The World's Most Beautiful SPACE INVADERS Pinball Machine And It Won't Even Turn On!

[@Big_Gaz_1]

This is a blast from the past. I remember playing this game most evenings and usually only paid for one game and all the rest were free. I had the knack for flipping it round the centre piece so many times in a row and that gave you free games iirc. I once left the game with 57 or so credits on it as i had to go home and there were still some left the next day. I don't think the shop owner was too happy with me lol

[@rcfreeman]

Way cool, "symmetrical" 😊

[@OneSwitch]

Whether or not you rate the game play, that has to be one of the coolest bits of arcade machinery you could have in your home. Just stunning.

[@MrButtonpresser]

"It's broke". Same joke every time, same big smile from me every time. Great machine this one. Nice analysis.

[@macdaddyns]

Freaking awesome Ron! My Favorite game of the time. I bought a trashed one in the early 90's for$200 and couldn't get the boards from the vendors to fix it so I kept the backglass and sent it to the landfill. Oh if I only knew then what I know now. Looking forward to the gameplay though you need to crank the volume so we can hear that great thump noise.

[@AllanSitte]

I now have a new bucket list item in my life - Find a Space Invaders pinball machine and then find a way to buy it. That particular machine is just over-the-top impressive. Love it and I don't even own it. Thank you for sharing this with us Ron.

[@justinfiorini3142]

One for sale in western washington for $1800

[@motodork]

I love the wide body on this machine, and the H. R. Giger artwork. EDIT: or I should say, the H. R. Giger-esque artwork.

[@paulsmith8664]

Bravo Ron! all I can say is it was a pleasure having you guys bring her back to life, Thank you so much!

[@cheeseparis1]

Thanks so much for reenacting the life of a slow blow fuse, their feeling and emotions compared to a regular one. Made my day!

[@derekfugate9052]

Unlike other manufacturers of the time, Bally started their serial numbers at 1000. So that gives you the idea this was still over 10,000 made in the production run. Always liked that about Bally, made their games easy to read what number they were off the production line.

[@vpinchile]

I will never gonna forget differences between slow-blow vs fast-blow ! !! thanks for that !

[@LyonsArcade]

Glad I could help!

[@craigcampbell8560]

One of my all time favorites! This game is the biggest reason I've always loved wide bodies! I've owned 4 of these over the years. That one pin is notorious for burning. I add a 2 pin molex connector and run that wire through both pins to help with the heat. I'm pretty sure that Bally used that particular power supply on only 2 games, Space Invaders and Future Spa. Both are wide bodies with aux. lamp driver boards and a LOT of controlled bulbs. I wish I had a photo, but back in the 1990's I had Space Invaders, Xenon, Vector, Black Hole and Volcano all lined up in a row. Hitting the 5 red invaders is what speeds up the thumping sound as well as speeds up the infinity lights and changes the pattern. The Bally's would actually change what the lights were doing while the Gottlieb's would have the lights always running in a single speed and pattern (Haunted House also used a light board for the lightening bolts. Had that next to the Volcano). You have to keep in mind that back in the 1990's these things were CHEAP, especially the System 80's because they never worked. So it's not like I sent a small fortune on them, especially because none worked when I bought them. Paul has himself a very, VERY nice Space Invaders by the way. Those got played a LOT, so the playfields are usually pretty beat up pretty good in the middle bottom. What a gem!!!

[@greenlantern1123]

Awesome I just picked one up! Played this when I was 11 and holds special place for me as it was the first pin I played. Your videos are the best !

[@philharmonix564]

If one of the current pinball companies ever re-released this I'd absolutely buy it. No hesitation.

[@Rendclaw]

That machine is straight up gorgeous. I've loved this machine since I first saw it in 79.

[@thefordchannel985]

Thank you for this series! I recently bought one of these, and it wasn't working, but after replacing the MPU, rectifier board, and repinning the connectors on the rectifer board with your help, I finally got it working this evening.

[@John-qf8ud]

Still hoping to see you work on an Embryon. But honestly It was a well made machine. My dad had one in his arcade in the eighties. All we did was clean it. Replace lights and rubbers. I think one flipper coil burned out. That was it. Best pinball game we had bar none.

[@LyonsArcade]

We will probably be getting one in eventually, just haven't yet!

[@ronfromoz1835]

Finished a full overhaul of mine last year, the only board I could not save was the power supply. The GE tracers were burnt away and had been poorly repaired earlier in its life. You learn patience when every connection has to be repined, it is a labor of love because you would never get back the money you spent on it just in the time alone.When all said and done it looks amazing when the machine comes alive.

[@NewTestamentDoc]

has to be one of the most beautiful/well redone pinballs you've showcased..... I savored every moment of the video Ronnie!

