Which pinball MFGs are more/less troublesome?

quses

Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Messages
779
Reaction score
10
Location
New Orleans, Louisiana
I've had my eye on a Data East game for awhile but I keep hearing that as a manufacturer, their games were not as reliable or well-made, which got me to thinking how you all would rank the various manufacturers (and eras) in terms of how well they were made and how reliable they are?
 
Gottlieb machines have been know to be problematic. Although most issues have work arounds now.

I love my Bally machines!

I like new Stern but they have really become cheaply made like everything today, in order to survive. My bro in law bought a new Lord of the Rings special edition, and a fuse blows on it about every third game. Sure its under warranty still but it could be a wire issue, thus throwing a new board at it may not fix it. Not to mention a huge let down on his first NIB $4000 machine. I've heard of ohter stories about Stern quality too and some will never buy another again.
 
Last edited:
Interestingly enough, when Tim Arnold was asked which games were the most reliable, he said Gottlieb System 1s. I guess that's after the ground problem is fixed...
 
Someone should have asked him about Gottlieb Hunted House. I do not remember what system it is.

I dig that game, but it had loads of issues, now all fixed by todays standards and I would love to buy one now. Very cool machine!

Gottlieb Charlie's Angels is another plagued with issues. Bother in law had one of those too, never did get it fixed i.e. the newer better boards.
 
Last edited:
They all have their specific strengths and weaknesses. Contrary to what you might hear from brand snobs, ALL manufacturers and models have issues.
 
They all have their specific strengths and weaknesses. Contrary to what you might hear from brand snobs, ALL manufacturers and models have issues.

Just like shardian said, they all break, doesn't really matter. My DE Time Machine was actually my most solid machine..and I had Bally/Williams as well. They all have their issues...just like Ford, Dodge, Chevy, etc...
 
For home use, or collectors like us, you'll probably find most to be reliable. Put one on location and then decide. Back in the glory years, most were probably rock solid. As companies started to fold, you'll see different. One of my Bally's uses particle board over plywood for the cabinet, it was made in the 1980's. You started to see quailty go down then.

I look at feel more then reliablity, does it feel cheap when I play?
 
Last edited:
For me it's not about reliability. I think it's more about what parts are readily available for what games. They all break, but it's easier to fix if you can find parts.
 
For me it's not about reliability. I think it's more about what parts are readily available for what games. They all break, but it's easier to fix if you can find parts.

Well aside from some obscure manufacturers (Alvin G, Atari, Zacharria...) you are fine with parts. Just like with other antique hobbies, you have to be willing to custom fabricate or pay someone to do custom fabricating for one-off special parts. There's just too many games with too many unique parts to offer repro's of everything.
 
That's a hard question to answer. I honestly do not think that there is a real answer to this. You are talking about machines that are 20+ years old. At that point there are a ton more variables involved then just the manufacturer. No pinball machine will be reliable if it was not stored properly...

Not to mention that you cannot effectively gauge the reliability of a machine from one sample. If the manufacturer produced 10,000 machines in the run, you need a sample of 500 machines to gauge reliability...
 
I've had my eye on a Data East game for awhile but I keep hearing that as a manufacturer, their games were not as reliable or well-made, which got me to thinking how you all would rank the various manufacturers (and eras) in terms of how well they were made and how reliable they are?


I like Gottlieb system 3's. They seem to be built like tanks. Parts wise might be scarce, but electronis are readily available. They used mosfets , pretty tough transistors .
 
Perhaps a better question would be if there are any particular games that should be avoided. I'm fairly new to the hobby, but I'm guessing that certain games have a tendency to break more than others.
 
I have had about forty machines come though my basement in the last ten years from Williams, Data East and Gottlieb and all have been reliable in the home where they don't get abused. The biggest issue I have is trying to find missing "Cosmetic" pieces, they game functions and plays 100% but might be missing a plastic The biggest one that comes to mind was the Mongols from shadow I gave up trying to find them because I just didn't want to pay the money and they are only cosmetic and when I get bored with a game I trade/sell it off anyway. I think the biggest thing about any machine is just routine maintenance take time to wipe the playfield down and clean things up make sure all the mechanics are in working order and not worn out etc…..
 
The most reliable pins are the ones with the least amount (or none preferably) of hack repair jobs.

This Freddy I just finished repairing is a Gottlieb system 3 and is supposed to be rock solid. Every problem I encountered was due to a numb nuts repair job by an op who had no business under a playfield. Now that I'm done with it it will be solid. Same for every pin that has come through my gameroom. When they leave, they are as reliable as a pin can be.

In other words, the manufacturer doesn't matter. All that matters is that it was refurbished by someone who has an idea of what they are doing, and a high level of love/respect for these machines to do the job right. Those are your reliable pins.
 
Gottlieb machines have been know to be problematic. Although most issues have work arounds now.

I love my Bally machines!

I like new Stern but they have really become cheaply made like everything today, in order to survive. My bro in law bought a new Lord of the Rings special edition, and a fuse blows on it about every third game. Sure its under warranty still but it could be a wire issue, thus throwing a new board at it may not fix it. Not to mention a huge let down on his first NIB $4000 machine. I've heard of ohter stories about Stern quality too and some will never buy another again.

If it's the Ring magnet fuse (#7 on the board), word is already out that the 4A slo-blo should be replaced with a 5A slo-blo. The system board is different from the one in the original release, and I suspect they miscalculated.
 
Funny Tim Arnold picked System 1!
They had ROCK solid mechanical assemblies, matched with unreliable electronics. Once you upgrade/ repair the electronics, then it could qualify.....
-Mark
 
I've had my eye on a Data East game for awhile but I keep hearing that as a manufacturer, their games were not as reliable or well-made, which got me to thinking how you all would rank the various manufacturers (and eras) in terms of how well they were made and how reliable they are?

I've had a Data East Star Wars in my home arcade for nearly 10 years now and other than a few Novus swipes, soldering a flipper connection and some new rubber, she's been a great machine. She was also my first and still my father's favorite when he visits for the kid's birthdays, sporting or holiday events. I also own three Ballys, which I really enjoy as well, but I can't say that they're any more reliable than Darth and the gang.

YMMV...
 
I would vote Atari as least reliable but it really comes down to how the game has been treated since new. They all have their issues.
 
If it's the Ring magnet fuse (#7 on the board), word is already out that the 4A slo-blo should be replaced with a 5A slo-blo. The system board is different from the one in the original release, and I suspect they miscalculated.

Yes that's the issue! I'll tell my bro in law, thanks.
 
I still say Gottlieb and here's part of why...

"System1 was Gottlieb's first series of solid state pinballs introducted in late 1977. Gottlieb was the manufacturer leader in EM (Electro Mechanical) pinball. But they had a hard time making the transition to solidstate pinball. They were also the last manufacturer of the big four (Bally, Williams, Stern, Gottlieb) to switch to solidstate technology, and even made some games in both solidstate and EM formats until 1979 (where the other manufacturers had abandoned the EM pinball format since 1977). Bally and Williams had been working on solidstate architecture for since about 1975, and fully adopted the technology by early 1977. Gottlieb on the other hand hired Rockwell to design their solidstate pinball boardsets, and were the last to enter the solidstate market. This was a mistake that Gottlieb endured for over 10 years, as Rockwell did not serve Gottlieb well. " - pinrepair.com

Now, would I buy a Gottlieb machine after having new updated boards, sure, I think many would. And of course any 30+ year old technology would need to be updated to todays for any manf, but the original question was what manf, thus I stand by Gottlieb and my Haunted House and Charlies Angles examples.

So a machine is as reliable as the electronics in it. If it's all original, then it will be less reliable then one with updated boards, strictly speaking for boards that had known issues from day one such as these Gottlieb.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom