Ultra Rare Gamatron Pinball Conversion Kit for sale! Under 50 made?

Pinball Shenanigans·video·11m 43s·analyzed·Nov 7, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.023

TL;DR

Pinball Shenanigans documents rare Gamatron conversion kit specs and restoration needs for sale.

Summary

Mike Dust from Pinball Shenanigans presents a detailed breakdown of a Gamatron conversion kit available for sale, explaining its history as a 1985 Pinstar product created by Gary Stern during Stern Electronics' decline. The kit allows retrofitting old pinball cabinets (typically Valley games) with a Flight 2000-based playfield, featuring identical ROM and gameplay but in a narrower cabinet format. Mike documents the specific components, wiring modifications, missing parts, and restoration requirements for this particular unit.

Key Claims

Gamatron was created by Gary Stern at Pinstar in 1985 as Stern Electronics was dying and prior to Data East Pinball formation
high confidence · Mike Dust explains the historical context: 'Gary Stern of Stern Electronics in 1985 was um trying to come up with new ways to make money because pinball was in a lull. So, he invented a company called Pinstar.'
Gamatron is based on Flight 2000 design with identical ROM but in narrowbody cabinet format
high confidence · 'Gameron is a Harry Williams design. Notice the playfield looks familiar in terms of layout. It is pretty much flight 2000 almost identical but in narrowbody formation. So your stern flight 2000 I think 1980 was a widebody game but Gamatron is a standard body playfield'
Gamatron conversion kits were designed to revitalize aging pinball cabinets on location without full replacement cost
high confidence · 'What you do is you buy this kit, it will revitalize your old say Playboy that you've had on location and uh in 1985 it's just not making money anymore. So, you buy the kit, you install the playfield, the back plexi, you do the additional wiring and miscellaneous stuffs that are required'
Gamatron runs the exact same software as Flight 2000 via DIP switch configuration
high confidence · 'You've got your standard solenoid driver, lamp driver, and power supply... And you literally just set the dip switch settings to Flight 2000 because Gamatron runs the exact same software as Flight 2000 did.'
Under 50 Gamatron conversion kits were produced (implied by title)
medium confidence · Video title states 'Under 50 made?' but no explicit production number is confirmed in the content itself
The Gamatron playfield is narrower than Flight 2000 and plays 'faster and meaner' as a result
medium confidence · 'So your stern flight 2000 I think 1980 was a widebody game but Gamatron is a standard body playfield and plays a little faster and meaner and it's what most people love about Gamatron when they play it.'
A Pinside user named Chosen produces reproduction Gamatron back glasses for approximately $350

Notable Quotes

“Gary Stern of Stern Electronics in 1985 was um trying to come up with new ways to make money because pinball was in a lull. So, he invented a company called Pinstar.”
Mike Dust @ 0:30 — Explains the historical context and business motivation behind Gamatron's creation during Stern Electronics' decline
“What you do is you buy this kit, it will revitalize your old say Playboy that you've had on location and uh in 1985 it's just not making money anymore.”
Mike Dust @ 1:20 — Describes the original market positioning of Gamatron as a cost-effective conversion solution for aging location machines
“Gameron is a Harry Williams design. It is pretty much flight 2000 almost identical but in narrowbody formation.”
Mike Dust @ 2:10 — Clarifies the technical relationship between Gamatron and Flight 2000, establishing the design lineage
“You literally just set the dip switch settings to Flight 2000 because Gamatron runs the exact same software as Flight 2000 did.”
Mike Dust @ 5:30 — Confirms ROM compatibility and ease of configuration for restoration
“It plays a little faster and meaner and it's what most people love about Gamatron when they play it.”
Mike Dust @ 2:30 — Documents the gameplay characteristics that differentiate Gamatron from Flight 2000 despite ROM similarity

Entities

Gary SternpersonPinstarcompanyGamatronproduct Flight 2000gameStern ElectronicscompanyData East PinballcompanyMike DustpersonChosenpersonGamatron Cluborganization

