Ari [APz] SovijärviMar 24

Ah, yes. The drain magnets. The mysterious cheating devices by the game makers that suck the ball from the sides or straight down the middle while the helpless player just gets to watch.

But seriously, the magnets actually used to manipulate ball are huge. The ball weights 80 grams and can move quite fast. To catch it we need quite a lot of stopping power. Plenty of magnets are used to mess with the ball, ranging from magnetic diverters to harassing the player with middle of the playfield magnets in games such as The Addams family or Guardians of the Galaxy. Some do really funny tricks, like Godzilla's gravity defying return from the building shot or Dracula's hovering ball.

Any memories of games with surprising magnet tricks?

#pinball #questionswelcome #arcade #magnet

Show threadLetoramMar 24
@apzpins Twilight Zone. Not the two regular ones, but the third that did a disappearing act. There in art but not (or well, rarely) in flesh.
Show threadAri [APz] SovijärviMar 24
@letoram I've seen a modded game once in my life that put the 3rd magnet back. It's fully supported in the 9.4H software, but naturally requires drilling the playfield and ball guides to install the missing hardware. I didn't dare to drill mine.
Show threadLetoram
@apzpins I am doing a PF swap on a rescued TZ with the mirco reproduction that has the third magnet. It is almost alive. Almost meaning a bunch of troubleshooting, currently clock not reversing and a bunch of switches not responding. The original had been on a ferry between Helsingborg and Oslo, an early version with the green lock, white clock etc. several pints of beers had been poured into the thing, shoe imprints on the cabinet, every cap had leaked and corroded, etc. spent probably 12 hours just scrubbing the wiring harness clean.
Mar 24 at 10:34pmWeb
Show threadAri [APz] SovijärviMar 24
@letoram Wow, sounds like a fun project! I have couple of ferry games too and they experiences probably above the normal amount of violence when drunken people played them.
Show threadLetoramMar 24
@apzpins It was for a while. When I started it was in a small apartment with limited tools. During that time it managed to rip my forearm open needing stitches (lifting the playfield off, low ceiling clearance, holding it arms stretched to the side when lifting, it hit the ceiling, my grip slipped and all the little sharp solder joints and solenoid pads tore into flesh when it came crashing down). Now I have more space but less time.
Show threadAri [APz] SovijärviMar 24
@letoram I hope you get the thing up and running one day. I bought mine in 2000 and could never part of it!
Show threadLetoramMar 24
@apzpins I have to. It is the game that got me into the hobby. Now my collection is alien limited, godzilla pro, family guy, jurassic park limited, tmnt pro and twilight zone. Used to have a Fish Tales and a Champion Pub. Sold them, though do actually miss FT. Might swap a few around, but next pin is going to be a DIY from scratch.
Show threadLetoramMar 24
@apzpins among the abuse it suffered in a previous life there is this that I haven't seen before. Some kind of anti-theft device?
Show threadAri [APz] SovijärviMar 24
@letoram Most likely it's from some kind of a security device intended to hold the coin box in place?
Show threadLetoramMar 24
@apzpins it had the usual lockdown bar drill holes, but cutting that kind of hole (which looks like drill and skillsaw) on only the one side seems .. odd. Quite a few better ways of making sure nobody runs away with than abusing the cabinet box. With a modifier coat-hanger it was actually possible to unhook the tilt plunger through it though :D
Show threadAri [APz] SovijärviMar 24
@letoram Fortunately this one is going to be really easy to patch up and paint over!
Show threadLetoramMar 24
@apzpins I overdid it and made a mold of the hole and then bandsawed a piece that snaps in place, just need to bring out the acrylics when the other parts are done with.
Show threadAri [APz] SovijärviMar 24
@letoram Wow, that's a pretty solid lineup. Out of those, I have Godzilla, TZ and FT. While it's a simple game, I have always loved FT. It hit me hard back in the 1992 and I've owned two of them. A the start of my hobby I got one with very crappy playfield and as I was acquiring new games, I ended up selling it before getting a new playfield. I regretted it almost immediately and got a new one with better playfield, which I have to this day.