Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball (1982 Bally Mfg.)
Click on Backglass for IPD listing.
The Story: Yeah, I enjoy a game of pinball every now and then, who doesn’t? It's not my passion like it is with many pinball collectors out there, as my passion has always been video games. My basement was seeing more and more games. I enjoyed them, my daughter enjoyed them and my wife, well, semi-enjoyed them (if that makes sense). Many say that a game room is not complete without at least one good working pin, and it soon became clear that I would eventually need to fill the void. Luckily I found a decent deal (had to fight for it) and the theme of this particular pin happens to match quite well with my game room.
The Score: Yet again, another Craigslist find. This was listed at $500 in good condition with minimal wear and a "broken left flipper". Turns out the seller doesn’t know much about these things and gives me the typical "fix it and it will be worth thousands" line. Great, a seller who thinks he has a goldmine, these deals never go well. It was Saturday, it was only a half hour away and I had nothing else going on, so I decide to check it out.
While the game appears to be in good shape, there are a lot of small issues that he didn’t know about, so I kick the tires. The backglass had some flaking along the bottom, and the game was scoring on its own. I explain this and point him to the MPU with some major battery acid damage (I later learned that Bally pin's of this era are notorious for this). There were other things, like the game desperately needed some new rubbers and the playfield had some grime, but those kinds of issues are to be expected.
I could tell he really wanted to move this game, but there was no way I was going anywhere near the $500 price tag, not after I saw all the work it would require. I can repair arcade games, but pinball’s are a whole other story, I had no experience with them. I offer $300 and tell him that’s my highest offer. Once again he goes into the "goldmine" schpeal, and any sane person would have left at that point. Something was telling me to wait this one out (like I said, he really wanted to move it). We cuss and discuss for a good 30 minutes or so and it worked out in the end, he finally accepted my offer.
The Service: Wow, what didn't this game need? For starters, I knew the MPU needed some major surgery which was beyond my level of help. I sent it off to a specialist for repair and was promptly greeted with a cleaned and rebuilt MPU with a "supercap" battery. While this did solve some issues, many still remained. The left flipper still wasn’t working and I later discovered there were several culprits. There were bad solder joints all over the solenoid driver PCB, as well as a bad transistor and a bad coil. After lots of "trial and error" troubleshooting, I finally got full life from the game. Nice, all that work had finally paid off.
The backglass had minor flaking along the bottom and wasn’t going to be an affordable replacement. With the help of my wife, we touched up the flaking spots. I had heard about using a product called "triple thick" on the back of the backglass to prevent further deterioration, so I bought a can and applied several coats. The next day I was in for a shock, the artwork was "bubbled up" and almost completely lifted from the backglass. Oh that’s just great. Apparently you have to apply this stuff in a very specific manner, too bad I learned that the hard way. It would be another year or so before someone finally offered a reproduction in the form of translite, I found it on eBay and all is well now. The fluorescent tube behind the backglass actually works, but it’s very bright, only focuses light at the center, and leaves an annoying glare on the playfield. I was quick to remove it and put a rope light in its place. No more glare, evenly lit and best of all, no heat to destroy the backglass.
The playfield got lots of attention. I cleaned up most of the "grime", applied wax and replaced all the rubber. There were a couple of cracked or broken plastics which were repaired or replaced. The "ball" was also replaced with a new one, and some lamps were blown and replaced. The game shares many colors and artwork "similarities" with Ms. Pac-Man and so I decided it also needed backlit flipper buttons in cherry red. We now have a nice, fully working pin that everyone can enjoy.
The Score: Yet again, another Craigslist find. This was listed at $500 in good condition with minimal wear and a "broken left flipper". Turns out the seller doesn’t know much about these things and gives me the typical "fix it and it will be worth thousands" line. Great, a seller who thinks he has a goldmine, these deals never go well. It was Saturday, it was only a half hour away and I had nothing else going on, so I decide to check it out.
While the game appears to be in good shape, there are a lot of small issues that he didn’t know about, so I kick the tires. The backglass had some flaking along the bottom, and the game was scoring on its own. I explain this and point him to the MPU with some major battery acid damage (I later learned that Bally pin's of this era are notorious for this). There were other things, like the game desperately needed some new rubbers and the playfield had some grime, but those kinds of issues are to be expected.
I could tell he really wanted to move this game, but there was no way I was going anywhere near the $500 price tag, not after I saw all the work it would require. I can repair arcade games, but pinball’s are a whole other story, I had no experience with them. I offer $300 and tell him that’s my highest offer. Once again he goes into the "goldmine" schpeal, and any sane person would have left at that point. Something was telling me to wait this one out (like I said, he really wanted to move it). We cuss and discuss for a good 30 minutes or so and it worked out in the end, he finally accepted my offer.
The Service: Wow, what didn't this game need? For starters, I knew the MPU needed some major surgery which was beyond my level of help. I sent it off to a specialist for repair and was promptly greeted with a cleaned and rebuilt MPU with a "supercap" battery. While this did solve some issues, many still remained. The left flipper still wasn’t working and I later discovered there were several culprits. There were bad solder joints all over the solenoid driver PCB, as well as a bad transistor and a bad coil. After lots of "trial and error" troubleshooting, I finally got full life from the game. Nice, all that work had finally paid off.
The backglass had minor flaking along the bottom and wasn’t going to be an affordable replacement. With the help of my wife, we touched up the flaking spots. I had heard about using a product called "triple thick" on the back of the backglass to prevent further deterioration, so I bought a can and applied several coats. The next day I was in for a shock, the artwork was "bubbled up" and almost completely lifted from the backglass. Oh that’s just great. Apparently you have to apply this stuff in a very specific manner, too bad I learned that the hard way. It would be another year or so before someone finally offered a reproduction in the form of translite, I found it on eBay and all is well now. The fluorescent tube behind the backglass actually works, but it’s very bright, only focuses light at the center, and leaves an annoying glare on the playfield. I was quick to remove it and put a rope light in its place. No more glare, evenly lit and best of all, no heat to destroy the backglass.
The playfield got lots of attention. I cleaned up most of the "grime", applied wax and replaced all the rubber. There were a couple of cracked or broken plastics which were repaired or replaced. The "ball" was also replaced with a new one, and some lamps were blown and replaced. The game shares many colors and artwork "similarities" with Ms. Pac-Man and so I decided it also needed backlit flipper buttons in cherry red. We now have a nice, fully working pin that everyone can enjoy.
