Post by zillaWhat are people's opinions about early solid state machines (late 70's,
early 80's). Overall, who made better machines? Williams or Bally?
What about Gottlieb?
Sort of like asking what your favorite kind of car is- Ford, Chevrolet,
Dodge. Most of it comes down to personal preference.
Personally, my favorite are the Williams games from this era. I just like
the way they feel, play, look- the colors, lighting effects, sound effects,
and speech. The lighting effects in attract mode on many of the games
toward the late 1970's and into the 1980's always seemed more "energetic" to
me- they were definitely more attractive in that sense than their
counterparts (at least to me). I like all these aspects about them over any
of the other brands from the same era.
I like the Bally and Stern games as a close 2nd. Both were very similar.
I'm not a huge fan of any of them, but I think they're good. My personal
collection has about 10 Williams games and I have 2 Ballys that I'm
considering keeping but maybe not long term- Eight Ball and Xenon.
I don't like any of the Gottlieb games at all- never liked the feel any of
them had, and when growing up playing pinball in the late 1970's and 1980's,
I always felt like the flippers on the System 1 games were spread too far
apart and you always had more of tendency to lose the ball down the middle.
Your quarter went pretty quick on these games. I think the worst experience
I had playing (or trying to play) a System 1 game on location was a Gottlieb
Hulk. The game was set up with so little angle on the playfield that it
played like cold molasses. That was the most boring, uneventful experience
I ever had playing a pin on location, and I don't know why but it really
still has stuck in my mind after all these years. I can stil picture the
theatre it was in where I played (even though that is all gone now). The
2nd worst was a Close Encounters at our local 7-11 store. Boring boring
boring- and the ball got through the flippers quick- we ended up spending
most of our time/money on the Meteor they put in next to it.
As for the better machine, well, that depends on what aspect of them we are
talking about- and again, a lot of it will be personal preference and
opinion. From my personal experience in the hobby and business over all the
years of working on these games, I'd have to say that the Bally and Stern
games from this era are the most reliable games- IF (and that's an "IF" with
capital letters), they are completely gone through and overhauled properly
with electronics upgraded/modified, etc., as required (most of this stuff is
required due to old age of the games nowadays and wasn't required back in
the day). But we've restored and sold scores of these games and they have
been the most reliable of any we've sold to our customers.
Williams I would have to say are a close second place. Even though I enjoy
them more in many aspects- over the Bally and Stern games- I have to say
that the Williams games are a bit more prone to problems just due to the
design of the electronics and some weak spots they have. But, again, if
fully and properly overhauled they can be very reliable in the home
gameroom.
Gottlieb games from this era I would have to say are the absolute worst.
I've had nothing but horrible experiences with most of these that I have
serviced/repaired over the years- so much so that we as a business stopped
selling or servicing any Gottlieb games a few years back. They never had a
real robust electronics system and used a lot of off-the-wall types of
components that can be hard to find or replace, and as such, they can be
very problematic and unreliable and difficult to repair and even keep
working. Granted, I have run across a few that seem to hold up pretty well
but the majority of them have been very unpleasant to deal with so we've got
away from them entirely in recent years.
The electro-mechanical Gottlieb games were built very well- they are sort of
the "tanks" or "battleships" of the mechanical pinball era, but they used a
very different and unique operating design- much different than other
manufacturers- which makes them unique in methods you must use and
techniques for troubleshooting and repair- they can be difficult, but if
you're experienced with them, they're probably not so bad. Personally I
find Williams, Bally, Chicago Coin, and Stern games from the mechanical era
much more straightforward and easier to troubleshoot and repair- they all
have very similar designs. But the Gottlieb em games, although much
different in design, were really built well overall. I did always hate the
flatblade screwdriver screws they always used- even all the way up through
their solid state games- always made it hard to get the screws in and out
when working on stuff. Never understood why they didn't use the
easier-to-use phillips head screws or hex head screws like later Bally,
Williams, and Stern pins did- they are so much more pleasant to work on in
this respect than the Gottlieb games. Ever tried to balance a flatblade
screw on the screwdriver while trying to get it up behind a drop target bank
and into the screw hole? Not fun.
Post by zillaOne more question: were Williams machines priced lower? Many seem to
have fewer drop targets than Ballys.
Doubtful that they were priced any differently than other manufacturers-
there was a lot of competition between manufacturers back in that time so
prices were probably very competitive.
I haven't ever noticed that Williams had fewer drop targets than Bally
games- after all, many Williams games were known for a lot of drop targets-
Flash (8), Blackout (6), Black Knight (12), Jungle Lord (11), Gorgar (6),
Firepower (proto) (6), Phoenix (10), Pharaoh (12), Hot Tip (6), Scorpion (9
I think). A lot of Bally games only had 4 or 5- Evel Kneivel (4), Dolly
Parton (4 I think?), Playboy (5), Harlem Globetrotters (4), Paragon (7),
Xenon (4), Space Invaders (1), Mata Hari (8), Power Play (8).
Ray J.
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Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com
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