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Thread: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Made March of 1980. Really cool machine with a retro sci fi girl themed cel. Standard arrange ball scoring: column, row, center four are 1,2, and 3 token payouts. The number matrix is recessed with the floor sloping to the rear where there are 3 holes. There are only two ways for a ball to get in here and they require lucky shots. The first way in is thru the small blue pocket at top center. The other way is probably even harder and that requires a ball to go in either of the lower left or right pockets with a pic of a rocket on them. A sound like a rocket blasting off accompanies this. When this happens the white pieces just under the blue pocket slide to the outside via solenoids. They stay in this position for about a second. A ball can now land on top of these and pass thru a hole and make its way to one of the 3 holes in the center feature mentioned above. It's a pretty tall order to have a ball make it either with the pocket or the moving parts because the 3 holes are a large reward. The left hole lights up the diagonal numbers 1,6,11, and 16. The right hole lights the diagonal numbers 4,7,10, and 13. Getting one of these will give the player a great chance at a completion and getting both will light the center 4 for a payout of 3 plus any other completions they helped to make. The center hole pays out one token right away.
    The machine arrived with very slight damage to the center feature. 2 small pieces of the trim on the left side broke off as well as a part of the plastic that the left moving part rides on. Luckily, I found the parts in the packaging and once they're glued back on it will be impossible to tell. The cel is in great shape-no water damage and the colors are still vibrant. The frame is rusty to say the least and the interior is pretty grimy. The machine pays and plays properly and all the parts are present including the usually missing coin overflow jug. Frequently just as on traditional vintages, various plastic covers, thumb screws, etc. are missing but everything's present. Actually there is a part missing and that's the number cover that goes in between both panes of glass but that's normal. The silicone light sockets are hard as a rock so those will be replaced. Possibly with LEDs at some point. This machine will be a fun one to tear down and clean up. No fabricating of parts or a cel replacement. The only thing I'm not sure about is the chrome frame. I may have to send that out.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633044.395457.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633063.135797.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633084.354442.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633103.825171.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633119.755696.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633134.995611.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633152.894081.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370633172.685046.jpg
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    Goodwill Ambassador luckydog's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    nice
    幸運わんわん Luckydog or Yukiwanwan in Japanese

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    Eye Shooter Chumsize's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Cool! Innards look pretty good too.
    Woof!

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    Pachi Puro mxfaiman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    I love that background graphic. And you couldn't ask for a cooler theme.

    100 machines and counting...

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    Pachi Puro Moparformances's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    nice one
    Never Doubt that a small group of thoughtful, .......... /........ If your not going to stand behind our troops
    ...committed people can change the world. ............. /.................Please, Please stand in front of them
    .....Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has............./
    .........................................Margaret Mead

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    Pachi Puro Card Shark's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Very Nice!!!
    "Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."
    Pachiholic and Proud!!! サメ

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    I was thrown out of Top Gear Drunkenclam's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Super looking machine, I wondered how long it would be till it surfaced again I wonder why no one in Japan bid on it, maybe the theme was to garish. But means you got it for a bargain price. Look forward to the updates
    Ian #UKPachinko

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Yeah I debated long and hard on this one and studied the pics for a long time. I found out that the owner bought it just to use a retro display piece for his store and either didn't want to or couldn't figure out how to open it up to at least get a look at the interior. I considered a lot of things. I could tell that the center feature did something interesting and I recognized those two pockets as pass thrus with micro switches used by Satomi. I figured the two center feature white parts which I now recognize are the space ships depicted on the sides of the center feature but viewed side on, moved or tilted or something. It was just too late of a model to not have some novel feature to get people's attention. Plus a speaker is visible. I also took into account the listed weight of the machine
    and it was too heavy to be an empty shell so I had decent reason to believe it was at least intact if not working. So all that plus arrangeballs never are that cheap and since my track record with arrangeballs from YJA is almost perfect, I pulled the trigger and glad I did. It's also the dirtiest machine I've seen to date and the clean up will be long and extensive but that's my favorite part.
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    I was thrown out of Top Gear Drunkenclam's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Quote Originally Posted by emmadog View Post
    It's also the dirtiest machine I've seen to date and the clean up will be long and extensive but that's my favorite part.
    As MrGneiss posted

    Here's a rusty arrangeball that Clam was apparently too busy to post!!
    Ian #UKPachinko

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    Rusty to say the least. I had to drill all the chrome frame screws out. Not one would turn with a screwdriver and I was glad for once that they use cheap metal screws for the construction. There's no water damage to the cell from cleaning for example so I think it's been stored in a humid place for part of its life sometime after it left service and hasn't been used since. There's no interior mods, no stripped screws, everything looks untouched. Fortunately the circuit boards have no corrosion and the boards protected by a cover are still shiny underneath.
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    Completely disassembled. The pic shows all of the parts minus the circuit boards which I keep in a left over anti static bag. The wooden case is also free of all hardware and that'll get sanded and varnished. The cel is pretty filthy but the colors havent faded much at all. I dont know though how it would look in its original form with everything else appearing close to new since I've now decided to do a complete restore now that I've torn down the machine and seen what all needs to be done.
    The rear of the case is made of plywood and its delaminating badly so I'll make a new one out of some high quality ply. I have to save the old one till then to use as a template. It's got metal inserts that some of the interior parts screw into.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1370812317.492830.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370812333.166983.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1370812354.541086.jpg
    The ball rails are attached in a way I've never seen before. The metal "cotter pins" normally used are still there but they're much shorter and are cupped. They don't extend all the way thru the board because a screw comes from the rear and goes into the cotter pin pushing the halves apart and into the wood.
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    Eye Shooter p.opus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Yeah.

