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"Tease me, Baby!" My first pin - Playboy

vib_ribbon

vib_ribbon

Registered
Joined
Sep 7, 2012
Messages
145
Location
Romford, Essex
Long story short.

So I bought my first pinball machine recently, yay! :clap:

I set myself a budget, and I wanted to buy something that I've played before. Initially that was gonna be a stern Indy.

I've played stern Indy and a few other pinball machines in Southend for the past 10, 15 years.

This is me playing Indy at Fantasia arcade in Southend in 2009. This arcade doesn't exist anymore.

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I was at play expo the other week and saw a for sale sign on the Playboy machine. I've played this pin in Southend many times too.

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I expected this to be out of my budget, but I was talking to Tony (mission65) and he asked Matt (vince) for me. It was cheaper than I thought.

Maybe I'm just green or maybe I just love things unloved by others :eek:, I love both Indy _and_ Playboy. So pretty much my mind was made up there and then. The guys wanted me to sleep on it which I did. Tony was super supportive and he even offered to help with delivery from Flip Out to my house. It was like the stars had aligned at this point.

On Saturday it was pick up day. I was introduced to Neil (McRae) who was looking after the place on the day. He was super helpful as we prepared the machine after a couple of hours playing the fabulous selection of pins they had there. I haven't been since April but so many new machines, some I saw from play expo. The stand out game being the new Jersey Jack Pirates of the Caribbean.

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When we got to my place we inched the machine through my tiny hallway and into my equally small games room. Glad we didn't need to disassemble anything.

So here's my first pinball machine in all its glory. Absolutely love it.

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Lastly, here's a pic of me playing the one in Southend in 2013. My one is so much nicer.

PS- I have loads of pics of all the arcades I've visited over the years. If you're on IG my account is here: https://www.instagram.com/chunwahkong/

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Thanks to everyone who's supported me over this purchase. Some of you know me from video arcade games, and when I saw a lot of you have pinball machines too I know it would be easy to turn to you for advice.

I feel like I've entered a new hobby, knowing virtually nothing and starting from scratch. Grateful to have the support of this forum already shown during my short period of time here.

Sorry to those who also enjoy playing this game at Flip Out. Hopefully something equally great will come in place of it. ;)
 
I miss the early excitement of getting a pin. Not sure I'd swap it for what I've learnt along the way, but yes I miss that excitement. All credit to you for sticking at it and getting involved. No one ever stops at one...
 
Spadge said:
I miss the early excitement of getting a pin. Not sure I'd swap it for what I've learnt along the way, but yes I miss that excitement. All credit to you for sticking at it and getting involved. No one ever stops at one...
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There are some really good games out there but even if I have the money I don't have the room until I move to a bigger house (or I start selling my arcade cabs which I dont see myself doing).

The game designer in me wants to learn what makes a pinball game great, but the gamer that I am just wants to enjoy myself playing them.
 
vib_ribbon said:
There are some really good games out there but even if I have the money I don't have the room until I move to a bigger house (or I start selling my arcade cabs which I dont see myself doing).

The game designer in me wants to learn what makes a pinball game great, but the gamer that I am just wants to enjoy myself playing them.
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Tough balance to meet. I'd just have a mame cab (which I do have, after a load of Jamma cabs in the 90s).

But yeah pins take space.
 
"a mame cab" holy **** did you say that out loud? :D
 
Spent a lifetime in games, 36 years in the games industry (to date). Am 51, did the 80s and 90s and the games I love demand space and care (pinball). There's very few arcade games I'd have these days outside of a mame cab. I'd have an asteroids, defender (harsh as it is), the others I'm happy with a mame cab for the use it gets.
 
Spadge said:
Spent a lifetime in games, 36 years in the games industry (to date). Am 51, did the 80s and 90s and the games I love demand space and care (pinball). There's very few arcade games I'd have these days outside of a mame cab. I'd have an asteroids, defender (harsh as it is), the others I'm happy with a mame cab for the use it gets.
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...but there are some great games that use a steering wheel, or a light gun, etc. :)

I wonder if the pinball hobby is like the arcade game hobby where most of the common problems have been solved, all the discoveries have been made, the best mods, the best sources for spares, best fabricators etc.

I do ask some strange questions, but I'll make sure I do a thorough search before putting my hand up.

Cheers!
 
I have seen your username on the arcade forums for years and also followed your ig posts for a while. But never put them both together haha.
Congrats on your pin.
No need to feel embarrassed about telling people you're off to your room to stare at Playboy for hours ?
 
Horsey said:
I have seen your username on the arcade forums for years and also followed your ig posts for a while. But never put them both together haha.
Congrats on your pin.
No need to feel embarrassed about telling people you're off to your room to stare at Playboy for hours ?
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i wonder if my neighbour can hear all the groans every time the pop bumpers get hit. great bit of feedback from the game, that. :D
 
when you move those 2 egrets out for more pins give me a shout Chun :)
 
I dunno how to contribute to the forum, so I thought I'd write a newbie journal of some sort, maybe people can point out my mistakes and other newbies can learn as I go, too.

It's so different being able to play at home. I'm getting a lot further than I was ever able to at the arcades. Then I realised, maybe I've got the game on an easy setting, maybe the table is not on a steep enough incline...

Then I looked at the built in spirit level... I think I'm okay!

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I was scratching up my faux laminated floor every time I moved the table so I bought some furniture leg cups/ floor protectors. I did consider buying some lockable wheels, but they were expensive.

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The game wouldn't save. Upon investigating, I noticed the battery pack has been detached. So I thought I'd solder it back on. After consulting my pinball mentors, I rerouted it to this spot here as circled. I didn't want to pull the PCB off unnecessarily, so I just soldered directly to the pads.

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Next is to locate the knocker volume in the menus and change that to silent. That thing ****s me up badly. o_O
 

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I came across the first problem today.

I turned the pin on and was greeted by a switch error message.

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I muddled my way through the menus and eventually located the switch in question and found that it is not actually broken.
However, I couldn't get rid of the error message. Eventually, I had to do a factory reset and all is well again, but I've lost my high score. =(

In the future, what should I have done?? Any advice? Thanks.

...while I had the glass off, I took the opportunity to give the playfield a wipe. Magical product. Skin tones look better now. =)

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The switch is likely not to have been used in recent games. Simply take the glass off and run a few balls down over the switch. If a switch hasn't been registered in a number of games, the machine will think it is broken. It either is, or is simply not being used.
 
MartinY said:
The switch is likely not to have been used in recent games. Simply take the glass off and run a few balls down over the switch. If a switch hasn't been registered in a number of games, the machine will think it is broken. It either is, or is simply not being used.
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Should I do that during diagnostic mode or during a game? Thanks!
 
Ideally in diagnostics because you'll see it being switched. You need to confirm that it did actually close if it is normally open
 
I think for the error message to disappear you will need to activate the switch during a game.
 
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