Pinball anyone? This past Saturday morning, the Tiu family pinball machine was picked up for long time needed service. Eastman did all the legwork and found someone local who repairs and services these machines. Rich Huff, Midwest Pinball, was really nice and incredibly knowledgeable!
Apparently, it isn’t too difficult to find replacement parts for this generation of Bally pinball machines, a number of games use the same board set. Hopefully there wasn’t too much leaking of any old batteries inside the game, either. I believe Rich told me that there were less than 1000 of these machines made (I want to say 800-900, but I can’t remember). Because of its trucking theme, you’d find these primarily at rest stops, truck stops, bars… and a few of them made their way off route. Like to my husband’s Algonquin home in the 1980’s.
Look, actual rolling numbers… not digital display! I’m diggin’ the short shorts on the waitress, too. A little reminiscent of Daisy Duke? This is the pinball machine head, and I didn’t take a picture of the back, but it’s all taped together. I love how Rich reacted. He said something to the affect of, “Oh, that’ll need some work…” It probably would fall apart if we took the tape off. No locks. That will all get repaired, too.
The whole repair will probably take at least 2-3 weeks. Come on over when it’s back!
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- Side Panel
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- Pinball Machine Field
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- Close up of field
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- Removing leg preparing for transport
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- Solid State Goodness
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- Pinball Machine Head
My dad still has the old family pinball machine in the basement. It is Bally’s Aladdin’s Castle. They showed that pinball machine in the movie Boogie Nights but I am probably the only one who was paying attention to pinball machines and not porn.
It’s actually a EM (electromechanical) instead of a solid state machine. About 75% of the Night Rider machines were solid state (circuit board). Less than 1000 EM machines were made. Also, we had the machine in Oak Park, which is cool because Rich Huff’s store is also in Oak Park. It’s kind of like the machine is going back home. 🙂
Lori, Aladdin’s Castle, that’s fabulous! Does it still work? The pinball repair man said with service/tune-up every two years, it should run like a charm. We’re looking forward to getting it back next month. (Thanks for the corrections, East.)
Hey, The infamous Tiu pinball machine. I have heard about this pinball machine many times. It is great that you guys are getting it fixed and back to your house. I am sure it will be a lasting memory for your kids as well. I bet Ollie will love it.
Who has the high scores? I’d like to see how long it takes the kids to crush the old set…