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CLEPIN 2025: Stephen Prusa's Big Bang Bar Pinball Build

Marco Pinball·video·49m 21s·analyzed·Sep 13, 2025
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Stephen Prusa details custom Big Bang Bar build process and parts sourcing strategy.

Summary

Stephen Prusa presents a detailed technical breakdown of his custom Big Bang Bar pinball build at CLEPIN 2025, covering the machine's history, parts sourcing from multiple vendors worldwide, and the complex wiring and assembly process. He explains how he leveraged compatibility between Capcom systems (using a Flipper Football donor cabinet), sourced rare parts from collectors and manufacturers, and employed CAD design and custom fabrication to recreate missing components from the original 1996 Capcom prototype.

Key Claims

  • Big Bang Bar was created as 14 prototypes in 1996 by Capcom, set to release in early 1997, before Capcom stopped operations

    high confidence · Stephen Prusa, CLEPIN 2025 presentation

  • Gene Cunningham remade Big Bang Bar in 2004, originally planning to make 100 units but increased to 182, with first dozen sent to Europe before US release in 2007

    high confidence · Stephen Prusa, CLEPIN 2025 presentation

  • The Flipper Football and Big Bang Bar share identical cabinet harness, transformer, coin door, head harness, and boards despite visual differences

    high confidence · Stephen Prusa, describing schematic comparison and manual analysis

  • Capcom manufactured approximately 750 Flipper Football machines, making them viable donor cabinets

    high confidence · Stephen Prusa, CLEPIN 2025 presentation

  • Stephen Prusa's build took approximately six months and cost between $5,000-$6,000 in materials

    high confidence · Q&A segment, CLEPIN 2025

  • The playfield used was the first prototype playfield (001-10-00001x) that Capcom ever made, which Gene Cunningham had acquired and handed down

    high confidence · Stephen Prusa describing the playfield's history and markings

  • Gene Cunningham's remakes sold for $4,600 each, and industry consensus was he lost approximately $2,000 per unit

    medium confidence · Q&A segment discussing Gene Cunningham's pricing strategy

  • Stephen Prusa previously built Medieval Madness, Dragonfist, Eclipse (converted from Panthethera), and other games from scratch using schematic comparison methodology

    high confidence · Stephen Prusa's opening discussion of prior builds

Notable Quotes

  • “I started with Stargazer. So I built one out of Meteor and then I started just wiring games from scratch, one wire at a time, with different systems.”

    Stephen Prusa@ 3:31 — Establishes his progression toward Big Bang Bar as culmination of systematic learning across multiple builds

  • “So I'm just trying to use what's out there already so I don't have to fabricate things myself.”

    Stephen Prusa@ 9:52 — Core philosophy of resourceful parts sourcing and repurposing across compatible systems

  • “Thank god we live in 2025 instead of, you know, maybe 30 years ago because the parts are actually out there.”

    Stephen Prusa@ 8:50 — Highlights how modern internet and global parts networks enable restoration of rare/lost games

  • “All we have are pictures. All we have are pictures online and of in the manual as well as the holes to where the box actually goes onto the playfield.”

    Stephen Prusa@ 16:36 — Demonstrates reverse-engineering from documentation without physical reference machine

  • “Never a physical machine. No.”

    Stephen Prusa@ 30:13 — Confirms the entire build was completed using only schematics, manuals, and photos—no hands-on reference

  • “I don't have to really... just going continuity testing things is pretty much what I've always done with this.”

    Stephen Prusa@ 29:04 — Emphasizes systematic testing approach over aesthetic perfection for reliability

Entities

Stephen PrusapersonGene CunninghampersonBig Bang BargameFlipper FootballgameMedieval MadnessgamePlanetary PinballcompanyTom DKperson

Signals

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Stephen Prusa successfully reverse-engineered and built Big Bang Bar using only schematics, manuals, and photographs without access to a physical reference machine; employed CAD design, custom fabrication, and parts sourcing to recreate missing components from original Capcom prototype

    high · Core presentation theme; Prusa explicitly states 'Never a physical machine'; CAD father Robi created alien box from playfield hole positions alone; multiple sources (Tom DK, Australia wire bender, Tom Floros) collaborated on undocumented parts

  • ?

    design_innovation: Capcom Flipper Football and Big Bang Bar share identical electrical systems despite superficial differences, enabling donor cabinet approach; Prusa documented schematic-level compatibility across cabinet harness, transformer, coin door, head harness, boards, and power systems

    high · Prusa's detailed manual comparison revealed 'carbon copy' pin outs and connector layouts; successfully wired Big Bang Bar using Flipper Football donor components with minimal modifications

  • ?

    supply_chain_signal: Planetary Pinball maintains substantial inventory of Big Bang Bar and Capcom-era parts (likely from Gene Cunningham acquisition); Pinball Spare Parts Australia stocks Capcom motors and coils; global network of individual collectors (Tom Floros, Mike Pesac, Lee, Jason) hold fragmented but obtainable rare components

    high · Prusa sourced wire forms, ramps, islands, plastics, lane guides from Planetary; alien mechanics from PSPA Australia; specialized parts (tube dancer, lamp driver) through Tom DK; original Capcom prototype playfield through Jason via Pinside

  • ?

    community_signal: Big Bang Bar restoration enabled by tight-knit global pinball community: Tom DK (Germany) provided technical articles and components; Avid Creation (Australia) custom-bent wire forms; Tom Floros sourced and fabricated parts; Robi Prusa (CAD designer father) reverse-engineered undocumented assemblies; specialized builders (Dr. Pinball Dylan Ramy) created boards

