Are there any pitfalls to owning an Atari pinball machine?
kiki...@yahoo.com
am wondering if it is hard to find parts or if they break more often
than a typical Williams or Bally. I have a couple machines and can
work on them a little. Is an old Atari a lot different? I have read
online that they were not very durable in an arcade setting;
basically, that were just crappy machines.
Is there anything I should know before adding an Atari to my
collection of Williams and Ballys?
Richiep
I think you'll find no lack of opinions here on RGP. Never seen much
chatter here about Atari pinballs
probably becasue they're just not as collectible or popular as the
Gottliebs, Williams and Ballys.
Guess the decision to buy (or not) comes down to what you want to do
with the game. If it's in working condition and
if you're just gonna keep it and play it, I'd say go for it, as long
as you're getting it on the 'cheap'.
If on the other hand, it needs a lot of work, you're hoping to fix it
up and resell it and you're not getting it for a 'song',
I'd say pass.
seymour-shabow
Yes, you'll have an Atari machine ;)
Parts are a little harder to find with John Robertson seeming to have
all of them - if it were cheap enough and 100% working, go for it.
-scott CARGPB#29
Schus
I was wondering about this too... Are they harder to fix???? Still
looking for a nice Atarians to add to the collection.....
homebrood
I almost pulled the trigger on an Atari Superman not too long ago.
Looks like some of them were fun games playwise, and artwork was
pretty neat on most of them. If one came along I wouldn't have any
problems with adding one of those cute little phillies my stable...
God that was dorky! :) Sorry. But it looks like they would be about
the same to maitain, all makes have their advantages and weaknesses if
you ask me...
Tom
kenny_ii
Most Ataris put you at risk of falling asleep while playing them, so a
carpeted game room would be helpful. I had a gorgeous Airborne back
whan I had a shop, and thought about taking it home until I got it
working. Given all the collectible aspects, I still could not justify
hanging onto it. Most others are the same. I know Superman has some
followers, but having not played that one I can't say if it's better
than the others.
K2
AVP Pinball Division
news:78102331-0e3e-43e2...@42g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
I own Airborne Avenger, Middle Earth and Superman. Sold an extra Airborne
Avenger I had to my nephew.
Pistol Pete
Parkville, MD
seymour-shabow
Superman is the best playing Atari IMO. The rest of them are eh....
-scott CARGPB#29
James
brought home a superman that a toy store had thrown out
It was probably in bad shape, but I remember playing it in the
backyard, it worked!
Fast forward about 25 years and I see the game for sale at allentown
with a price of $1100....just recently noticed it was a steve ritchie
game too
Thanks, James
Schus
>
> - Show quoted text -
Agreed out of the ones I played so far.....Mike Pacak had one I put
numerous games on....Has anybody played/owned Atarians? How is that
one?
edcianci
>
> - Show quoted text -
superman is a great game - very fast game times - keeps you coming
back like crazy - pitfalls are most people don't work on atari boards
- i have 2 supermans and the second one is being clearcoated now -
throw some leds in it and it looks great - and it also plays fast if
you tilt it right - i also use a power ball. great game
ps: yes i will be selling the 2nd one - but a ri collector will have
the first chance as he used to come over my house and play 25 games in
an hour on the one i bought in baltimore.
and yes i had to listen to balboarules and aldo bust my balls as we
drove all the way to baltimore to pick up a superman - they harrassed
me the whole ride. the game was huo and mint so it was worth the drive
- well to me it was. baltimore is only like 7 or 8 hours from ri - i
think - i don't remember as i slept most of the way.
thanks ed
Captain Neo
manual will walk you step by step on what to check on the boards if
something goes wrong. Brilliant. Wish B/W would have done that.
Zep77
to replace if you have to is the score/display board.If that goes
out,good luck.Easier to find a cheap entire machine than the board
alone.
Mike
miracleman
One of the Orlando guys down here has 5 or 6 of them, and an extra
game for parts, I think.
Any time he has a party I can't get enough time on them.
The wide pfs are a CHALLENGE that some just aren't up for.
;)
Schus
I would still love to play a Roadrunner.....
flipper
>
> - Show quoted text -
IMO Superman is the only atari worth the time.... they had just made
the best game they ever did.........finally put all the boards in the
head where they belong .......so on all the others when the first time
someone worked on the board and didn't put the cover board back on
( and many were discarded) metal shavings from the under playfield
mechs could drop on board and cause some unexpected fun...............
and then they shut their doors ...........!!
goatdan
part. I think they work in collections where you have like, 10 games,
but in small collections they are just not "pinball" enough. There is
a certain group of games that I think fall into the same category --
Street Fighter II, Orbitor 1 and Rapid Fire. In a small collection,
they don't play like the traditional thing that you think of when you
are playing pinball, so it's kind of strange. In a larger collection
though, they are a nice pause when you go from fan layout to fan
layout. The wide bodies are extremely challenging to hit the right
shots, but extremely slow. The only problem with them is parts -- I
thought about buying a couple of them as projects, but the fixing is
the pain in the butt.
