cool, Skateball Club

I had one and sold off a while ago but still have a unpopulated playfield as well as a populated playfield with full harness and want to get some boards and get it running in the near future in skeleton form.

I will be attempting a flipper upgrade

One of THE most beautiful games from that magical era in pinball. I picked up a nice one from John Greatwich who was kind enough to bring it from Canada to Allentown. I couldn't wait for CPR to finish the playfield and sold her due to space. One of my stupid pinball choices that I still regret. Luckily I ran across another locally whose cabinet was painted over and stickers all over it. I rescued that poor skateball and sanded her down. Hopefully CPR gets to this title eventually.
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My skateball will always be in my collection. One of my favorite pins. Lucked into mine and bought it after being a HUO pin its entire life.
I am a fan of drop targets. This game has plenty!!
Lets see some pics of games.
I will post mine tomorrow.

I want in this club so bad!

One of my faves!

I have one that doesn't play but is in great shape, does light up though

I can't wait to get it running

One of the most underated games is SB. I love mine. The build up and collect of the bonus is awesome.

I'm in the club.......kinda or soon to be.

Joined the club today! The playfield is rough, but the cabinet and backglass are perfect. I bought it cheap enough that if it stays a "player's game", I'm okay with it. But I do hope that CPR runs this one eventually.

I love how in the video Bowen refers to "your neighborhood Skateball". I wish! I haven't had the pleasure of playing one of these yet, but it's on my list of games I'd love to try. I'm such a 1980 era Bally whore now.

I checked CPR's website for signs that Skateball playfields would be run eventually. It's not on the Request page, and it's not on the Artist's page. But the picture at the top of the playfield Request page shows Skateball. That gives me a little bit of hope.

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Yep, I did the Artwork for the Playfield over a year ago, it is coming, I just don't have a time-frame right now ( wish I did ). My personal Skateball ( and my Embryon ) are HUO and beautiful, However, there is nothing like a brand New Playfield! Just be patient, it is coming....

I'm happy to wait for years for this one. Thanks for replying Stu!

My playfield has a lot of wear, but I'm determined to make it as nice as possible while waiting for another one. I stripped all the parts off tonight, metal parts all went into the tumbler for a few days. I cleaned the playfield with magic eraser and Novus2, and it's already looking better. The paint touch-ups are coming right up, which is what I was hoping for. I'd rather have the original worn-to-the-wood wear, than an obvious cover-up.

There are 2 little things I like about Skateball, other than the art and layout. The plastics are held on with nuts that look like little steel balls - much nicer than the typical metal acorn nuts. And the sounds are totally sci-fi, same as Bally Space Invaders. I'll post pics of my game when I finish restoring it, hopefully this weekend.

I finished my Skateball today! It rewarded me with a 2,058,000 game. Outposts and game settings are all at their most conservative, but extra balls are enabled. Here's a link to my resto thread.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/making-my-skateball-a-little-less-gnarly

What are the rules for the top left targets? The first completion lights the bonus collect at the saucer, but what is that "Spot X" about? It doesn't seem to increase the multiplier.

Just joined yesterday. Man, I love day 1 mylar. The only wear is in the left orbit. The bottom half of the pf is beyond belief. And the seller did a great job with LEDs in all inserts. Just incredibly bright, but honest to the original appearance.

Now I just need to figure out what I did to kill the sound during the move and reassembly.

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I have been wanting to play one of these for some time now, wouldn't mind owning one also. I love the theme since I grew up skateboarding like most in the 80's. I wonder why they decided to name it Skateball? Maybe because you can have a ball skating? Seems something like "Gnarly" or "Radical" would suit it better.

From IPDB:

"We asked artist Greg Freres to tell us about his prototype backglass for this game, called 'Summertime'. He responds:

Summertime was a piece of art I did as part of my interview at Bally. Paul Faris asked me to take one week and create a painting that I thought was a good theme and style for pinball. I worked every night until 3 a.m. while still attending my regular job, but I got it done in the allotted time and it was well received by not only Paul but by the sales and marketing group as well. I got the job and the idea sparked the skateboard theme, and some elements stayed for the final art. However, the art was shelved for a few years until we made the game in the early eighties."