Signals

?
community_signal: Active Pinside community providing reproduction components (back glasses via Chosen) and parts support for Gamatron restoration
high · 'If you go to the Gamatron Club on Pinsside, I'm pretty sure it is Chosen who makes the back glass... for I think 350 bucks possibly, you can get a brand new back glass'
$
market_signal: Gamatron positioned as ultra-rare collectible with very limited original production (under 50 units per title)
medium · Video title emphasizes 'Ultra Rare Gamatron Pinball Conversion Kit for sale! Under 50 made?'
?
announcement: Pinball Shenanigans documenting a rare Gamatron conversion kit sale with detailed technical specifications
high · Mike Dust video title and content explicitly announcing availability of Gamatron conversion kit for sale with comprehensive restoration documentation

Topics

Gamatron history and originprimaryConversion kit restoration and technical requirementsprimaryParts sourcing for pinball restorationprimaryFlight 2000 design and ROM compatibilitysecondaryPinball machine conversion as cost-effective location revenue strategysecondaryReproduction components and community supportsecondaryWiring modifications and display upgradesmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.8)— Mike Dust presents the Gamatron with clear enthusiasm and appreciation for its design and historical significance. The tone is educational and encouraging, emphasizing that restoration is achievable despite missing parts. No criticism or negative sentiment expressed about the kit or machines.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

