UPDATE: This machine has been sold!
Since I currently have this game for sale, I thought I’d link up a video of the gameplay if anyone is interested. I actually hit CHAOS mode during this game. It’s pretty challenging. I am not great at this game, but this video still shows the wide variety of modes you’re presented with. Enjoy!
UPDATE: This machine has been sold!
Jurassic Park pinball joined the Arcade late 2011 but never got a story on the blog! I sold several video games to be able to acquire this machine. It is known as one of the best “Bang for the Buck” pinball machines out there. It has lots of great shots, a wide variety of modes, and a great theme. I’ve always been a big fan of the movie series and thought this machine would be a nice fit in the gameroom for a while. I’m partial to the Bally/Williams games from the same era but I got a nice deal on this machine and thought I’d try it out for a while.
The machine was in fair shape when I picked it up. Most of the rubber was replaced but the cabinet overall was a little dirtier than I like. Pinball machine playfields can get pretty dirty as you play them. After having the machine about a year it was really noticeable. The white replacement rubber picked up a lot of dirt and the ball didn’t travel as smoothly as it should.
Three weeks ago I jumped into doing a full “shop” of the playfield to clean it up. I had just put together a simple “rotisserie” stand to use just for this purpose. Basically to shop a playfield, you remove it completely from the machine so you can remove parts that need to be cleaned or replaced. You also clean and wax the play surface itself to really make the game play great! My rotisserie allows me to mount it in holders that not only hold the playfield off the ground or off a table, but I can also rotate it to easily access the underside.
It took about three weeks to shop this to the level that I was satisfied with. I replaced nearly all of the bulbs in the machine, replaced all of the rubber with black to match the original release, and cleaned every single piece from the top of the playfield. I waxed all pieces that had direct contact with the ball. I cleaned every square inch of the playfield and waxed it three times. It really looked great once I got the playfield reassembled.
As far as the upper cabinet, or backbox, went, I pulled all of the PCB boards and resoldered every wiring harness connector. I also inspected every fuse and resoldered all of the relays. This will help make sure that the game functions properly for years to come, without the risk of developing any cold solder joints. A cold solder joint is basically when the solder that holds the connector to the PCB board cracks and breaks the connection. This is typically due to the plugging and unplugging of the wiring harness over the years. There were also a few connectors that were “burnt” that I replaced. This is a common problem with pinball machines that have been on route. The General Illumination (GI) lighting draws a lot of power, which in turn will build up heat on the connectors for that circuit. After a while the connections will blacken, which cause them to generate more heat and ultimately fail. Whoever operated this machine on route did a cheap bypass of the burnt pins with just some loose wire. I yanked all of that out and put in new connectors to make sure that it was done right and would never be an issue again.
When I finally got everything put back together, I fired it up and NOTHING! UGH! After digging trough every single connection and looking theu thing over from top to bottom, I found one bad connector plug going to the DMD board. Once that was fixed, it worked perfectly! The game played SO MUCH better than it ever did before. And it plays FAST! I’m really happy with how it turned out.
I almost forgot to mention I added some better looking dinosaur toys to the playfield a few months ago. Data East didn’t really add much to their original design, and the ones they did add weren’t very detailed. I think my new Pterodactyl and Raptor look great!
After all of this work, I’m afraid to say that I am planning to sell this machine soon. I like the game but it’s not one of my “must have” games for the gameroom. I do have several outstanding projects that I just need the time and money to complete. The sale of this machine will allow me to finally complete my Donkey Kong II, Donkey Kong Jr., and Multi-Williams restorations, and a few other special projects I’ll mention in the near future.
As far as what else I’d do to this machine if I kept it, I would probably do two things for sure. First I would powdercoat the metal like I did with the World Cup Soccer pinball machine. I would also pick up a set of Cliffy Hole Protectors for the playfield holes. As the ball constantly drops in these holes the wood of the playfield begins to wear. This is a common issue with all pinball machines that have holes on the playfield. There is a company that makes a great set of protectors to prevent this. This machine has typical hole wear and would look better with new Cliffys.
If by chance your interested in a Jurassic Park pinball machine, drop me a quick email to check to see if I still have it available. More pics available from my Jurassic Park Photo Album
This month there have been some significant changes to the arcade collection. In preparation to Spring just around the corner, I’m making some space in the gameroom for a few new games. I sold a couple games and have one more for sale. Pole Position 2 and Crystal Castles have moved on to other collections. Rushing Heroes is still for sale if anyone is interested. I have a quick writeup of the conversion/restoration that I wrote last week. This game was a project that my son and I got to do together. It’s a great sports game that would be perfect for any sports fan’s gameroom. Please email me or contact me via the Craigslist post.
