My new home classic gaming toy -- Gold Ball Pinball, Bally/Midway 1983

[Tanooki]

My new interest to keep around the house, been one since I was a kid though but unobtainable with room and money. I've teased myself in the past owning a tabletop one my dad once had the Tomy Astro Shooter I kept until maybe 6-7 years ago when it broke, and then 5 years back a Zizzle 2/3 size Pirates of the Caribbean table after that. I decided I was going to go after a table and was bounding between another 2/3 size, an EM table, or a SS (solid state) table. I saw at the Louisville Arcade Expo this one on the floor and it had a price, didn't have the dough lined up then but I played it for awhile, couple dollars worth. I went looking a week and a half later, found it up near Indianapolis up for sale still, so I went for it! I've always enjoyed pinball, the gambling almost of it because it can be very random where the ball flies, but when it goes right it's a hoot. Unlike a video game which can get boring after an hour or a few dozen of them and it's done for most of them, this one you can always go back to and improve. Unlike a video game, there's no annoyance factor getting into it, just fllip the switch, hit the button and pull the plunger and you're good for 5 min or an hour or so, then do it again later.





Gold Ball, Bally/Midway - 1983 Basic early solid state table with a layout like most electromagnetic tables of the era just a couple years before had. 3 bumpers, spinner, many standing targets, a side detour on the right, a wide side one on the left, and then the target row in the center which is tricky to light up all 8 spots. The 'gold ball' name comes from the fact you have a 1-15% chance(I have it on a 10% default one) of the gold ball popping out of a unique tray which gives 3x the points. It's a fast and fun table, but among the most intersted of pinball fans it's a very love it or hate it table because its basic layout. I fell in love with it at the Louisville Arcade expo, didn't have the cash then, but did a week and a half later so I drove to get it. So far I've cleaned it up more inside and out, touched up the paint on the wood body best I can, and I've been having some minor electrical issues with the point displays and a bitchy gold ball sensor that keeps quitting(having it replaced tomorrow) where if it don't detect the game won't start. The last owner bought it out of a dump of a home for less than I paid, but he went and did a hard cleaning, total light replacement, switch repair, pop bumper replacement, rubber replacement too and he just flips them to break even to get them into homes of people who can't afford high end tables so I got it at his cost. I did include the original manual and schematics, extra box of bulbs, 2 of the 3 original broken off pop bumper covers, and a triple target that was once in the center that broke I think and got replaced.

I found a guy with better back glass for it, just need to find out the shipping cost.