I’m a little late on this one because I had the sale paper laying around for a couple of days before I noticed these little gems. You still have time to grab a few 2″ Quick-Grip Irwin Handi-Clamps for $0.99 at Menards, which is a pretty good deal IMHO. (more…)

I’m a big video arcade game fan, but do love a good game of pinball. I own LOTR and have a project Firepower pending, but a recently acquired Flight 2000 pinball machine by Stern, see coinopspace for details, has motivated me to try my hand at pin restoration. (more…)

I’m not a huge pin head, but I do appreciate a good game of pinball and I enjoy reading about collector efforts to restore them. Recently on RGP, (rec.games.pinball) Hugh posted a cool little video about removing mylar from a pinball machine playfield. I’ve got a Firepower pin in the garage that is going to need some similar attention very soon, so I thought it was worth sharing this video and archiving it for my future reference Enjoy and thanks for sharing Hugh.

Removing Mylar from a playfield with freeze spray

There are a lot of opinions on the best way to remove mylar from a playfield, so I encourage you to do your homework before doing this yourself. Start by searching the RGP Google group archives and perhaps read the tutorials on the marvin3m site. Take your time and have fun.

I haven’t tackled a pin restoration yet, but at some point I’ll start on the firepower machine I have that’s been waiting for a little TLC. This thread over in RGP got me thinking about my pin project and about pinball restoration efforts in general.

Read the RGP thread here.

I think the new process is a great idea and hopefully a less costly alternative to silk screened glass reproductions. Knowing a little about silk screening from my Berzerk control panel reproductions, I can only imagine the time and effort required to produce a repro pin glass. The cost certainly reflects this. Being able to produce the same quality effect on a translite could be a fantastic way to repro some backglass art that might otherwise never get done.

Pinball restorations are a worthy cause, let Steve Young or the pin community in general know how you feel. Get involved and help save some games!

Every 5 or 6 years I have been the lucky recipient of a fantastic company bonus. The first one was a NIB Lord of the Rings pinball from Stern in 2002, this time it was a NIB Simpson’s Pinball Party from Stern. This game came from the most recent and final short run and has a manufactured date of October 24, 2008. Here it is after the driver dropped it on my driveway.

I was anxious to open it up and move it into the game room, but I’d need help. I called my friend Bill K and he agreed to come over. (more…)

I got a chance to visit the Stern pinball factory on Thursday for a tour of the facility. This was part of the package deal from the Pinball Expo and I think it was worth every penny. Three school bus loads of happy pinheads piled out to wait in line for their turn to see the goodies up close. (more…)

While I’m a big vid fan, I do love a good game of pinball. The annual Pinball Expo is held in the Chicago land area and missing out on a chance to play so many pins is just not an option. I ran down to the Westin Hotel for the first day of the show just to pick up my pass and ticket for the Stern Tour today at 9:45am. I wasn’t expecting so much to be set up and ended up staying until after 11pm. There were a couple virtual pins, a Hercules, and lots of rare stuff. Looks like this is going to be another fantastic event. (more…)