Looking for info on machine I just bought for my wife..

[Poochinko]

Hi all - I’m new here. I just bought a Pachinko machine for my wife for her birthday. When she was a kid, her Navy father brought one home from Japan for her brother and she always had fond memories playing it and wanted one. My father, also Navy, did the exact same thing. Both of our brothers still have those machines and live in other states so I bought one for our house. She really loves it! So, now I’d like to find out as much as I can about this specific machine…. I’ll probably build a case for it, etc. I’ve also noticed some wires that are cut, so I’ll probably go through and fix anything that needs fixin’! It seems to work fine overall - lights sounds, the little slot reels, etc all work. The guy I bought it from told me the balls he bought for it are slightly too big, so I also need to figure out the exact right size balls for it to replace those. I’ve googled a ton and haven’t seen this one anywhere.

I’ll post a picture and I’m hoping you all can help me identify the model and find schematics, any write-ups, or as much general info as possible that’ll help me accomplish my goals. It says “Excite Dragon” and it’s made by NewGin. Thank you so very much in advance for any help you can provide! Here’s a couple of photos - I’m not sure why they uploaded sideways…:

DC593CE8-B08A-4606-BAC9-11180B2E1048.jpg
0C7B43F9-904E-4267-A276-434C0E086397.jpg
441E0213-9052-4A21-A679-DB921DC19EF0.jpg

[MrGneiss]

WELCOME!!!

If your pics load sideways, it means the site likes you!!

I believe its name is Excite Dragon 2 エキサイトドラゴン２

I get a bit more stuff if I search Newgin Excite Dragon 2 ニューギンエキサイトドラゴン2

I'm not finding too much info about it, hopefully someone else will know more!!

Ok..I found on Newgin's site on the Wayback Machine that it came out in 1996!!

https://web.archive.org/web/20020311...gon/index.html


That explains why I'm not finding too much..once we get to the late 90s early 2000s people in Japan started blogging about pachis and there's more info on machines after that!!

There won't be any schematics, pachis were meant for the trash once four years were up, so old paperwork rarely stayed around!!

Make sure to post pics of the back or any problem areas!! And make sure to buy genuine pachinko balls (which are 11mm) and not 11mm ball bearings!!

[takethecastle57]

and biscuits

[Drunkenclam]

Yep. Proper pachi balls ae 11mm in diameter with a weight of 5.5 grams.

[lotsoballs]

As others mentioned, there’s next to no documentation about most machines from this era, unless it was very popular. (Sankyo has decent documentation however)

I have a “Tequila” themed kenrimono style gameplay in this same frame (yours is a reel type digipachi) I built a basic cabinet for. You definitely want to add a cabinet or at least attach “feet” to it so it doesn’t tip over and break something.


I also imported a Pig and weed themed arepachi style gameplay cell board for this frame; “Magic hole” it seems the seller sold me one without vital sensors, so I’m on the lookout for another one… From my research all I know is it’s very rare and not much documentation on Newgins from this era. But at least my Tequila works well!

[Poochinko]

WELCOME!!!

If your pics load sideways, it means the site likes you!!

I believe its name is Excite Dragon 2 エキサイトドラゴン２

I get a bit more stuff if I search Newgin Excite Dragon 2 ニューギンエキサイトドラゴン2

I'm not finding too much info about it, hopefully someone else will know more!!

Ok..I found on Newgin's site on the Wayback Machine that it came out in 1996!!

https://web.archive.org/web/20020311...gon/index.html


That explains why I'm not finding too much..once we get to the late 90s early 2000s people in Japan started blogging about pachis and there's more info on machines after that!!

There won't be any schematics, pachis were meant for the trash once four years were up, so old paperwork rarely stayed around!!

Make sure to post pics of the back or any problem areas!! And make sure to buy genuine pachinko balls (which are 11mm) and not 11mm ball bearings!!

Thanks for helping me out! I’ll definitely post pictures of the back…I’ll definitely need people’s expertise to get the wiring figured out properly. No schematics? That’s a bummer. I’ll be sure to get 11mm Genuine Pachinko balls. Is there a site that everyone here uses to buy them? What is a good quantity for this machine?

I went to that link you posted and none of the images loaded to compare to mine. Did they load for you?

[Poochinko]

As others mentioned, there’s next to no documentation about most machines from this era, unless it was very popular. (Sankyo has decent documentation however)

I have a “Tequila” themed kenrimono style gameplay in this same frame (yours is a reel type digipachi) I built a basic cabinet for. You definitely want to add a cabinet or at least attach “feet” to it so it doesn’t tip over and break something.


I also imported a Pig and weed themed arepachi style gameplay cell board for this frame; “Magic hole” it seems the seller sold me one without vital sensors, so I’m on the lookout for another one… From my research all I know is it’s very rare and not much documentation on Newgins from this era. But at least my Tequila works well!

Thanks for sharing! I really like the cabinet you made. I’d like to do something basic like that as well. Did you document how you did it or have more pictures? From what I see, I think I’d possibly modify it slightly to allow the balls that drop in back to roll under forward to make it easy to reload.

Also, do you have any pictures of the back so I can see the wiring? I know they won’t be the same but it still might help me when I take the time to work on it.

So…it looks like the one I got is pretty rare? What are they worth? We’ll probably keep it forever but it’s always nice to know the value of things…and know if you got a good deal!

