Bugs Bunny Reproduction Ramp Quality Discussion

[pinsanity]

Post some pics of the BBBB double restoration in progress.

Most of the long term members here on AP would be very interested in seeing them. 

[Caveoftreasures]

Post some pics of the BBBB double restoration in progress.

Most of the long term members here on AP would be very interested in seeing them.  

Machines are currently in storage but there are many photos of both machines already posted on AP pictured especially on the trophy night I had 3 or 4 years ago where I took photos of every machine.
I also would have done threads a very long time ago when I purchased the machines.
When AP first started, I used to take photos with a short story of every new pin I purchased.

When I go to my storage factory next, I could take a photo of some of the pins if you were genuine in your enquirery.
The best restoration I am excited about is the 1978 Williams Phoenix.
That will be a killer game when finalised.

[oldskool1969]

Machines are currently in storage but there are many photos of both machines already posted on AP pictured especially on the trophy night I had 3 or 4 years ago where I took photos of every machine.
I also would have done threads a very long time ago when I purchased the machines.
When AP first started, I used to take photos with a short story of every new pin I purchased.

[/quote]

can you put a link up as I tried to find the posts and couldn't find them   particularly on BBBB as I played this in my youth and enjoyed the weird play field lay out!

[Caveoftreasures]

Machines are currently in storage but there are many photos of both machines already posted on AP pictured especially on the trophy night I had 3 or 4 years ago where I took photos of every machine.
I also would have done threads a very long time ago when I purchased the machines.
When AP first started, I used to take photos with a short story of every new pin I purchased.

can you put a link up as I tried to find the posts and couldn't find them   particularly on BBBB as I played this in my youth and enjoyed the weird play field lay out!
[/quote]

Searching through 5 or more years of posts is slow & painfully so I might see if my SD card for my Digital Camera is the easiest way to show some photos.
I have a YouTube link/video that Beaky took a few years back of slot of the machines.
If I can reset the password and get in I can post that.

One of the things about the Bugs Bunny games was that no one was producing all the ramps for these machines but Mark C did me a huge favour & did the new ramps for me from the original mounds he purchased from Illinois Pinball.
That was a life saver cause no one else was doing the ramps.

[Retropin]

One of the things about the Bugs Bunny games was that no one was producing all the ramps for these machines but Mark C did me a huge favour & did the new ramps for me from the original mounds he purchased from Illinois Pinball

Now there's a can of worms well and truly opened.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

One of the things about the Bugs Bunny games was that no one was producing all the ramps for these machines but Mark C did me a huge favour & did the new ramps for me from the original mounds he purchased from Illinois Pinball.
That was a life saver cause no one else was doing the ramps.

are you sure?
Mark usually had the mold made from an existing ramp

[pinsanity]

are you sure?

James from PinballInc legally acquired all the original ramp molds and insert dies (amongst other items) from Illinois Pinball.

Some sets of original Williams ramp molds as below:

[4_amusement_only]

What material are those molds made out of? Positioned on the pallet makes it look heavy

[Caveoftreasures]

One of the things about the Bugs Bunny games was that no one was producing all the ramps for these machines but Mark C did me a huge favour & did the new ramps for me from the original mounds he purchased from Illinois Pinball.
That was a life saver cause no one else was doing the ramps.

are you sure?
Mark usually had the mold made from an existing ramp

Yes I am sure. Mark had the original bugs bunny ramp moulds included in the sale from Illionois pinball.
I remember a discussion with the guy who was running the Pinballinc company who could NOT make me the ramps because he didn't have the original BB moulds and Mark did.
There was some fight between the parties because one party got them $ in the bulk deal and the other party wanted them & didn't get them.

I was then able to get the ramps made by Mark and am very grateful.
I understand that there were a lot more moulds acquired by Mark than just the BB ones and the jealousy or argument over these various moulds went on forever but in the end Mark purchased them legally and then started his new large ramp business.
I was just glad Mark made the effort to tool up to make me 4 ramps which incl spares.
I had been a loyal customer for years so karma worked out well.  The other guy said even if he had the moulds he wouldn't make them for me because it wasn't worth his time for just 4. So to me, the moulds ended up in the right hands cause I got them made almost instantly.
I only cared about the ramps, I didn't care about the other parties disagreements.
But yes, a lot of different people ended up with a lot of different stuff from the asset sale of Illinois Pinball.

Years later, there is still a bit of bartering and swapping and selling going on to consolidate various parts of the bundled assets.

[Caveoftreasures]

What material are those molds made out of? Positioned on the pallet makes it look heavy

Heavy steel and the ones I have seen are polished stainless and are very very heavy.
Almost always two halves to the moulds.
I worked in a factory as a kid which made shampoo bottles and exact same process of melting granulated plastic, melting and forcing into the moulds then the mould is left to dry for a certain time before a blast of cold air and the finished product is spat out or taken out depending on size but it all happens very quickly.

[pinsanity]

What material are those molds made out of? Positioned on the pallet makes it look heavy

The pallets underneath can lead to a misleading assumption as to weight as in actuality the underside is completely hollow so they are relatively lightweight. I have attached a photo of a bunch of them stacked vertically in a cardboard box for comparison - hardly ideal for stacking half a dozen supposedly very heavy molds in and vertically no less! Note the two primary feeder tubes protruding from the foreground mold used to vacuum the air from the mold itself during the process.

The manufacturing process works on vacuforming a raw plastic substrate which is heated and then a series of tubes on the underside essentially draws the air out and forms the plastic to the shape of the mold itself so there is no need for a second mold half.

I have also attached a pic of the underside of another original BW ramp mold showing the hollow underside and the series of tubes I mentioned as part of the vacuforming process (again all these pics are courtesy of PinballInc.)

I have many more photos of original BW ramp molds if you are interested.  

[pinsanity]

On the other hand the original BW solid metal die molds used to make items such as inserts are extremely heavy but this is a process that is very different to making a vacuformed ramp.

Here are just some of the original BW dies that PinballInc acquired from IPB. Quite a haul!

[Caveoftreasures]

thankyou for letting us all know the correct spelling for the word mold.   

I wonder which molds Mark ended up with and how many molds the two companies scored between them.

It's great some of the ramps are being made.

[pinsanity]

"I wonder which molds Mark ended up with."

If you are genuinely interested then the answer is none.

[Caveoftreasures]

My Bugs Bunny original ramp molds is one more than none.

And he was producing a lot of ramps in a very short space of time with "molds" that he acquired at the same time so he must have got a lot of other molds from his Illinois Pinball haul.

Perhaps I should send him a email and get the facts directly from the molds owner.