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Bally Playboy freshen up


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I’ve had my Playboy Machine for a few years now and because I’ve been busy doing some of my EM restores I’ve sort of ignored it.

When I got it someone had already done a full playfield swap on it with a brand new CPR one although they didn’t really do a very good job on a lot of the soldering but it’s passable depending on how fussy you want to get.

The inside leg plates in the cabinet were as rough as guts with at least two of them only capable of one bolt each in them because of rusted broken bolts in them so I replaced them all.

It had no free game knocker installed just the cut off wires were one would have been, so a brand new equivalent Williams one was fitted and it’s nice and loud and sometimes makes you jump when you win a free game which is the way I like it, wish I could get my Gotlieb ones to be nice and loud like that but the Gotlieb ones are a real crappy design which only make a barely audible crack.

As far as the boards go the main power and solenoid driver board were already replaced with brand new Altek boards, and the lights were playing up really bad so I replaced the light board with a new one and fitted a full colour LED kit which turned out really nice however the pics don’t capture all the difference with the colours that you see in real life but it just gives the game such a different feel to it, although a few of the led’s do flicker a bit which the new board with the jumper lead is supposed to stop from doing but it’s not that bad I suppose had to change a heap of lamp sockets to make them more reliable too.

The sound board died on me and a couple of the displays were really bad so off to Ken @skybeux they went and are all good now I also bought another spare sound board from the States just in case I need another.

Don’t get me started on the rectifier board it was so rough and badly hacked smoke stared coming out of the head box one one occasion when I was trying to play a game, so it was quickly replaced with a new Altek one.

New CPR backglass was fitted but I must admit I’m not really happy with it as it’s the early CPR version that they did which is really dark colours the new one that they have done up the colours are more true to the original and looks so much better.

I also would really like to re do the cabinet as who ever did it before I got it didn’t do the best of jobs, it looks ok from a distance but when you get up close it don’t look that great but for the love of god I can’t find Playboy stencils anywhere online in the world, apparently everyone who did do them have stopped due to some sort of tight copyright that gets heavily enforced so I’m not sure what I’m going to do in that department yet, but at least I’ve made a start on it and I’m really enjoying playing the darn thing too.

https://i.imgur.com/a2diLVL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bTPKYwq.jpg

 

 

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Nice job.

Cant say I'm a fan of those leds though. Looks like a Todd Tuckey special :D

 

I did think the same as you awhile back but in person they just look so good I just can’t get my iPhone to capture all the different colours and how good it really does look, and I don’t know how to explain it but it even makes the game feel more fun to play, not to mention that they are more reliable cooler to run and use less power.

 

 

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It is a fun game from my era and better value then a Kiss from the same era.

 

 

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Would love a Bally kiss to sit next to my Stern Le Kiss but for what people are asking for them no thanks they can keep them, I would however love a Harlem Globetrotters Machine I used to love playing that in the days when machines were simple and fun to play

 

 

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Would love a Bally kiss to sit next to my Stern Le Kiss but for what people are asking for them no thanks they can keep them, I would however love a Harlem Globetrotters Machine I used to love playing that in the days when machines were simple and fun to play

 

 

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I was trying to stick to Gottliebs, but I think I need Bally’s from that era too. A Harlem would be great to have I think.

 

 

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The biggest difference game wise between Gottlieb system 1 and Bally 17-35 boards is memory. The Gottliebs are always a single ball memory where as Ballys have the ability to remember what you did in earlier balls. Things like super bonus on Harlem being retained from ball to ball can't be done on the Gottlieb system because of this lack of memory.

Gottlieb got around this lack of memory in EMs simply making the game a single player machine but any multi player machine always had no ball to ball memory ability until system 3.

I always thought this was a shame because I would have liked to have seen two of my favourite Gottlieb EMs, Sure Shot and Buccaneer done as system one machines.

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Nice job and looks good. Has come a long way from your description. Should be solid as a rock now for you to just play and enjoy. Yep sits right in my sweet spot as well for pinball. Love that era. The Bally's and Sterns from then are where the fun is at. Thanks for sharing.

 

sent from somewhere in the colony [emoji220]

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I thought the CPR darkish BG problem was gone so late last year I ordered the lot for a playboy we have also decided to "freshen/tidy up" one day. Playfield happy enough with, plastics - yeh they will do, Topper, what the heck why not, BG a little disappointed as it looks like they have used a slate grey backing (dense) instead of the silver normally seen on original.

A new GPE rectifier board got ours running but it's still pretty rough and now in storage awaiting.

