Had a busy pinball related weekend with the highlight being adding a new game to the collection and it's another I've been after for a very long time......finally got myself a Fathom 
Mermaids captured, dive again....
- Thread starter ronsplooter
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As part of the deal I also got a new repro pf.....absolutely made up!!!!! I feel a restoration project in my future.
I feel a restoration project in my future. 
She's a beaut mate. Nice one. Since owning Paragon, I'm really feeling the love for the old Ballys too. The original pf looks good too. How's the FG? All sorted ?
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Not quite mate, it's all back together but there's a few final electrcial gremlins to sort out. I'm waiting for the Legend to come back off his hols
He'd sold it to Ross along with all of his other 81 Bally's last year sometime and I picked this up off Ross on Saturday
Nice pick up Chris.
I have never played a Fatham but have always thought the playfield art was pretty awesome. I just watched Bowen's tutorial video and I must say it looks like a really fun game. I need to get a couple of the older classics in my lineup. You can't beat a bit of variety in a pin collection.
I have never played a Fatham but have always thought the playfield art was pretty awesome. I just watched Bowen's tutorial video and I must say it looks like a really fun game. I need to get a couple of the older classics in my lineup. You can't beat a bit of variety in a pin collection.
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Chris! Your killing me, one of the nicest Flash Gordon's I have ever seen, and now this beauty of a Fathom, well played my man, you have done very very well
He'd sold it to Ross along with all of his other 81 Bally's last year sometime and I picked this up off Ross on Saturday
Oh yeah, how could I forget! Shame about the registration issues on the new playfield but the original is pretty nice anyway.
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Yeah the registration isn't great but I might have a word with Chris the airbrush artist to see if something can be done....once he's finished with my Creech pf
Result, it's a beaut. One of the nicest ones I've seen and to come with a new repo playfield.
Things don't get much better.
Things don't get much better.
Fathom is one hell of a machine. Superb art! Superb gameplay rules. Sound is a bit on the basic side, but I'd love to snap one up
Lovely looking pf
I must pull my finger out and get firepower running
I must pull my finger out and get firepower running
It does look great, love the artwork. Never played or seen one.... yet.
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I might have to bring it to one of the shows this year....although Flash Gordon will need an outing as well once it's all working.
Will you guys stop giving the old late 70s / early 80s Bally's so much love! You'll start to drive up the prices and they're the only pins I can afford!!!
Nah, seriously, these old Bally's are fantastic. I just watched the PAPA Fathom tut yesterday too. Great looking art package, and if Bowens says it's a hard but compelling game then it will be a great player.
Nah, seriously, these old Bally's are fantastic. I just watched the PAPA Fathom tut yesterday too. Great looking art package, and if Bowens says it's a hard but compelling game then it will be a great player.
Out of interest @ronsplooter, would you be willing to share a ballpark price on how much you picked this up for, but minus the extra PF? If that's a bit upfront or rude to ask, just ignore me
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Nice one Chris Was almost tempted myself when I saw Ross selling them. Fathom is one classy machine, had one here in the Shack for a while and thoroughly enjoyed it. Would look great next to a Seawitch - maybe the next Slam.
Was almost tempted myself when I saw Ross selling them. Fathom is one classy machine, had one here in the Shack for a while and thoroughly enjoyed it. Would look great next to a Seawitch - maybe the next Slam.
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Would look great next to a Seawitch
Definitely dude, that would look cool
I think it's Fathom that Bob Thomson told me doesn't have a Game Over attract mode - the feature lamps just stop wherever they are when a game finishes. He reckoned there wasn't enough memory space to provide an attract mode, and he was the sort of guy who'd have known.
But then Centaur doesn't really have a proper one either; left to itself, the game simply speeds up the light show used during the 'Instruction Mode'*.
* Pressing either flipper button with the game idling starts up that taunting reverbed speech, beginning with "Challenge Me!", while the lamps are used to highlight the Orb, Sequence, Chamber, Guardian and Bonus features, in turn.
But then Centaur doesn't really have a proper one either; left to itself, the game simply speeds up the light show used during the 'Instruction Mode'*.
* Pressing either flipper button with the game idling starts up that taunting reverbed speech, beginning with "Challenge Me!", while the lamps are used to highlight the Orb, Sequence, Chamber, Guardian and Bonus features, in turn.
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I love little snippets of trivia like this!
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Yes, it just flashes on and off whatever feature lights were on as the last ball drains. I think it even stores the lamp status in battery backed RAM. The bonus lights do a nice 'bubbling' effect though.
There is a 'hack' you can use whilst playing Fathom to make multi-ball easier - but it requires a lot of luck and setup.
Start with a ball trapped in the green trap, with the blue, upper, trap empty. Have the targets set up so that dropping the top green target in the left hand bank will release the green trapped ball. Drop the last green left hand target by clipping it on the way to trapping in the blue trap.
If the ball is going fast enough, Fathom will detect the ball trap first and release a ball into the shooter lane. Then it will detect the target drop and release the green trapped ball for multi-ball. Voila, 2 ball multi-ball with one ball safely in the shooter lane.
We used to call it the 'mega-shot' at Uni. I think I did it about twice in four years! Never done it on my home machine, only by hand with the glass off.
Fathom was a very popular machine in Goodricke college at York University. It stayed in the same corner from 1982 until about 1990.
There is a 'hack' you can use whilst playing Fathom to make multi-ball easier - but it requires a lot of luck and setup.
Start with a ball trapped in the green trap, with the blue, upper, trap empty. Have the targets set up so that dropping the top green target in the left hand bank will release the green trapped ball. Drop the last green left hand target by clipping it on the way to trapping in the blue trap.
If the ball is going fast enough, Fathom will detect the ball trap first and release a ball into the shooter lane. Then it will detect the target drop and release the green trapped ball for multi-ball. Voila, 2 ball multi-ball with one ball safely in the shooter lane.
We used to call it the 'mega-shot' at Uni. I think I did it about twice in four years! Never done it on my home machine, only by hand with the glass off.
Fathom was a very popular machine in Goodricke college at York University. It stayed in the same corner from 1982 until about 1990.
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I'm not going to be doing a proper shop log and pf swap on Fathom until later this year (at the earliest) as I can't face another one straight after FG but I have spent the last few days doing a top side strip and clean so it's in good shape to play. Managed to get hold of some blue rubber nuts and post rubbers and also changed the pf GI to blue incandescent lamps to see how it would look.
