Ohhh WHAT TO DO ? First SS game or Not ?

[pinnies4me]

Oh here we go!!!

My ha'pennies worth.

In no particular order, but cracking games up to 81 that are well worth buying as a GOOD example of a great SS machine.

 JOKER POKER
 FIREPOWER
 CENTAUR
 FATHOM
 BLACK HOLE

 Im not a great fan of widebodies and tend to steer clear... Paragon, while many will shout about it i just didnt take to. Personally, id rate Black Hole as possibly the best wide body you can get... the backglass alone should be reason to want one ( which i do!)

All I need is Centaur and Fathom.. .. .. ..

[swinks]

I am by no means a expert and all you guys have alot more experience and pinballs than myself but I tend to go for particular themed pinball's - water / beach. As I know that at I can live with the looks and coupled with being a good player - it's a great package. Maybe look back on what you did for fun in the day and then find a pinball with that theme if there is one.

Today I picked up my Bally Skateball which is a 1980's pinball (my only early SS). People either like it or hate the look but to me it's different and retro late 70's so I like it. It also has a very similar layout to the Williams Flash which is interesting. Only had it today and loving it - sounds are basic and not annoying and the game play is fun and challenging and love the fact you can see the ball all around the playfield.

I vote towards a Fathom, great game and awesome looker - one I definitely would love to own one day.

[GORGAR 1]

Brett - Don't restrict yourself to Williams games. I know the Harlem Globetrotters on eBay was sold out of WA, but that buries Phoenix, Gorgar and Flash IMHO. Only Firepower would be considered slightly ahead of HG.

I'm a bit "one eyed", but you need to broaden the net a bit ?

I didnt realise you where that "one eyed" Nino lol but having said that we all have our fav's mine just happen to be williams games gee maybe I'm "one eyed" to But that was then with the mods and work guys do on machines these days I bet there alot more reliable now than when they left the factory my 2c worth.

Peter

[pinnies4me]

I didnt realise you where that "one eyed" Nino lol but having said that we all have our fav's mine just happen to be williams games gee maybe I'm "one eyed" to But that was then with the mods and work guys do on machines these days I bet there alot more reliable now than when they left the factory my 2c worth.

Peter

Yep, he's one-eyed all right!!

As you say, the mods these days make it a whole different ball game - I have a couple of Gottlieb System ones with combinations of pascal all in one boards or cpu-only, connectors re-pinned and grounds updated, and they are as reliable as a modern WMS, possibly more so as less to go wrong. Also have a BH which would have been king of unreliability back in the day - full ground mods but original boards, hasn't missed a beat in five years. Admittedly, games aren't on 12/18 hours a day, which also probably changes things drastically.

[Pintoxicated]

I only realised there was discussion on the eBay Phoenix machine today after a phone call form Mr Gorgar, he scared the crap out of me when he said, have you heard about that Phoenix you won on eBay, mind you I was 2.5 hours down the road to go and pick it up by that stage.  I had placed a sniper bid on the machine half way through the listing, I was more interested in the old school motorised rocking Kangaroo machine the same seller had listed.

Anyway, long story short, I won both auctions and picked up both machines today.

The Phoenix is a project and a half but hopefully it will come back to life.  Seller was OK, only the wife was there today, she also happened to be pregnant so I had some fun loading the machines by myself but after a few swear words under my breath and a four hour trip home I have another project to add to the list. 

[Caveoftreasures]

Without sounding silly, was the ladys english good, because her ebay amswer was typed in a way that she looked like she had english as a 2nd language. 
(thats what threw me from bidding further on it). P.s - I was going to bid to $650, would u have bid that much. I have to know.lol lol 

glad u scored a fun looking project Blair. 

[Pintoxicated]

Without sounding silly, was the ladys english good, because her ebay amswer was typed in a way that she looked like she had english as a 2nd language. 
(thats what threw me from bidding further on it). P.s - I was going to bid to $650, would u have bid that much. I have to know.lol lol 

glad u scored a fun looking project Blair. 

You are spot on, English was her second language, she was nice though.  If you have of bid to $650 you would have had it, I was nowhere near that.

[Strangeways]

I only realised there was discussion on the eBay Phoenix machine today after a phone call form Mr Gorgar, he scared the crap out of me when he said, have you heard about that Phoenix you won on eBay, mind you I was 2.5 hours down the road to go and pick it up by that stage.  I had placed a sniper bid on the machine half way through the listing, I was more interested in the old school motorised rocking Kangaroo machine the same seller had listed.

Anyway, long story short, I won both auctions and picked up both machines today.

The Phoenix is a project and a half but hopefully it will come back to life.  Seller was OK, only the wife was there today, she also happened to be pregnant so I had some fun loading the machines by myself but after a few swear words under my breath and a four hour trip home I have another project to add to the list. 

Congrat Blair - looking forward to a resto thread 

[GORGAR 1]

Glad it all work out ok mate and post pics of both machines i'd love to see or email.

Peter

I only realised there was discussion on the eBay Phoenix machine today after a phone call form Mr Gorgar, he scared the crap out of me when he said, have you heard about that Phoenix you won on eBay, mind you I was 2.5 hours down the road to go and pick it up by that stage.  I had placed a sniper bid on the machine half way through the listing, I was more interested in the old school motorised rocking Kangaroo machine the same seller had listed.

