TAF FAQs

TAF FAQs

As a time saving resource for both you and I, I decided to add a frequently asked question section - to save you time in sending me emails and waiting for a response, and also to save me some time in answering the same questions over and over and over and over again. These questions are listed in order of frequency of being asked (for those that sent me emails asking these questions in the past, you might recognize the response!) Enough said. Play Pinball!

Where can I buy The Addams Family Pinball Machine?

I'll sell you my TAF pinball machine for $50 (just kidding)!

Actually, I am not going to be selling any more pinball machines. It gets very complicated with shipping, shipping damages, people who don't know how to fix them, etc. Many people in the pinball industry feel the same and the list is getting longer every day.

However, there are lots of places you can check to get them. I would suggest calling some local coin-op /amusement devices operators in your area to see if they have any. If not, ask them if they know of any up-coming coin-op auctions in your area.

You might want to try out www.ebay.com and search on "family pinball" to always find a few machines for sale. Many pinball dealers have TAF Pinball machines for sale, and they advertise them on their web pages. However, they are getting pretty expensive as supply drops. Check for links located under the vendors page of the TAF web page for some contacts. You might want to post a TAF machine wanted ad under the group discussion link of the TAF web page. Check a web search engine, such as Google to locate more dealers.

Also, Mr. Pinball classified ads (look for a link from the TAF web page) usually lists several TAF machines for sale. Today, the average price for a TAF in good working condition and shopped should be around $1900. (Make sure it comes with a manual!).

Good luck! Let me know how you make out! I will be posting a "what to look for when buying a pinball machine" article on the web page soon, so keep checking back to The Addams Family Pinball Machine web site!

Where can I buy a specific part, unique to The Addams Family Pinball Machine?

Parts are just as scarce as pinball machines! For those that do not know (or forgot, or are living in denial) Williams Pinball, who bought Bally Pinball (creators of The Addams Family Pinball Machine ) went out of business in October 2000. Even when they were still in business, they did not manufacture game-specific parts, after the production year of the game. Now, the rights to all of the Williams Pinball machine were sold to a gentleman named Gene Cunningham and his company, Illinois Pinball. It will be up to them to decide which parts they will manufacture. As it costs a lot of money to produce these parts, they may not offer unique replacement parts for any older games. Therefore, your resources are pretty much limited to those mentioned above. Good luck!

My Pinball Machine's Playfield has the plastic coating peeling all over the place. What can be done about this?

First, this happens because of poor maintenance. Someone who owned the machine before you most probably used some sort of petro-based chemical to clean the playfield, and it loosened the adhesive backing under the mylar plastic. Another cause is excessive dampness or water on the playfield.

You basically have two options: 1. Replace the entire playfield ( a new playfield is more scarce than a full blown TAF pinball machine!) or, 2. Repair the damaged section. For more information on repairing damaged playfields, please see the Repair section of The Addams Family Pinball Machine web site!

My TAF Pinball Machine has a problem with ____. What can I do about it?

Once again, please check out the Repair section of The Addams Family Pinball Machine web site. If you can't find the answer there, please send me an email indicating the following: A detailed description of the problem, indicating exactly what the problem is (e.g., "The flasher located under the power decal stopped working" instead of "Some of my lights are not working"). Also, please let me know ALL of the steps you have tried so far to fix the problem yourself - this eliminates redundancy. Send your email messages to: docked@yahoo.com.

Whenever I press both flippers simultaneously, all of the power shuts off and the game will not work. When I turn the power back on, it works again, until I hit both flippers again. Why is this happening?

This has to be the most frequently asked problem question I receive. This is called a game reset - a problem caused by over-taxing a bridge rectifier located on the power board. This is a design flaw with the game, and I'm convinced that everyone who owns this game will go through this problem soon.

