It has been an interesting couple weekends for my Arcade collecting shenanigans!
During some idle lunch-time web browsing I finally found a Williams Indiana Jones for sale, locally. I'm super excited to have added it to the collection..
Indy
The owner was this really cool local business owner who at one point in the past had owned an Arcade, there were all of these treasures of awesome arcade and other things from another era. It was a little bit like a well-organized American Pickers' episode. :)
This machine (and some others) had cycled their way through his remaining business, a very successful and awesome diner in Mobile, AL called Big Time Diner.
Condition-wise, the machine is a little more rough than I normally would want to engage. The overall condition is probably an 7 out of 10 which wouldn't be bad but my general rule is that I will not buy something with a damaged play field. The guy's tech, fixing a dead flipper ran a 5/8 in screw in place of the 1/2 inch screw normally used to secure things under the play field. This resulted in a puncture, though the puncture is beneath the flippers, so doesn't effect gameplay.
What *I think* the pinball tech was probably dealing with was the holes had worn larger (in diameter) and so he used different screws. A bunch of ways to solve that but in a pinch, you can break off a toothpick into the hole and go back with the proper size screw, it will be secure and you won't puncture the play field of a 23 year old collectible pinball machine, win / win. :) </passive aggressive rant>
Other issues with the machine are the translite (which appears to be repro anyway), the miniature playfield and the drop targets.
The mini playfield doesn't function, new motor, gearbox and opto board on the way should correct that. The translite looks to have been cleaned with windex from the back, which bleeds through and removes the ink. That and a layer of what appears to be wild mold between the glass and the translite. yuck!
Finally, the drop targets need a little adjustment, the tops of the targets are no longer flush with the play field, which sometimes captures a ball in the groove.
Eventually, I'll plan to do a complete tear-down, clean and rebuild of this machine. But not this summer - we will play it first!:)
The Pac!
The same owner had a basement full of arcade classics. They were not original cabinets but they did have original boards and they were some of the best remakes I've seen. I was really happy to bring Pac-Man home and a good friend was happy to give a home to his Donkey Kong. There were other games, too - not for sale yet. :)
Running out of room again!
In the end, we have 14 machines now. It is a bit crowded so I'll be doing a little re-arranging soon.