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Part 2: 1997 Sega Jurassic Park The Lost World Pinball Project. Set up and inspection!

Pinball Shenanigans·video·37m 17s·analyzed·Dec 14, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Rare 1997 Sega Jurassic Park Lost World restoration begins; excellent condition but complex egg mech work ahead.

Summary

Mike Dus begins restoration of a 1997 Sega Jurassic Park: The Lost World pinball machine, one of only 600 produced, making it potentially the rarest DMD game he's owned. After initial inspection and board work (NV RAM installation, battery replacement), he finds the machine in excellent condition with minimal wear, though it requires attention to a broken drop target, damaged egg mech, and some under-hood issues.

Key Claims

  • Only 600 Sega Jurassic Park: The Lost World machines were produced

    high confidence · Mike cites Pinside data showing 600 produced; compares to Pinball Magic (1,200) and Cactus Canyon (900) as rarer games he's owned

  • The machine was purchased new in 1997 from a Toronto location called Starburst (formerly known as Starburst arcade)

    high confidence · Original owner corroborated the purchase story; Starburst sticker found on machine; serial indicates 1997 production

  • The machine is in excellent original condition with minimal playfield wear

    high confidence · Translite rated 9.8/10; ball drop zone, out hole, targets, and spinner largely unworn; backbox boards pristine with no evidence of previous service since 1997

  • Secondary market value for this machine is approximately $2,600

    medium confidence · Mike references recent Pinside sales history showing 12 listings in past 2 years at ~$2,600; he paid similar amount

Notable Quotes

  • “Only 600 of these and I had Pinball Magic by Capcom. They made 1,200 of those...This could very well be the rarest DMD game I have ever owned”

    Mike Dus @ ~0:30 — Establishes rarity context and significance of the acquisition; frames the project within his collecting history

  • “I think this machine probably has never been touched in their lifetime since 1997. So that is good news there.”

    Mike Dus @ ~8:45 — Confirms original/unmolested board condition; indicates minimal prior service or repair history

  • “So far I think we got a winner, boys and girls. I bet this guy hasn't even had the glass off more than a few times in the uh what 30 years that he's owned it basically.”

    Mike Dus @ ~14:30 — Overall assessment of playfield condition; indicates low play history and factory condition preservation

  • “I think 80% of this machine is going to be straightforward and the 20% is going to be a nightmare.”

    Mike Dus @ ~33:15 — Sets expectation for restoration complexity; identifies egg mech and main motor assembly as problem areas

  • “Sega didn't do the most wonderful job with designing its uh playfield system because the prop rod allows you, you know, about that much play.”

    Mike Dus @ ~27:45 — Design criticism of Sega's playfield support mechanism; indicates working under the hood will be challenging

Entities

Mike DuspersonSega Jurassic Park: The Lost WorldgameJohn BorgpersonPinball ShenanigansorganizationInternet Pinball Database (IPDB)organizationPinsideorganizationSystem J PinballcompanyData EastcompanyStern ElectronicscompanyStarburstcompany

Signals

  • ?

    industry_signal: Machine in exceptional original condition after 26+ years; minimal playfield wear, unmolested boards, pristine translite

    high · Mike rates translite 9.8/10, finds no board repairs/damage, zero evidence of battery damage, boards appear untouched since 1997

  • $

    market_signal: Secondary market pricing for rare DMD games; Jurassic Park Lost World trading at ~$2,600 despite rarity (600 units produced)

    high · Pinside data shows 12 transactions in past 2 years at approximately $2,600; Mike paid similar amount despite estimating $1,000 in restoration needed

  • ?

    product_concern: Sega playfield support system design criticism; inadequate prop rod play limiting access for under-hood work

    high · Mike demonstrates and criticizes the minimal play in the prop rod, noting 'Sega didn't do the most wonderful job with designing its uh playfield system'

  • ?

    technology_signal: 1997 Data East/Sega control board architecture; IDC connector potential reliability issue identified for preventive replacement

    medium · Mike notes IDC connector tight fit and plans connector replacement as 'bulletproofing measure' despite no apparent issues

