Hi I’m new! I have a fun fest in great shape. It’s a disappointment the back glass is cracked. I need a new one on the cheap…can anyone help me? Thanks
Eyes
I may actually have a backglass for Fun Fest in my hoard of wall hanger backglasses in storage. BGResto may also be able to produce a replacement if they have the artwork for it already.
I hope to get some time at storage to dig stuff out and when I do I will look and see if I can find it. I think I have one but unknown what condition.
If you only broke the playfield glass, that is easy, I have tons of used playfield glass…
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So stoked! I’d really appreciate if you can take a look and get back to me. It is a keeper for me. I found from a guy who had it in his shed. Was in semi poor shape…I brought it back to life with magic and now it’s awesome! 
Everything plays well! Last mechanical issue is that when you push the credit start button that tells according to how many times you push it how many players are playing. Just one credit plays 4 plyr every time. I’m guessing some contacts need cleaning. It counts the balls and advances the players though so that’s good. Anyway totally excited about the possibility of a new backglass. Thank you and looking forward to hearing back from you.
I would check your credit stepper unit. Sounds like there is a switch misadjusted or the spider is oriented wrong on the stepper. Usually they are marked in the home position on one of the fingers with nail polish. I have never worked on that specific game but that is where I would start.
Check out www.pinrepair.com and www.pinwiki.com for a bunch of pinball repair guides and info.
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Rebuild the player stepper (likely the “coin unit” in your Williams on the motherboard near the back). Sounds like it is not resetting at the start of a game. It has two coils… one steps up, the other down. See if you can make either one move by pressing those plungers.
Could also be the return spring. If it isn’t wound properly, it won’t have enough tension to reset. Or perhaps the main gear/armatures are gunked up with old WD40. Or a combination of these things.
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Thanks! I will be checking in the morning. I really appreciate the help.
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Hello again 
! It was indeed the stepper at the back…I took it apart and put back together and now it’s 
. Thank you guys for the help! Now to find that hard to find back glass. Having it restored by BG resto will cost me 255 plus 65 shipping… ouch:grimacing:! Can’t go that route…very hopeful to find a replacement. I’m keeping my fingers crossed:crossed_fingers:! I hope some miracle happens and someone sees this post that can help.
Eyes
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Well, BG Resto does a good job and their pricing is more than competitive for a one off back glass. I’ll give you an idea of other costs to help you understand.
The best back glass reproductions are done by Shay, http://shayarcadegroup.com
He does full screen printed reproductions and if he has stock of the machine you need he will sell you one for $295 plus shipping. But, if he doesn’t have stock of your back glass, you have to buy I believe 10 or 20 from him to get him to do a run for you.
New Old Stock back glasses are hard to find, but if you do find them, they usually run $400 to $600+
Used back glasses in great condition are even harder to find, they can be cheap, or you may have to buy an entire project machine just to snag the back glass. This tends to be a needle in a hay stack situation and unless you are active and going to events around the nation you will likely never find what you are looking for.
So all that said and done, $320 to your door for a one off reproduced back glass is really a deal.
Yes I agree it’s a good deal for a very nice piece of art. The ouch is because my machine didn’t cost me as much as the backglass would be to restore it. I’ve seen the work BG does and it’s super nice! They must be one of the best around because everyone I’ve asked refers me to them. Down the road when it won’t hurt the old pocketbook I’ll probably do that route. In the meantime I’ll be sifting through the hay with a hope and a pinball. 
Yeah,
I just wanted to give some context. I do printing and the process for making great back glasses to my level of perfection is the manner by which Shay does them, which is to effectively re-manufacture the glass fully. The pinball restoration world is very small, beyond Shay and BG resto there really are no other good options to choose from for reproductions. Which makes it surprising that they are as competitive as they are.
If you do the math, restoring pinball machines often cost much more in time and money than the machine did. Warning, don’t look at that number too closely.
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Yes, it is very easy to spend several times what the game originally cost you as a project to restore it to like new condition. Think of it like restoring a project car pulled out of an old barn. Will likely cost a fortune to make it look like new. Not quite so much just to get it working where it can be enjoyed again with a little wear and tear showing.
I restore a few of my games to the like new condition. Most have the patina that comes with age. They may not look new but they often play like new.
If the games is one I plan to keep long term and don’t care what I will have invested verses how much I can sell it for I will go all in on it. If it is one that I don’t plan to hang onto for more than a few years I will not put that much money into the cosmetic restoration.