Okay, I'm going to do a little video because I'm about to list a Gamatron conversion kit for sale. And uh most people would be like, "What the f is a Gamatron?" So, I'm going to uh do a brief little video on what it is and what I have available. And um this is sort of what the before is. And this is what the after could be depends on um to what extent you want to uh restore a gamutron. So what is a gammatron? If you go to the internet pinball database and click on Pinstar Gamatron, you can find all the details, but Gary Stern of Stern Electronics in 1985 was um trying to come up with new ways to make money because pinball was in a lull. So, he invented a company called Pinstar. So this is uh kind of as Stern Electronics was dying and just prior to the formulation of data east pinball and gamatron was really the only thing that came out of this uh business venture. What you do is you buy this kit, it will revitalize your old say Playboy that you've had on location and uh in 1985 it's just not making money anymore. So, you buy the kit, you install the playfield, the back plexi, you do the additional wiring and miscellaneous stuffs that are required, and Ed Boon, you got yourself a brand new pinball machine that can start earning again and without having the full expense of a new pinball machine. Gameron is a Harry Williams design. Notice the playfield looks familiar in terms of layout. It is pretty much flight 2000 almost identical but in narrowbody formation. So your stern flight 2000 I think 1980 was a widebody game but Gamatron is a standard body playfield and plays a little faster and meaner and it's what most people love about Gamatron when they play it. In order to do the conversion, you will need to follow the instructions and they are readily available on the internet pinball database. So, you can print that off and way you go. To start, you will need a donor ballet cabinet, preferably one that does not have chimes. Otherwise, you will have to add a speaker and a volume pot, which is not a big deal. But if you get say a valley Playboy that has a soundboard then you can skip those steps. My GameTron started out its life as a Bobby or the original conversion kit came with a set of cabinet decals that you would just stick onto your Playboy for example. This is what I pulled off of the Bobby or these are going to be included in case you want to trace out the artwork and do this kind of thing. If you don't want to go through all that expense, then you can literally just leave your cabinet art as is. But the OG artwork is included and also this coin door decal which looks pretty sweet. The board set used is your standard baln board set. You've got your standard solenoid driver, lamp driver, and power supply. In this case, I used an NV RAM weebly MPU. And you literally just set the dip switch settings to Flight 2000 because Gamatron runs the exact same software as Flight 2000 did. And then you do have to secure yourself a stern SB300 soundboard and mount it to the side. And that is basically it. Quick side note, there are some wiring adjustments you'll have to make mostly just in terms of lamp reassignment from the valley game to the uh gamutron playfield and stuff. So you can see this connector is not used but this one's provided and this connector over here is not used but this one is provided. So there are some wiring modifications you will have to make for the displays. Most Valley games of the era maybe all of them had six digits. So on the conversion, you would add an extra lamp socket here and then have it illuminate a fake zero on the back glass. So you can do that or you can do what I did and add in 7-digit displays and not have to do the fake zero thing, which I think is just much cleaner. So I went with brand new LED displays. They are beautiful. They're the low profile so they don't stick out of the back. And in order to change the wiring from six digit to seven digits, it's actually very simple. You just add one wire on this connector. I think it's pin seven. It'll say seventh digit right on the Altech board. Sorry, Weebly board. And then you run a wire to this connector here. And the space is open. So you don't need to shuffle anything around. Then you jumper it to here and then to here and then to here. You're literally just adding one wire. And if you can repin connectors, then it is really no big deal at all. As for the back plexi, this one, the fact that it exists is wonderful. It does have a crack all the way through that is taped up, which is not wonderful. But, uh, someone on Pinside will make and sell you a brand new Gamatron actual back glass if you choose. If you go to the Gamatron Club on Pinsside, I'm pretty sure it is Chosen who makes the back glass. I think he was in development for like a couple years, but uh for I think 350 bucks possibly, you can get a brand new back glass. On a quick side note, the conversion kit came with these red gels that you would put in behind the displays and um if you're going to go with brand new LED displays, I didn't use them cuz I thought it just looked better. Here's my back plexi installed. You can see the displays are nice and clean. And if there was to be a gel behind it, it just kind of mutes it, I find. So, I like it better without. Okay, here's the playfield. It is a little dirty, as you can see, but it is in pretty nice shape overall. Like, I think it'll clean up great. This plastic is broken in the middle there. This one is missing altogether. missing a star post, but that's easy enough to find. So, you know, maybe uh I can scan my plastic and you can get one made. It's not the end of the world. It's got pretty much everything else. Oh, it does look like this plastic is missing as well. I had a post there. Uh the main thing is that it is missing both spinner brackets or spinner mechs entirely. So, you're going to need to source out the spinner hardware. So, that'll be probably the biggest challenge, but uh you know, you can fabricate something if needed. But it looks like the rest of the plastics are there and the playfield minus the grime should clean up nicely. It's got uh original drop targets and they all appear to be in good shape in terms of drop target decals and um there's the apron. So, it's mostly there. Okay, this is the back side of the playfield and you can see that it is missing some of the uh flipper hardware. So, we're probably not going to be able to source this exact plunger and link the coils. Yeah, no problem. You might be able to use like the original Stern flipper hardware or you can replace the flipper mechs entirely, which is very doable. You can just go with probably the full flipper kit at Pinball Life. I wouldn't be surprised if that works. And I think uh everything else appears to be intact under the playfield. I noticed like a couple fuses are missing. No big deal there. But the uh very unique drop target mech complete original coil. Well, there's two coils. Original coils. It's the other drop target assembly. This coil looks like it's seen better days. That is the kicker, I believe. And yeah, that doesn't seem to be freely moving. So, going to need a new coil there. And I think uh everything else looks to be reasonably intact. Oh, we are missing another coil here and um coil stop. So you're going to need coil stop that looks like that for that side. So anyway, the playfield is like 90% complete. You're going to have to source out a few things and yet another coil and coil stop there for the pop bumper. But uh none of that is uh going to be too difficult. Actually, you got the spinner switch on this side. So, what about the other side? There's the spinner switch on the other side. So, you just need the rods, the bracket, and the spinners. Obviously, you're not going to find gamutron spinners, but probably generic stern spinners should do the trick. And I will include some spinner decals. So, there you go. So whether you want to uh rat rod out an old balley cabinet or you want to do a high-end gamutron like this, this is your opportunity right here. I don't know how I'm going to ship this thing, but hopefully someone can just come and pick it up. But uh you too can have yourself a Gamatron.