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:04
I'm Mike Dus [music] and this is Pinball Shenanigans. [music]
0:14
All right, it is time to start on a new pinball project. Jurassic Park the Lost World. I am thinking that this could very well be the rarest DMD game I have ever owned because they only made 600 of these and I had Pinball Magic by Capcom. They made 1,200 of those. Uh even like Cactus Canyon, I haven't had that one, but they made like 900. So, I'll have to do a little more research to see what other rare DMD games there are and uh if I've had any that have had this low of a production number. But this could be it. And I've had a lot of machines. So, before we get started, let's just I got this queued up here. Let's just type in IPDP Jurassic and see what pops up. cuz I know there's three Jurassic Parks at least. So, we got the Data East Jurassic Park and I do have that game in storage. Actually, I will get to that eventually. Uh Jurassic Park Pro.
1:38
Check this out. I actually have a very nice Pro with a lot of mods. the amber shooter rod, insider connected art blades, some flipper toppers, some extra dinosaurs and trees, and a moving T-Rex head and uh lighted speakers and whatever else. Helicopter. So, Jurassic Park number two and I'm guessing that there's three. I don't know, maybe there's some weird European ones that I don't know about. But here we go. Sega, the Lost World Jurassic Park. So if you don't know how it all went, it Stern basically was Stern Electronics and then Gary Stern did a little little stint in a company called Pinstar in 1985 which died in 1986. Then he formulated Data East and then Sega and then Stern. So that's the order of operation there. So, let's check out this here. And oh, it doesn't say the production number on internet pinball database. I got that from pin side, but I can show you that in a minute. But June 6 of 1997, six players. So, that's kind of cool. Uh, I encourage you to watch my pinball pickup adventures for this machine. So, just Google pinball pickup adventure Jurassic Park on my channel or whatever. Uh, I'll make it findable. And, uh, you can see the little adventure I went on to grab this, but the guy that I got it off of said he bought it in 1997. And I asked him like three times, "Are you sure?" And he said, "Yes, I am sure because that is when I moved here." and he bought it the year that he moved as well as a air hockey table and a bubble hockey table. So, [snorts] sounded convincing. So, I have looked at the machine briefly, but I haven't scrutinized it. So, I'm hoping that it is in real nice shape. The cabinet, you can see the original color and the faded color. This side was up against a window. I don't know how long. This side it's a little less faded.
Maple Pinball
organization
pinball.comorganization
4:25
And I think this was definitely a little darker orange. But anyway, what do we got here? Let's see. Um, designed by John Borg. Art by Morgan Weling. Mechanics by John Borg. Rob Herardo. Herado. I think I added an extra R there software by Orange Day Neil Falconer. Oh yeah, here we go. So this is the flyer. Let's have a quick peek at this. Zoom in. Something has survived. Oh, and I do have the original topper. So that's pretty sweet. Yeah, there's the original colors. It's a little more prominent and dark. And yeah, this is a little more orange. But all in all, it ain't so bad. Take a look at the back. What does it say? Blockbuster movie. Blockbuster game. Shoot any of the three loop shots to energize the magnetic trap. Where's the arrow for that? Uh, snagger. Never before seen device. Captures and locks the pinball for exciting multiball action. Oh, so that's is that the jeep truck thingy that someone was talking about the snagger or what is that? Anyway, we're going to find out all this. Oh, wait. The snagger is back here. And this is a different thing. This is hit the single memory drop target to light the hidden trails. Oh, that's a drop target underneath. That is not this blue thing. That drop target is broken, but should be hopefully easy enough to find. Aim for the egg scoop to hatch the baby T-Rex. Oh, isn't that cute?
6:20
Visit site B. Battle the raptors. Fight mommy in the mobile lab. Can you make it out of the lost world alive? Custom speech by Jeff Goldlum. Oh, that's cool. and original movie music by John Williams. Enhanced earnings with the optional 3D back glass. Oo, that is uh pretty cool. I don't think I have that, but I just remembered something while I was reading that. Check what else I have. Quick shout out to system J Pinball for the custom apron cards that have a thorough description of the rules of the game. They're doublesided. JK gave these to me. At a Maple Pinball tournament, you should go to Maple Pinball cuz it is the best place to play pinball in Ontario. Ain't that right, Shane Jackson? There's your shout out for you. Anyway, I just remembered about those. I got to install those and slacking. Okay, so that is about it. I'll show you just for fun that I wasn't lying. Pin side lost world. Oh, it's going to take me to like the B one, isn't it? Yeah, there it is. Bally. But here we go. Jurassic Park Lost World. So, there it is. 600 produced. That's the apparent value, but I think that's a little light. I think there just hasn't been that many transactions. Let's see. 86 times it's been listed on Pinside. In the past 2 years, we've seen it 12 times. That's quite a bit. And for 2,600 bucks, that seems low, man. I paid about that. So, and it needs $1,000 of LEDs and work possibly. That's my budget anyway. That's going to be my max budget. Hopefully, I don't have to spend that much, but I'll do what it takes to get this thing uh back up to snuff. So, 122 people on pin side have this game, and 200 apparently have it on their wish list. So, all right. I'm going to uh first things first. I removed the old leg levelers. They're fairly crusty. Going to put on some brand new ones. Clean up these legs and then put the machine on legs. What's that noise? Well, if you're new to the channel, then my workshop here also doubles as the laundry room. So, got the dryer going on right now. I apologize, but uh I did clean up the legs. They're looking better. Got some new leg levelers on there. And I was going to put the legs on. And then it dawned on me that if I do that, I will not be able to open the back box due to the height of the basement. And uh I may need access to it. Actually, I know I need access to it cuz I want to at least install NV RAM and probably repin the display connector. Just a kind of a bulletproofing measure. So, this is the strategy I used when chopping up my X files. I just looked back at my video to see if I could in fact open the back box door, but was pretty sure I couldn't because I had my X Files. It was right here. And not only could I not open the back box door when I did need access the one time, I also had this duct work in the way, but I was able to actually swap in new game code despite all that. But it was not fun or easy. So on the pump cart we work. So, uh, let me, um, pump this up to a more comfortable level and then I'll, uh, throw you on the tripod and we can lift the hood, i.e. backbox, cut the plastic, and see what this thing actually looks like. All right, here we go.
11:29
Okay, so the guy I bought this off of said that he bought this downtown on Dixie in Toronto. And I asked if it was the Platium. And he said, "No, I don't think it was called the Platium." But before it was called the Platium, it was called Starburst. And I said, "Did you maybe get it at Starburst?" He's like, "Yes, that's where I got it." Well, check it out. Story checks out. There is the Starburst uh sticker right there. And I see we got the Sega decal here. What does it say? There's my serial number. 1397 36. So does that mean like the 13th? What does that mean? It's going to say like 1997 13th the 13th month and the 36th day of the month. Is that what that means? And it says Pinball JP2 Jurassic Park 2 made for Canada. Pretty cool. All right. Another trick you can do, steal the feet if needed off of back box. This is never going to be needed again. That's just for when it's sitting on the factory floor. And replace any missing or damaged ones. with those on the back. But those ones are all intact. So, I don't need to do that. All right, let's carry on.
13:24
Okay, this is always very exciting really getting to see the machine in your own basement for the first time and getting a real good look at it. But we're not going to be able to do that with this glass that I just wiped down with the dirty cloth. So, going to pull that off next. But this is the showcase cabinet which has the bowed head and they're a bit of a pain in the butt. They are kind of cool, but they're more trouble than they're worth. But, uh, yeah, I don't know how many showcase games there are. I'd say maybe four to six. That's my guess. So, do I have it do I have it low enough that I can open that back box? We should be looking at that playfield first to see what condition it's in. But oh, there is. Look at that. I brought my own to the location. I wasn't sure if the Allen wrench was going to be with the machine and I didn't want to get stranded. That would have sucked. So, I always bring an Allen wrench. But there we go. Look at that. Just knocked $10 off my freaking budget right there. Save 10 bucks. Okay, now got two sets of keys here. Um, give me a moment and I'm going to try and open up this back box. This glare is horrible, eh? All right, this should be open now. I've got to prop something under the wheel of my cart. That rocking is not cool. Okay, I did look at this in the guy's sort of not well lit area in this basement that it was in. So, now we can have a real good look here
15:33
and see if I notice anything. board repairs or missing board screws. Give me some indication as to if this was ever serviced or had issues, if there's any weird looking fuses, wire hacks,
16:01
and uh maybe any burnt spots. And of course, if there's any damage from old batteries, but he said he changed the batteries about five years ago, which doesn't mean much, but at least they were changed. And look underneath. There's zero evidence of any uh damage there, so that's pretty sweet. I did look at that when I came to buy the machine, but if there was damage, it's not like I was going to leave empty-handed, but thankfully boards are in mint shape. I don't see a single missing screw. I don't think these boards probably ever been touched in their lifetime since 1997. So, that is good news there. Here is the revision. JP2 Lost World CPU 1.0.
17:00
What does this say? Uh sound version 5-28-97. So that is uh OG.
17:15
And I believe this is the spot where I can install NV RAM. So, that'll be one of the first things I do. And I believe it's this connector here. This guy can be a bit of a problem. It's IDC. It's not Molex style. And although there's probably no issues with it, I think just for good measure, I'm going to probably replace this connector. It's on there really good, though. I mean, that may be the first time that's been removed since it was attached in 97. So, I don't know. Maybe I'm okay. The guts are looking very minty. Is this Oh, a little bit of dust. Okay, maybe I'll go ahead and clean that up while I'm in here. Not sure that I've ever seen this warning label. Caution, do not lean on door assembly in open position. All right, that was filthy, but cleaned up beautifully. I did the ledge here that was very dusty. And I think that this translate is sandwiched between two pieces of plexi or there's at least one on the back side. And
18:34
I think there's one on the front side, too. So, for that reason, this translate is in like practically perfect condition. I mean, it's hard to tell with the glare, but you know, you can usually see any blemishes from the backside pretty easily. That's just dirt. But, this translate is like a 9.8 out of 10. I just don't really ever call anything perfect. So, that's pretty sweet. Oh, so it looks like Data East kind of Oh, so it looks like Data East kind of cheaped out a little bit. You got one speaker there and just a Lost World plastic on this side. Wonder if there's a way to add in another speaker. Well, I'm sure there is, but I wonder if that's something that's documented on the interwebs and uh easy enough to figure out. I'd say the fact that this little sort of dampening foam is still intact. So, kind of coming a little bit loose here. I can glue that back on. The fact that that's even there shows me that I don't think this machine has been uh the backbox door has been opened and closed many times in its life. So, that's a good sign. Okay. Okay, next thing I'm going to do is remove this chip here. Install a 6264 NV RAM from pinball.com. That's data still. And then remove this battery pack and the batteries.
20:44
All right, that was a 2-minute job that probably cost me 10 or 15 bucks. I don't remember exactly what I paid. I really hope you enjoyed the way I leapt the uh battery pack off of the board. You just wiggle it a bunch and eventually the two terminals break. And look, no harm whatsoever was done to the board. And we got a successful installation of the NV RAM. Just hope it works. And the board is pristine. So, that is beautiful. Okay, I got the back box closed back up and I gave it a good wipe down. There are some white specks that I can't get at. I think are actually in between the translate and the plexi. So, that would require a little bit more major surgery. Not sure I want to do that. But I gave the DMD window here a cleaning. It's also an arched piece of plexi. It's cleaning up pretty nicely. It's looking good. But I did discover something in here and I thought I'd try and figure out what it is in case it's something cool. Thought I'd hit record. And it is not something very cool. I think it is just some Oh, yeah. Like maybe like for walnuts or something. There you go. It's a little Jurassic Park souvenir. Okay, time to remove the glass and have the first real good look at this playfield. Uh, where am I going to set the glass? Hold on. I got to go get something. Okay, I've got a pad I can set the glass down on.
22:44
Okay, first of all, keep the suspense going here. Not intentionally, but uh I have this thing where almost every pinball machine I work on, I find like one quarter in it. And if I recall correctly, look at this. It's not a quarter. PS land,
23:14
whatever that is. That's pretty cool, though. I'll add that to my little token collection and uh see if I discover any more goodies in the coin mix.
23:32
Nothing there. Okay, that might have been it. Single coin. Oh, hold on. No way. I literally found one quarter. That is amazing. And one token. Okay, back to the uh mission at hand here. I don't know what it is, but it's a thing. It's a thing. I always find one quarter in every machine. Okay, here we go.
24:01
I've been barely paying attention cuz I haven't I don't really want to spoil it until I have the glass off. So, I've been not looking.
24:23
All right, let's see if we have a winner or a dud. Okay. Original flipper toppers. Like pterodactyl beaks and faces.
24:46
These inserts feel pretty damn good. Got some factory myar here. This corner has a little bit dirt under it, so I might cut that out. The um slingshot plastics are not broken. Lane guides appear to be good. Let's check the shooter lane.
25:16
That is really good. Okay, ball drop zone. There's a piece of factory myar there and it is in good shape right around here. What about the other side? Wow. Those are the main spots there that get wear. That and the out hole. Let's take a look in the out hole. Whoa.
25:41
It's in nice shape. It's not like worn. Not a worn down edge, right? It's still pretty crispy and sharp. Well, so far I think we got a winner, boys and girls.
25:55
I bet this guy hasn't even had the glass off more than a few times in the uh what 30 years that he's owned it basically. So 97, 2007, 2017, 2027. Not quite 30 years. Um, these targets I'm happy to see are nice and intact. We got the smart switch here. Spinner. Look at that. That is not worn at all.
26:32
Feels very light compared to like the older stern spinners. It's a little bit loose, maybe. Oh, no. Maybe that's just the bracket. Look at this plastic here. This looks like this is very vulnerable. I guess not so much with the switch there, but tiniest tiniest little crack there. Okay, top of this playfield. It's pretty nice. This will be telling here the scoop hole. It's a little bit chewy, but we can imagine this area being a lot worse for a game that was uh played a lot more. So, very pleased with that. There's broken drop target. Nonoriginal target here. I'm sure that's supposed to be another smart switch. Here we go. This will be telling this ramp entrance here. Well, Sega did good by having the metal protectors on either side. So, this ramp is uncracked and damaged. That's good news. Now, is there I feel like is there something missing here? Are you like is you supposed to knock down the drop target and smash into that? That doesn't look right. feel like something might be arai there,
28:08
but I don't really know. I don't want to force that either. But this mech when guy was doing a play test on it went through ball search cuz the ball got stuck on the drop target back here. So, I saw this whole mech kind of unfold, come out to Oh, so maybe that's a magnet and then this comes out and grabs it or something. I don't really know how this works, but going to have to get me a new drop target. I'm getting pretty filthy. But that area, like drop target hole itself is nice, minimal wear. And then this other ramp here. How's this looking? Pretty darn good. And I think like this egg doesn't look Oh, maybe it's okay. Like look how far it comes out here. What is happening? Is it broken? Oh, it does maybe look like some repairs were made or
29:24
Can't imagine you can uh find a replacement egg very easily, but it's a little more like look how delicate this thing. It feels like it's just going to shatter if I touch it. And then there's our little Oh, it's looks like it's definitely broken at the bottom there. Okay, no surprise that this egg will need a dressing, but there's our cute little dinosaur inside. How adorable.
29:51
