Shopping Creature From the Black Lagoon, Part 1: Pre-shop Condition

Creature From the Black Lagoon joined the collection in mid 2006, purchased on eBay for what would now be a bargain price, and shipped cross-country. From the start I knew it was a project machine, as it had some playfield damage. But at the time of purchase, as a pinball maintenance newbie, I never conceived the scope of the maintenance that I would eventually be diving into.

As I mentioned above, the playfield damage was the biggest eyesore. There was a spot worn down to the wood in front of the right flipper. It just kind of reaches up and smacks you in the eyes:

The Snack Bar hole had some good chunks out of it:

The Whirlpool bowl was cracked:

The shooter lane metal plunge guide was cracked:

The Big Millions sign was melted:

Check out the different colored rubbers at the PAID lanes:

As mentioned in a previous post, the hologram was purple with a burn mark and scratch. I had already replaced this with the PinballMikeD video mod.

Then there were the usual maintenance problems:

• Broken, faded and yellowed plastics
• 7 bulbs burned out
• Creature lift ramp did not work
• Check switch error on 4 different switches
• Right flipper EOS error
• Dirt and corrosion in multiple places
• Rubbers cracked
• Service power outlet missing

I found a counter under the apron that was hooked to the start button. Check out the number of times the start button was pressed (does not include free games):

The good:

• metal pieces just need cleaning
• ramps were in beautiful condition
• DMD was fine
• No battery damage
• backbox boards look fine, with no reset issues due to voltage drops
• backglass and cabinet look pretty good

This is what I started with. In my next post I'll talk about diving into the project...