Introduction

If you go to my Inside A Pinball Game page you can view the insides of an EM game with a couple comparison photos of the insides of an Electronic game.  Imagine that they removed all of the "circuit board" components from the bottom of an EM game box.  Where would they put them?  That's right, on a modern circuit board that could be stored in the Backbox so that playfield crap wouldn't fall on them.  That one thing was a major change in Pinball games. That means DC power rather than AC power you find in the old games.  It also means an intelligent display (dot matrix or gas tubes) with lots of flashing lights, strobing lights, sound chips that enable the game to talk to you while you play, ramps, multi-balls, and habitrails added to the playfield.

Cost Is Not An Option!

The newer games I list below are much nicer and a lot of fun to play.  I think my wife Chris is getting very nervous because I started by paying around $500 for the first pair of electronic games that needed to be restored, and she probably sees another league up of money walking out the door.  In any case, they are in great condition and I'm very glad that I bought them. Right now I have over $50,000 "invested" in my newer games (yeah, right!).  I won't tell you the total investment since it is getting out of hand and if Chris reads this page she will kill me.

The descriptions below provide some history of the games, or other details relevant to how I got the games, and the links will take you to a page showing pictures of the games.  Sometimes I have more pictures than others because I bought a game, set it up, then took it back down to free up space for another game before I took pictures.  Since some of the games are standing on end in the basement rather than being set up for play, as I rotate them in to the playing lineup I'll take pictures and update the web pages where pictures are lacking.

Steve's Electronic Games

• Attack From Mars - This game is right up there with Medieval Madness. Lots of fun, but that center drain can make the game tough.  A humorous game to play, similar to Medieval Madness.  Williams/Bally made 3,450 of these games in December of 1995. 
   

• Banzai Run - I fell in love with this motorcycle theme game after playing it at a John Graves open house.  John ended up selling some games and I bought this one along with Dr. Who and Black Knight.  Still need to shop the game and add new decals that are worn off.  Williams made only 1,750 of these games in May of 1988 and it was the first and only game to have a second playfield in the upper backbox.
   

• Black Knight - A fun early solid state game with speech from the 80s that is a classic collectable game.  Williams made 13,075 of these games in November of 1980. This was the first game to have a "Magna-Save" along with a bonus ball where the player with the highest score won some additional free play time.  The game has two buttons on each side with one of the two buttons on each side used to enable the magna-save (when lit).  It was the first game to ever have a split level playfield (upper and lower playfield).

• Bobby Orr Power Play - I bought this 1977 Bally game from Kim (Mr. 68) for 400 bucks. The back glass has some flaking here and there, but it isn't that bad. There was the usual slingshot wear that was down to the playfield but some touching up of this area will turn it in to a decent game. My buddy Bally Tim had one that I got to play so I may sell the game once I get it fixed up and working (and playing a few hundred times).

• Charlie's Angels - This is yet another Gottlieb System 1 game that I bought from Kim for $400. The game was made in November of 1978 and there is evidence that Charlie's Angels was the first of the System 1 games to be made as a solid state game with a production run of 7,950 units. There's also an EM version of the game. It was designed by Allen Edwall with artwork by Gordon Morison. It features two flippers, two pop bumpers, a 5-bank and 3-bank of drop targets. There was some very minor flaking of the flesh colored artwork in front of the girls' faces, but other than that, pretty clean. It came with an original CPU board, power supply, and driver board. I was able to get the CPU board to work so that saves on buying a replacement board. The power supply was acting up and discovered that there were several cold solder joints so pulled it apart and replaced the old capacitors and resoldered all the connectors plus the power transistor and the -12 volt regulator. Everything was there on the game, just a matter of restoring it.

  Cleopatra - A fun early Gottlieb System 1 solid state game that came to me as a game almost ready for parting out due to its condition. This is a fun game that features a set of targets in front of the flippers. Basically you try to go down all the lanes at the top of the playfield as well as also knocking down the targets which correspond to a color that matches the upper lanes. They put a target right behind the center drop targets which is worth 5,000 points, but trying to hit this target to boost your points many times ends up with a ball straight down the middle as it rebounds towards the flippers. Nice touch trying to entice the player to rack up points the dangerous way. I would put Cleopatra in the top 4 of the System 1 games with Sinbad being the best or tied with Joker Poker. There's a 4 player EM version of the game as well as a 2 player version named Pyramid.

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Close Encounters is another Gottlieb System 1 solid state game which uses electronic scoring sounds rather than chimes. It too was in somewhat sad shape, but I restored it to a nice player. This is an odd game in the sense that either you like it, or you don't. I know others (this is you Jim) that think the game sucks, but many of my pinhead buddies think it's a great game to play. I'm with them on this game. When I first started playing it I thought it was somewhat boring, but then I realized just how hard it is to get a very high score on it and the tricks to racking up a good score and found it to be a deceptively entertaining game. I like this game and it's a game that is often played when company arrives. Note that there is a rarer 4 player EM version of this game that uses the electronic sound board rather than chimes.
   

• Coney Island - I got my Gameplan Coney Island from a former friend and VP at Qwest.  He had the game in his garage and hadn't really played it in quite awhile so when he found out I was collecting pinball games he asked me if I'd take it off his hands (the game was free).  I still have the game and it works but is has a few problems.  The main problem is that it needs to be restored since the rings are shot and the playfield is worn.  The backglass has some significant peeling so it isn't the best example I've seen of this game.
   

• Eight Ball - Really like this early solid state game and find it to be right up there with Joker Poker for fun.  Tough game to ever master.  Clay and I play this game every weekend.  Bally made 20,230 games of these games in September of 1977.  Although the game is an early solid state game, the sounds use no speech board but instead drive chimes as found in older EM games.
   

• Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition - Well, I had an Eight Ball, so therefore I needed an Eight Ball Deluxe to complete the collection.  I ended up getting the Limited Edition game only because it was available locally.  The Limited Edition has a smaller backbox but plays the same as the Eight Ball Deluxe.  Bally made 2,388 of these games in December of 1982.  Some collectors don't care for the smaller backbox compared to the full backbox version of Eight Ball Deluxe.  The original Eight Ball game was so popular Bally decided to make additional runs with the Limited Edition being the last run.
   

• Fathom - This is another game I got in a trade with my friend Bally Tim.  I traded him a nice looking Guns N' Roses for a Fathom, and the return of a Fish Tales game that was part of another trade.  I used to own the Fish Tales and ended up getting it right back after only having it gone for a few weeks.  I sold the Fish Tales rather quickly for $1200 but still have the Fathom which I don't intend to part with.  Since we made the trade, Fathom has really shot up in value so I ended up with a pretty good deal on the trade.  The game was not shopped when I got it (although it was playable), but since then I have completely torn the game down and cleaned and replaced parts and also removed the mylar that left a beautiful playfield.  Tim was nervous about me removing the mylar but it turned out fine.  Loose inserts had caused lifting under the mylar and the mylar was pretty worn so I decided to remove it.  Turned out great and it's a favorite game to play.  I also bought a full set of new plastics for the game in April of 2007.
   

• Fireball Classic - I paid $1,000 for this game that I bought from a local collector.  I had played the original Fireball game and found it to be quite fun so I thought I would buy the remake of the game that is an electronic version made in .
   

• Flash  -  I started looking for this game when my friend Jeff Schumacher was asking about one back in 1998.  I looked for years until I finally found not one game, but two games in late 2004.  Jeff got one and I got the other.  I have some pictures posted regarding the restoration effort I undertook to get Jeff's game in great shape.  Flash is the first game to have a constant background sound during play and the first game of any manufacturer to have flash lamps.  Williams made 19,505 games in January of 1979.
   
   

• Gorgar  -  I bought this game from my friend Tim (Bally Tim on RGP) and it too is a collectible game.  Fits nice with games of a similar era such as Flash and Black Knight.  Gorgar was the first production "talking" Pinball game that said 7 words.  The speech seems primitive compared to today's games, but for the time, having any speech at all was pretty impressive.  Williams produced 14,000 Gorgar games in December of 1979.
   

• Grand Lizard  -  I bought a Grand Lizard back in 1994 for nothing more than a parts box.  The playfield looked chewed up at the time but little did I know that almost all Grand Lizards have significant playfield wear.  My game isn't as bad as many others I've seen.  After playing a couple other Grand Lizards, I've decided that I will restore the game rather than use it as a parts box.  I found a spare MPU board back in 2001 that I bought since the board in this game looked as though it had been on fire.  The power supply board had been hard-wired which ultimately caused the MPU board to burn up.  I decided to repair the power supply board in early 2007 and at least I have that part of the game done.  The game is still standing on end waiting to be restored but not sure when I'll get around to doing it.  I'll be sure and take lots of restoration pictures showing the before and after state of the game when I get around to it.
   