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

1:02
I think so. All right. All right. I'm just waiting on my I guess that and I'm just waiting on my I guess that and then we can start. How we doing? How we doing? Having a good time. Sweet.
3:00
All right, I think I'm gonna start. Guys, thank you so much for coming. I appreciate you guys for coming to the show and actually coming to this to learn how I did this. Um, okay. So, it um let's just start here. So, close that door. close that door. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Thank you.
3:22
Or people might Okay. So before Big Bang Bar, I had started wiring games from scratch. I started with Stargazer. So I built one out of Meteor and then I started just wiring games from scratch, one wire at a time, um with with different systems. Yeah. with schematics, you know, when Yeah. with schematics, you know, when I'm comparing two manuals together and I see that the pin outs of the head harness and cabinet harness are exactly the same and I'm like, "So, what's different?" You know, different connectors, different header pins, maybe different colored wires or where they're um placing those colored wires and sockets or the connectors. Um, but different systems are going to have different pinouts, you're going to have different boards, different colored wires, obviously. So you got Gotle and you got different connectors. So Gotle I took a Panthetherra and I turned that into an Eclipse which is out on the floor. Um for Dragonfist which is actually next door I took a Meteor as well and I turned that into a Dragon Fist. And you start to see similarities on the systems too obviously like the three bank drop targets on different games. Um just like Meteor, you know, it has three bank three uh different drop targets. So does Stargazer, so does Dragon. Okay. So, um that leads me to working on other games like a Voltan Escapes Cosmic Doom and then the biggest build before this actually I built a medieval madness from scratch which is actually on the main floor uh for the tournament the main tournament and it's going actually great over there. Couple issues but okay. So, if you don't know what Big Bang Bar is, I'll catch you up. So, they actually created 14 prototypes in 1996 set to release Big Bang Bar in early 1997. But Capcom stopped operations before it could be made. They had made I think 750 flipper footballs and then they made the 14 prototypes big bar and then I think they made a couple of Kingpin too and then they went out of business and then it uh in 2004 Gene Cunningham declared a remake of the game originally going to make a 100 but upped it to 182 sending the first dozen to Europe before releasing it in the US in 2007. Um, I'm sure there's a lot of backstory to uh how it got made and I'm sure there's a lot of hiccups and pauses and things because it takes a lot more to build hundreds than just one. Um, okay. So, last year someone at the York show in York, PA um had a flipper football for about 600 bucks. And since I had done the systems already, you know, like comparing manuals and doing this and that, it's just like, okay, well, what other what game is compatible with Flipper football, just like Dragonfist being compatible with Meteor. So, you know, they're they're all similar in their own ways. Um, I found out that on the schematics, the cabinet harness, the transformer, the coin door, the head harness, even though it looks a little bit different than what it was out of the factory, the boards, all of it was the same. Um, the sheets of paper, comparing two manuals together, it looks like it's almost a carbon copy between the two. and knowing that they made 750 flipper footballs, you know, they're out there to be able to. So, we found one and then um yeah, 2025, I looked at the flipper football manual on IPDB to see what other Capcom games that were existed. So, uh you know, they made Breakshot, they made Airborne, they made Pinball Magic, they made this, they made Right. So, they um made a lot. So what was compatible, you know, brake shot actually isn't compatible. Why? Because it was a street level game, which means it doesn't have any ramps. It doesn't have any like upper level features. So the cabinet is going to be a little bit shallower than um a flipper football, right? Because the flipper football, if you can imagine this being because there's one on the floor, there's a huge display that goes down right here. So even though it's a street level, it has a huge deep display for them to add instead of and the head was different. Uh, also the head came from a brake shop. So the heads are compatible but not the not the categories themselves. Um, okay. So the sound board, the power supply, the driver board, and even the MPU were all the same. Uh, flipper football cabinet was deep enough as well for the game. Yep. And no changes were needed for that. Uh, some differences were to consider the shooter lane and uh, the head which I just talked about. Okay. Okay. And then who has the parts here? Okay. So, um, right. So, before I even like started to see if it was, you know, possible, I I had a line on the flipper football. I was like, okay, well, this is possible. Now, I need parts. So, what parts are unique to uh Big Bang, right? So, you the wire forms. Okay, well, how am I going to get those? The islands, then the ramp. Okay, you got the aliens, you got the toys. Um, you got the metal guides that go around the playfield, right? Those are unique to the game. So, I'm looking I'm looking, you know, thank god we live in 2025 instead of, you know, maybe 30 years ago because the parts are actually out there. So, um, huge shout out to Planetary Pinball for having the parts. I think they bought Gene out at the time or something like this. Uh they had many parts for sale including the purple uh right wire form that was already powder coated, the island ramp diverter here. Uh the main left ramp that's actually cracked. Oops. Uh the plastic sets and actually medal lane guides. Um I actually had to bend some myself, drill rivet studs through to go through the play field to make them work with the nylon uh nuts and things like this. Um, but uh, fun fact here that the medieval madness that I built has a really long loop, the metal guy that goes all the way around the back side of the playfield. Well, after doing some measuring, this same metal guy that Medieval Madness used was compatible with Big Bang Bar. I just made some cuts with a Dremel wheel. Um, so