Howdy

[way2wyrd]

Just jumped into watchmaking tho been a watch collector for awhile. My other hobby is prewar pinball which is mostly mechanical as well.

https://www.historyofpinball.org 

There are some similarities between the hobbies especially with the cleaning and restoration.

I've really enjoyed working on early american pocketwatches and look forward to learning more.

[RichardHarris123]

Hello and welcome from Leeds, England. 

[oldhippy]

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. 

Those pinball machines look wonderful. What is the oldest one you have. Where do you pick them up, what sort of price do you pay and what would each one be worth.  

[way2wyrd]

12 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. 

Those pinball machines look wonderful. What is the oldest one you have. Where do you pick them up, what sort of price do you pay and what would each one be worth.  

Oldest i have is 1931  Which is when modern pinball started.  Ive picked them up all over in the US and had them shipped over from the UK as well. 

I like projects so im normally in the 200-800 US dollar range when i buy,

After repair and restoration they are worth anywhere up to 20k or more.   In the above pics the pricing is

1932 JuggleBall 1200$

1934 Worlds Series 3500$  (This game was sent to england with a Amusement park theme as Pleasure Island as Rockola didnt think that american baseball would go  over well)

1933 Jigsaw $4000

Heres an example of the mech under the worlds series.   The  rachet get pushed back when you load a ball. 

The spring holds the tension  and the actuator in home plate releases the wheel to spin against the second gear to spin the bases.

The Star gear determines if the wheel will spin for a single double triple or homerun.

 

[oldhippy]

How fascinating. Thanks for the info. You must post a photo of the next one you buy.  

[way2wyrd]

This is the latest.  It's a 1936 Rockola Alamo.  It is a payout machine and has a slot machine payout device.  I'll post the payout mech pics.  Very clockwork like.

[clockboy]

Welcome to the forum, enjoy

[oldhippy]

Are you going to restore it? 

[Pap3r]

Welcome to the WRT forum. 

[way2wyrd]

7 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Are you going to restore it? 

Oh yes. This one is going to get the full treatment.  I. Hoping to have it playable for Texas Pinball Festival  for 2026