[Poochinko]

Here are a bunch of pictures of the back. You can see some wires were clipped…

8CD514E2-20F7-43E9-A509-EA1443C8DC71.jpg26DD7876-407D-4087-8C8C-1BDEED5AA4E4.jpg99F78C64-B569-4F7A-9A37-8B5AE3F327EC.jpgDEE2D67D-2A3E-492D-8D4D-C753DDA04049.jpgD02F6D36-DCAF-4C8A-AC0F-B38EF41B1922.jpg0C83160A-6EC1-446C-8696-96C9A01DF873.jpg1B467DBC-C7CC-48E5-99AC-155565E2A7F4.jpg

Apologize for the sideways uploads. I’ll get that figured out…lol

[lotsoballs]

Thanks for sharing! I really like the cabinet you made. I’d like to do something basic like that as well. Did you document how you did it or have more pictures? From what I see, I think I’d possibly modify it slightly to allow the balls that drop in back to roll under forward to make it easy to reload.

Also, do you have any pictures of the back so I can see the wiring? I know they won’t be the same but it still might help me when I take the time to work on it.

So…it looks like the one I got is pretty rare? What are they worth? We’ll probably keep it forever but it’s always nice to know the value of things…and know if you got a good deal!

I don’t really make official plans plans for my cabinets, measure twice and cut once is my main advice, and leave at least a half inch wiggle room for the machine to be installed in it I usually use a 1”x12” board for the base, if table top design, and either 1”x8” or 1”x10”s for the sides/top, depending on if it’s a vintage vs modern, or if it’s going to be wall mounted (definitely want 1”x10”s to allow plenty of clearance for a wall mounted modern, then make a French cleat style mount on 2 wall studs so it’s super strong and can be easily removed.


Here’s some ideas for wall mount design with a lower ball catcher; I prefer catchers do you don’t actually have to touch the balls ever getting them dirty and dropping them all the place



Here’s a tabletop design with lower ball catcher. (You can also add an additional top hopper to hold 2000+ balls which is useful, but does add considerable weight and it top heavy) better for wall mount design.

[lotsoballs]

As for value; rarity doesn’t necessarily equal valuable; if it were an arepachi gameplay vs digipachi would be worth a lot more to collectors, since they no longer make that type, and more fun to play in my opinion. Most people now just wanted the newer fancier models or vintages, so not a ton of demand for 90s models; maybe worth $80-120 range if sold locally but many other factors at play. You’d have to put one on eBay and let people bid to really find out what it’s worth to a wide audience.

Here’s a picture of mine


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Poochinko]

Great info - thank you! Little details from someone that has done it can save a ton of time…like the board dimensions you gave. That last picture with the tabletop cabinet with the lower ball catcher is perfect. How do you attach the machine to the frame? You don’t screw it into the wood on the side of the machine, do you? I’d hate to put screw holes in it.

[Poochinko]

In looking at this picture I now realize ours is missing a few cover pieces. I like the idea of a top hopper, and since I want to do a table top cabinet, maybe I just make the base wider for stability.

[Poochinko]

I just looked closer and I think maybe I’m missing more than just covers. If you look at the photo of the back of mine, you see where the balls come in from where you hit a prize and it looks like they just fall. So it’s missing some of the tracks or whatever for the balls I’m thinking. And you probably won’t trigger a win if the ball goes into those the way it is…

[lotsoballs]

In looking at this picture I now realize ours is missing a few cover pieces. I like the idea of a top hopper, and since I want to do a table top cabinet, maybe I just make the base wider for stability.

Yeah, I see some cut wires on yours; hopefully the last owner didn’t do a hack job trying to “fix” it with those cheap oversized ball bearings causing issues.

Comparing mine to to yours is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison since mine is a different type gameplay (rights based aka kenrimono)

They just use the same frame.

[Poochinko]

A bit apples to oranges but it made me realize that I’m missing more than I thought. I might need to find a Pachinko repair / restorer in San Diego if one exists!

[lotsoballs]

A bit apples to oranges but it made me realize that I’m missing more than I thought. I might need to find a Pachinko repair / restorer in San Diego if one exists!

There’s no repair shops for moderns unfortunately; they are made to be disposable after a couple years, no schematics either, you might have to get creative and fabricate some ball chutes though, seems like somebody that didn’t know what they were doing took it apart trying to fix a ball jam probably and didn’t put it back together properly.

I’d get some real pachinko balls and then try to figure out what the issues are, it’s definitely going to need some ball tracks though. It’s a bit late to mention, but it’s not a good idea for a beginner to buy a modern pachinko that doesn’t work; they are complicated to fix. No repair shops to speak of, plus you can buy much newer fully tested machines for as little as $99 from JT Comatz (plus shipping).

That’s why most people like the simple, mechanical vintages that are cheap and easy to fix if they want a cheap beginner machine or one to tinker with.

Unfortunately there are pachinko grifters/scammers out there… just like that scoundrel that sold me the “Magic hole” cell board with missing sensors…

Buyer beware….

[Poochinko]

Hopefully someone here has this machine and can post pictures of the back wiring, etc. If that happens I should be able to figure it out myself. I’m definitely going to build the cabinet myself. Might even do it tonight / tomorrow.

[Poochinko]

I like a challenge! And I’m pretty creative so I’m sure I can create some chutes and whatnot, as long as I have something to reference. I’m halfway decent with electrical stuff too…so, again, with a little reference material I’m hoping I can get that sorted myself as well! I’m crossing my fingers that someone logs on here and happens to see this post and have an Excite Dragon 2 and post some photos!

[MrGneiss]

I went to that link you posted and none of the images loaded to compare to mine. Did they load for you?

No, most pachi sites were Very flash heavy so lots of old stuff on sites well into the 2000s went away when flash did..

But pachi sites generally only show close ups of playfield features, screens and reels, so there probably wasn't anything that would help with fixing stuff..

[lotsoballs]

There’s a video on YouTube showing it in action, how it’s supposed to work. Does the shooter work? Do the reels, music, lights and ball payout activate when you drop a ball in the start pocket?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aHDMGXu-l4E