• Joker Poker - One of my favorite games, Joker Poker is also one of the oldest of my Electronic games.  An electro-mechanical (EM) version of the game was built by Gottlieb as well as this being their first foray in to electronic games.  My game was shopped by Jim Swenson who did an absolutely beautiful job on the game making it look the best of any Joker Poker I have seen to date.  The interesting thing is that I bought this game as a parts box for 50 bucks since nothing worked and most all of the pins were either missing or corroded.  Jim took painstaking care to replace each and every edge connector and pins as well as replacing all the targets, pop bumpers, new coil tubes, and even the motherboard with a Ni-Wumpf board.  I play this game virtually every week and never get tired of it.  I have actually gone months without playing Medieval Madness (huh?) but never Joker Poker.  I just keep coming back since I can never master the game.  Clay and I play Joust, Eight Ball, then Joker Poker, and then whichever game I've recently bought since it will be new to the lineup.  Funny that we rarely ever play my newer games that are actually more popular than these old guys.  Even still, we love these old guys probably better than the new ones so they get played the most.  Nothing like whacking a target to make you feel good and Joker Poker is loaded with hard target shots.  The game is virtually unbeatable since you can play good one night and then not approach your old score for 6 months or more.  Gottlieb made 9,280 solid state games in August of 1978 and it was their first solid state electronic game.  There's also an electro-mechanical (EM) version of Joker Poker that looks the same but doesn't have the solid state electronics in it.  Only 820 EM games were made so they are pretty rare.
   

• Joust - Another great two-player game that I picked up from Jim Swenson who had shopped the game before trading it for my Star Trek The Next Generation.  Jim ended up finding another game in California and traded me the one I have and keeping the game from California.  When you play this game you stand across from each other looking down on the game and play it similar to a cocktail table game.  Kind of a simple game but another one that keeps you coming back since there is a strategy to causing your opponent to get less points by your shots.  Unlike other Pinball games, you have some interaction with the other player by how you play on your side of the game rather than just trying to top the other players score where you had no real involvement.  Williams only made 402 of these games in April of 1983 and it's the first head-to-head Pinball game in a flat table format.  The game is rare to find due to the low number of units made but I know of five of them here in Colorado.  Another truly collectible game.
   

• KISS - Another classic game that is very fun to play.  I traded my Tales Of The Arabian Nights for the KISS and a Flash Gordon and don't regret it one bit.  Very fun and quite collectable, probably more so than the TOTAN.  Bally made 17,000 KISS games in June of 1979.  It's still known as one of the most collectible games that can be owned not only for the celebrity theme, but it's fun to play.
   

• Mata Hari - I got this game as part of a trade with Bally Tim for my Fish Tales and his Mata Hari plus two extra playfields (one still in its original shipping box).  Tim thinks the game worked at one time but was disappointed in the playfield touchup that was done before he bought the game on eBay.  He was pretty disgusted when he saw the level of work that was done to hide playfield wear and bought a couple extra playfields including a new one that has never been on a game.  I plan to restore this game in late 2007 but we'll see how it goes.
   

• Medieval Madness - Thanks go to Mike for selling me this brand new game that has never been on a route (his personal game).  The sale included the box the game came in since Mike had not owned it for very long.  I've had many hours of fun playing this number one rated game, and the game itself is in absolute perfect shape with no flaws at all.  I have never seen another Medieval Madness game that is in as good a shape as mine (somewhat hard game to find in great shape due to their popularity).  Williams made 4,016 of this very popular game in June of 1997.  It features castles that "blow up" as well as trolls that pop out of the playfield inviting you to knock the heck out of them.
   

• Medusa - This is another game I really like although mine still has to be shopped.  You may want to check the game out as I add pictures.  The game box was damaged on the butt-end where it had been sitting in some water at one time.  I'll have to replace the butt-end of the game and paint it to make it look like the rest of the game.  Bally only made 3,250 Medusa games in February of 1981.  This game is highly collectible for a number or reasons - beautiful backglass artwork, digital displays in the playfield, upper zipper flippers, "metamorphic" drop targets, and a player controlled mini-post between the bottom flippers that is used to knock the ball back in to play.
   

• Monopoly - Got this new Home Use Only (HUO) game from Jim Swenson. Great deal and he even had an extra playfield to go with it. This is a newer game from Stern that is a lot of fun to play.  Stern made 3,640 of these games in September of 2001.
   

