#12 Understanding Pinball - Atari HERCULES - The largest?? TNT Amusements

Watch Todd Tuckey, owner of TNT Amusements, compare HERCULES with a regular pinball machine. The electronics are show...PLUS you get to see UNDERNEATH the machine and how it works!
#HerculesPinball #TntAmusements #PinballMachine

[@jboypacman]

I played this Pinball machine a few times over the years it is a freaking beast and i love it.

[@southport97]

Loves this guys enthusiasm. The only place I saw a Hercules was in Myrtle Beach SC back in 1992 in one of those game rooms on the strip.

[@rmeyerhofer5]

I didn't even know they made such a machine. awesome pinball machine

[@belfry43]

The first time I played Hercules was in 1981, The arcade has a circular raised floor section, 8 steps up, and Hercules was crowning over all others!

[@tntamusements]

Yes! It was the KING of all Pinball Maxhines!

[@gorillaau]

@@tntamusements Any speculation as to what possessed to create something so unwieldy and oversized? I hope more than "well big is better".

[@ScottParisi]

Awesome machine. Curt crushed the flipper rebuild. My stairs are 33" wide. No problem getting into the basement, right?

[@heene]

I've only seen one of these when I was on holiday at Butlins in the early 80's. I took a picture of it as I was so impressed.

[@ColeslawVariant]

I got to play this at Cedar Point when I was a kid!

[@ColeslawVariant]

The cue ball was what I remembered about it the most.

[@1959blantz]

@Harold Cedar Point is where I first saw this pinball machine and played it in1979. Cedar Point had the best arcade in the area.

[@PubeStache]

Cedar Point had two of them! I wish I had the foresight to take photos of the arcade in the late 80's. But I was just a kid.

[@toodark6]

This is a great video! I was just telling my 8-year old about this machine, that I used to play at the Electric Castle in the Beaverton Mall (OR). That was probably around '82 or '83. That place had everything!

[@elizario3524]

31 years ago when i was with 15 years old i've played Hercules in Tramandaí, a beach 50 miles from Porto Alegre Really cool machine!

[@elmoredneal5382]

Very cool! 😁 I remember playing this game in the early 1980s at Coin Castle in Edmonton Alberta Canada 🇨🇦

[@intexpainting70]

What a huge pin! Amazing video Todd!

[@tntamusements]

+WARRIOR4CHRIST70 KZ4LIFE Yes..its a biggie!

[@LeoLocoProductions]

Wow!!! Ive never seen one in this perfect condition. Im from Massachusetts ive seen 0 here but in NH i found 3. 2/3 in non working condition one in Canobie Lake park, and one in Pinball Wizard arcade home of a 100 pinball machines. The only one working model was in Funspot Laconia NH but not as good as that the flipper couldn't push the ball that hard at all.

[@tntamusements]

This took quite awhile to get running this well...we sold it for $1600...as we did not give it a complete overhaul.

[@tnracker29]

I saw online there is one at Salisbury Beach, Ma. At Joes Playland.

[@Mdg897]

+Leonel Mayorga This game is working great at Pinball Wizard Arcade, in Pelham, NH!

[@BAKU2K2]

Bally once made a game just as big as this one that was called Bigfoot, it came out 3 years before Atari's Hercules did but it was never produced due to interior stress caused by powerful vibrations from the oversized pop bumpers... that game was that big, it had to use a cue ball instead of a regular ball.

[@finstersrc30]

Fantastic Video of a great machine. Thanks for posting ! If I had the room I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[@Paulywint]

I played this game at an arcade at a mall when I was a kid. It was a fun game to play.

[@AnslerWolf]

Thanks for showing me all about this beastly machine.

[@tomsav8848]

Cool to see one working the way it was supposed to. Played it back in the day and the flipper barely worked.. Great vid!

[@tntamusements]

Yes...still needs some tweaks...the new owner was going to do that!

[@ArcadeHunters]

Awesome video, it's great to see the inner workings of a Hercules. A barn door? I've only played two of them, one in Seaside Heights NJ and Hershey Park. And as you said at the end, the flippers didn't have nearly enough juice to go up the ramps. Hopefully we can make it out to you guys to check out the shop, heard a lot of good things about you guys, so hopefully we'll see you one day in the future.

[@shoresean1237]

I think the one in Seaside got taken out by Sandy. That's almost something out of Greek myth itself.

[@salvabuggira9274]

Menudo monstruo de pinball nunca avía visto nada igual tan grande al menos aquí en España un saludo amigo.

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Great video. Thanks for posting this. Have a nice day.

[@GlennHoeppner]

I've actually played one of these before. It reminds me of the old Laurel & Hardy where they're little kids and everything around them is huge. Hopefully you get another one some day so you can do an updated video with the newer camera.

