Anyone here collect Arcade Machines or Pinball?

[toxicatom5]

Originally Posted by Twistedsymphony

It opened in October of 2009.. I know this because I went the day they opened ... it's kind of a hole in the wall a little ways of the strip, right across the street from the Liberachi museum.

Maybe I'll be able to find my Back to the Future machine here,,,

Thanks for the heads up!

[twistedsymphony]

they have a list of their machines on their website... sadly it doesn't look like they have Back to the Future

I've never even seen that machine before, is it any good?

[toxicatom5]

Although I really enjoy playing pinball I couldn't call myself knowledgable on the finer points of what makes a particular machine bad, average, or great (mixed with the fact that I'm a huge Back to the Future fan, making me less objective). I suspect this machine is probably average for game play, but the nostalgia factor makes it very appealing to me. I've only ever seen/played it in one place (about 12 years ago); a tiny little bar in northern Michigan. It was the only machine in the place.

There are lots of photos of the playfield here:

http://pinside.com/pinball/archive/b...future/gallery


There is also a video (with bad glare) that shows some gameplay starting around the 2:00 mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gev6e...e_gdata_player

...so what do you think?

[twistedsymphony]

I'm quite a big BTTF fan myself

For a 1988 era pinball machine I'd say it seems like an above average machine for it's time. However when compared to more modern machines it's really dated. The playfield is really simple and while it does have some cool soundbites the audio is all midi which a real bummer IMO... but that's more a limitation of the technology at the time of it's manufacture than anything else. The playfield is also really simple which I don't really care for personally.

Usually what I look for in a pinball machine is if you took away the playfield graphics and the sound is the game still interesting? and does the game still give you a feeling of the theme from the playfield features? The answer to these questions I think is sadly no and no... take away the images and sound and it's just a couple of ramps and bumpers, nothing BTTF about it left and nothing particularly unique about it either. Also it looks like Michael J Fox didn't license his likeness for the machine which is a real bummer too and takes away from the graphics that it does have (at least Christopher Lloyd is there)

Nostalgia is a huge part of what drives collectors of Pinball and Video arcade machines though.

The good news is that since it's not on any best-of lists you should have an easier time finding one for sale, and wont pay as much if and when you find one

[toxicatom5]

That's about how I thought it might stack up against its contemporaries. I've wondered before, for the same reasons you mention about taking away the images/sound, if it was just an exact duplicate of some other playfield that had been branded with the BTTF imagery.

So what would you say is a really interesting pinball machine (something where the playfield itself is unique and fun)?

Also, good to know there is another BTTF fan here!

[Xmo]

That is the best unboxing ever! Seriously
I'm not much into arcade games, but what I would love is an Indiana Jones theme pinball machine. I'd love to do technical things with my hands like soldering wires and figuring out circuit board. I'll definitely get one if it is atleast a couple hundred dollars, but I reckon it isn't

Hey V, can you please? If I ever had a layover in Scotland, I'd love to stop over and play with the arcades, have a tour of your hunted house, sight seeing of your CE's and snatch some of it as a souvenir . Dude! its a perfect tourist attraction haha

[kittychloe]

looking good, so what did you use to get the top layer of paint off without damaging the original? or did the killer instinct have clearcoat protecting it?

[twistedsymphony]

Originally Posted by kittychloe

looking good, so what did you use to get the top layer of paint off without damaging the original? or did the killer instinct have clearcoat protecting it?

thankfully this era of arcade machine didn't use painted on graphics it's more of a plastic applique, after searching a few Arcade restoration forums I found lots of advice on what NOT to use and I found one thread where someone had success using a product called "lift off". it's designed to remove graffiti/latex based spray paint. it weakens the bond of the paint without damaging the plastic graphics layer. here is the test-section I did:



I'd say it works but I only got that front piece done and a little bit along the top of one of the sides, it took me about 2 and a half hours and my hands were killing me... so I'm going to look into other options for doing the rest of the machine.

[kittychloe]

i was going to ask about peel on decals, i just thought it was something from later, i think i have some of that stuff actually.. just no machine

i found a site that sells replacement decals, i can have a look if you like but your arcade collectors forums probably have a list already

[twistedsymphony]

Originally Posted by kittychloe

i was going to ask about peel on decals, i just thought it was something from later, i think i have some of that stuff actually.. just no machine

i found a site that sells replacement decals, i can have a look if you like but your arcade collectors forums probably have a list already

I would be very interested in that site... there is some damage from various scrapes and whatnot, if they're high quality I might rather just replace them wholesale