I buy several reproduction playfields, plastic sets, and backglasses per year if you want to talk about an expensive hobby… 
For backglasses you are basically limited to what Shay and BGResto are producing. Classic Playfield Reproductions (CPR), Wade Kraus and a few others make small runs of backglasses but there is not much option when looking for one unless you find someone with a backglass you need hanging on their wall or sitting in storage without a game or in a junk game.
Hello again:wave: Yes I think I will be watching for quite some time. Maybe I will get lucky and find another whole junk machine with decent backglass. Who knows…stranger things have happened.
What up…I have another question. My Bronco pinball has a kick out issue I was trying to hunt down and caused another issue somehow. Yes I’m obviously a pro lol. Just kidding…I am just getting into the hobby. Now for some reason my button that starts the game will not credit the game for free. It was working and now the only way to get the game to work is by manually crediting it. O ya and seems at the same time when that happened…when the game resets and it goes through all the motions it now doesn’t go ding ding ding in the beginning. Bells work during game play just not on start up. I’m guessing the free credit button and bells are related to the same issue since they happened at the same time. I really don’t know though. Any thoughts?
I have a chance to buy Magnotron 4 Player Gottlieb Pinball Machine Arcade Game and need to know what to look for. Asking price is $500 and every thing works. Thanx for any help.
If the game is in good condition and fully working that is not a bad price. A large portion of the value on a pinball machine is based on the condition of the backglass, playfield plastics, playfield artwork/inserts, and cabinet. While EM pinball machines look complicated and difficult to repair they are surprisingly easy once you learn a few things. On an EM pinball machine the biggest issue is dirty/misadjusted switches and score reels/stepper units that the grease has gummed up. With a minor amount of work you can fix a game and it will run for years with little trouble. On a solid state pinball you have more costly repairs that can quickly add up. Often the batteries on the main board will leak and corrode the traces and components around it. Most parts and even some reproduction boards and displays are available to fix them.
Link for more info on Magnotron.
https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=magnotron&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#1519
It is not the highest rated pinball but it is a good starter game to someone getting their first game for a good price.
If you go pick it up you will need a 5/8 and 9/16 wrench to take it apart. If they don’t have the keys you may need to drill out the lock to get into the game. There are several jones plugs in the backbox that with a little wiggling should pull and disconnect and can be dropped into the lower cabinet. Remove the four bolts holding the head on and be careful as some games the head will want to tip forward when you get it mostly unbolted. Do not move the game with the head up in the back of a truck as the wind will often break the backbox off the cabinet. Another easy way to get a game broken down for transport with only two people is to slide the head under the back of the game and pull the rear legs off. Then have someone pull the head out while the other picks up on the game. Then it can be lowered to the floor and the game tilted upright and the front legs removed. Trying to move a 250 pound safely and without injuring yourself or damaging the game takes a few tricks. More modern games have fold down heads that don’t come off and that trick does not work and those weigh around 300-350 pounds.
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Great info Shawn!
I second what Shawn Says. It is a simple game and odds are that the lower player rating is due to the play-field design with the main central target with kick out leading to many drained pinballs, pretty much no matter your skill level. That is just the design of the game. That said, if the back glass and play-field are in very good condition, it is probably a buy. Cabinets can be repaired and beautifully painted pretty easily and we have local options you can sub that work out to as well for not too much if your not into repairing them yourself. But, if the play-field and back glass are in rough shape you are in a tough boat and if you even intend to sell the machine it will be much harder to get your money back, as many inexpensive repairs are band-aids rather than full repair, and the full repairs are expensive enough you can really only make them back on more popular titles.
A nice condition less popular EM with minor issues usually pulls $500 to $800 in our market. So you have $300 to play with on repairs if you want to try and get out of this financially even. But, it will need to look good from the outside to pull the $800+ price at time of sell.
My two cents. I hope you grab the machine if it is nice and make it into a machine you love and cherish. It is a good starter title, the price isn’t bad, and no one will feel forever hurt if it doesn’t work out in the long run.
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I am putting together a few classes for when things slow down following the Texas Pinball Festival in March, DMS expansion completion and some stuff on my job that will require me working long and odd hours during remodeling and facility upgrades during the same period.
I am going to teach a class that discusses the types of games (electro-mechanical vs. solid-state), different major manufacturers and eras of pinball and their notable features, how to inspect a game and basic buying knowledge, how to safely and easily disassemble, move and setup the game and what tools you need to have.
I will also put together another class that focuses on EM pinball games and how they function, common issues, common repairs, part identification, reading ladder logic schematics, tools needed, etc.
And I plan to do another that focuses on solid state games and covers the specifics related to them.
At some point we will have a repeat of the bad-caps electronics class and a few others. Working on ideas for arcade specific classes as well.
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