Scoring Big! My Bargain Banzai Run Pinball Machine Pickup

Cooltoy·video·9m 30s·analyzed·Nov 10, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Cooltoy restores neglected Bonsai Run to playable condition through comprehensive repair work.

Summary

Cooltoy documents the restoration of a Bonsai Run pinball machine purchased as a bargain from Facebook Marketplace for an undisclosed price. The machine was heavily neglected with non-functional flippers, GI lighting, switches, and worn components. He performed extensive repairs including transistor and resistor replacements, LED conversion, original post restoration, ramp replacement, and playfield cleaning, ultimately bringing the machine to full working condition.

Key Claims

Bonsai Run is Pat Lawlor's first game, released in 1988 by Williams
high confidence · Cooltoy stated as a fact about the game's history and designer
The machine had half of left-hand GI not working, two flippers not working, a non-functional pop bumper, and at least five or six unregistering switches
high confidence · Cooltoy's detailed assessment of damage upon pickup
Previous owners had replaced all original posts and star posts with non-original metal posts
high confidence · Cooltoy's inspection and subsequent restoration work
The machine had brass lockdown bar and legs that were not original, possibly salvaged from an Addams Family Gold
medium confidence · Cooltoy's observation; he speculated about the source but confirmed they were non-original
Bonsai Run is a two-playfield game with upper and lower playfields, featuring unique gravity-affected flipper mechanics
high confidence · Cooltoy's detailed gameplay and design description
The original auxiliary power board had poor soldering and was replaced entirely
high confidence · Cooltoy's repair documentation
Bonsai Run is tall—taller than a Talladega Nights machine by several inches
high confidence · Cooltoy's visual comparison in the video
Cooltoy was surprised Lawlor convinced Williams to release such a unique design as his first game
high confidence · Cooltoy's opinion expressed during the video

Notable Quotes

“I'm a firm believer anytime you have to bondo something that's, you know, the size and/or bigger than your hand, then that you should just replace it and rebuild it completely.”
Cooltoy@ 1:39 — Restoration philosophy—establishes his threshold for deciding whether to repair or replace cabinet sections
“I always hate batteries on pinball machines. Got NVRAM installed on there.”
Cooltoy@ 2:58 — Modernization approach—preference for NVRAM over battery backup systems
“It's such a, you know, unique pinball. It's like two pinball games in one. You know, you got the upper playfield and the lower playfield.”
Cooltoy@ 5:45 — Design assessment—key characteristic of Bonsai Run's dual-playfield mechanics
“Everything about that upper playfield and the flipper experience feels weird because you got gravity going against you.”
Cooltoy@ 6:02 — Gameplay observation—identifies the unique mechanical challenge of the upper playfield design
“Cuz like I said, you won't experience that type of gameplay anywhere else.”
Cooltoy@ 6:24 — Uniqueness claim—positions Bonsai Run as having singular gameplay experience

Entities

Cooltoyperson Pat Lawlorperson WilliamscompanyBonsai RungameBlackpool 100gameTalladega NightsgameAddams Family GoldgameFacebook Marketplaceplatform

Signals

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restoration_signal: Comprehensive restoration work including transistor/resistor replacement, LED conversion, NVRAM installation, post and rubber replacement, ramp reconstruction, and playfield cleaning
high · Detailed breakdown of all repairs performed, including specific component replacements and modernization choices (LEDs, NVRAM over batteries)
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collector_signal: Facebook Marketplace acquisition of a neglected classic machine at negotiated bargain price
high · Cooltoy struck a deal for Bonsai Run after spotting it unlisted in corner of another machine listing
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restoration_signal: Active effort to restore original specifications, including identifying and replacing non-original post types and removing period-incorrect brass components
high · Used owner's manual to identify original post types, removed brass lockdown bar and legs, replaced with original-style chrome components
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gameplay_signal: Analysis of Bonsai Run's distinctive dual-playfield design with upper playfield gravity mechanics creating unique flipper experience
high · Cooltoy's detailed description of two-in-one gameplay, gravity effects on upper playfield flippers, and positioning as uniquely unreplicable gameplay
?
design_innovation: Pat Lawlor's first game (1988) featured innovative dual-playfield design with upper playfield featuring gravity-affected flippers and bagel-ramp mechanics
high · Cooltoy's praise for Lawlor convincing Williams to release such a unique design as debut; detailed mechanics description including catapult kicker and bagel action

Topics

Machine restoration and repairprimaryBonsai Run game design and mechanicsprimarySecondary market acquisition (Facebook Marketplace)secondaryLED conversion and modernizationsecondaryPat Lawlor's design careersecondaryPlayfield component replacement and authenticitysecondaryCollector/hobbyist machine ownershipmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Cooltoy expresses enthusiasm about the acquisition and successful restoration. Despite the significant damage requiring extensive work, he maintains an upbeat tone and celebrates the unique gameplay experience. Frustration is evident regarding previous owner modifications, but this is directed at past work, not the current project outcome.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