    You're now at that point where I usually shake my head and go "My GOD!!!, what have I got myself into".

    I think it's partially that "fear of failure" that adds to the allure of restoration. I just got done with background replacement of my newest front overflow, (minus two side pockets I'm awaiting from ebay) and even though I had done a model A before, I still had that almost sick feeling when everything was apart.

    If you are going to replace the plywood playfield, how are you going to replace the background? Are you going to scan it and then have someone make a new one? It would be a shame to lose that fantastic theme.
    71 Nishijin "A" Bowling, 80's Nishijin Hit Parade , 05 Sankyo Star Wars, 07 Fuji Yamato 1, 09 Fuji Yamato 2
    ----------> ----------> ....And so it goes...

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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    I remember having those same concerns on my first couple of restorations. I just take plenty of pics and email them to myself as a backup and put all parts in labeled containers. The plywood I have to replace is not the plywood that the cel and playfield parts attache to. The wooden frame that Arrange ball machines use are essentially boxes with a plywood rear wall that typically the coin handling parts attach to and with a hole drilled at the bottom so the power cord can exit. This rear wall is what i'll be replacing. As for the cel, I may replace it but I'd never change the design. That's one of the reasons I picked this machine up. For me, cel replacement is easy enough but it's the creation of the new cel that's a pain in the ass. Specifically the digital clean up. Put simply, I remove the cel in one piece and scan in into my computer. Then all the colors are brought back to original as well as removing all nail holes, defects, etc. So this means every square inch of the image has to be redone or else unwanted artifacts will show up on the print. I use paint.net and Corel Draw programs-it's easy in theory but it'd tedious. I then email the finished file to a print shop to be printed on cast, not calendared automotive adhesive vinyl. That then gets laminated with a clear and then I put a layer of adhesive clear mylar for even more durability.
    This will be the 5th one I've done over the years. I don't do many simply because these machines are so hard to find. Here's some pics of before and afters.
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    Eye Shooter p.opus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Yeah, I break mine down similarly. A playfield replacement costs me a minimum of 50 ziploc bags. I number each bag as I take it off the machine, and if need by, I actually mark the location of the item with it's bag number so I know generally where it goes. I too take pictures of the "before" so I can see how it was.

    Even with all that, though, I get that cold sinking feeling. What if I lost a nail? What if this "breaks". So far I've been lucky. I've only broken a ball guide which was easily super glued, and two jackpot side pockets (which I found replacements for). Even with all that prep, I still sometimes get that sinking feeling.

    As it comes back together though, it gets better. Once the background is replaced and the playfield is assembled back into the frame, then I'm feeling "in the clear".

    Beautiful machines.
    71 Nishijin "A" Bowling, 80's Nishijin Hit Parade , 05 Sankyo Star Wars, 07 Fuji Yamato 1, 09 Fuji Yamato 2
    ----------> ----------> ....And so it goes...

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    Pachi Puro mxfaiman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Quote Originally Posted by p.opus View Post
    I too take pictures of the "before" so I can see how it was.
    Always a smart thing to do. Especially if you forget where some doo-dad goes.

    100 machines and counting...

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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    the rear wall was in bad shape and definitely needed replacement. i bought a nice piece of birch plywood and using the original as a template, marked the 3 main circuit board mounting holes and the power cord exit hole. i then epoxied the 3 metal inserts for the circuit board mount to the new board. the entire case and new wall were also sanded and sealed.
    next was to disassemble the circuit board mount as well as all the associated parts on this unit which are the token pathways and token dispensing mechanics. all were pretty gummed up and in need of cleaning.
    this assembly also houses the machine's on/off button, the two micro switches in the coin stack (2 are used to allow the operator to choose when to have the low token light come on which also disables the coin mech, preventing a new game from being started), and the selector switch for those two micro switches. the main circuit board itself is fairly clean since it has a protective cover (not pictured). Visible on it are the red LED which indicates power and also a slider switch to set the max payout at 5 or 10. next is to break these parts down a little further and start evaluating and cleaning.
    the pics show:
    -the entire unit in the machine as i received it and powered on
    -side by side old and new rear wall
    -metal inserts
    -coin mech/PCB chassis
    -coin dispensing solenoid and it's housing
    -main circuit board
    -new back wall mounted
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    Cleaned, polished, lubed, reassembled and installed the main PCB and token handling/dispensing chassis.
    Before and after:
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371427727.634166.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1371427748.617458.jpg
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    And one more pic showing the black plastic part just above the coin overflow jug. I hadn't installed it in the above pic.
    Another showing the coin tube with both micro switch levers visible and the coin count numbers are now legible.
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371447867.512651.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371448162.440027.jpg
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    Gibisans - Japan West compirate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Satomi Miracle "Space Wars" Arrange Ball

    Isn't it a blast bringing these things back to life?

    人生は恐れなければ、とても素晴らしいものなんだよ。
    人生に必要なもの。それは勇気と想像力、そして少しのお金だ。

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