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Something For The Weekend... Or, I'm Getting A New Pin!

Nedreud

Nedreud

Registered
10 Years
Joined
Feb 12, 2013
Messages
3,092
Location
Aldershot, UK
Getting just a teensy bit over excited like a silly schoolboy as I'm going to be picking up what will only be my second pinball machine! What makes it really exciting is that it'll be the first working pinball machine I've owned as my first, a '78 Bally Paragon, was, and still is, a total restoration project.

So what's it going to be, you ask? Nothing as exciting as a TAF or TOM or TRON, or grand as MM or WOZ, but a rather humble '82 Bally VECTOR (the one @TYHO posted for a friend).

I got a thing for old Bally SS pins. But this ones got ramps and multiball and speech and a soundtrack! Can't wait!

:):p;):Do_O

vector1.jpg

vector2.jpg
 
Nice pickup!

Never assume an SS game is not as exciting as a DMD game! Some of the the most fun games you will ever play are SS, but sadly there are a lot of pinball snobs that refuse to give anything a chance that isn't a late Bally/Willians game ;)
 
Thanks guys! Definitely a Christmas Eve/Morning feel to things :)

I'm a relative newcomer to pinball (more of a video gamer) so haven't played that many pins, but so far I tend to prefer late 70s and early 80s - Black Hole, Haunted House, Centaur, Firepower, Medusa, etc. I think it's the themes more than anything - lot of space, sci-fi and fantasy. I find the games a bit more approachable. Just seem less complex to start with. I played AVATAR once and didn't have a clue what was going on. Too much happening and flashing and rules and modes! Not that I didn't like it, but I'm a child of the 70s so games from that era just feel "right".
 
Love vector, great pin

Up there with Flash Gordon as great pins
They Kick my ass nearly every time, but when you get a good game it feels great
 
I've just realised that it's exactly a year ago to the day that I got Paragon. It was Good Friday last year which was March 29th 2013. Wow, times sure flies when you're having fun!
 
Nedreud said:
Thanks guys! Definitely a Christmas Eve/Morning feel to things :)

I'm a relative newcomer to pinball (more of a video gamer) so haven't played that many pins, but so far I tend to prefer late 70s and early 80s - Black Hole, Haunted House, Centaur, Firepower, Medusa, etc. I think it's the themes more than anything - lot of space, sci-fi and fantasy. I find the games a bit more approachable. Just seem less complex to start with. I played AVATAR once and didn't have a clue what was going on. Too much happening and flashing and rules and modes! Not that I didn't like it, but I'm a child of the 70s so games from that era just feel "right".
Click to expand...
Poibug 2. Have you got a yellow hat?
 
No yellow hat but Vector has been squeezed into the summerhouse:

image.jpg
Really need to have clear out and finish insulating and boarding the walls...
 
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lukewells said:
Nice pickup!

Never assume an SS game is not as exciting as a DMD game! Some of the the most fun games you will ever play are SS, but sadly there are a lot of pinball snobs that refuse to give anything a chance that isn't a late Bally/Willians game ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, like me :p
 
RudeDogg1 said:
Laying on its side? Lol
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Stoopid iPhone. Picture 90 degrees rotated but thumbnail ok. Have upload again.


lukewells said:
The focus on that picture gave me a headache :rofl:

Nice to see it made it home :) Everything working ok?
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Sorry, it's a truly awful photo. But that's ok because I can just blame my iPhone again.

But the good news is it made it home no problem after 4 hours at 70mph non-stop down the M53, M56, M6, M6 Toll, M42, M40, M25 and M3. I discovered that it fits in the back of my Zafira wedged up against folded rear seats with absolutely no room to spare. Perfectly wedged.

Had to take the backbox off to get it through the garden gate and quickly labelled the connectors instead of assuming I'd remember where they all went 5 minutes later. It was comforting to see that the insides are mostly the same as Paragon. Power supply and transformer have moved down into the bottom of the main cabinet. The MPU, lamp board and voltage regulator/solenoid driver are identical; only the "Squark'n'Talk" sound board is totally different. Plays really well. Needs levelling properly. Looking forward to shopping it because it'll be a case of making it better rather than full restoration, but I'll finish Paragon first. The whole point was to have a playable pin and not to have two piles of spare parts!

"HIT THE SHOWERS!"
 
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!

Time to edit my signature and update my entries on pinballowners.com and ipsnd.com!!!
 
Sad news buddy, especially with how excited you were about getting it.

Recently I got in big trouble with the Mrs for building a 24x12 cabin to put 13 pins in, and she was in a major strop with me for 2-3 weeks!

But at the end of the day, I don't stop her from wasting all her money on shoes and handbags (despite making sarcastic comments about it ) so I'd be very angry about any ultimatum
 
Hey @lukewells, did you do a blog about your cabin build? Huge thing with no windows? And something about the side passage not being wide enough. Great work if so!

Will have to see how things develop. My wife came home with a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale (my favourite tipple from student days) as a peace offering. I don't know what it means yet! Certainly not forgiveness or blessing but... Well, make of it what you will. I've been with my wife for 25 years since we were 16 and like a typical man I still find her a total mystery at times... :)
 
That's the one. Nearly finished. Need to force myself to finish off the bloody lighting and things like that :rofl:

Women are always a mystery. I think the beet means you can keep the cab though ;)
 
Thats great news Netreud,

What you should do at some point (and what I have done in the past) is shown my wife some pictures showing the very enthusiastic collectors with dozens of machines in the house, and they will soon come around to the idea that one or two in the garage or summer house is nothing compared to some people :)

Cheers, Mark
 
LOL! Yes, I guess swapping will be allowed ;) I'm very unlikely to ever part with Paragon though. It's my first pin and is likely to take hundreds of hours of restoration. I'm a sentimental fool and couldn't imagine putting that much effort in and then selling it.

Vector is different in that it's a pin I thought I'd like and was in my somewhat meagre price bracket (hadn't ever seen or played before getting it - it's an early solid-state Bally from the late 70s / early 80s era with a futuristic theme, so is just my kind of thing). Turns out I like it a lot; chances are it'll stay forever too.

But the summerhouse is only just big enough for a row of 3 pinball machines, so that's the ultimate limit. But I also have a DE Astro Fighter cocktail cabinet and a wall-mounted pachinko "pinball" machine to squeeze in too! Oh, and some massive Mission floor-standing speakers and Cambridge Audio amp. Gotta haave some pounding music for that authentic arcade feeling :)
 
"Are you allowed to swap said pins in the future tho because that's inevitable"

And dont forget the "I'm only looking after this one for a mate", sometimes comes in handy!
 
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