• Paragon - I paid $400 for a working Paragon in 2004.  The backglass is in pretty good shape for a Paragon which is known to have "lifting" of artwork.  This is a wide body game that is very fun to play.  The center of the playfield has rather extensive playfield wear, hence the price of only 400 dollars.  I've played the game so I know it works, however, it needs some serious restoration work done on it to bring it back to what I would call good condition.  The playfield artwork needs to be touched up, all the inserts need to be re-glued since they are all loose, and the game box needs to be repainted since the red is now pink.  We'll see when I get around to doing it.  Paragon was Bally's first wide body game and the first to use inline drop targets.  It was made in June of 1979 and they released 9,120 games.

• Pinball Pool - Yet another Gottlieb System 1 solid state game from 1979, Pinball Pool has plenty of targets to hit with a pool theme. I bought my first Pinball Pool game which required some repair and then found out that Kim (Mr. 68) had a game that was home use only (HUO). His game was beautiful and looked just like it did the day it was made. It had battery damage as many of the System 1 games have if the NiCad battery isn't changed out in time, so he replaced the CPU board along with the power supply, driver board, and sound board with a Pascal Janin board that has all four boards in one board. I don't think I'll ever sell this game due to it being rare in the shape it is today (like brand new).
   

• Playboy - I bought this 1978 Bally game from Bally Tim (Tim Leslie) for 500 bucks as a project game. There's a suspicion the game works but I haven't had time to check it out yet. It had significant playfield wear as so many of them do, so I'll have to either do a lot of playfield touchups or look for a better playfield. The backglass features Hugh Hefner with playmates Patti McGuire and Sondra Theodore. This is a fun game to play, hence all that playfield wear when you find one.

• Sinbad - I bought this 1978 Gottlieb game from Kim Mitchell (Mr. 68) for 650 bucks after searching for nearly two and a half years for one. They are quite collectable and can be hard to find if looking for a nice specimen. The game has a near perfect backglass and playfield and the cabinet shows no signs of wear. Kim did me a favor selling me the game in the condition it was in since he could've surely gotten twice as much for the game. It has an original CPU board that had some minor repairs where the battery leaked, and it came with a Rottendog power supply that appeared to be new. It also came with new plastics that still had the protective coating on them as well as a few new drop targets. Given that the playfield has no wear marks on it and Kim polished it up to look like brand new, my suspicion is that it had a low number of plays on it before it was taken down. Once they stored it with the old ni-cad battery in it, the battery leaked and caused some traces to be eaten away which kept the game from working for year. My suspicion is that someone was stealing drop targets off of it for another game since there were a variety of drop targets that were probably added by the previous owner that worked in a Pinball supply store. The game has almost no wear at all so it's hard to believe the targets were broken due to usage. Kim had done an excellent job cleaning the game up, and all I had to do was buy all new targets and replace them.

• Supersonic - I bought this 1979 Bally game from Gooch for 150 bucks as a project game. I also got a very nice loaded playfield from him for another 75 bucks. All of the parts are there and the playfield in the game has the normal wear which I will attempt to touch up before I consider doing a playfield swap. The spare playfield has almost no wear at all.
   

• Theatre Of Magic - Like new, this game is one of the most beautiful games I've come across, and it's my particular favorite, as well as my buddy Bob's.  This is another John Popadiuk game and shows his fine artistic prowess.  Williams/Bally made 6,600 of these units in March of 1995.  There is a magic trunk on the playfield that rotates and features a "levitating" ball effect that begins multi-ball.  Unlike most games the upper lanes are viewed by looking at a mirror.  The game also features a "spirit ring" that captures the ball from the left side of the playfield and releases it on the ramp on the right side.
   

• Twilight Zone - Lots of stuff to this game.  Don't know if I will ever master it.  I bought it and the Indiana Jones together sight unseen and it too was absolutely filthy.  I've seen games in better shape, but the playfield on this game is nearly perfect due to the dirt that protected it.  Folks should take better care of their games although their loss was my gain in this case.  Williams made 15,235 games in April of 1993.  It has more patents on it due to the numerous things that can be done than any game made to date.  It's the only game that has a ceramic "Power Ball" that is 20% lighter than a steel Pinball and plays much faster.
   

• Viking - Viking is another game I got in trade with Bally Tim that involved my Scared Stiff game.  Turns out that I love Viking and doubt it will be a game I part with anytime soon.  Viking was made by Bally in December of 1979.  They produced 2,600 units of the game.  The artwork was done by Kevin O'Connor who states that he designed the artwork for this game based on reading Frans Gunner Bengtsson's "The Long Ships" at the time. The backglass is O'Connor's vision of King Harald's Christmas feast.  The character in green (with a beard) to the left of the fighters is a self-portrait by Kevin. Brook Shields (popular at the time) is drawn as a background character on the right.