The 1994 Bally The Shadow is an interesting game in many aspects. It has no pop bumpers, but instead it features a lot of gadgets. And we know gadgets are the first things that break, right? :)

I got this machine in a non-working state. I was warned beforehand it wouldn't even boot. A quick inspection showed that the machine was nonetheless "sane": all its playfield parts were present, and the backbox didn't seem to scary, at least at first sight (more on that later). Yet, the diamond playfield (typical for WMS/Bally games from this era) was covered with an ugly mylar. There was also significant damage in the magnet area of the playfield, and everything was very dirty. Metal ramps were tainted and not shining anymore.

Work on this machine was divided in two parts: the playfield cleanup and touchup, and the backbox electronics repairs.

We haven't talked much about some of the flippers that we have had for quite a time. Dolly Parton is one of those. Truth be told, we didn't forget it, but repairs on this machine went relatively smoothly. We have to confess having slightly "cheated" though, see below ;)

Here's a quick summary of what happened in the past months: