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Side Rails Save the Day!
Written by moviereviews4fun,
published April 24th, 2008.
Read 554 times,
3 comment(s).
What do The Lord of the Rings, Terminator 3, and The Simpsons Pinball Party have in common? They're all fun games...yes, all made by Stern...yes, (and the answer I was looking for) all prone to flipper- button wear.
For those of us who collect games and like to have them looking as nice as possible in our gamerooms, basements, and dare I say...dining rooms, it's almost impossible to find one of these gems without the typical flipper-button wear. If you're lucky enough to buy the game new in box or home use only, you're probably one of the few lucky ones to avoid the ghastly white splotch where dirty little fingers have worn away the artwork. However, those games that came from arcades, bars, and bowling alleys, and have found their way into our homes, usually clean-up very nicely with this one exception. Yuk!
It seems that Stern recognized this problem and went back to a siderail that protects the flipper-button area (in the past, Data East and Bally, as well as many others, had used a similar siderail to protect this area). Stern implemented this change with NASCAR in 2005 and has continued to use them on games since (three cheers for Stern!).
But what about those games before NASCAR? No need to worry. Those same siderails Stern is using on their current games will fit the older games, as well! Whether you have unsightly wear or simply want to protect that area, these new siderails will save the day! The Lord of the Rings, Terminator 3, The Simpsons Pinall Party, as well as The Sopranos, Monopoly, and Roller Coaster Tycoon can sit nicely now in your home without those embarrassing white spots!
How difficult is it to swap these siderails, you ask? Let me tell you. One bolt by the flipper button, one bolt by the head hinge (the head will need to be folded down to remove this bolt), and two phillips screws in between! That's it! No adhesive, no putty knives, and no struggling to pry the old suckers loose!
How difficult is it to install the new siderails, you ask? Let me tell you. Replace the same two bolts and the same two screws mentioned above, and then add three small screws to the siderail covering the new area (these three screws are optional).
I've installed these new siderails on The Lord of the Rings, Terminator 3 and Roller Coaster Tycoon, and what a difference!
Story Author
This story was written by moviereviews4fun,
Member since November 2005
Pinside Karma: 1185 points
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moviereviews4fun rated Lord of the Rings with a 9.501
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robin commented on May 03, 2008 11:53:13
Great idea. While the older Sterns are leaving commercial operation and getting more affordable they should be finding the homes of more collectors now. Including mine, I hope. The side rails tip is definitely a good one!
Fearless_Leader commented on May 14, 2008 04:28:39
I wonder why Stern games are so prone though. The latter Bally/Williams games don't seem to suffer from this problem so much, while I don't think I've ever played a SPP where there wasn't a weak flipper. Do you think it's poor quality of manufacture ?
cfh (anonymous) commented on May 25, 2008 15:51:03
With Nascar, the change to the new Stern siderails did have a downfall. With this change, Stern stopped making the U.K. style outlane "up-post" games. Why? Because these games require an additional set of flipper buttons on the side of the cabinet, and the new siderails are drilled for just one set of buttons. Personally this was a major bummer for me, as I collect the U.K. style Sterns with outlane up-posts (which were implemented around 1998 and lasted until 2005). Currently I have three games with this modification (Lord of the Rings, Terminator3, Simpson Pinball Party), and I love them! I just wish they made them for Nascar and later games. (You can't just install the mechanism/hardware, as the software needs to recongize the hardware. And all games Nascar and later don't have that software.)