Sold Williams Sorcerer - £2450

[Ashbo]

Listing my Williams Sorcerer - space, the enemy once again and something has to give....sorry girl...

Asking price £2450, collection Long Sutton, Lincolnshire - PE12 9BP

Original purchased from JMP earlier this year : https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/or-poss-trade-williams-sorcerer.54873/#post-497405

I've been keeping a log of little jobs todo and done here : https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/williams-sorcerer-1985-mini-shop.56351/

Also had an issue with a controlled light row, resolved here : https://www.pinballinfo.com/communi...rolled-lamp-row-seemingly-low-on-power.56831/

The Good:
Stunning mirrored back glass
Plays perfectly
Plastics, rubbers and bulbs replaced by previous owner.
Legs new, replaced by previous owner.
Glass in great condition, assume new with previous owner.
Its had a refurb at some point, assume when passing from private ownership from arcade.

The Bad:
Original cab artwork, its 38 years young - expect some scuffs and scratches and some touch ups (not done by me).
Small black touch in on the bottom of the back glass near the lift trim, you wouldn't notice it if you didn't know - see pics (not done by me)
The playfield has had some minor touch ins in the past, protected by mylar. There is swirling visible that I couldn't / wouldn't shift, however its in good condition otherwise.
All three pop bumper caps have chips missing - you cant see these from the players position, but see pics.

EDIT: forgot the Millon digit on player 4 flickers. I forget as I don't have three friends so never saw it beyond first inspection. now fixed, reseated cables...DOH. thanks @Fantazia2

 

[Ashbo]

More pics, just added a few of rear of glass and inside back box

 

[thejefu]

Great game

 

[Fantazia2]

With reference to Player 4 million digit flickering, the strobe is shared with player 2 so if that display doesnt have the same filcker issue then it will be likely either the display unit itself or the driver for player 4 on the display control board. Should be easy to narrow that down as you can swap out the displays between player 1, 2, 3 or 4, if the issue moves with the display then thats your issue, if it stays with player 4 then it will be on the display driver board.

 

[Ashbo]

With reference to Player 4 million digit flickering, the strobe is shared with player 2 so if that display doesnt have the same filcker issue then it will be likely either the display unit itself or the driver for player 4 on the display control board. Should be easy to narrow that down as you can swap out the displays between player 1, 2, 3 or 4, if the issue moves with the display then thats your issue, if it stays with player 4 then it will be on the display driver board.

Ok, checked quickly by swapping no issues. All back together, it's all working. Check and reset cables......jeese Ash!! Thanks @Fantazia2

 

[Fantazia2]

Ay yes the old unplug and plug it back in again trick.

 

[Ashbo]

Ay yes the old unplug and plug it back in again trick.

 

[Devorian]

You also forgot to mention that it's also extremely rare to find in the U. K.

 

[Ashbo]

You also forgot to mention that it's also extremely rare to find in the U. K.

Yup, recent estimates are approx. 3. I think this one was imported from Europe. Coin door inserts have Guilder mark, so I'd think Netherlands was where it did it's money making originally.

 

[Devorian]

Yup, recent estimates are approx. 3. I think this one was imported from Europe. Coin door inserts have Guilder mark, so I'd think Netherlands was where it did it's money making originally.

From my reckoning the few listed on pinball owners (UK residence) are in fact duplicates of the same two machines. There may be a third one, maybe others in the U. K.?? If there are more examples people are keeping very quiet about it.

 

[Ashbo]

Sold pending payment and collection. Will make a site donation once it goes through.

 

[steve brum]

A lot of Williams games were not officially distributed at this time as pinball was on its ****

Sorcerer was skipped over as Space Shuttle was either selling really well OR the official UK disto Deith had be over optomistic!

So any in the UK would be imports. Same goes for Time Fantasy , Warlok , Star light

Cosmic Gunfight and Firepower 2 were picked up by Associated Leisure as close outs - sold cheap to operators - so are more common in the UK than they should be.

I have been a massive fan of Williams games for as long as I could reach the flippers and have ticked most of the electronic games off the owned list. I'm not a fan of their EM output. I decided after 30 years than Barracora is the best system 7 game not Black Knight.

 

[Devorian]

I decided after 30 years than Barracora is the best system 7 game not Black Knight.

I must agree, with the H. R. Giger inspired artwork, Williams iconic sounds and intricate gameplay makes it a very desirable pin.

 

[Ashbo]

Sold pending payment and collection. Will make a site donation once it goes through.

Site donation made.

 

[VeeMonroe]

You also forgot to mention that it's also extremely rare to find in the U. K.

Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on this one. I enjoyed it at tournament and, if it pops up again, I have the space and am still keen to rip/replace playfields, I might pick it up as a project

 

[Ashbo]

Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on this one. I enjoyed it at tournament and, if it pops up again, I have the space and am still keen to rip/replace playfields, I might pick it up as a project

I think this one is ok without a playfield replacement, it plays beautiful. Sometimes it's nice to keep it original unless it's knackered, which this one isnt. Not sure how I feel about a 1985 game with a playfield looking like a mirror shine, unless the original was bare wood or growing new antibiotic strains between planks.