[@tntamusements]

Yes...if one comes in again...this was in fact one of my first videos...and it was a little camera that mostly took still pictures!

[@kendvanpool]

Great Video thanks. One question - Massive empty warehouse? Is this Dexter's dream house?

[@ChadAmI80]

WOW! Do you have any idea what the MSRP was on this when new?

[@tntamusements]

That I am not sure of...perhaps 3K to 4 K

[@ChadAmI80]

I've only had the opportunity to play this one time. It was amazing, but the flippers weren't powerful enough to get it up to the top of the playfield.

[@yabbaguy]

Had that issue with the one at FunSpot in New Hampshire.

[@YouDummy]

Used to play this at Playland in Flint. As mentioned in the video, the one there barely had enough power in the flippers to get the ball back to the top. I still remember to this day playing, and trapping the ball on the flippers. The guy working there would freak out if he saw you do this, and would shut the machine off on you if he saw you do it. Claimed it was "cheating"

[@tntamusements]

Yes...you do need alot of power to get that ball to the top again...and the lack of new parts would make it very hard to get this machine to play faster!

[@Peter_T123]

Awesome game I wonder how many are left?

[@tntamusements]

Glad you liked it!

[@millerman7799]

@2:00 Maintenance on that contraption doesn't require an arcade expert, it requires a vintage Volvo mechanic 🤓🔧 When the ball hits a bumper in that empty hall, it sounds like a shotgun going off, haha! 😂 *BOOM-BO-BOOM!...*

[@siouxmoux3]

Back in the day I remember playing this sumo size pinball at time zone in mountain view ca.

[@finstersrc30]

Great Video! Thank You Todd for Posting.

[@sseltrek1a2b]

got to play one of these a couple of months back...it definitely had the weak flipper problem- could never get the ball to the top of the machine...

[@tntamusements]

This demands a NASTY phone call to the CREEP that sold it to you! :-)

[@richdziuba2801]

did this game always use a cue ball or did it use a large silver at one point

[@tntamusements]

+Rich Dziuba It was always a Cue Ball!

[@richdziuba2801]

+TNT Amusements Inc - cool

[@Orchengo]

We have this machine at our local pinball museum and spent ages fixing all the parts and repairing the boards. Then something got shorted and it's been dead ever since :(

[@figment1988]

indeed. Tis not a measly pinball machine, for it is a beast of a machine which should be appreciated by those in the pinball community.

[@mikebell2112]

How did that warehouse go from completely empty to maxed out, games 3 deep with racks piled high above them...

[@tntamusements]

It's rapidly emptying out now!

[@VGC-cc4xt]

Would like to buy one!What the value in 2015?

[@tntamusements]

+Renaud Dorval Non working...between $1000 and $1500...working $2000 and up...(we sold this for $1500 working but NOT shopped.) Because of its size, there is LOTS of cosmetic issues and this would take lots of time--hence costly.

[@MrMopar244]

I just played one of these yesterday. There are two in Sandusky Ohio @ Cedar Point. Both are in playable condition. Still amazes me that they are still there. I remember playing them when I was 18-20 years old. SAME MACHINES ! There were a bunch of EM machines and almost every machine they had was working. BTW Hercules took big sized cajones to build. Props out to Atari for producing this beast !

[@envisionelec]

I used to play one of these at the Nickelodeon in Des Moines Iowa in the 1980s. It was in terrible condition - mostly a novelty.

[@SagePatrynXX]

Played this game at some arcade in the 80's. which fark I couldn't actually see the bloody end of the table. Musta been 10-11 yrs old at the time. Didn't Playboy make one similar?

[@tntamusements]

Hi! This was the ONLY large pinball machine ever made....that I know about. Its possible that someone made a one of a kind machine...even taken this Hercules machine and changed artwork to Playboy! Who knows? Would be neat though!

[@SagePatrynXX]

TNT Amusements Inc when I originally looked for it, on the ipdb years ago they'd listed Bigfoot and I think a Playboy knockoff. not much is listed on PB although rechecked Bigfoot and there's new pix for that one and it looks fairly large 4x10 feet. now they've added stuff on but for years thought the game was Bigfoot but then I bumped into info on Hercules . Same inspiration I guess. Never put into production. Still. woulda been nice.

[@tntamusements]

Yes! It looks like TWO were made in 1976---before Hercules!! WOW! Maybe you played one of them!! Todd ipdb.org/search.pl?any=bigfoot&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#4345

[@SagePatrynXX]

TNT Amusements Inc always said my first game I played was Pinbot. that I can remember. there is a chance someone had one of these games in the early 80's but like most things if your under 10 you probably can't remember them. because I always swore there was another level/tier on the field and hercules has one level. that and it was very crowded. I had to wait in a long line just to play it. and letting someone play a game that can't even hardly play stretching their narrow armwidth around I have no idea. that and ipdb doesn't say what happened to those machines so it could have been a tour. We would have been in Monroe WI those days but we often would go to Madison's mall. So who knows. Still I'd play either game in a hb. :D Just I guess there's a thing as too big :)

[@kingbawesome]

That used to be at Seaside heights in the Carousel arcade on Funtown Pier.

[@tntamusements]

King B Awesome That must have been quite awhile ago!

[@kingbawesome]

I know, I used to play Hercules pinball a lot during that time.

[@HerrKlugscheisser]

I remember that one too. It was long gone even before Sandy. I played their Whirlwind which was only one of 2 pins that survived Sandy, only to be lost in fire. What a shame. I worked 4 summers (88-91) at Lucky Leo's.

[@HerrKlugscheisser]

HerrKlugscheisser Looked at some videos on YT and they still had it in 2007, but it was not in a video from 2009.

[@MarcosPaulo-wg3ld]

Este fliper é sinistro,marcou minha vida de viciado em fliperama, quando era office boy ,eu jogava em um fliperama gigante que existia na rua 15 de novembro no centro da cidade perto da praça da Sé,da hora recordar

[@tntamusements]

Glad the video brought back good memories!

[@Riz2336]

Wow that thing is huge

[@tntamusements]

It's a "big-en"!

[@fancycoat9900]

ok you talked me into it

[@bmike3808]

One of these just sold on marketplace for $7,100 right up the road from me a husband and wife have quit the home collection. Guess there thinning the herd lol

[@TheDabeavis]

Here's my question, what is the smallest proper pinball machine out there? (Proper meaning not one of those toy like the ones by Zizzle)

[@PubeStache]

Super Mario Brothers?

[@eyyojung]

i think this one flying from the roof is much more fun than playing it isn't it TNT amusement??

[@Arkstrikle]

i played one in arcade in b.c back 80s was overkill

[@Nexus5001]

iv played this table be4. i had to lay on it to play it and i remember the pinball was a cue ball for a pooltable

[@Dinosaurprince]

Where did you film this?

[@tntamusements]

Right here at TNT Amusements back in 1989.

[@Chopy61]

You may have heard of a wide body and a super pin, but have you heard. Of a _(insert joke here)_ If a game like twilight zone was that big or had a lot of features, It would be a nice table to play(probably)

[@gzo313]

I thought the ball originally was brown and white swirled?

[@tntamusements]

Not that I remember

[@NeonNijahn]

I'm a new owner op and this will be the first machine ill pitch to my local bar owners in nyc. Haha. Jk. Can you imagine?

[@Titanic4]

Imagine how a normal sized pinball machine, such as Riverboat Gambler would look like if it gets upscaled to match the scale of Hercules shown on the video...

[@tntamusements]

WOW>..never thought of that!

[@Eurt76]

How much does that thing weigh?! God, you must need a forklift to move it!

[@Dinosaurprince]

Frank! He said long shaft!

[@BAKU2K2]

Can you imagine how tough it would be fitting it through doorways... unless you have French doors.

[@gorillaau]

I heard of someone that won an arcade of Gauntlet in a competition who ended up having to build themselves a shed to house it. It wouldn't fit through th doors of the house. That 4 player machine was huge!

[@ThatOneGirlThatPlays]

"you can buy it!"

[@gorillaau]

Does it come with another garage to put it in?

[@arcade.space.invader]

I actually have a Friend that had one in his House in his Game room .But he Sold it because it was to Big ...and we all can see why XD

[@underthepale]

Pinball Arcade! ... What? No?

[@JoKe1960]

mmmm what a beauty , shame she isnt here.......

[@gorillaau]

I hate to be under there when someone walks past and whacks the machine.

[@sisu6310]

I was gobsmacked when i first encountered this machine, played a few games but found it tooooo boring, what a machine though

[@tntamusements]

alan p If everything's working right and its waxed, the game plays pretty good...many of them just are not working right these days and people get a bad impression!

[@33superali]

Or 12

[@33superali]

I like your old video even its not hd done delete video number 1

[@tntamusements]

Ali Adinehzadeh Our #1 video on KZbin is too historic to delete!

[@33superali]

what is the frist youtube video you ever done?

[@SwedishEmpire1700]

Jesus Christ Almighty

[@jahovahut]

Atari pinballs were never that good. People would line up to play this simply cause it was so huge. Atari stuck to video games after this one.

[@Wargoat6]

What, no multiball? Boooo . . . haha, just kidding.

[@timault8209]

Clearly my Alzheimer's hasn't kicked in yet. I remember playing this abomination when I was a kid... and hating it. A lumbering, boring spectacle that cost too much for the lame game play it offered. Bleh! BLEH I SAY!