As luck would have it, once again found myself another great Facebook marketplace score. Uh how this transpired was I was, you know, doing my normal search for arcade and pinball machines. uh came across a listing for a pinball machine that was listed for $1,500 and I was like, "Hey, that's a great game. That's a great deal." Uh in that listing, I I I saw a, you know, glimpse in the corner of another pinball machine next to it and I automatically recognized it as Banzai Run and I quickly messaged the seller. I was like, "Hey, are you also going to be selling this machine?" They said, "Yeah, we just haven't got around to listing it yet." I said, "Well, I'm interested in both of them. You know, let's let's make a deal." So, little negotiation back and forth, struck up a deal. Uh, I said I I'll buy both of these machines. So, went down to go pick them up the next day. Uh, when I arrived, got to inspect them. Neither game would uh boot and start a game, so I couldn't even play test them. Uh, they would power on, but like this, the Banzai Run half the GI didn't work. Flippers didn't work. Ill repair to say the least. Neither one of these games were owned by people that were pinball people, so they hadn't ever worked on them. They acquired them from a friend that actually was a pinball person that had moved away apparently. But uh looked at the Blackpool 100 and it had water damage that was very obvious once I got up close and looked at it. The cabinet has started to bloat and expand. Uh the cabinet head itself had this ginormous chunk missing out of it. And I I'm a firm believer anytime you have to bondo something that's, you know, the size andor bigger than your hand, then that you should just replace it and rebuild it completely. And I didn't feel like rebuilding a brand new cabinet from scratch for that game. So, I ended up having to pass on the Blackpool just because I didn't want to have two projects going on simultaneously. And I could already tell that this one was going to be a bit of a headache and a chore. And it was uh like I said, wouldn't even boot it into a game. Couldn't play test it on the spot, but struck up a deal with them. Took this home uh got it home and uh started digging into it and really quickly realized just how uh how neglected it had been for a long long time. Like I said, the the lefth hand GI was out completely. Uh two flippers didn't work. A pop bumper didn't work. At least five or six switches weren't recognizing or registering. Uh so yeah, I had my work cut out for it, but went through the board, replaced like five, six transistors, uh a couple resistors, and then got everything squared away. There was a hack job on the auxiliary power board. Um, it worked, but I absolutely hated it. And I didn't, it was fried so much with bad soldering that I just end up replacing that board all together just for peace of mind for future owners, whoever is going to own this machine later on down the line. Got rid of the batteries. I always hate batteries on pinball machines. Got MV RAM installed on there. Got rid of all the incandescent bulbs. Put all LEDs, uh, flashers and everything on there, so it's super bright. Uh, and this has some crazy light shows, especially when you hit like a multiball sequence. That'll almost blind you that it's so much going on. Once I got everything squared away, like I said, pop bumpers, flippers, everything working. I replaced all the rubbers, uh, the whoever had worked on this machine years past, decided they were going to replace all the posts and star posts and everything with different metal posts that weren't specific or original to this game. I don't know what they were thinking. So, I ended up having to go like backwards going through the owner's manual, try to find every single uh post and sleeve and all that kind of stuff that was original to the game and then undo all that. So, I did that. Got all the the [music] new colored post sleeves, new balls. All the original rubbers that were on this game when I picked it up were all like dry rotted and just disgusting. The playfield hadn't been wiped down in years. You could tell, but cleaned up nicely. Uh, it had some brass components on it for whatever reason that are not original to the game. It had a brass lock down bar and brass legs. It's like somebody ripped them off in Adams Family Gold or something like that. Got rid of those. Put the uh period correct brand new chrome system 11 legs on it. Uh, brand new lock down bar. I replaced the ramps on this thing. Uh the main ramp here, it was old, busted, crusted, um and had been screwed down so many times where the the plastic around the screws holding down the ramp to the playfield all broken apart [music] and brittled. Um it was just disgusting. So got a brand new main ramp there. Brand new subway ramp on the backbox uh upper playfield there. Whoever had been, you know, owning this game before me and tinkering on it had like maggyvered some stupid black plastic piece on the back of the subway ramp cuz the original one had broke off in this and the ball was, you know, just going through and rattling around in the machine. Upper playfield was missing the little tiny pinball. Uh, got a new one of those. It's got a nice little kind of like bagel action there in that righthand corner where it'll catapult the ball up there from a kicker and it bounces around, hits the post and then hit a target and it'll score you some points that way. I replaced every single ring and post in the upper playfield area with a bright clear translucent ones. Uh so it brightens it up in there. Plus the old ones were like I said crusted old and just falling apart and disgusting. Uh it's a fun unique game. Like I said, the upper playfield experience is, you know, a one-off that you're not going to be able to really replicate anywhere else. Pat Lawler's very first game, 1988. I'm so blown away that he was able to convince Williams to release this, especially as your first game. I mean, this is such a, you know, unique pinball. It's like two pinball games in one. You know, you got the upper playfield and the lower play field. Um, it's a tall game, as you can see. It's next to my Tallaladega Nights over here, and it's still several inches taller than that. It's a wild game to say the least. Uh, but I I have fun with it. Uh, it's got multiball action, which is surprisingly difficult. Everything about that upper playfield and the flipper experience feels weird because you got gravity going against you. So, um, if you ever have a chance, definitely check out Banzai Run because it's a kind of obscure, hard to find title and it's a unique gameplay experience that you absolutely must, uh, do just for the sake of, you know, fandom and just saying you, hey, I I I played it. I experienced it. cuz like I said, you won't experience that type of gameplay anywhere else. But enough of me rambling about it. Let me show you some basic gameplay of Banzai Run and this machine now that everything's up and running and hunky dory. Welcome to Banzai Run. [music] He's going after [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat.