This is a "Holy Grail" pinball that was on my radar for at least 10 years. I have one now, which will be documented in time, but this game is for an astute collector that wants a "Nearly In Box" Embryon to sit aside the Fathom I restored a few years ago. The history of this game is interesting. It was claimed to be a prototype at one stage, as the spinner was disabled and a rollover was DRILLED into the playfield. It took some research to find out that it was not a prototype, but it was so well done, that it took some time to work it out ! Once that was confirmed, we decided to restore the playfield to original design.
The game was presented in a cosmetically interesting condition. From a distance, the playfield looked reasonable. It appeared to have factory mylar, but I questioned this straight away, as Bally were not mylaring playfields in 1981. It was a "patchwork quilt" of mylar ! There were literally layers. Mylar was applied on previously touched up areas. This may be a "Holy Grail" pinball, but it has some concealed repairs that would look great in photos !
The cabinet had some wear and tear. It appears a transformer was bolted to the side of the cabinet at one stage with some breathing holes. Interesting. The paint was fading. The backglass had to be stored at home as I was moving from the Garage to the new building and I didn't want to risk any damage.
The boards looked tired, so I didn't bother firing it up.
So now we go back to my personal Embryon. A literal "basket case". So we have scope for at least two High End Restorations. I spoke to Tim at HRP and discussed options for the playfield restorations. He was VERY enthused for the challenge. so we put the call out ;
http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=13160.0Two more AP members stepped forward. One member stripped his own playfield and another brought the playfield to APR to strip. We now had FOUR playfields.
Here is the link to the INCREDIBLE work Tim and Stu do at HRP -
http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=13623.0Here are some pictures of the game as presented ;
Playfield looks good in photos.. But "peel" away the layers of mylar and contact !
Enamel paint / touch up work ;
Strange crop circles in the playfield. Previous operator cut contact around this area ? Ancient Aliens say "Yes"..
More close up inspection ;
No words for this..
Here's my submission for "hack of the year". A Gottlieb SYS1 Flipper assembly ! I know the bally Linear flipper system is crap, but to replace it with a Gottlieb assembly is interesting !
Underside is slowly disassembled ;
Lower cabinet ;
Paint faded ;
An aftermarket transformer and some holes drilled for airflow.. More interesting mods !
ProgressThe day FOUR restored Embryon playfields were returned to APR (see thread above). HRP are in a league of their own
Here is an interesting observation. The two playfields below are obviously Embryons, but with several color differences. When we decided on the project, we assumed all playfield were EXACTLY the same. but they are clearly not (check out the greys).
Next update -Cabinet repaint !
