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Who fixes my machines when I can't
Great Pinball Links
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Williams OXOThis pin is currently in an inactive state sitting beneath the Sea Ray and Little Joe. I wish I had more room for them, but only 6 will fit, so one has to take a break. I had always been looking for one and it had taken the place of the frustrating 4 Million BC. Ryan Hyland of Plymouth, Michigan contacted me after Googling for OXO on the web. My name popped up as a relatively local collector looking for one and we coordinated a visit to his fixer-upper house just off the main drag in downtown Plymouth. It was a fine looking machine, although the left side of the cabinet is faded and he couldn't get the machine to fire up. After offering $250 and making the deal we found that the mechanism panel was not bolted to the bottom of the cabinet! I had to remove the panel before pulling the legs to get it out of the house and into our Ford Escape. I'm glad I looked first or who knows what kind of damage we would have done in moving it.
The backglass of the machine is in fair shape (probably about an 8 or so) with a little paint loss in a few places. I'll need to seal it when I get a chance. The playfield is fine with no worn spots at the kick-out landing points, however one of the Williams 8 lug bumpers caps has a snapped lug, probably from someone moving it without taking out the ball. The game fired up after getting the right fuses in it and working the credit wheel to a correct position. Nevertheless, the game had multiple scoring problems that required a visit from Dr. Scott. The 3 in line coil was completely missing and thus required ordering a new one. After installing it, the coil always stuck on after each 3 in line combination to the point that it was going to burn up. After reviewing the schematic and the X/O relay rack, I jumpered the power from the 1 through 9 coils and it works fine. A few 3 in line combos don't quite work, but the entire game works well enough after tweaking that it really is a fun one to take for a ride. The reset relay sticks on occasion but we think we have that figured out to where it doesn't happen enough to debilitate the game. We have Free Balls being awarded at 35,000, 66,000 and 99,000 points, so that everyone can have some fun.
Strategy Game play is very simple. The key is to get 3 in a row, X's or O's which lights the side pockets. Shooting the ball into the side pockets (when lit) awards you a free ball and 5000 points. Three in a row is accomplished by activating rollovers or targets that correspond to one of nine spots on the Tic-Tac-Toe grid in the center of the lower playfield. The upper three spots are lit by one of six lanes corresponding to an X or O only for the top row. The middle and lower rows are lit either with an X or O dependent on an alternating indicator that switches when 10 point slingshot or pop bumpers are hit. Each X or O lit when the ball exits the play field gives you 1000 bonus points. Thus there are only 9,000 possible bonus points per ball. Near the top of the playfield, an A & B target reside which when both are hit, open the right out lane gate to save a ball back to the shooter tip. A 1000 point bumper at the top center is also activated which can quickly boost your score. Ball five is a triple bonus ball. The basic strategy involves lighting as many X's & O's as you can, hopefully getting three in a row in the process and giving you a chance for a free ball and 5,000 points. Lighting the A & B targets is a secondary quest, but one that doesn't always produce high scores. Game Rating Another time when patience pays off. While this game is not a mint machine, it's good enough for me. I was fortunate to not have to pay too much for it in the non-working condition it was in. A few more dollars to Dr. Scott and it turned into a $450 dollar game very quickly. Nevertheless, it's a fun game to play. Sometimes you can keep the ball in play for a long time and can't help but turn it over. Other times it's like pulling teeth as the ball drains easily down the side lanes. The Tic-Tac-Toe feature also tends to be addicting to visitors and they enjoy the fact that for the most part it's an easy scoring game. The current high score is over 400,000 points! A fun game with great Christian Marche artwork and colors. It's a definite keeper, we'll give it an 8.5!
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