What are some interesting pinball facts that most people don't know about?

[Isaac Sauvage]

- I learned just the other day that "backglass" and "translite" are not quite the same things. In fact, they have significantly different meanings when it comes down to it. That is, a translite is in fact a thin plastic sheet with the backglass art applied, sitting behind a sheet of glass in the backbox, making up a 'two-in-one' affair. Meanwhile, a traditional backglass has the art applied directly to one sheet of glass.

I want to say one usually has the art applied by decal, while the other usually has the art applied by silkscreen, but I'm not sure that's exclusive. (anybody have an opinion on that?) Another aspect of backglasses is that, sadly, the art tends to flake off with time and the heat of the lamps.

- Modern pinballs (i.e. the steel ball bearings) are evidently 1 & 1/16th" in diameter, i.e. not just one inch. Also, from what I understand, there's a variety of 'proofings' and similar processes that can be done to balls to both brighten them up and make them easier-wearing on the parts and playfield. I'd even go so far as to say that if you own pinballs either in your home or in a business setting, you probably want to rotate balls on a regular basis to help preserve the health of your machines. Also, probably want to have a mechanical way of reconditioning balls, such as something along the lines of a rock polisher, or even just a cheap Dremel with the right grade of buff wheel.

- This is slightly speculative, but I get the sense that a large number of ailing machines could be interfaced to a low-end Raspberry Pi, cutting out much (or all?) of the printed circuit boards. Naturally, these are custom solutions that must be exactingly-tailored, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this kind of remedy grew and became more and more popular with respect to preservation. Maybe it already has?

- Haven't really fact-checked this yet, I just love the story: A 'Babe Ruth' move ended the 40-year pinball ban.

Pinball went into hiding for many decades after several owners were raided by New York police, and many machines where symbolically smashed with sledgehammers. It was not until 1976 when the national ban ended, when Roger Sharpe testified in court that pinball had become a game of skill instead of a game of chance. He proved this by playing a pinball game in the courtroom, predicting various movements of the ball before even shooting, afterwards referring to 'Babe Ruth’s home run' in the World Series of 1932. His performance convinced the courtroom that pinball was actually a harmless game of skill. [source]

What else...?

 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Backglasses
Yes, backglasses were silkscreened, even the painted ones like Paragon, the colors were separated, silkscreens made for each color and then the ink is layered on
modern backglasses (and some playfields ) are printed in big printers
if it is a mirrored backglass, it started off as a full mirror and had the mirroring removed, then the art was applied

with traditional backglasses, parts were blacked out so lights showed only through certain areas, also for showing "ball in play" and "match" numbers
games made in the late 80's/ early 90's (eg Taxi) used a translight but still had blacked out areas
quality of backglasses, depends on when it was made, late70's early 80's Williams the ink cracks badly, Bally Supersonics just peel straight off, but Bally Star Treks tend to be solid

polishing parts
we do not use a rock polisher, but a vibrating drum usually used for cleaning gun shells for reloading . I have not used one for polishing balls, but I do use one for cleaning metal parts

Speculation
I have not looked into it but I think there is a board made that can either fit into an existing game, or can be use as the CPU for a home-made machine

 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Speculation (EDIT)
I think many homebrew designers are using https://www.arduino.cc/ (Arduino - Home) as the brains for their machines

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Speculation (EDIT)
I think many homebrew designers are using https://www.arduino.cc/ (Arduino - Home) as the brains for their machines

I've been seeing Arduinos used for years over at "Instructables," a DIY site. I love this stuff:

Search for Arduino - Instructables

www.instructables.com

But yeah, I think you're right... at least in regards to using them in EM's. Why buy something which can emulate complicated arcade machines (Raspberry Pi), when you only need to handle a fairly simple set of logical conditions (Arduino)? It's probably a bit overkill even with the Arduino.