I'm just trying to use what's out there already so I don't have to fabricate things myself. And we're going to get there get that uh there later. So, um, uh, another person, Mike Pesac, actually had the twin aliens, which are these, uh, and some plastics as well. Uh, the speaker panel artwork covers here. Uh, drop target decals that are here, and actually some other spare boards that I ended up picking up. So, a huge shout out to Mike. And then there was another guy who had built one before me. Okay, I'm not the first one. There's a guy named Tom DK. and he goes by that on pin side and he made a huge article. It's in Germany. It's it's written in German so you have to translate it. And his first couple of sentences was like I'm built this I built a medieval mattis and I'm like well I'm on the same path as him so why not like give it a go? And I already knew it was possible. So if I know it's possible like I'm going to at least go for it and try. And so Tom DK also I had a huge conversation with him on a huge ongoing conversation and he ended up having a tube dancer and actually the e lamp board that drives the arrows here and the black light but I'm working on trying to add something new to the black light. So that's not installed actually here but um okay so I talked about medieval madness. What else did I think? Um, so there's a guy in Australia who bends wire forms from scratch based on just a model that we had. And my dad in the corner there, Robi, my dad. And uh, he made or we had schematics of the wire forms here. They're not exact, but he 3D printed them and then we sent them off to Australia in a huge box. cost a lot shipping to ship it to Australia. But, uh, he ended up using the wire forms and bending them to line it on his, uh, Jerry rig or something like this. And we were able to bend these. They just need to get powder coated, but um, it was functional and it works. And, uh, huge shout out to him. That's Avid Creation because I appreciate him so much. And then, um, there's some other, uh, places, too. Let's see. Uh, Pinball Spare Parts Australia, PSPA. He actually had a lot of the motors, uh, the kick the the motors to drive the, um, box for the Alien Max as well as the tube dancer here. Um, the kickback and the island diverter coil, which drags the ball, which is the magnet. So, when this comes down, it drags over. He had a bunch of those. Um, I think he still has those in stock. So, just keep that in the back of your mind, I guess. And here, um, okay, part two. Okay, so Flipper Football had a lot of uh generic parts on it. Okay, so just like Pinmo Magic, just like Airborne, all the Slingshot mechs, right? All the Flipper mechs, they're all the same because just they made a bunch and they were just during that era, they just did that. Just like WPC has their own mechs and classic stern, right? So, pop bumper, slingshots, the right saucer kicker, flipper football actually has, I think, four of those. Uh, the flipper mechs themselves. Flipper football has four of those. So, three. Um, the drop target mechs. Flipper football has a couple of uh three banks, I think, or it has one three bank and then it has a five bank. So, I took one of the drop targets out and it uses a five bank only using four drop targets right there. Okay. And then also we're working with my dad all the time because he's been in CAD design for 30 years and it just makes sense, right? So I'm using resources that I I can't do CAD. I don't I don't want that. I don't don't do the program nor do I want to learn because I'm so focused on wiring a game or I'm focused on building this instead of learning. So having those resources are super important to me and I I appreciate you over there. So um so he's been to tool and die and manufacturing and he helped with fabricating drying up parts that a friend of mine that I met um by posting this of my project on pinball enthusiast page. I met a guy named Tom uh Floros. He took pictures from the manual and online to create the twin aliens as close as possible and had updates made for them as well. Okay, hold on. That was actually a little bit Okay, let me talk about Tom. So, he had a bunch of parts from Planetary that were sold out already because he bought them. So, I was like, "Yeah, I need this." Because Planetary has stuff on their website, but it says sold out, and you're like, "Oh, I wish I had that." But Tom had them. So, he sent me a bunch of them such as like, oh, what did he send me? a bunch of stuff in the back here. A couple of things, a couple of different lane guides, couple of other mechs and some uh he sent me a bunch of stickers for the decals because he had a bunch of sets of stickers and he sent me a couple plastics too and different things like this. And so my dad drew them up in CAD, sent them off to either sent or uh comut or something like this, right? And so send that off, get that manufactured. I don't have to worry about that. that I don't have to worry about creating it myself from doing it. We live in 2025, right? We got the internet to buy that. So, um, what else? Okay, so what was missing then? Okay, we have a bunch of parts. You can keep track of point all this stuff. We had the apron planetary had the apron, too. Um, Lee Lee uh had Capcom brah shot. Okay. and he had the arches that are go underneath the apron and you can't find those because you have to find a play field that has that right just laying out in someone's barn. So he was able to take those off, give them to my dad who drove him a big head and now we have a set a couple sets actually that go right here. And it works for Breakshot because actually Breakshot has a kickback here. So the whole we didn't have to like draw a hole or anything. So it worked out there. Um, okay. I talked about the generic parts. The uh one drop target bank here gear came from a Williams. So, I think it was like a Terminator 2 or whatever. You know, it's just a one bank drop target mag. It has a switch. You know, it's works perfectly. Um, okay. So the aliens underneath um we can look underneath too, but the box that we had to create doesn't exist outside of the games that it's already in the game, right? So we have to like create one from scratch. I don't have a copy. I don't have anything. All we have are pictures. All we have are pictures online and of in the manual as well as uh the holes to where the box actually goes onto the playfield because this playfield um so this playfield you can see it 004-10-00001x.

  • “He he priced them way too low... pinball wasn't as hot as it is now, you know.”

    Q&A participant discussing Gene Cunningham@ 35:38 — Market evolution commentary—suggests Cunningham's 2004-2007 pricing was undervalued relative to current market conditions

  • “After having built so many games, they gave me the knowledge, knowhow, and confidence to build Big Bang Bar.”

    Stephen Prusa@ 29:12 — Reflects on iterative learning as foundation for ambitious restoration project

    • Mike Pesacperson
    Avid Creationcompany
    Tom Florosperson
    Robi Prusaperson
    Dylan Ramyperson
    Pinball Spare Parts Australia (PSPA)company
    Jasonperson
    Pinball Lifecompany
    Marco Pinballcompany
    CLEPIN 2025event
    Capcomcompany
    Leeperson
    Johannaperson

    high · Extensive acknowledgments and collaboration examples; Tom DK's German Pinside article referenced; international shipping (Australia wire forms); multiple secondary sources filling documentation gaps

  • ?

    technology_signal: CAD design and modern manufacturing (3D printing, CNC) enable recreation of missing pinball components; Robi Prusa created alien box in CAD from playfield hole positions and manual pictures alone; 3D-printed wire form models sent to Australia for hand-bending; manufactured parts repined with modern connectors (Molex, Z-connectors, 0.156 crimp pins)

    high · Alien box fabrication from CAD drawings based on holes only; 3D-printed wire form models; custom manufacturing outsourcing; decision to repin all components with standardized modern connectors rather than reverse-engineer original ice cube connectors

  • ?

    historical_signal: Capcom's 1996 Big Bang Bar represents lost pinball era; 14 prototypes manufactured before company shutdown in 1997; Gene Cunningham's 2004-2007 remake (182 units) preserved design but underpriced at $4,600 (lost ~$2,000/unit per industry consensus); Capcom systems share compatibility with Flipper Football (~750 units), creating restoration pathway

    high · Historical timeline: 1996 Capcom creation, 14 prototypes, 1997 shutdown, 2004 Cunningham remake decision, 182 units produced, underprice revelation in Q&A; Prusa's Capcom prototype playfield (001-10-00001x) traced to Cunningham acquisition

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Prusa's Big Bang Bar build represents culmination of systematic progression through Capcom and other systems: Stargazer (built from Meteor), Dragonfist (Meteor conversion), Eclipse (Panthethera conversion), Medieval Madness; each build increased confidence and technical mastery of schematic interpretation and wiring methodology

    high · Opening discussion of prior builds; explicit statement 'After having built so many games, they gave me the knowledge, knowhow, and confidence to build Big Bang Bar'; comparison of Capcom vs WPC complexity noted as context for learning

  • ?

    collector_signal: Big Bang Bar's rarity (14 original prototypes + 182 Cunningham remakes = ~196 units) drives secondary market scarcity; collector Jason listed original Capcom prototype playfield on Pinside; parts distributed fragmentally across global collector network; modern builds enable access for enthusiasts unable to acquire original/Cunningham versions

    high · Prusa's acquisition of Capcom prototype playfield (001-10-00001x) through Pinside; Gene Cunningham $4,600 pricing discussion in context of current market being 'hot'; Planetary Pinball inventory depletion ('sold out' status on website despite Prusa's successful sourcing)

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Prusa delegated specialized manufacturing tasks to qualified vendors: 3D model printing and wire bending to Avid Creation (Australia), CAD design and parts generation to Robi Prusa and commercial manufacturers (unnamed 'sent or comut' vendor), alien opto board build to Dr. Pinball Dylan Ramy; repinning entire harness with Molex Z-connectors rather than source original connectors

    high · Multiple outsourced fabrication examples; decision to repin rather than reverse-engineer original connectors for modernization/reliability; CAD outsourcing to family member vs attempting self-learning

  • ?

    product_strategy: Gene Cunningham's 2004-2007 Big Bang Bar remakes sold at $4,600, losing approximately $2,000 per unit; industry consensus that pricing was 'way too low'; Q&A participant notes pinball market 'wasn't as hot as it is now,' implying Cunningham's pricing reflected weaker market conditions; current Prusa build cost $5,000-$6,000 in materials alone (excluding labor) suggests significant value appreciation

    medium · Q&A discussion of Cunningham pricing; participant statement 'He he priced them way too low... pinball wasn't as hot as it is now'; Prusa's material cost ($5-6K) vs Cunningham's sale price ($4.6K) indicates market shift

    • 17:00
    So, I think I'm going a little too fast, but it's the first prototype playfield that Capcom ever made that Jean had acquired. And it said when I got it, it was a piece of paper here that said like don't touch or don't build or something like this. And it says Jean's prototype playfield or something. And um he used that to lay all of the parts down when he had all the boxes back in the day. And he's like, "Well, do I have the parts to build it?" So, he didn't actually like drill things like posts. He didn't drill much, I don't think, because there's there weren't a lot of holes on top, right? Because I I had to drill some of these holes on top to uh lay some things down. But to just to hand place things just to see if he had everything, right? And then he's like, "Oh, I must have at least a hundred or something like this just to just to make it happen." Um, okay. So, it's pretty cool piece of history. And also it's a prototype because the very back of where the pop bumper is, this huge clear insert should be yellow as a production versus the prototype being just clear. Um, okay. So, we talked about 30 years ahead. Okay, we're back on the box for the aliens now. Okay, so how do we create this huge box? Maybe I should show you, but it's just going to be like it's just too much just to look at. So, the box itself, should I open it? You want me to open it now?
    18:32
    Um, okay. I also got the decals from Croatia. I uh had the opportunity to get a set from a guy that was in the US that were original, but the balls might fall. But um
    18:55
    the balls might fall, but okay. So, the original had uh artwork that was glow-in-the-dark, but the artwork here doesn't, which it's a little frustrating, but the glow-in-the-dark had uh wrinkles all on the sides because they were so old. So, they're brittle at the very end. So, I just didn't want to chance it. I just went with the Croatia one. So, shout out to them. And then, uh, Pinball Life and Marco for rubbers, posts, pop bumper skirts, switches, and light sockets. And then Dr. Pinball, Dylan Ramy, he built me the alien opto board that goes on the box. So, let me go over here. So, this box here, this entire thing that's that's fit here, um, it come it's a huge assembly, and it's got two gears that spin to make the aliens spin like this. And they're symmetrical basically. They like spin. They look at each other and they look what you know. So there needs to be a thing and you know there was part numbers out there in the schematic and in the manual. So you dump that into Google and you find planetary has a bunch except a couple rods and a and the box. And you know we're super close to having all the parts. And just based on pictures in the holes in playfield. My dad was actually able to create um this from scratch the actual box. And yeah, if it wasn't for this box to be able to, you know, to create this, I probably wouldn't even have um yeah, we'd still be stuck on it if he didn't create that. So, thank you so much for for doing that again. Um and so the gears like they had to be a specific number of teeth and Tom told me, you know, like the specific number. And I was like, "Yeah, it's between this." Cuz he had a go at it, you know, but um uh I think he got caught up in that spot, too. From what I was reading in his article, I think it took him a couple months just to try to see what's going on. But having someone that knows what they're doing in a different in the CAD world, like it's crazy because these parts are so small. It shouldn't be that hard because these pro people are in CAD are dealing with probably way bigger parts. So, it's easier to condense it, I think. Um, okay. So yeah, there's an opto board here and then there's uh like notches in in this little disc and I think it goes like one one but then there's two. So it'll like know based on the disc orientations. It's pretty cool. Um there was also the motor board that drives this but uh this is used in medieval mantis to lower the to lower the drawbridge and so it was just interchangeable. So um it was super easy just because you know the board itself on the on the thing just says Capcom on it and you're like well you have to kind of get it because it says Capcom or it's not going to be compatible. it actually is, which is super intriguing. Um, and then this I was able to get this mech here, which is the trough opto assembly. Uh, you know, WPC have a different layout and things like this. Maybe it'll work, but uh, this is Capcom specific and you can only get those, you know, uh, pinball magic. Flipper football doesn't have it either, so I had to find that somehow. And I I did uh Okay, so talked about the playfield coming from Planetary Pinball, which had 001X, who I actually ended up getting it from Jason in California. He had listed it on Pinside. So, thank you, Jason, for that. Um, okay. So, obviously, I took all these parts as I started to obtain them and went to work. I started with the cabinet and put the decals on and made sure everything would fit. When I got the playfield, I started by placing the light socket, switches, and assemblies, the lights for the first place I started the wiring process. Um, each socket has a diode on it just like WPC inserts, but WPC's daisy chain, they're GI sockets. Um, the GI for this is not if they're both on light matrixes. So, one's GI light matrix, one's insert light matrix. So, it kind of had to be double the work because it's easier just to daisy chain lamps just all around versus like point A to point B to point C. And so, the schematic tells you, you know, light 2x multiball mode, whatever. And you got to go from here to there to there. And you got to do that 20 times. And then you got to do that for the switches, you know, because the switches is also the switch matrix. And knowing the orientation of the switches, but there's no dodes on the switches, which is good because then you can just go to point A, you know, but you have to know which lug it is. Um, and so you and that's just from learning over time, right? like I didn't just do this and this is my first thing ever. I mean like I did like 10 other games before this. So having that um learning process of the of the easier games because it's so easy now for me just to build a balor stern because look at this compared to a balance stern like there's nothing underneath versus that's monstrosity spider bit but um okay so we're uh Capcom has their GI light matrix right also felt like some of the holes on the playfield were not properly positioned because of uh it being a prototype. I was like is that where it is? And then on the manual it shows like a different hole. I'm like what? Okay. So I had to do some guessing. Um I then went to the switches and daisy chain those followed by the coils, optos, motors. I hand bent the metal guides. Yes. And I had a lot of hand measuring. Yes. Okay. And I have bunch of pictures of of this. Um you might just want to look at those cuz I shared the slide with the motor. I don't know if she's sharing them, but I'm sure she will. And then there's a couple pictures here of like when when it was nothing when I had installed bunch of just uh switches, lights, and then a little bit of the uh um wiring, which is the daisy chain of the lamps. And then added more for this one, which is the second layering of lamps and looks like switches. So, some of these switches are easy to do because they're just like the column shows drop target one, two, three, four. Well, drop target one, two, three, four. So, I just literally just take a wires and just go right here. Done. So, some of this stuff is easy once you understand like the Okay, these switches are actually super close to each other. And they did it on purpose because they didn't want switches everywhere, but sometimes it gets a little messy um with that. And then trying to keep track of it. you know, once you're done with that first row, you just cross it off, move on to the next one. And it it just seems um like just I have just a different process of doing it. So, this the more you do it, the system is easier because you create your own system of how to do it. Um, okay. So, there's some other pictures here, which is the uh power supply here, which came out of a flipper football. And this wire harness here that comes down here is actually from the flipper football, which then has a bunch of ice cube connectors, which is already in here with uh Flipper football, right? This wire harness here is actually the end of the playfield. Hope everyone can see, maybe not. The end of the playfield of the Flipper football. Okay, these are the switch matrix harness uh which are the yellow, red, blue, green power wiring from the flicker football from the uh playfield. So I cut at the very end of the playfield those color wires and then I matched that with Z connectors. So, none of the wire colors actually matter here, but if you look up stream more, there's Z connectors that end up going to these, which match a flipper football, which actually matches Big Bang Bars manual cuz the wire colors show and the pin outs of those wire colors are in the same column row sections of those connectors. So, knowing those two, I was just like, "Oh, these are exactly the same." Like, yeah, I'm just getting over it. So, um the uh picture of uh the 3D printed wire forms and then the aliens here. Um just some more pictures of stuff being built on top. Okay. And then there's a picture here. And if we can see this transformer, this whole wire harness, this box to turn on the the plug box, the tilt bob, the tilt map, the different the coin door here, the different harnesses right here, you know, it's all the same from I took that out of Flipper football, just installed it here. So, um, here's some more pictures of the of the boards. I have an LED OCD board in here as well. Um, these came from football football, right? [Music] Okay. There's some mistakes here. The green tube could have been cut better. The middle light of the arrow on the ramp doesn't work. I accidentally dropped the tool on it and inserted the connection. And the wire harness obviously could have been better. But I mean it just to me I don't have to really I know the management's crazy but if you take a digital multimeter and you're trying to troubleshoot stuff and you're going from point A to column which is daisy chain point B and you have continuity you don't really imagine being color blind you know it's going to be crazy no matter what. So just going continuity testing things is pretty much what I've always done with this. Um, okay. So, after having built so many games, they gave me the knowledge, knowhow, and confidence to build Big Bang Bar. I'm always improving and working harder to perfect my craft for not only my own games, but for my customers as well. So, yeah, I I'm doing more than just myself. I'm doing customer games. I'm doing hard tops for clients. I'm doing playfield swaps. And we're actually dabbling in scratch boats for customers, too. So, um, uh, one more thanks, my dad, Rob, Mike Pesak, Tom, Floro, Snake, May, Johanna, my fiance, who I'm getting married in a couple months here.
    29:46
    Uh, and some reference. Okay. Give me some questions. I said a lot there. Give me some questions. Yeah, I have two. I have two. Yeah. Um, first, and not that I'm asking Yeah. Um, first, and not that I'm asking what the total was, but did you keep up did you keep a list of of your build materials so you would know what you had invested in it? I have about five to six. Okay. And I have about five to six. Okay. And between five and six. And your and my second question is, did And your and my second question is, did you ever have a physical machine to reference at all? Pictures. Pictures. Never a physical machine. No, Never a physical machine. No, because that's pretty amazing. because that's pretty amazing. Thanks. That was that was my question, Thanks. That was that was my question, but pretty amazing isn't a question, but I'm pretty amazing isn't a question, but I'm just for your answer. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What? You got any questions for Okay. What? You got any questions for me, dog? Would you do it again? Would you do it again? Me? Me? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Would I do it again? Yeah. Would I do it again? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'll call you tomorrow. Okay. Well, I'll call you tomorrow. Well, Well, I'll give you five grand to build me one. Materials and parts and things like Materials and parts and things like this. It took me six months. It took me six months. Okay. So in that six months Okay. So in that six months like hours like hours from working till 4 and 5 in the morning from working till 4 and 5 in the morning I it gets blended because I'm not working on this. I'm like getting to a specific point on this and then I took a break and I went on to do something else and then I'll get to that point again and that project come back to this and they're both at like the same level and then I'll do that process over again. Maybe it's three projects or whatever. I got like a party zone and some other games at my house. So, I'm get I'm shoring up with those and there'll be more builds coming. But, um yeah, that sounds pretty fast. that sounds pretty fast. Yeah, I uh I don't know. I just have a Yeah, I uh I don't know. I just have a lot of time to sink into, right? Like, it's just straight pinball for me. So, when are you getting married? when are you getting married? Uh November. Uh November. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. [Laughter]
    31:44
    Uh, yeah, this flipper is sticking though, so I got to figure out that. I think could be the coil stop or the coil sleeve or the alignment issue or something. But honestly, that's one of the only things I've had an issue with. So, it's putting up good work. And, uh, the power supply I was having an issue or not an issue, but I was nervous about it, right? People have said those caps like fall off whenever you move them because they just stick out so much and one might be bulging or something. I don't know. But it works. So, I'm I'm happy with it. I'd be happier. Actually, a lot of Z connectors, too. If you think about Z connectors or you're like uh there's something else like or or the ice cube connectors, I just use Molex and 0.156 uh trifor pins and C connectors and I'm just Z connectoring everything. Why do I need to get eight pin housings that are ice cube nine pin housings or whatever like that? I'll just repin the whole thing and use Z connectors because I know I did it right and I know how to crimp well. So, um, knowing how to crack walls actually a huge thing to for teching, um, as well because just things like assemblies or Macs like like this Mac, I can pull this thing off because all I have to do is unplug this. So, learning that or other things, I try to um make that efficient. But some coils I I left on it looks like tabs on the Z connector. Oh, they do have blocking tabs. Yeah. Oh, they do have blocking tabs. Yeah. Sometimes I try to just match the uh pin the metal to metal here so I know they're all going in one direction. Um and sometimes like the some of the color I try to color code in my own way. I mean it doesn't really work probably looking at it but to me I can see some of this stuff and be like oh yeah okay this I did this because that and you know just my own brain but wire colors on harnesses all the time wire colors on harnesses all the time now it changes colors there right
    33:54
    so do you have a schematic that you make with of your own that no This goes this schematics is exactly no This goes this schematics is exactly follows the follows the the manual of big Yeah, the Capcom one the manual of big Yeah, the Capcom one for sure. Yeah. And for everything too. Yeah. And for everything too. Every like Dragonfist Stargazer. They go Every like Dragonfist Stargazer. They go back to the exact um pin out location of the original. Why couldn't you use a like a WPC Why couldn't you use a like a WPC trough in there? Why did you Oh, I'm sure. I I didn't measure it, but Oh, I'm sure. I I didn't measure it, but if it is the same size, you could. I like you said that you had to use that one because nothing else would work. Yeah. You know, I didn't actually Yeah. You know, I didn't actually measure and try the WPC, but it's this is very similar to the WPC. You know, it has optos that are uh screwed into the plate and things like this. But I could measure it. Maybe it will work. You never know, you know. Yeah. Yeah. But uh I actually have another one of But uh I actually have another one of those. So, if I was looking for it, but I think Planetary had that for sale or some a huge assembly or something like they had a lot of one-ups left that I was I'm very lucky to end up getting like especially the wire form and that island like I don't think they have that island anymore. So, building another one might be a tough challenge um if you don't have those parts or copies for sure. What other questions? It's interesting What other questions? It's interesting that you said he had five or six grand into it because, five or six grand into it because, you know, when Jean remade the his, he you know, when Jean remade the his, he he sold for 4,600 and the word on the street was, "Oh, man, he was down two grand a piece basically, you know." Yeah. Yeah. He he priced them way too low. He he priced them way too low. Oh, for sure. Oh, for sure. And And I could agree back in the day, but I could agree back in the day, but pinball wasn't as hot as it is now, you know. So, yeah. Well, I mean, back then 4,600 was yeah. Well, I mean, back then 4,600 was a ton of money. Yeah. So, I didn't get one because I'm like, I can't I think that was newer or more uh money I think that was newer or more uh money than a newer stern back in the day, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I had no money back then. I'm I mean, I I had no money back then. I'm like, 4,600 for a pinball machine. I can't do it, right?
    36:01
    Yeah. I mean, I could have, but I like here's my credit card now. I'm in debt, you know? So that's cool that you were like around to that's cool that you were like around to have the chance of seeing that happen. Yeah, I went Yeah, I went that it kind of did happen, right? Like that it kind of did happen, right? Like we went on pause or break and then we ended up doing it. There was a controvers. There was a controvers. [Music] Oh, everybody was freaking out like are Oh, everybody was freaking out like are we getting anything for our money or we get screwed? And I I went up to his his um warehouse or factory and to buy like when he remade the medieval playfields. I bought six playfields and u right away when finished so I and u right away when finished so I could pick which ones I wanted and they threw in a big bag of translate for me. Oh, cool. Oh, cool. Because I bought the playfields and side Because I bought the playfields and side art, cabinet art, everything. And I convinced them to throw a Big Bang Bar I convinced them to throw a Big Bang Bar translate in because I was never going to be able to buy a game. Sure. All right. So, I still have it. I built made a So, I still have it. I built made a light box for it. So, it's pretty cool. Yeah. It's a cool moment with him, Yeah. It's a cool moment with him, right? Just, you know, going to his warehouse, experiencing that. Yeah. Yeah. It's cool. It was cool. It's cool. It was cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's all this stuff is neat. It's all this stuff is neat. Yeah. He had a bunch of parts, too, like Yeah. He had a bunch of parts, too, like WPC stuff, NOS, bunch of stuff. I mean, this fascinates me because I'm an engineer and to you build your own pinball machine, let alone a big bang bar, which is like crazy money now and a medieval and everything. I mean, that's awesome. I'm impressed. Well done. I'm impressed. Well done. Thanks. Um the sterns, you know, Thanks. Um the sterns, you know, honestly cost 2500 for me because it's a scratch because you're just looking for a playfield and then a meteor and a back glass and maybe the paint and stencils or I get decals made that are like custom for like the stargazers I'm making are I got custom decals of like stuff. It's going to look cool. But um and those are the really expensive and those are the really expensive stuffers like and obviously I'm shooting for home runs and obviously I'm shooting for home runs here. Like I'm not just investing in like I'm not going to be like okay I'm not building lost worlds or silver ball manas from scratch right that are like sub 2K you know or less now you know I'm trying to go for things that'll give me a little boost in income you know like why wouldn't you right because you're just trying to adapt and these games too are like out of the are in a barn or they're in like very bad condition so like I'm like very bad condition so like I'm turning I'm not restoring it to what it was originally like I'm turning it into a different game because the parts were used in the same exact game, but they only made, you know, 600 of them or 300 like Dragonfist or something like that, right? Like it's pretty crazy. So, can you get like if you said I want So, can you get like if you said I want to build another one of these and you got this prototype from Planetary Playfield? I mean, can you get any more playfields or how can you get any more playfields or how would you um um I mean, or would you just make your own? I mean, or would you just make your own? I would you just make your own? Yeah. I would you just make your own? Yeah. Well, there's like people out there that still have them. I see I'm on uh Pinite all the time. Get listed here or there. Jason had this for sale, but I saw a guy in North Carolina had one for sale or something for like four grand or something like this, but this cost me 15 grand. Yeah, that's what I was saying. I mean, Yeah, that's what I was saying. I mean, I would think anybody that had a play still would be like, "Oh, I need 10 grand for this." Stupid. But I heard they're remaking 250 of But I heard they're remaking 250 of them. If anyone heard that. the remake and I think that's where so
    39:37
    yeah the whole game and I think with some updated stuff I'm sure like what we would you update like I'm sure what we would you update like I'm sure just WPC right
    39:51
    I hope they do the lighting better than they did for their last game I bought one of the fun house and the game plays fine, but the lighting they use those light tubes with LED underneath that shines into the tube and it it's so dark. Yeah, you have to have good lighting in the room. I know.
    40:18