 

[AlanJ]

Oh you can’t beat a brand new cpr playfield in an old game. they’re amazing.

 

[Ashbo]

Oh you can’t beat a brand new cpr playfield in an old game. they’re amazing.

There are both CPR and Micro available for Sorcerer. The colours are so bold and vibrant, would definitely look amazing. I couldn't bring myself to remove a playfield that's held up so well.

 

[kev a]

Too nice and too rare for a repro, not that it needs it but if the new owner wanted to take it to another level, a very sympathetic touch up then lock it all in with a clear coat would be the way to go with this one.

 

[VeeMonroe]

Too nice and too rare for a repro, not that it needs it but if the new owner wanted to take it to another level, a very sympathetic touch up then lock it all in with a clear coat would be the way to go with this one.

Am I making a mistake on which Sorcerer this is (with it being so rare)? The playfield on the photos looks okay, but the one I played at tournament played fine but had loads of art missing...

Speaking as someone who's swapping a playfield on an Alien Poker, 'plays nicely' and 'looks bit of a mess' are pretty different. @AlanJ had done a bunch of work getting our Alien Poker working nicely and it played *really* well. Incredibly speedy play, everything in working order. Visually speaking, the playfield looked f****g awful. Hence, the replacement. And, yeah, I'm worried the swap makes it play less smooth.

I've also played games with playfields that have held up fine except for a bit of deep wear in one particular spot where it f**ked up the game entirely. There's a Flash Gordon floating around with an enormous splinter right beside the right flipper, so you have to account for the ball getting stuck on it while timing shots.

 

[Ashbo]

Am I making a mistake on which Sorcerer this is (with it being so rare)? The playfield on the photos looks okay, but the one I played at tournament played fine but had loads of art missing...

Speaking as someone who's swapping a playfield on an Alien Poker, 'plays nicely' and 'looks bit of a mess' are pretty different. @AlanJ had done a bunch of work getting our Alien Poker working nicely and it played *really* well. Incredibly speedy play, everything in working order. Visually speaking, the playfield is f****g awful. Hence, the replacement. And, yeah, I'm worried the swap makes it play less well.

I've also played games with playfields with a bit of deep wear in one particular spot where it f**ks up the game entirely. There's a Flash Gordon floating around with an enormous splinter right beside the right flipper, so you have to account for the fact the ball hangs up on it while timing shots.

This isn't the one from pinfest last year

 

[VeeMonroe]

This isn't the one from pinfest last year

The one at Pinfest last year could use a cosmetic playfield swap

 

[kev a]

Normally all for swapping out a playfield if there is a new one available and its a keeper... why not.

But given this is possibly the nicest in the UK already, needs a bit more consideration.

Wouldn't worry about your new playfield playing less smooth though Vee, if you mark out the positions on the old one it should play the same, but fast, really bloody fast

 

[VeeMonroe]

Normally all for swapping out a playfield if there is a new one available and its a keeper... why not.

But given this is possibly the nicest in the UK already, needs a bit more consideration.

Wouldn't worry about your new playfield playing less smooth though Vee, if you mark out the positions on the old one it should play the same, but fast, really bloody fast

I got the wrong Sorcerer... It's sufficiently rare that I thought it was the one at Pinfest last year. This one, looking closely at the pictures, looks pretty nice

 

[Devorian]

I got the wrong Sorcerer... It's sufficiently rare that I thought it was the one at Pinfest last year.

You could be referring to my Sorcerer (the other one ) , although I've only owned it since May, so don't know it's history. I've just started work on painting the cabinet and polishing the metal. The playfield hasn't been touched and does show signs of ball swirls, saying that I'm not about to change it anytime soon. If you saw one worn down to the wood that could be another.

 

[David_Vi]

The one from Pinfest last year was @steve brum 's . I remember him setting it up and there being a giant spider in the playfield

 

[Ashbo]

You could be referring to my Sorcerer (the other one ) , although I've only owned it since May, so don't know it's history. I've just started work on painting the cabinet and polishing the metal. The playfield hasn't been touched and does show signs of ball swirls, saying that I'm not about to change it anytime soon. If you saw one worn down to the wood that could be another.

I agree, plenty of life left in that playfield too. Let's be fair, with home use and regular cleaning, it's never getting any worse

The years of barn storage in hot and cold extremes should be gone.

 

[Ashbo]

The one from Pinfest last year was @steve brum 's . I remember him setting it up and there being a giant spider in the playfield

That is truly horrifying, if that happened to me it wouldn't be the play field that needed changing

 

[Devorian]

The one from Pinfest last year was @steve brum 's . I remember him setting it up and there being a giant spider in the playfield

That's the same table you're looking at, with a quick polish and wax.