 

The stencils are a problem though as you said Rob due to the copyright thing.

 

Just an add-on. The hardest thing I've ever had to find for a Playboy (had one before) was the "Bally" hooded lane guide plasics at the top entry. Unobtanium last time I tried.

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Looks very schmick Rob. LEDs always look better in person hey. Played a playboy years ago and thought it was a great game. But in that photo I keep getting distracted by the EMs... There is something about the clickety klak noises or the lack of computer chips or something else that keeps me coming back to the EMs.

 

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Just an add-on. The hardest thing I've ever had to find for a Playboy (had one before) was the "Bally" hooded lane guide plasics at the top entry. Unobtanium last time I tried.

 

Yep, The guides with the "Bally" logo have never been remade in white in 1.5" size for Playboy. Planetary had a NOS sample & made logo guides in red that size but not white, kept me hanging on - I bought some red ones for my Mata Hari, but they never did the white ones. So close doing the red ones the same size I though it would happen - bloody frustrating, & their would be the demand for white ones.

 

Or, buy a bunch of shitty old yellowed Bally logo guides for about AU$200.00!

 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/60-Bally-Embossed-Pinball-Machine-Lane-guides/283449812729?hash=item41feece6f9:g:r7wAAOSwrW5csRsT&frcectupt=true

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Looks like you've got the resting position of the flippers too far forward, must be difficult shooting the September standup and the right side lane to the Grotto.

 

The original Bally playfields have little divots which are used to align the flippers. The middle of the flipper tips should meet the divots - see the below image:

 

Playboy_Flippers.thumb.jpg.e2e12ca478c73ba46ac02ac7aad2df53.jpg

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Looks like you've got the resting position of the flippers too far forward, must be difficult shooting the September standup and the right side lane to the Grotto.

 

The original Bally playfields have little divots which are used to align the flippers. The middle of the flipper tips should meet the divots - see the below image:

 

https://www.aussiearcade.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152944

 

Never knew that there was a guide to align the flippers I just set them by eye to what I thought was right at the time, and with the shots I’ve never had any trouble shooting for any of them and I’ve even had games mind you not often that I have clocked the machine

 

 

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Never knew that there was a guide to align the flippers I just set them by eye to what I thought was right at the time, and with the shots I’ve never had any trouble shooting for any of them and I’ve even had games mind you not often that I have clocked the machine

 

I agree with Quench on the flipper positions. I played around a fair bit & found on all my SS Bally games the shots were better when flippers were in this approx. postition rather than angled up higher away from the divot. The right flipper is in the exact postion I like it - the left flipper appears to be up a bit more & need a slight adjustment down for how I pefer it but the divot is a good guide.IMG_0374.thumb.jpg.8a1605ec6bcda24288110443b5fcc147.jpg

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I agree with Quench on the flipper positions. I played around a fair bit & found on all my SS Bally games the shots were better when flippers were in this approx. postition rather than angled up higher away from the divot. The right flipper is in the exact postion I like it - the left flipper appears to be up a bit more & need a slight adjustment down for how I pefer it but the divot is a good guide.https://www.aussiearcade.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152955

 

I might have a play around with them on the weekend and see what I come up with

 

 

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I think you nailed it on the LED GI colour but maybe just a tad to strong. I think the bumpers should be lit by bright white instead of pink and maybe the top arches the same.

And like all machines with no flipper return lane lighting, an LED strip under the apron. This lights up behind the flippers and the surrounding area to match the rest of the playfield's lit level rather than dark.

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I'm not sure if I can explain this clearly and I don't know if this is correct but I normally line my the top/face edge of my flipper up with the lane guide so they are the same angle. So in essence when the ball feeds down the inlane it just continues smoothly down and straight on to the flipper.

 

sent from somewhere in the colony [emoji220]

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I'm not sure if I can explain this clearly and I don't know if this is correct but I normally line my the top/face edge of my flipper up with the lane guide so they are the same angle. So in essence when the ball feeds down the inlane it just continues smoothly down and straight on to the flipper.

 

Aligning the flippers with the return lanes might be ok for other manufacturers, but not how classic Ballys are intended. It angles the flipper shots more towards the centre of the playfield which in these old games are usually of no interest to shoot.

See the below example from Ballys Medusa which has red playfield inserts that light under the transparent flippers - the flipper alignment divots are clearly at the point of where the flippers tips should rest.

The game will play better when the flippers are in the right spot.

 

IMG_0013a.thumb.jpg.9380ffde7a998d7ef5b7ca233fe6961b.jpg

Edited by Quench
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