pretty much right on top of the playfield???

Newer multilevel games are deeply recessed into the cabinet, and the glass is at a much higher angle. This is where the room comes for toys and ramps.
 
Hehehehe

Yea, totally joking. I'll be restoring the pin with no added crap. I certianly got a strong negative opinion of toys in general from lots of you seasoned folks.

I offically feel stupid for asking, but I'm glad I did. Now I hope you are all as helpful when I ask questions like:

How do I repair a worn out gobble hole?
 
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