Fathom is an amazing title that Bally produced, and in 1981 they produced some other great titles. They were really hitting the mark, and had enjoyed a fantastic run for the previous 5+ years. Sadly it seems from 1982 onwards, the great decline began.
I remember when I first saw this machine on ipdb.org (as at that point I had never seen one in the flesh), my first reaction was "nope, not for me". But it was a resto thread by Nino on this forum which shifted my thinking, and I have never looked back. A very hard machine to get to join your collection, but finding one makes it worth the while. The more I play it, the more I enjoy it. Gameplay, artwork, and sound - really great package!
Very nice work so far, and seeing that it is going for a respray and new playfield, this will end up being a very coveted machine. The playfield swap will probably be an intensive one – looking at the back side of the Fathom PF, that is one busy PF. Hard to see much timber on the back as you know. This also contributes to its weight – it’s probably one of the heaviest playfields for a Bally of that era.
The Playfield is absolutely shot but I was lucky enough to get on the list for the most recent run of 20 playfields CPR did so it's getting a new playfield anyway.
Speaking of playfields, the following is an image I received from Kevin at CPR showing the differences between the 2004 (Halifax) and 2009 (CPR) runs of Fathom. The more desired one is the 2009 run. However, seeing that you have sourced the most recent run from CPR, it would be interesting to see how that one compares to the 2009 run. I had owned a 2009 version, but I wasn’t impressed really at all with the lack of density in the inserts (both green and blue), particularly the blue ones. I had read that this was a complaint with the 2004 run, and was meant to be improved with the 2009 run. It would be interesting to see if the latest run has further improved on this.
Note that another quick way to spot the difference between the 2004 and 2009 run is that the 2009 run did not have any dimples or holes drilled for the 2 top screws for the lane guides in the rollover area, whereas the 2004 run did.
NOS Fathom playfields are even rarer, and I know of a guy in the US that has one. Below is an image he sent me comparing the NOS one (on the left) with the 2009 CPR (on the right). Huge shift in colour for the NOS one from blue to green over time. Looking at the flyer on ipdb.org, you can see the blues in the original playfield.
Very much looking forward to the updates on this one.
