Spoken to someone who getting one and reckons April\May for the UK allocation.
Pinball info
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Haggis Pinball Fathom Revisited
- Thread starter Jsyjamie
- Start date
I had to play the long game to get my proper Fathom. It was dog rough, planked to hell, crap backglass, corroded to fook.
You could buy everything - stencils, original backglass, repro backglass, cpr playfield and plastics, new drops, new pops ...
So I am a fan of the game. If you have the money, great. But 10k for a repro Bally SS with untested tech that may not last 40 years ?
Best will in the world, these absolutely beautiful high watermark Bally SS games do not have the playability of decent System 11s, let alone WPCs.
Look at the struggle to sell the Flash Gordon on the forum for £2.6k. I'd have thought you could get that looking mint for a further 2k.
Fathom will seem very pedestrian to the NIB buyers that are used to modern Sterns and JJPS. No ramps. No subways. No modes. No magnets. No toys.
You could buy everything - stencils, original backglass, repro backglass, cpr playfield and plastics, new drops, new pops ...
So I am a fan of the game. If you have the money, great. But 10k for a repro Bally SS with untested tech that may not last 40 years ?
Best will in the world, these absolutely beautiful high watermark Bally SS games do not have the playability of decent System 11s, let alone WPCs.
Look at the struggle to sell the Flash Gordon on the forum for £2.6k. I'd have thought you could get that looking mint for a further 2k.
Fathom will seem very pedestrian to the NIB buyers that are used to modern Sterns and JJPS. No ramps. No subways. No modes. No magnets. No toys.
With the greatest possible respect:
Haggis know they’re selling a niche product. Their entire production run is less than Stern LEs.
Not everyone wants to do a full restoration with repro backglass, etc. I’m doing a restoration of Alien Poker. It’s taking ages and is borderline impractical with two young children. Time is money.
Yep, tech is a worry with these new machines.
No idea what is going on with that chap’s Flash Gordon. I part-exchanged mine for a System 11 (!).
Speaking as someone with no nostalgia for any pins, especially the high-watermark Bally SS games (Fathom is the same age as me), we currently have six pins setup in our house, including AFM and two (NIB) modern Sterns.
I had a wobble about my Centaur, as I was doing a bunch of thankless tournament training. Since I stopped, I’ve been preferentially playing… Centaur (and Godzilla). Same happened with Flash Gordon (@MadMonzer, sadly, didn’t like FG) - SSs are great for a quick, simple game (in particular, they boot up faster than modern pins).
Some players value shot quality/layout over ramps. Modes. Magnets. Even mechs. As Spike 2 Stern owners have pointed out on here, many times, they often prefer the Pro version as it’s a) faster and b) the mechs don’t add as much as you’d think.
I’ve reviewed 149 pins now (and played more than that), and there are some utter stinkers of WPCs, dork-age Sterns and even JJPs. Things that have ramps, subways, toys and magnets - and, nonetheless, I’ve had more gameplay from a mechanical seafront parrot.
Last edited:
But are they selling a niche product?
Yes, here in Australia, very few Fathoms or Medusa's came in 1981. We have had to settle for re-imports from Europe for the last 15 years
Centaur and Eightball Deluxe though, they were everywhere in 1981
APL is the shipping company, would that have gone via New Mexico, or are you suggesting that they were actually manufactured in USA?
APL is the shipping company
Mexico City is the name of one of the container ships they run
Mexico City is the name of one of the container ships they run