Someone obviously agreed when they made Radical.

They could've called it Vanball or Nipball

I'm enjoying Skateball more than Fathom right now. What I really like is how the goals change throughout the game. When you start, the main goal is to get the bonus up to 20/40/60 so it carries over. But you can only add to the bonus via the SKATE targets, upper rollovers and inlanes (which are hazardous). So, I start by trying to crank up the BALL saucer value with SKATE completions, which also revs up the bonus. Once the saucer is up to 100k, I try to cash it in as much as I can. But eventually the SKATE drops are completed again, which lights extra ball. So I collect that, and then turn my attention back to the bonus. I go for the upper 1-2-3 rollovers to crank up the bonus multiplier, and then go for the upper left drops try to light the bonus collect at the saucer. I generally avoid the drops in the middle, unless I can sweep them with the upper right flipper.

Fathom is really all about locking balls, starting multiball, and then hammering the lit spinner shot. The left side drop targets aren't really worth going for, unless you're 1 drop target away from starting multiball. I do like the 1-2-3-Extra Ball shot sequence, great risk/reward there. But it somehow doesn't feel as satisfying to have a great game on Fathom, as it does on Skateball.

I'd love to do a P-ROC version of Skateball. For example:

Super skill shots: 50k if the saucer is the first switch hit, 30k for the S in SKATE.
Complete S-K-A-T-E in sequence for 150k points
Complete middle drop targets within 5 seconds for 50k
Add modes for upper left DT bank completion:
** roving lit shot
** hurry-up (shot to saucer)
** "frenzy" (5k per switch hit)

The most surprising thing about the rules for Skateball is that the operator can't configure it so that the BALL lights don't carry over.

You can set the game to light both 100k and EB at the same time which eliminates the lame 100k saucer exploit.

With the 11 drop targets are they all the same? with the skater or are some with bullseye? I see pictures of both.

Has anyone used the twisted pin cabinet stencils? good results?

soon to be in the club!

All skaters.

Ask http://pinballpimpstencils.com/ if he'll be making some anytime soon.

I need some too, but nothing that is available currently is worth using.

from the IPDB site:

Players could easily hold the ball on the right flipper and make it roll in and out of the right inlane by briefly releasing the flipper button. This caused the bonus to raise to the maximum award which would award a special upon reaching 60k. Operators reportedly tried a number of different solutions to solve the problem.

The Papa video at the start of this thread talks about competition games being "nicked" to prevent this. the picture in the video looks like the bottom post is moved left a bit? Has anyone out dealt with this? I am curious of what to do about it

PBR has them and so does Marco. Are they inferior for some reason? one could make their own stencils I am new to Bally

I got the targets from Marco. They're nice.
I think twisted pins is responsible for the Marco & PBR stencils.
People have had very negative things to say about them. Lots of errors.
Hopefully someone else will chime in on that.

On another post captianNeo talks about making his own waterslide decals:

"just print them out on waterslide decal. Slide them on the drops and put some krylon crystal clear over it. They will last forever. I've done it to many drop targets. "

Swampfire uses Krylon also for protection as well, Swamp, did you rough up the plastic a bit before spraying? I am concerned about adhesion and potential chipping in the future

ya, I know. Although some folks have gotten a good set. and since this game has simple graphics with no overlaps and less defined lines (The red and orange does not meet) I am guessing they could maybe not screw this one up, or can they?

That is why I posted the question. to see what experience others may have with this set.....

The drops were already pretty rough, so I just started out with a dust coat. So far they're holding up just fine.

Great game! Along with Flash Gordon are two of my fav 80's Bally games.

I'm in the club. picked up skateball this morning. It won't turn on but the boards look great, under the playfield is spotless clean

I am new to older bally games. How many of you guys automatically rebuild the power supply and replace capacitors on the solenoid driver?

also the MPU has the battery still in place with no corrosion. is the NVRAM an easy swap?