Dozens of people have written email messages to me about this problem. The full blown fix for this is located in the Repair section of The Addams Family Pinball Machine web site. The only part(s) that need to be replaced are the bad bridge rectifier(s). I recommend replacing each bad bridge rectifier with a more heavy duty bridge rectifier, such as those currently being sold on the Sales page of The Addams Family Pinball Machine web site!

I want to buy The Addams Family Pinball Machine that a local operator is selling as "un-shopped" for a low price. How do I know if I am getting a good deal and what should I look out for?

The first thing you should do is play the game before you buy it. Play it for a couple of hours, if possible. You will soon learn of any problems with the game play. Turn the machine off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on again. If you hear only one "bing" sound, the on-board computer has not detected any problems. If you here several "bing" sounds in succession, the system has detected a problem. Open the coin door and press the test key and watch the display. The display will list all of the problems. If the owner knows anything about pinball machines, you might want to ask what all of these problems mean - to give you a head start.

Before you go to see the machine, visit the Game Photos page and print out some pictures of the machine - especially the playfield. Do a visual inspection of the playfield. Compare the prints with the playfield. Are all the pieces there? Also, check the condition of the mylar on the playfield surface. Is it peeling? Is there a lot of wear? Does the playfield appear to be level? Do a visual inspection of the cabinet. Look for chips, scratches, gouges, cracks, and loose legs. Check the glass and backglass. Check the digital display. Do all the dots light up? Listen to the speakers. Both speakers should be working. Is there a manual? There should be one that goes with the game (a lot of operators tell you they lost it; but actually, they will probably sell it separately on ebay). Is the cloud topper included on the top of the back box?

The good news is that any electronics problem or malfunction can be fixed with standard parts from most pinball parts suppliers. Game specific parts, such as the electric chair, plastics, playfield, and cabinet art are difficult to find and usually very expensive. To give you an idea, here are some parts that are some times up for sale on www.ebay.com:

Slingshot Plastics $75 TAF Manual $30 Thing Hand $55

Cloud Topper $300 Plastic Ramp $475 Bookcase $75

Bumper Caps $30 Playfield $1000 Plastic Bugs $20

Full Ramp Unit $250

If possible, ask the seller to remove the glass and lift up the playfield. Look for signs of water damage or fire damage. Open the back box door and turn the machine on. Are most of the light bulbs okay? If not, this might indicate a problem with the light matrix.

After looking over the machine, ask yourself if you can fix these problems. If you are not a handy person, call a few local pinball/arcade operators and ask what their rates are to fully shop The Addams Family Pinball Machine and fix minor repairs. This will give you an idea of what to expect, should you run into a problem.

I can't get the backbox opened. It has a key slot on the top, but I am missing the key. What can I do?

On most of the locks on the pins/arcade games that I have, the keys are very similar so that some of the keys will work on several locks. Spray some lubricant in the key slot first, such as WD40. First, check on the inside of the coin door to see if the key is hanging there (this is a very popular place to hang the back box key by many operators around the world). Look for the manufacturer of the lock and a key number and check with a local operator to see if they can lend you the key to make a copy. If affordable, try a locksmith. If all else fails, drilling a 1/4" hole into the key hole and jamming a screwdriver in and turning it will work - then replace the lock.

Is The Addams Family Pinball Machine really the # 1 best selling pinball machine of all time? I heard that _____ pinball machine was #1?

Yup! The Addams Family Pinball Machine is really the #1 best selling pinball machine of all time. In fact, the reason Bally/Williams came out with the gold edition of this game was to celebrate the success of the highest number of sales for any pinball machine in the history of pinball! Of course many people say their favorite machine is the the best or the must fun, but that is a matter of opinion. Only a true Addams Family Pinball Machine player knows what the best machine is!

I'm thinking of changing the EPROMS on my The Addams Family Pinball Machine. How do I determine which version software is loaded in my machine?

Turn the machine on, and watch the dot matrix display closely. It should tell you the version software, along with the name of the pinball game. You may also open the coin door and press the enter key, the same information will appear. Here are all of the different versions along with what was changed:

       Version L-5
       Date: December 9, 1992
U6:    Checksum: 6205

       NOTE:  This ROM image must be programmed onto a 4Mbit EPROM.
	      The EPROM currently in your Addams Family game may be a 2Mbit
	      part.  This 2Mbit part cannot be recycled for use with the
	      latest software version for this game.

Changes from revision L-4:

         Cleaned up some display effects.

         Fixed a problem where "thing awards" could not be collected
         during Tour the Mansion if Quick Multiball was lit.

         Jackpots are now awarded during multiball if the ball makes it
         into the vault.

       Version L-4
       Date: April 27, 1992
U6:

Changes from revision L-3:

         Changed default German pricing.


       Version L-3
       Date: April 8, 1992
U6:

Changes from revision L-2:

         Fixed some logic problems with tunnel hunt.


       Version L-2
       Date: March 31, 1992
U6:

Changes from revision L-1:

         Enhanced logic for handling a broken "thing" hand.

         Fixed some logic in "tour the mansion".


       Version L-2
       Date: March 31, 1992
U6:
       Initial release to production.

I have TAFG software installed in my The Addams Family Pinball Machine. What is the difference between LX-3 and H-3 software?

There are two versions of TAFG software: LX-3 (commercial version) and H-3 (Home version). There really is no major difference between the two versions, except that H-3 does not state "Free Play" on the screen when set in the free play mode, nor does it have any of the free credit info. Here is the version information for the commercial software:

       Version L-3
       Date: October 4, 1994
U6:    Checksum: 1003 (A - USA/Canada)
       Checksum: E003 (X - Export)

Changes from revision L-2:

         Fixed a display bug that occurred under the following conditions:
         - Player completes the mansion.
         - The previous mansion room contained one of Cousin It's items.
         In this case, the display would show that Cousin It's Hideout
         was awarded on every mansion room completed during Tour the Mansion.
         (It was only awarded once.  Just the display was incorrect.)

         Fixed a glitch in the Tour the Mansion display effect.

         When the 3 million mansion room awards Pugsley's and Wednesday's
         trap door, it now always picks an unlit room to award.  (Unless
         all the rooms are already lit.)

         Bad switch reporting deactivated on the buy-in button.


       Version L-2
       Date: April 12, 1994
U6:    Checksum: 9C02 (A - USA/Canada)
       Checksum: 9902 (X - Export)

Changes from revision L-1:

         Fixed a problem with 3 or 4 player games.  If the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
         player canceled buy-in, the game would reset.


       Version L-1
       Date: July 18, 1994
U6:    Checksum: 9C01 (A - USA/Canada)
       Checksum: 9801 (X - Export)

       Initial release to production.

Wow! There's a lot of information about The Addams Family Pinball Machine on these pages!  Where did you get all of this information? And, why are you providing this web page?

I remember when I got our first pinball machine - The Addams Family Pinball Machine - it had a multitude of problems, ddespite claims from the seller that it was "shopped" before it was sent out and that the seller would provide as much support as they could (which was limited). I decided that if I was going to have fun playing pinball, I was going to have to roll up my sleeves and find out what made this machine tick. I got very good at it in a short time, mostly in part due to the volumes of information provided free over the internet, and to some friendly pinball collectors I met along the way. I began taking lots of notes - mostly printouts of other pinball related pages on the internet that I had saved in my bookmarks on my internet browser. The thought came to me one day: "Why not create a pinball web page, and store all of the links I collected on the web page?" The benefit is that could access it anywhere I went, and others can share the information. I also stored all of my personal notes and observations too. From there, it got to be fun - especially after receiving hundreds of email messages from around the world exclaiming how valuable the information is. Every now and then I come back and add some more - usually between eating a sandwich during lunch at work, or on a rainy weekend day. There is so much more to come! I am only limited by time, and by the internet space so graciously provided by Yahoo Geocities - free web access provider. Have a nice day! Rest in peace!

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