I'd love a place big enough to fit a Hercules eventually. Even though
that game sucks, there is definitely something about it. Of course,
I'd put in 100ish other games first...
Lloyd Olson
"flipper" <chica...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ca2397ca-56cf-42f4...@w12g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
Reinhard
> Must be because Steve Ritchie designed it. LTG :)
>
>
> news:ca2397ca-56cf-42f4...@w12g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
>
> IMO Superman is the only atari worth the time....
On a similar note, Airborne Avenger is the only other one worth
playing - probably because it is also a SR design. Before I even knew
there was a Steve Ritchie, AA played like what I expected a pinball to
play like. Playing Middle earth and Space Riders just seemed like a
waste of a quarter. And Time 2000 and The Atarians are even worse.
Superman is by far, the better of all of them and much easier to
service electronically than the older set of games with the boards
below the playfield. Believe me, I cut my Technician's teeth working
on plenty of them when we were operating them. The older system was
easily "zapped" by untrained hands or fallen hardware. The Superman
system (Also in Hercules) was much more reliable when humans were
given the keys to the door.
RB
Pinthetic
Roadrunner, (and I have worked on the one with generation 2 boards
several times), would have been a killer game. Nutron Star needed
refinement but I believe would have done well too. This CPU has a
serial bus feature that makes the board not work with Superman or
Hercules roms. Imagine that, we did not see that on any other pins
until much later.
The early games were just OK. That display caused us a ton of trouble
in the field as well as nuts falling onto the CPU board. I hated
moving those games around town. Everytime we moved one it would have
issues and have to move it back to the shop. I must have worn out Al
Vernons ears back then with phone calls. But he made me a good Atari
Tech. I would go up to Borreagas and spend the whole day there. He
talked and I listened. Mark Sherman was also great with teaching me
that system. Once you get the idea of how the boards at Atari were
designed by thier engineers it became much simpler to understand. The
engineers that designed them were video and computer board designers,
not pinball designers. It was a learning curve for them. They were
getting it but time ran out.
As some of you know the early games used Ledex coils for the flippers.
That company, the last time I checked, is still in business. Those
coils are repairable but we installed the retrofit flippers in the
games anyway.
If you get a chance sometime listen to Steve Ritchie's accounts of
that era and his experiences there at Atari.
If someone would make a replacement display and CPU I believe it would
save many of the remaining games from destruction. (Hint-hint-wink).
Mario
Pinthetic
On Jun 15, 7:25 pm, "Lloyd Olson" <l...@ssbilliards.com> wrote:
> Must be because Steve Ritchie designed it. LTG :)
>
> "flipper" <chicago...@aol.com> wrote in message
John Robertson
The CPU is relatively easy to fix, and as there is no battery there is
never any corrosion to deal with. I have about fifteen of these and a
few NOS ones so there isn't much point in making them.
As for the replacement LED style display - I have put a bee in someones
bonnet about that about six months ago. Interest was solid. Stay tuned!
John :-#)#
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 15, 7:25 pm, "Lloyd Olson" <l...@ssbilliards.com> wrote:
>> Must be because Steve Ritchie designed it. LTG :)
>>
>> "flipper" <chicago...@aol.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news:ca2397ca-56cf-42f4...@w12g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> IMO Superman is the only atari worth the time....
>
--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."
miracleman
one with a good slope to the pf.
ANY widebody with a good steep pf is a whole new game!
Zep77
> Anyone complaining about game play on theAtari'sjust needs to play
> one with a good slope to the pf.
> ANY widebody with a good steep pf is a whole new game!
i raised the back of my Airborne Avenger all the way up and put a 2x4
under the back legs which made it *better* but unfortunately still not
great. Love the artwork on the Atari's and REALLY want to like them
but simple fact is they just dont play very well. I agree they are
good in a big collection to play once in a while and look at all the
time but are a dud in small collection.
Mike
Jonny O
pinballkings nephew
playing the two also. my uncle dennis owned two of them back in the
good old days when i spent my afternoons after school working,
cleaning, and talking pinball
dothedoo
having owned Space Riders I have to agree with kenny_ii. The game
will bore you to tears. I'm not saying not to buy it. I'm just
telling you what to be prepared for and you will probably flip it
quickly.
Bill Stahly