Vintage Pinball Machines from Genesis

I have looked all over the internet and can find nothing about an antique wooden pinball/whiffleball/bagatelle type machine. It is made by the Royal Ball Co of Youngstown. Ohio. Not Royal Maufacturing of Balt. Maryland. It is a nicle machine. I have seen there are a lot of companies in the 30's from Youngstown but no reference to this company. Help

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:31:53 -0400

Was this machine made for commercial use? I’m wondering if it was manufactured for novelty play or home use, which is why you’re having difficulty finding out some information on it. Is there or was there ever a coin chute or coin mechanism on the machine? Fell free to email me a picture pinball@genesiscreative.net

hi i have 2 elton john pinball machines looking to have them restored paul donahue

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:27:12 -0400

Hi Paul, would love to help you out. Where are you located?

I have a Gottlieb Lancers pinball game with 90% back glass art gone. I emailed pbresource, as I understand they have patent rights and asked about getting one printed they reply they have none and referred me to your site to have one printed. I am looking for a translite print of this. I have restored the art on my pc to scale with photoshop and want to know if you can print it and how much.

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:26:42 -0400

Please email me directly at pinball@genesiscreative.net, and we can talk about some options for production, thanks!

I have a chance to buy a bally 1937 fairgrounds pinball please give me some idea what i should pay for it. thanks your always help full GB

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:25:50 -0400

Hi GB, that’s a nice machine, and being a payout game, which is essentially a gambling machine, based on horse racing, it’s certainly worth acquiring if you can do so at a fair price. If the game is complete and in working order, cosmetically nice, decent backglass, I would say that about $500 would be a fair price to pay. You may get it a little cheaper though ($400), because the demand for games from the 1930s (pre-war) is limited, as the collector base for these is small. If the game is restored, it can bring a much higher amount. Last year I had a 1936 Bally Bonus, in excellent original shape, and it sold for $700. Hope this helps.

This is the former Gottlieb factory, located on North Kostner...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:19:46 -0400

This is the former Gottlieb factory, located on North Kostner Avenue in Chicago.

Gottlieb Happy Clown backglass, films printed and backglass...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:54:25 -0400

Gottlieb Happy Clown backglass, films printed and backglass assembled!

Currently working on a 1953 Williams Palisades woodrail...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:51:00 -0400

Currently working on a 1953 Williams Palisades woodrail backglass

Bally Moon Shot backglass now complete. We have run out the film...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:31:58 -0400

Bally Moon Shot backglass now complete. We have run out the film prints and installed the replacement backglass. Looks awesome, and much better than the old glass, which had a huge area of paint loss.

Gottlieb Gaucho backglass. Factory glass, used, on plexi. In...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:34:06 -0400

Gottlieb Gaucho backglass. Factory glass, used, on plexi. In very good shape overall with minor flaking in some spots. The largest are of loss is about 1 inch long in the solid yellow to the left of player 1. Easy fix. Economical replacement factory backglass for your Gaucho! Can also be used as decorative wall art. $50 plus shipping, please contact me with your zip code for a price.

Williams Post Time or Paddock plastics. I think these are...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:15:44 -0400

Williams Post Time or Paddock plastics. I think these are complete minus one plastic, duplicate #4, a couple are NOS, show some minor wear from long term storage, but overall very nice shape. $25 plus $10 shipping anywhere in North America.

fancydancynancy: ❤ Vintage Wonderland ❤ Very cool old...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:59:31 -0400

fancydancynancy:

❤ Vintage Wonderland ❤

Very cool old picture…

Williams Deluxe Vanguard backglass now installed. Photo of our...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:02:38 -0400

Williams Deluxe Vanguard backglass now installed. Photo of our reproduction glass installed in the machine.

Gottlieb Happy Clown pinball, backglass art completed We have...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:18:42 -0400

Gottlieb Happy Clown pinball, backglass art completed

We have just finished the backglass art for the restoration of our Happy Clown. Slightly modified from the original….we customized the score windows to suit our taste by leaving out the clown faces. I wanted the player/viewer to focus on the beautiful illustration of the girl, and tone down the clowns a bit, as they are everywhere on this machine. There is a bouncing graphic of a clown in the marquee window below the girl…which is why the are is blacked out. Every time 1 point is scored, the clown bounces up and down (see sample pic).

Looking for a bumper cap. We are looking the bumper cap shown,...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:17:46 -0400

Looking for a bumper cap. We are looking the bumper cap shown, or something similar, to fit a 1948 pinball machine. If anyone has a spare to sell please let us know! The numbering and writing is not important but it needs to be this style. Thank you.

