Rebuying after many years of No-Pachinko

[pachinkojohn]

Hello all,

I sent this question to a couple of vendors and no response yet so I'll ask here please.

I'm trying to decide which of 3 machines to buy and I was wondering if I might ask a couple of questions please. The machines I have narrowed down to considering at the moment are:

Apollo 13
Wacky Races
Allwins

I had one of the older pachinko machines many years ago, very clean an bought at a retail store. It had a cool shark theme and simple flappers and one light, and I sold it in a garage sale, which of course now I regret. It was simple and fun. The new ones look far more detailed in gameplay. I am not that interested in the slot machine aspect too much, just variety and surprise in the gameplay, so I am wondering:

a) Which one of the 3 has the most 'interesting', varied, and longevity play?
b) Which one has the most variety lights and sound?
c) Might the techno music in Allwins be too overpowering and unrelenting to an old man like me? (i.e. does it never ever stop?)

I realize these questions are highly subjective but I'll take any input.

But after all of this, will the new machines be as much fun to play as the old one? After reading the article on the board about the 3 types of machines, my first one is obviously the simple 'fun' #1 one. Would one of the newer ones be kind of 'one tracked' instead of just flipping fun and random (ish) payouts? I probably didn't say that right but hopefully you know what I mean.

Thanks very much for information!

John

[Firewire]

I think alot depends on your style. I first tried to decide on my preference of LCD or no lcd then more American like, then color scheme.

Ultimately I lost out on my color scheme but ended up with a Batman because I liked the theme, american graphics, and large payout.

If someone has any of the 3 you listed I am sure they will post their opinion.

Tulsa loves his Thunderzone and it has no LCD, but does have LED's. I think he bought that without knowing much about it at first.

[Tulsa]

They're all good. I had been watching pachiko auctions for months waiting on one with a special case. It was all I really knew at that time. That one got away but another one came up with the same case, I nabbed it! It's the LED David spoke of. It's a fantastic model. Go to the pachinko museum and look up Thunderzone. I wrote a review for it. So having this one and finding out how much David liked his Batman, I got one of those too. Wasn't disappointed at all. So now I have an LED model and a reel model and both are a blast! All I need now is the LCD/video model to complete the set.

If you're looking for longevity of entertainment, I would suggest they are all about the same. Even the video ones are based on matching numbers, like the LED and Drum (slot reel) type. It's just a different format to display them. Find a theme that is interesting to you and pull the trigger.

If you don't like it, I'm sure someone here would buy it from you.

[arbycoffee]

I have a Lord of the Rings, It is Loud, a lot of Lights video center. It is a real Kick ass, if One ask me.
And I have not gotten into the really big payoffs yet.

2¢ worth

[pachinkojohn]

Thanks for the information, I'll try to find those. I was going to bid on two that were on yesterday on eBay, the King Kong and the Birds, they seemed pretty simple yet had some of the newer lights, leds, and sound, but one went too high and I missed the other one.

The one that seems to come closest so far in my search with vendors is Pineapple Bomber:
http://www.pachislo.com/pachinko/detail/pineapple.html

It seems to be old style, yet a little modern too. Lots of playspace, not a giant lcd or slots or plastic frames to shrink the playing field. Also reading around the newer machines seemed to have fewer but larger payouts, not sure if I like that, or if it even matters.

Of course they're out of stock on it. :*(

John

[Tulsa]

The fewer but larger payouts are determined by how YOU bend those nails! :lol:

[Toonces]

I have a Lord of the Rings, It is Loud, a lot of Lights video center. It is a real Kick ass, if One ask me.
And I have not gotten into the really big payoffs yet.

Arby, try the volume controls from Syscom. $15 for 5 of em and they fit very nicely in the LOTR. My son hit 2 Fevers in a row the day before yesterday. He was getting tired of holding the shooter knob but was mesmerized by the video while I kept pumping the balls to the top. I have about 2,500 balls and it seemed like he went through them at least twice!

So yes, I agree, It Kicks Ass.

[arbycoffee]

Thanks for the info & you have a great day. Me get some
Regards, Greg