    Yeah, but it's just like other than that it's fine, but they really I hope they never do that, right? right? They adapt and improve, you I hope They adapt and improve, you I hope I try doing that too. You know, every I try doing that too. You know, every build has to be a little bit better, but again, like the wire harness obviously, you know, is the best, but I it's very hard to manage, especially when you're going one wire at a time. Like, okay, so if you're making like 100, yeah, you probably have like a board with pegs and you're going around and you have the playfield out with a peg and you're just doing this all the time and running your own wire back and forth, but it's just like a one-off. So going one wire at a time is like all I've done this entire time because it's so easy from one obstacle to the connector and you go you do that 30 times and you're done with the lights on a solid state, right? And then switch you just go back you just keep looping and try to find the best path that are very close switches together. But um that's all I've done and that's what I've learned. So I just continue to do it and it works. So why change, you know? I don't know. That's the only uh grip I get with uh other people, you know, just like maybe the wire colors could be the same, but you know, just the way it looks. It's who cares? It's underneath the plate, right? If anybody says anything about your If anybody says anything about your wires, then where's your big bar? Tell me your wire. Tell me your wire. Oh. Oh, that's right. You have Oh. Oh, that's right. You have That's all I'd say. Have a nice day. That's all I'd say. Have a nice day. Yes. So, what is your next big thing? Yes. So, what is your next big thing? What's my next I have a Adam's family What's my next I have a Adam's family car kiss in the car. So, I think I'm going to build that. But I have a guy who makes me wire harnesses for this this title. So, I think I'm going to do that. And then I got a couple stargazers or stargazers that I uh plan on building soon here, too. On your stargazers, if someone were to On your stargazers, if someone were to create the three bank drops, would that be the is that your biggest Yeah. Yeah, like the the biggest thing I Yeah. Yeah, like the the biggest thing I know you can get back glasses all day and plates go from everywhere now. It's the three banks. It's the three banks. You can have your own wire. So the is it You can have your own wire. So the is it just the three banks or is it the three and then the larger? I know Meteor has the larger. Yeah, look, Meteor has the larger, but Yeah, look, Meteor has the larger, but you just don't use it. Yeah, you can just sell it like um I'll sell my leftover stuff, you know, to a guy at Pinfest. I'm no longer needing the Meteor playfield with a little bit of wire harness or the back glass or this. I'll just sell it for a little bit of profit and that pays for, you know, the back glass for the new one or something like that or the MPU, right? Um uh yeah, so you said something about um the three banks being made. I think Marco has like individual parts that you can then put together. Uh yeah, but those cost like a hundred. Uh yeah, but those cost like a hundred. Like I see some guy posts uh them on pins or something for like 150 each. But they're really But they're really uh they might be or they might come off uh they might be or they might come off of a meteor and then he like repl them or something and then he tries to pop them. But like I'll walk into pinfest and walk around and I'll see in a tote just a three bank drop. He's like, "Oh, that came off a flight 2K. It's listed for 20 bucks." You know, just you have to know what you're looking at to see and be like, "Oh, yeah. This this will go in a game that I am uh building or something, right?" But you just got to be familiar with all the schematics and the pictures and what they all look like and things like this because once you like spot something like you have to get it then if if it goes for a game. But yeah, what else? How long how long have this finished? How long how long have this finished? Yeah. When did they finish a month? Yeah. When did they finish a month? Couple months maybe. Month and a half. Month and a half. Yeah. We started playing it Yeah. We started playing it in July. in July. July July something like that. Yeah. So, how long did it take again? how long did it take again? I think it started in January. I got to I think it started in January. I got to play field January. So, that that's when I started. Months basically. Months basically. Something like that. Yeah. Six, seven. Something like that. Yeah. Six, seven. Yeah. How long did Medieval take? How long did Medieval take? Medieval took uh last year. It took Medieval took uh last year. It took place maybe eight months. Yeah. I Kurt Weaver built me a cabinet Yeah. I Kurt Weaver built me a cabinet and I found all the boards. Some were cheap like that a this AV board you can't find and some guy had it for on eBay for like 250 bucks and just picked it up as soon as it was listed like I got a notification somehow.
    44:40
    Yeah, that's what I was told. Um but But I mean, they're so out there like all these parts on eBay. Like I use eBay weekly just to search up. I just type in WPC pinball and see what you search. There's actually a wire harness that's in the cabinet. Uh that's I'm trying to bid on that's for Adam's family that has the EMI box that turns on the game and the stuff for the PL all the cabinet parts and stuff. So that stuff is still out there. You just have to like search kind of just a little deeper and certain key words, you know, people use and maybe let pinball people know what those certain key words are too, right? Um, so I wish they would make um aftermarket I wish they would make um aftermarket new wiring harness under the playfield for medieval and stuff that because I'd love to restore them on now and I'd love to just put a brand new harness. Well, I bought a plate a harness off a Well, I bought a plate a harness off a guy who who handm made it and he's in Canada. His name is Jim Aost. He's on pin side. And uh he made me the switch coil. He made me everything. Even the a head harness too and the secondary for the transformer. Um so it might be somewhere to search up for you contact. Yeah.
    46:10
    Right. Ultrasonic cleaner too tub, you know. That's all dishwasher or something like that. dishwasher or something like that. like a power launcher.
    46:27
    Oh, yeah. No, I did. No, I did. Um, I did. Um, I did. Uh, K's arcade, I think, or Matt's Uh, K's arcade, I think, or Matt's Matt's Basement Arcade. He had ROMs, you know. He had the game ROMs and the sound romps He had the game ROMs and the sound romps available. So, I think it was like 80 bucks or something. I bought all the rocks and sound. Yeah. And the chips you just plug them Yeah. And the chips you just plug them in, take them out of the take the fler footballs out and plug them chips. Yeah. Like in reality, I could just pull those Like in reality, I could just pull those ROM chips off, put them on pinball managing. It'll probably work if I don't put the playfields. You know, it's it's all the same system just like you know, WTC
    47:10
    really utilize that matrix on the GI. Was that Did they really utilize the GI matrix? I Did they really utilize the GI matrix? I mean, that sounds incredible. Uh, yeah. It just like fades in and out. Uh, yeah. It just like fades in and out. Everything fades in and out versus the GI just turning off. Matrix or Matrix or Every lights on matrix. Every lights on matrix. Exactly. Yeah. It basically is like the old, you Yeah. It basically is like the old, you know, because WPC doesn't have any of the just straight GI or something. But everything lights up. everything lights up. But yeah, did they do anything with that or not? I don't remember Capcom being especially well in a track phone. I think it does well in a track phone. I think it does stuff like a track and then it creates fade like it allows the system to fade lights, I think, with the incandesence. Um, that's why the LED OCD because it Um, that's why the LED OCD because it can handle the uh fading better at all, I think. But some LEDs are still on here, but they flicker just like a little bit like the pop bumpers and something else. But uh yeah, so it's still not perfect, but it's a working playable game. So yeah, I appreciate you guys coming and I yeah, I appreciate you guys coming and I appreciate the stream. So thank you for Yeah, man. Yeah, man. I think it'll be at too.
    48:33
    Wow. Good job. Congrats