1958 Williams Turf Champ New restoration project just arrived....

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:14:00 -0400

1958 Williams Turf Champ

New restoration project just arrived. This horse racing game was recently acquired from a friend, who found it as a barn find. Apparently it has been stored in a barn since 1977. It requires a full restoration. We will be partnering with Ted Pepper, who will be handling the mechanical aspects of the game and is very adept at doing so. We will also be installing a new reproduction backglass, repainting/re-stenciling the cabinet (which has been stripped to bare wood), and restoring the wear spots on the playfield. This will be an involved project, and will take a fair amount of time. Stay tuned!

Silkscreening or digital output for backglasses?

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 08:45:53 -0400

What are some of the differences, benefits and drawbacks to each?

Silkscreening was the traditional way to produce pinball machine backglasses for many years. It involves laying enamel based inks onto a glass in layers of separated individual colors, usually using 6-8 screens and colors. Silkscreening makes sense for large runs of 100 backglasses or more, but is very costly for small runs, as the setup and manufacture of the screens is quite expensive.

Today’s digital print technologies offer amazing quality at affordable prices. While not true to the originals (from a production aspect), Digital printing offers a solution to replace backglasses that will probably never be produced in large quantity, or for customized art purposes. Because we run digital direct prints, we can afford to do backglasses in small quantities, or in some cases as singular units. Once installed in a machine, it’s hard to determine the differences between a screen backglass and a digitally printed backglass.

What are the pros and cons?

Silkscreening Pros - Produces high quality images with vivid color • Produces a finished product true to the original process • Produces a durable finish that will last for decades if cared for correctly

Silksceening Cons - Glasses are susceptible to damage, inclusive of scratching, flaking and peeling • Glasses are sensitive to temperature (heat from lamps, hot/cold long term storage) • If the glass is broken or cracked, the art is lost and the glass must be replaced • Must be produced in large quantity to be finically viable • Manually intensive to produce • A high degree of waste due to the setup of the process - 10 glasses or more may pass through the initial run to determine registration, alignment, color fidelity, etc

Digital Print Pros - Todays high end latex printers produce inks with an estimated 100+ year lifespan against fade or breakdown • Color accuracy can be ensured through color profile technologies such as ColorSync in the Mac computer environment • Produces high quality prints in sharp, vivid color • Has the ability to produce beautiful halftones (photographic images) as well as solid color • Can be run on a cost effective basis as singular or low production quantity • The art is easily transferrable to new physical glass should the old glass break, scratch or crack • Not affected by temperature, heat, or damage from the rear (scratches) as the art is sealed into the glass • Allows for one off customization of art, color, etc (lots of creative freedom)

Digital Print Cons - Production process is not true to the original • Can not produce a mirror effect unless a suitable material is used (although digital prints can now be run on mirrored material) • Requires a small amount of assembly effort • Backlighting may not be as strong unless #44 or LED lamps are used in the backbox

If you are looking to restore a machine that is as close to the original as possible, then silkscreened backglasses are your best choice, if they are available. Otherwise, there is no compelling reason, in our opinion, to use silkscreened backglasses over digitally produced art, as the quality of today’s ultra high end digital printers, flexibility and choices of print media (backlit film, foil, vinyl, etc) inks and print technologies produces fantastic quality results.

In the mid 1980s, manufacturers started to experiment and replace traditional screening processes with “translites” in pinball, with mixed results. The influx of the Mac computer and digital DTP opened a lot of doors and offered a lot of creative freedom over the art, essentially making silkscreened backglasses obsolete, and the production of translites proved to be more cost effective - an important consideration for an entertainment industry that was seeing lower sales and production figures and reduced profits with the advent of the video gaming industry, and a shifting demographic of users.

Whatever you choose, it’s a good choice, because it all contributes to keeping pinball alive, and giving these games a new lease on life! Once the classics are gone, they are gone for good.

1957 Williams Vanguard Art Film has been printed We have just...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:20:00 -0400

1957 Williams Vanguard Art Film has been printed

We have just run out the digital art and mask for the reproduction of the 1957 Williams Vanguard shooter game backglass. We are very pleased with the results, and it’s nice to see the end result of many hours of illustration time.

1979 Stern Meteor pinball machine. One of the best classic Stern...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:44:59 -0400

1979 Stern Meteor pinball machine. One of the best classic Stern pinball machines. Just refurbished and sold.

What. are the vintage back glass worth in fair condition

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 07:53:03 -0500

If its a hard to find title and is in good condition (still useable) it could be worth a few hundred dollars. An average backglass in average condition, not very much.

are old antiques pinball machines worth alot

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 07:51:21 -0500

It depends on the title and the condition of the game. Values of older machines have a pretty wide spread.