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What do you love on a B-list machine?

johnwhitfield

johnwhitfield

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John Whitfield
Just been thinking about some of the aspects on unloved machines that for me separate them from the rest of the herd.

Flintstones - the ball going around the front of the apron raises a smile everytime it happens
ID4 - the sheer flow of the machine combined with the true cheesiness of the music
WCS - seeing kids automatically yell "Goal!" when they first play it. I don't even like football but need to have this pin in my collection at some future date.

What else am I missing? What features do you love enough to want to track an also-ran down rather than stick with the top 20 titles?
 
Great thread question John. I know some of these games below are hardly 'unloved' or count as 'also rans' but still.

Special Force ....which is barely a C list game, quite possibly a Z lister in some peoples eyes :D....BUT gotta love dropping bombs on the pop bumper 'huts' which then flash and 'machine gun' as they explode. Always loved that.

Indy 500 - the balls shooting out of the accelerator spinning gadget thing is always cool.

Tommy - is this a B list game ???, suppose it still is ..........the flipper blinders ! Nobody is ever less than wowed when they first see these in action, and you never tire of them either.

BS Dracula - the ball making its own way across the playfield on mist multiball :cool:

Baywatch - the right hand solenoid that reverses the ball direction and fires it back round the orbit to feed the upper left flipper. Great design.

Nascar - the ball racing around the entire playfield on launch. Awesome touch that.
 
WCS is hardly a B grade pinball.

The issue with prices/grading is that lots of people follow the herd rather than putting over their own opinion. Hence, it becomes self perpetuating.

Same with cars/antiques/juke boxes etc etc.
 
Some crazy designs on Gold Wings.
I wouldn't want them on all machines but as a curiosity the loop the loop ramps and spirals are very cool.
 
I really like WCS (apart from the weird bumps on the playfield) but sadly I doubt many would put it in in the first division;). Listed on IPDB as #77/300 and luckily still often available at sensible money. For me a better machine than say TOTAN, CV or Funhouse but maybe the theme just didn't click with the US. Played it for a couple of years before my son pointed out the magna save button. Never even noticed it before.

Thought I'd really like the ball jump and spinning disc on Lost In Space but was a bit underwhelmed when I eventually played it.

Really really really want to love BSD. The mist multiball is cool as **** but there's something about the grey and dark look of the machine that just doesn't do it for me.

Tommy blind shield thing is interesting. I like the way it's not overused. Think I've only ever had one game when it came out.
 
johnwhitfield said:
Really really really want to love BSD. The mist multiball is cool as **** but there's something about the grey and dark look of the machine that just doesn't do it for me.

Tommy blind shield thing is interesting. I like the way it's not overused. Think I've only ever had one game when it came out.
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The Shack awaits your visit .....one of the finest Tommys in the land and a sweet BSD await you :cool: Let me know when you are in Brighton dude.
 
BSD will surprise you, its one of the pins of the moment. When it all comes together its totally awesome.

One of my favorit shots in pinball and the most rewarding (for me) Hole in one shot on No Good Gofers.
 
The Shadow: the way the ball locks by being sucked in by a magnet is delicious
Goldeneye: shooting the satellite dish after the little ramp comes up, and it sticks to it .... it's stupendous!
South Park: ok there's not a lot of love for this game for some reason, but i love it when you get multiball spelled out with turds in the toilet
Sopranos: at one point in the game, it just goes Fu_ck **** **** **** **** **** Fu_ck **** **** **** **** **** Fu_ck **** **** **** **** ****
Rollergames: the music deserves a special mention all of its own. it's almost as good as the best music in pinball, which has to be in BK2K
Rollercoaster Tycoon: it rocks! there are ramps and wireforms everywhere, just like a real rolloercoaster
 
I didn't realise until i saw a thread on Pinside that Rollergames was actually a TV show. Here's the theme tune in all it's camp glory....

 
Another vote for BSD. Was going to sell mine due to space but realizing it is one of the best games ever made. Only had the 3 multiballs stacked once but what a rush!!!!!
 
GrizZ said:
Everyone seems to love the Count at the minute. Managed to stake the blood sucking, taunting b*stard to death twice in one game yesterday ....felt good :cool:
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An A lister dressed in B list clothes;)
 
The bonus award on Bally Atlantis, with a 'tentacle' reaching out to drag the bonus across the displays.

The mid-left side ball lock on Radical, which kicks the locked ball to stop a second ball entering, in a 'Newton's Cradle' type collision.

Party Animals' little Wurlitzer flashing away.

And while Premier/Gottlieb's Monte Carlo may not have many fans, I liked its 'alternative' Lane Change; the lamps on a set of rollovers continually scan, and holding the flipper button freezes it on one lane. The ball passing through a lit lane illuminated one of the bumpers for 10,000, the highest score I'd seen on a pop bumper at the time (1987).

Speaking of Gottliebs, I've never even seen the prison-break theme Big House, but I liked its 'auger' (drill) ball lifter, where a ball is elevated by the thread on a rotating column.

I suppose I should've known that the Sarge would like Special Force.
 
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You only get shoot the pyramid if you don't bother cancelling it before starting the game... :p Stargate is a much deeper game than HSII & BSD put together!!! :cool:
 
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