[@hybridjohn1]

I was just gifted one of these machines by a neighbor(still working on delivery). It has playfield wear but outside of top flipper not working it appears fully functional. So stoked about restoring this baby

[@guytownsend4160]

When I was growing up my bedroom was overtop of our arcade. The Space Invaders machine would wake me up every morning with its music 😂.

[@eDoc2020]

I _like_ the infinity mirror in the backglass. If it's anything like the Space Invaders arcade cabinet the full effect can't be captured on camera. I;m sure I'd _love_ it if I saw it in person.

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah it's a very special design, looks amazing.

[@grandpaseed]

A rainbow of love Colors of life intertwining A beautiful view

[@Cool_Retro]

I have fond memories playing this game back in the day. Thanks for the video!

[@angrydove4067]

I never played that one but I'd buy it just for the back box, super cool. The fuse description was great too.

[@areizman]

Best explanation of slow vs fast blow ever!

[@donmorton7282]

Excellent buddy and I totally agree, the classic machines are just the best.

[@rrowan327]

Awesome machine, I loved your fast/slow blow fuse explanation. I needed a good laugh, many thanks Ron.

[@SharkoonBln]

That part is so funny, I had to re-watch it 🤣

[@geeteoh1]

Great video. Super clean machine. You get all the good machines in to work on. Thanks for the call out... I don't have a sound board for the "2nd gen sound board" series of games yet. Low cost replacements are already out there. Not sure if anyone would want to customize the sound effects for Space Invaders if I released a board - it already has a great background sound. Other games in the series could use some customization though.

[@LyonsArcade]

I just love these old Ballys man they scream pinball to me. I'd never had this particular one! Thanks for everything you do, the Lost World is coming up soon.

[@webbfaze124]

Paragon would be awesome.. if not in the works already.

[@MRNBricks]

I’ve always wanted one of these. They’re always at shows and stuff. Maybe I’ll find one for a reasonable price one day and never have time to fix it. 😂

[@LyonsArcade]

At least you'll have YOUR PRECIOUSSSSSSS :)

[@AnthonyPresley-l8f]

Just picked up a absolutely beautiful space invaders pinball for $750. The guy said the flippers didn’t work but it was just a misadjusted switch and it works great

[@jasonbrindamour903]

Gorgeous machine!! If I had ever won the lottery and could have a game room, this would have to be in my collection!!!

[@AdrianGalvan-rr9tg]

Very entertaining Ron. Keep them coming!

[@sguttag]

Way cool machine. My only comment to the repair is that I would retap that transformer to 120V. There is almost no down-side to it. You might get a little weaker flipper but everything else improves...less current, fewer fuse pops, lamps last longer, bridges run cooler, regulators run cooler. 120V is just way more common in the US than 115. Given the amount of power related issues on this one, getting the voltages right seems like it would be a good move. Of course, this machines/repair happened in the past so there is no changing it now. Have a great weekend Ronnie and thanks for posting these videos. I really enjoy them.

[@LyonsArcade]

If I never would have mentioned it, you never would have thought it. Any decision I make is criticized, it usually becomes the point of the video other than the machine I'm trying to show off. If I could make videos without me talking, I would, then people would have less to disagree and criticize with

[@simondempsey1]

what a machine, fantastic, remember playing back in the day, however never really done well on it, always seemed to just drain done the out lanes🤥 its a scary back glass.

[@parker1ray]

We had several of the small tabletop pinball games in the 70's. I would love to have one of those again!

[@beavis6363]

Symmetrical vs. asymmetrical. But you know that. What a beautiful machine. Nice work on the pins and connections. It's astonishing that the machine didn't have continual intermittent problems.

[@jasonsteverson4609]

Hey Ron!! Finally a mirror pin and..... You have no reflection, Ronula!

[@LyonsArcade]

Hey Jason!

[@Hollyweirdification]

Few elements from the original game were used, except for the sounds and front case artwork that were included in the pinball game. The artwork instead resembled the xenomorphs from the 1979 film "Alien". Bally was sued over the game's artwork resemblance to designs by H. R. Giger. In fact, they ended up stopping production of the game early due to pending lawsuits, although 11,400 machines were still produced. A settlement was reached with Fox studios where royalties were paid to the studio for each pinball machine sold and Fox was also given approximately 3 machines to use for the promotion of the sequel to Alien, named "Aliens".

[@piratestation69]

Never knew it existed.. your right this damn cool and i thought pinbot was king. Thanx Ron. Great explanation on fuse technology. Pretty funny.

[@mattpace5982]

I wished I lived close to you all I would get me a job with you and Joe keep up the good work Ron

[@jetcom1121]

What a beautiful game !!! Thank you for another great video. Those Gulf Pinball Power Supply Boards are nice, I also prefer the solder in type over the solderless type of board. Don has both versions but you have to specify which board you want. All of my games use power supply boards from Gulf Pinball.

[@smalltimer4370]

Awesome! Love the classics

[@kennynvake4hve584]

My favorite machine was(IS) eight ball deluxe..........chalk up.....get the eight ball, nice shot.......now get deluxe......

[@brett3429]

Absolutely gorgeous pin! First pin I ever played. Great job! 👍🏻👏🏻

[@irieman442]

To use the parlance of the day... Totally awesome man!!! I am surprised they got away with that artwork. I think it totally fits the game. Another Bally grand slam homerun!

[@ronv1725]

Loved the talking 5 amp fuse.

[@frankgagliano9677]

Great video Ronnie, I remember seeing the game when I idropped off Dad's Time Warp. Man it good then and being a widebody body that thing is big. The power supply is all messed up, glad too see how you fixed that right up. I can't wait to see the next video. Thanks for filming Ronnie.

[@JamesUK-je4ew]

Great job and great video Ronnie! Regards

[@dvv45]

One of the best games ever made!

[@EricPetersen2922]

I have a Space Invaders pin, it’s one of my all time favorite games to play. The art is amazing

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

[@NewTestamentDoc]

So look forward to all the new pinball machines! And your commentary is so valuable... I mean it!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you!, that's very nice of you. Have a good weekend!

[@Petri547]

The backglass has really cool lights. Bally used that horseshoe tunnel with Silverball Mania too. Thanks for sharing this cool video. Happy weekend Ron! 👍😀

[@keithsmith6356]

Mine works for now lol gonna start putting in leds

[@williamnutley5509]

Thanks for the video Ron. Sweet machine!

[@telletran2558]

Perhaps some of us like the idea of an open glass, target hittin', playin' around until we get that secret bonus multiball. Can you show us what the bonus/multiball is for the Space Invaders?

[@duckpinball9600]

Thanks for sharing!! A fan from Argentina 👍🏼

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks for watching!

[@markjackson1444]

I think the word is symmetry… I haven’t laid eyes on this game for many years. Good to see a game turn up in very nice shape to start with. The gameplay video should be a lot of fun.

[@ocsrc]

That is AWESOME WOW 😮😮😮

[@lunarmodule6419]

Excellent thx

[@izzynutz2000]

I had a friend of mine that owned an arcade up in Missouri that we used to go to and they used to collect classic pinball machines and keep them at their house not at the arcade they had a huge basement and they had a collection of top end video games and pinballs and one of the pinballs was a Space Invaders like this I have never seen one before nor have since

[@simonebernacchia]

I remember those when i was a kid in 1980: definitely alien inspired and the mirror top was pretty unusual for the time

[@t.c.bowling1934]

I wanted to thank you for posting all your videos. You and your brother do a great job! The Dracula video you made was a really cool too!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you!

[@00Mandy00]

After all these years, I still laugh about making Space Invaders borrowing from Alien. 😂

[@TechGorilla1987]

@17:41 - The second fuse from the left looks very blown in this shot.

[@PlumGurly]

Some of what might make the power higher is industries leaving an area. So the power is calibrated to the big industries drawing a steady load, and then they leave and the power company doesn't recalibrate it. I mentioned a story about a shop putting 5 CRTs in a TV set, and they always blew on Saturday. What has happening was that the power spiked to like 150 volts on the weekend. That was because a mill would shut down for the weekend.

[@keithsmith6356]

looks just like mine but i have maybe 3 lights not working on the playfield i cant figure how to get them working 😞im OCD need every light to work as intended. Also mine is set for free play I cant stand that want to use it as my personal quarter bank.

[@marcthemeatman]

11,400 were made. The artwork instead resembled the xenomorphs from the 1979 film “Alien”. Bally was sued over the game’s artwork resemblance to designs by H. R. Giger. In fact, they ended up stopping production of the game early due to pending lawsuits, although 11,400 machines were still produced. A settlement was reached with Fox studios where royalties were paid to the studio for each pinball machine sold and Fox was also given approximately 3 machines to use for the promotion of the sequel to Alien, named “Aliens”. The Space Invaders pinball machine was one of only five “widebodies” released for production by Bally.

[@philharmonix564]

I was 8 years old when i first saw this pinball. I was both scared and fascinated by the Giger influenced design. Today's pinballs can't compare.

[@afattori316]

Beautiful pin and one of the best backglass’s ever, but got old quick and didn’t last long in my collection.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for the complaint, you're number 32,855... I've recorded you down as "got old quick" gotcha, sorry you don't know how to have fun anymore

[@timbober1]

I guess I could have googled 3AG, replaced a lot of fuses and never knew what it meant. Why do the flipper solenoids burn up?

[@EsotericArctos]

It's hard to tell the type of fuse by looking. 3AG is definitely the size / style. The Slow Blow usually has SB on the rating. So you may get SB5A or 5A SB written on it. That said, I have seen some slow blow's missing the SB. I love seeing these machines brought back to life. It's been a little while since we saw a wide body brought back to life :) The Infinity Lightd chasing in the backbox are really amazing. The lack of symmetry really does make the playfield eye catching. The orange LED score displays really made this machine. It wouldn't look right with Red or Blue.

[@eDoc2020]

I don't recall ever seeing "SB" written on a fuse. What I usually see is "F5A" for fast blow and "T5A" for slow blow 5 amps. The letters come from German. F=Flink and T=Trage. I don't know German so I remember it as F=fast and T=time delay.

[@strangersound]

"Symmetrical" is the word you're looking for. :) adjective - made up of exactly similar parts facing each other or around an axis; etc

[@CusiArcade]

It's broke never gets old!

[@T-RavisComics]

I remember the first time I walked into a arcade and seen this game 🤯 I was like WOW

[@rickpontificates3406]

That was a great game and I believe it was H.R. Geiger that sued Bally... or did he sue 20th Century Fox? 🤔 can't remember

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

Gieger and old comic book vibes from that playfield.

[@guardianofretro]

I ve one too but its not working properly. Long standing still for years. Cant start it up switch test shows "5" Manual does not show what swirch 5 is located no stuck swotch on the MPU board....playfield lamps not functioning on the back and sides plus the mushroom bumpers. What can be the cause..

[@LyonsArcade]

How do you know the mushroom bumpers don't work if you can't start it? Maybe you're in test... Switch 5 is listed in the manual, it's on page 17

[@waynegram8907]

The schematic indicates Fuse F6 is suppose to be 5 amp Slow Blow SB fuse but the power supply PCB indicates 3 amps that is unusual to be 2 amps of a difference off from operating current. When you first turn on the pinball machine there is a Peak Current and In Rush Current which you can measure with current clamp ammeter. Maybe the pinball design engineers didn't factor in the peak current and in-rush current which was 2 amps higher during start up? which was causing the Fuse F6 3amp fuse to contently blow open.

[@patrickvanden8322]

As Ron said the power supply is used in other models, and this being the extra wide body model with lots of extra lamps would explain the need for a bigger fuse then mentioned on the PCB of the power supply. I think they where really pushing the maximum current those connectors can handle this is evident from how fried they where.

[@kevinarmstrong478]

That looks fantastic thanks. It does look like there must have been a licensing issue as it’s a way better looking Alien machine than the “real” Alien machine!

[@b.o.4492]

Do the heads ever not match the base serial numbers?

[@JohnK007]

Ron, speaking of wide bodies, have you ever worked on a Hercules table?

[@LyonsArcade]

Not yet, Seen a few tho

[@青空曇空]

懐かしいです。バリーの台ですね。

[@nicksws6]

Symmetrical!!!

[@Pitbull0669]

Im going to buy one of these from a guy I know in NJ works need to be gone though works but needs lights ect. 500

[@adamdavies163]

Cool!

[@Hounddoggy33]

41:36 symmetrical?

[@timbober1]

I guess I could have googled 3AG, replaced a lot of fuses and never knew what it meant.

[@williamjensen8641]

There was a line to play this machine every day for days and days. Seems nobody called it space invaders we just said let's go play alien. Badass coolest when it showed up in my arcade. I have 5 EMs but I always said if I had an electronic pin it would be this one.

[@chadhartsees]

Did 'Alien' get a pinball machine? It would be something if that artwork wasn't as good as this!

[@CNKayutube]

Its a Nervous fuse , genius , so funny

[@CNKayutube]

Those pins about the worst i have ever seen , tied i am sure

[@Dallen9]

It's a Xenomorph.... looks like the Licensing for the Aliens Pinball game fell through so they just slapped some evil eyes and made them silver and called it Space Invaders...

[@86FxBdyCpe]

"I firmative"!

[@00Mandy00]

I remember seeing this one and being stunned by the juxtaposition of Space Invaders being kinda goofy, with a silly song on the radio and all, and this Aliens rip off. I never actually played either game, but I eventually saw Aliens. I do remember seeing an Alien doll at Sears, so maybe I took it too seriously.

[@patmcgroinagain]

11,400 Space Invaders were made

[@WackyT08]

Did Ron have to ask Joe for help with the key, and cut it out of the video?

[@LyonsArcade]

On my body I have two hands, if I am filming one of my hands is holding the camera. When the camera shut off, I placed it down and used both of my hands to use the key. I then picked the camera back up and started refilming the video. I have often found that if you use two hands, you can fix things that you can't fix with one hand. You should try this sometime.

[@Practicedummy1]

Symetrical is the word you are trying to think of. :D

[@jrestexperience]

I never knew a Space Invaders pinball was a thing.

[@harrypapas8710]

Very intense game,as I remember…

[@matthewhutchinson4942]

How's Rex ?