The large capacitor is the most important one to replace. I'd ditch the MPU battery even if it looks good.

Someone sell me a Skateball!

I am trying to understand the dipswitch settings but I suck...

can someone with hard settings show me a picture of his dipswitches?

Mine is on 3 balls
no extra balls
Skate and inlanes lite extra ball =reset saucer value

can I make it more dificult like reset saucer value and light bonus in the saucer after a ball drain?

Thanks

Getting close to finishing my playfield restoration

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Very nice...I am jealous of all Skateball owners. I got to play a handful of games on one a few weeks ago....can't wait to play more. A really fun and challenging game. Bowen makes it look so easy. Hope to pick up one....I'm on the look out

I have a players Skateball that I recently shopped with plans of putting in a cpr repro eventually. Well my impatience and lack of space is making me consider selling once again. She has definitely seen some love in her day with the playfield being worn down to the wood in the usual areas. The cabinet is in nice shape with just a few scuffs on the head and the backglass is perfect. New Altek mpu, flipper bats, bumper cap set, drop target set, starposts,rubbers, she just needs the cpr playfield to be perfect. The plastic set is flat and almost perfect. The center plastic has a couple of cracks on the edges. The gates are clean and shiny. One display doesn't work and #3 display has the million digit not working. The rest of the game plays great. I was planning on replacing the last 2 displays with Dave's 6 or 7 digit led display replacement kits. He sells them either pre assembled for 40 ea or in kit form for 30.
Here's his link:http://ilaina.wix.com/wolffpac-tech

I'm looking to get 900 for her.

Here's a link to the pics:http://s1174.photobucket.com/user/chrisd68/library/Skateball%20Jan%2016?sort=2&page=1

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I bought my first Skateball from Crispin, and it was a very nice player!

That's a smoking deal @ $900!

Why is shipping so expensive! Would be a great deal if I lived within a days drive.

Hey iron00monkey hope all is well! I wish you were closer Captive_Ball. I have 3 red roll over guides coming from pb resource to replace the white ones.

I've been able to get the red lane guides. The white ones seem to be a bit more difficult to locate.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/C-695-5

I had no idea GSones. I assumed the white ones were added afterwards by someone else.The red ones on there now have a Bally logo on them. The new red ones I bought just have the generic star on top.

a question...

when "collect bonus" is lit at the saucer, but you lost your ball, the "collect bonus" is still lit on the next ball...can I turn this off?

you can adjust the saucer under the game features in the manual on page 7. Dip Switch 16 on is liberal/off is conservative. Liberal lights 50k and extra ball together, conservative lights 50k then extra ball. Switch 24 on is liberal/off is conservative. Liberal is saucer extra ball and rt outlane special lite together, conservative saucer extra ball then rt special will lite. Switch 30 on is liberal/off is conservative. Liberal liting A and B and S-K-A-T-E will lite saucer extra ball. Conservative will not lite the extra ball

I just saw today that Pinballpimp has a Skateball stencil kit. I badly need to restore my cabinet, I might consider building a new one.

Offering up my Skateball again. I held her a couple of days for a pinsider who was offered a better one and then someone on craigslist, but still looking to get 900 for her.

Here's a link to the pics:http://s1174.photobucket.com/user/chrisd68/library/Skateball%20Jan%2016?sort=2&page=1

Here are my notes on the DIP switches. * indicates recommended setting is ON for 3-ball play.

7 * Hitting 3-bank drop targets advances bonus
8 * Memory for top drop targets
14 * Memory for center drop target arrows
15 * Memory for top drop target arrows
16 * Extra Ball lights with 50K (ON) or after 50k (OFF)
23 * Memory for extra ball numbers (in center display)
24 * Outlane special lights with Extra Ball (ON) or after (OFF)
30 * Completing SKATE and A-B lights Extra Ball
31 Balls per game (OFF=3, ON=5)
32 Balls per game (leave OFF)