The other big change was the pinball trade for a World Cup Soccer ’94. It’s exciting to have a new pinball machine to get the hang of. The theme is great too!
One these games are all gone, I’ll be starting my D2K restoration project. Can’t wait! I might also pick up a second pinball machine to add a little variety to the pinball section. Until then it’s great to have a little more space to move around in. More to come!
I actually finished this machine several years ago, but reviewing my site I noticed I never talked about this on my site. I’m now listing this machine for sale on Craigslist and thought that it would be good to show some nice detail for any potential buyers. Also I didn’t want to lose my thoughts about this project. It was the first time my son and I worked together on a game restoration and I had a blast!
This story really falls into a Conversion story, since we didn’t actually restore an original machine, but we rescued a trashed cab and made a nice arcade game out of it. I picked this game up from a friend of mine who had to clean out a garage he was storing it in. It was a converted Joust that had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in it last. The cabinet was trashed. The control panel was hacked with three buttons per player, all the paint was chipped with rust underneath on the metal parts, and the wood around the bottom of the cabinet was split and had water damage. I never really had any serious intentions of restoring it back to a Joust. It would be too expensive and WAY too much work since I already had a nice Joust. I kept it around to maybe make a multigame or something out of it but never really did anything with it. Fast forward a couple years and I came across an NOS Rushing Heroes conversion kit on ebay. It looked like a cool game so I picked it up. I thought it would be a great project for me and my son to work on together. The cabinet was already wired for Jamma, and the control panel was already drilled and modified for the correct control scheme.
The first thing we had to do was strip the cabinet and repair the wood. We did a lot of sanding and bondo work to repair all the damage. The cabinet was very solid. I really love the design of Williams cabinets.
This thing was pretty beat!
The metal was pretty rough!
I had some great help with this one!
Sanded and ready to paint
That was one UGLY control panel!
After all the repair work was done, we added the new artwork and finished the game up. It really turned out nice! I also picked up a Run and Gun 2 PCB, which is the basketball game based no the same platform from Konami. I have both mounted inside the cabinet and can play either just by swapping the harness between games. The games are really fun to play but the best part of this whole thing was the time my son and I spent together building it. Hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to do this more and have more stories to share between us!
The control panel looks much better
Turned out great!
In the gameroom next to its long lost brother
For more details of the restoration process check out my Rushing Heroes photo page.
If you’re interested in purchasing this game, please check out my Craigslist Ad
Quick Update…This game has been sold to a new arcade collector. I also sold the Frogger to another new collector. It’s good to see more people interested in joining such a fun hobby. Enjoy the games, guys!
On the heels of my last game sale, I am also listing my Sega Turbo for sale this week. I’ve had the Turbo for a very long time, and it’s been a great game. With the acquisition of Monaco GP and the repair of my Pole Position 2, I think I have too many racing games. Got to make room for some of my other games which are taking up way too much space in my garage!
The Turbo has been the kids’ favorite in the gameroom for several year, only surpassed by the Monaco GP because it is a cockpit cabinet and is fun to drive in. Turbo is the first color arcade game to provide a “3D” perspective in its gameplay. It is the unofficial sequel to Monaco GP. I remember when Turbo first hit the arcades in the 80s. It was a huge hit. Coleco purchased the home console rights to this game and created an “expansion module” racing controller to bundle with the game. It was a great home version. Both the arcade and console versions are still a ton of fun to play!
The cabinet is in fantastic shape. It is all original. The artwork looks great. There is a very large subwoofer in the cabinet that sounds amazing when driving through the “tunnel” scene. This game would be a great addition to any racing themed home gameroom!
Here is some more information about Turbo: KLOV Turbo Page
I’m asking $400 OBO for this machine. It’s been a great machine for me for several years. Please send me an email if you are interested in purchasing this game.
Quick Update…This game has been sold to another arcade collector.
Since I have a few new games to finish up this summer, I need to clear some space in the gameroom. I’m going to be selling a few of my games from my collection. The first game on my list of games for sale is Phoenix. This is a great classic vertical shooter from Centuri. I’ve had this game for several years after picking it up from a go-kart track. The game works great and is all original. The only flaw is that the control panel overlay has some wear and a small part is missing along the front edge.
Here is some more information about Phoenix: KLOV Phoenix Page
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