And got another little dinosaur coming out here. This is really cool. I'm excited to uh Oh, there's a magnet there as well. Oh, wait. Look at this. Oh, this is what I get for not removing the balls during transportation. That's pinball 101. He said that there's like six or seven balls in this game. So, what does this say? Oh, four balls. So, just missing one ball.
30:24
All right. Well, these targets are good. The spinner is great. These targets are intact. Pop bumper zone looks pretty good.
30:38
Oh, what's going on here? The hinge is uh so it normally looks like this with this thing. This is a cover just for cosmetic purposes. The cover is blown here. You can order these. But this is I don't think the original uh hinge bolt at all. It's not supposed to be penetrating through the playfield like that. Yeah. Look at this. Not sure what happened there, but we'll add that to the to-do list. New hinge bolt and maybe a new black cover. Okay. Oh, there's another target here.
31:28
All right. Well, let's see. What time is it? Yeah, I think it's pretty much time I wrap this up. I'm going to save the uh turning on of the machine for the next episode. But one last thing I'll do is I will prop up the playfield and we'll have a look inside. I found the fourth ball. Oh, going to be a tricky area. Okay, see if I can do this onehanded. I'm going to extend super long. This is a way oversized, overkill magnet. prop this up. Hold it to my forearm like this. Then with my other hand, lift the playfield. Boom.
32:19
Outsmarted the ball. Oh yeah. Okay. A slight problem when trying to lift the playfield. Tell me if you can see what it is.
32:38
So, I can't imagine this playfield has been lifted in who knows how long with that bolt stopping me. Okay, with that bolt removed, I was able to lift up the playfield, but Sega didn't do the most wonderful job with designing its uh playfield system because the prop rod allows you, you know, about that much play. So, the playfield's going to be leaning on this angle. So, you can't really get under the hood very well. You can't certainly lean it up against the back box. You can't slide it out. It's just a straight hinge. So, I got my uh paint stick here to prop it up just a little bit more so I can get a closer look. This is what I'm going to have to do when working under the hood here. Very, very, very filthy around flipper area to be expected. Like that is a lot of carbon dust. But that's pretty easy to clean. Like often you just need a little bit of brushing.
33:52
Maybe I should use blowing cuz I feel like I'm brushing it into the wood. And if I do that right now, I'm going to create a freaking dust storm. So I don't think I'll do that. Maybe I should right before I wrap it up and then it'll settle by the time I get back down here. We have a zip tie and some electrical tape. That's always a good sign. This mech could be Oh man, definitely some weird stuff going on here. That is, see the plunger on the other side of that coil makes me think that is nowhere near the right coil, but I don't know. What do I know? So, inside the cabinet here, things are looking pretty good. The transformer is nice. The bottom of the cabinet. Oh, look at this extra key for something. The speaker is in real nice shape. It's not very dusty inside. Even the original foam piece here for the coin box. And look, I forgot it's got a shaker motor. Oh, and here is the tilt parts. Uh, I think I found the tilt bob. Yes. And here's tilt ring. So, that's good. Don't need to uh spend money on that.
35:17
And what else do we see? Anything? that uh stands out like a sore thumb. There's the magnet.
35:31
Couple slingshots. I got to be careful. Just barely propped up. Uh, these brackets on these Data East and Sega games are often
35:49
in rough shape, but this one seems to be very much intact. So, that's good. Yeah. So, I think my main issues with this machine are going to be this giant mech. Look at this big motor here. Motorboard down there. And then the egg mech. Oh, wait. We got some more electrical tape here. And it's part of a subway system. That is the scoop. And the ball can come down here and down over to there. Or maybe it falls down there and feeds into the scoop. Kicks out. Couple pop bumpers.
36:35
But all in all, I think 80% of this machine is going to be straightforward and the 20% is going to be a nightmare. So if you want to find out, then stick around for another episode or 20. How many episodes do you think this machine's going to take? Huh? Pez, are you out there? I know you're out there. You watch pretty much every episode and you deserve some award for that. But, uh, yeah, this one could be, uh, I don't know. I'll let you guess and then you can place your bets. How many episodes will this take? So stick around to find