Anyway, long story short, I won both auctions and picked up both machines today.

The Phoenix is a project and a half but hopefully it will come back to life.  Seller was OK, only the wife was there today, she also happened to be pregnant so I had some fun loading the machines by myself but after a few swear words under my breath and a four hour trip home I have another project to add to the list. 

[Caveoftreasures]

PHOENIX and possibly a PARAGON will be my next purchase, and therefore my first SS pins.

I think on my next trip to Melbourne I will have to meet up with NINO and get some advice from the Pinball Master himself.

Buying a SS without consulting with Nino would be a mistake.  So many nice SS machines out there ready for a good restore !   

[Retropin]

PHOENIX and possibly a PARAGON will be my next purchase, and therefore my first SS pins.

I think on my next trip to Melbourne I will have to meet up with NINO and get some advice from the Pinball Master himself.

Buying a SS without consulting with Nino would be a mistake.  So many nice SS machines out there ready for a good restore !   

You taking advice from the "one eyed spamways"???

[Strangeways]

PHOENIX and possibly a PARAGON will be my next purchase, and therefore my first SS pins.

I think on my next trip to Melbourne I will have to meet up with NINO and get some advice from the Pinball Master himself.

Buying a SS without consulting with Nino would be a mistake.  So many nice SS machines out there ready for a good restore !   

Thats fine with me Brett, I'm always happy to help out ! There are MANY nice SS machines, and if you widen the net a bit into the early eighties you will find so many really nice machines. The Gottliebs are "hit and miss" - Haunted House (a classic), Rocky (already mentioned as a genuine player's game), Spirit (The BEST GTB SS ever made) and Black Hole (another player's machine). Williams also had some games that are almost impossible to find - Pharoah, Solar Fire, Barracora, Cosmic Gunfight. Still, Bally had some awesome titles - Eight Ball Deluxe and Xenon are two games that are highly sought after. Sterns that are IMPOSSIBLE to track down are Iron Maiden, Viper and Freefall. The arwork on Freefall reminds me of Paragon.

No reason why you should not consider a machine from each manufacturer ?

Bally - Paragon
Williams - Jungle Lord
Gottlieb - Black Hole
Stern - Meteor

Just a thought, but these games would compliment each other and realistic choices.

PHOENIX and possibly a PARAGON will be my next purchase, and therefore my first SS pins.

I think on my next trip to Melbourne I will have to meet up with NINO and get some advice from the Pinball Master himself.

Buying a SS without consulting with Nino would be a mistake.  So many nice SS machines out there ready for a good restore !   

You taking advice from the "one eyed spamways"???

I might have "one eye" but I don't need a 1930's projector to get me excited !

 

[Retropin]

PHOENIX and possibly a PARAGON will be my next purchase, and therefore my first SS pins.

I think on my next trip to Melbourne I will have to meet up with NINO and get some advice from the Pinball Master himself.

Buying a SS without consulting with Nino would be a mistake.  So many nice SS machines out there ready for a good restore !   

Thats fine with me Brett, I'm always happy to help out ! There are MANY nice SS machines, and if you widen the net a bit into the early eighties you will find so many really nice machines. The Gottliebs are "hit and miss" - Haunted House (a classic), Rocky (already mentioned as a genuine player's game), Spirit (The BEST GTB SS ever made) and Black Hole (another player's machine). Williams also had some games that are almost impossible to find - Pharoah, Solar Fire, Barracora, Cosmic Gunfight. Still, Bally had some awesome titles - Eight Ball Deluxe and Xenon are two games that are highly sought after. Sterns that are IMPOSSIBLE to track down are Iron Maiden, Viper and Freefall. The arwork on Freefall reminds me of Paragon.

No reason why you should not consider a machine from each manufacturer ?

Bally - Paragon
Williams - Jungle Lord
Gottlieb - Black Hole
Stern - Meteor

Just a thought, but these games would compliment each other and realistic choices.

PHOENIX and possibly a PARAGON will be my next purchase, and therefore my first SS pins.

I think on my next trip to Melbourne I will have to meet up with NINO and get some advice from the Pinball Master himself.

Buying a SS without consulting with Nino would be a mistake.  So many nice SS machines out there ready for a good restore !   

You taking advice from the "one eyed spamways"???

I might have "one eye" but I don't need a 1930's projector to get me excited !

 

LOL- whats even worse is that its the projector that gets me more excited then the filth it shows!

[Caveoftreasures]

ya better update the porn movie to the early eighties Gav, as a minimum. it might give the early 1930's movie a bit of STIFF competition.     

[Caveoftreasures]

I have to update this thread.
* It turned out to be a really usefull thread for anyone considering buying a SS machine with some great experience and advice given by quite a few members.
I scored the machine that Blair purchased (mentioned earlier in this thread) and it was a PHOENIX 1978 model by Williams.
I actually really enjoy the audio of this machine, and find it alot better in person than the youtube stuff. So I did score my first ever SS and I enjoy the basic play n feel of this machine. The colours are outstanding, and I love the old school style displays.

I have started a "resto" thread mentioned below.

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=7175.0

Next SS will be one of the ones Nino previously mentioned on the thread for me. A big thanks for the great advice guys. SS machines definately rock for sure.