Galloping Ghost Pinball

03/04/2025

Godzilla (Sega) gets a color DMD upgrade! Looking sharp!

02/20/2025

Been a bit since we added a new pinball machine at Galloping Ghost Pinball! Join us this Friday at 5pm as our 47th game gets added to the floor! We will be streaming on Twitch, Facebook & Youtube!

02/26/2024

Check out our list of the best arcades and game stores in Oak Park and the Near West Suburbs for hours of fun.

02/01/2023

Part 3:
Another Varkon video

02/01/2023

Part 2:
Varkon. 90 units produced.

https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2721

I like using this in our monthly tournaments because it is so unique.

Spell V-A-R and K-O-N to qualify the ramp to shoot the ball into the lower playfield. Build up your bonus by shooting targets. Playing the lower playfield really bumps your score.

It’s a basic game, but difficult to master. The ramp shot isn’t easy to make. Mostly by design, because making the shot too easy could make the game last a long time. Long ball times don’t allow for a lot of quarter drops for the operator.

But with practice, you can make the shots and I find the game pretty fun.

It was an experiment by Williams Pinball that, sadly, didn’t produce many examples.

Some other notable features:

-Playfield is plastic and I see I need to clean it again. I’ll do some more pics when that happens. The plastic, while it does attract dust, means that the playfields don’t really wear out and the 4 Varkons I’ve seen are all in amazing shape. This example being no exception. GGP is fortunate to have this game.

-The playfield is reversed from the players perspective and you are looking at a 45 degree mirror while playing.

-The ball doesn’t actually move from playfield to playfield like it does on Haunted House. If you shoot the ball up the qualified ramp, the ball is held there and the lower playfield activates until you drain. Once you drain, the held ball kicks back out onto main playfield.

-The lower playfield is a zombie face. It looks really cool when you get to play it. It’s kind of hidden and really pops when it lights up. It’s creepy and I love it!

-The buttons do not control the flippers. They control the ball launch and the lane changes. The flippers are controlled by two vertical 2-way joysticks. You can pull the joysticks down or push them up to activate the flippers.

-Ghost Lore Tech: it’s easier to backhand the ramp than to directly shoot it.

I’ll post one additional video. FB only allows one video and no pics and videos together, hence the 3 part post.

02/01/2023

Part 1:
All y’all asked for it, so here are some more tech pictures.

First group is the right slingshot mech from Gottlieb Freddy - Nightmare on Elm Street. The arm had snapped off and the bearing surface has completely worn.

Pinball Resource (www.pbresource.com) comes through for the Gottlieb parts.

Next group is Twilight Zone. The Cliffy Protector that was there was worn out, so it was replaced. Cliffy is PassionforPinball.com. We ordered ours from www.pinballlife.com as part of a larger order. These protectors really help in preventing further damage to the wood where the ball drops onto it from the habitrail ramp.

Next is F-14. Broken daisy chain wire (violet-yellow) caused issues downstream of key coils not firing.

Last is some pics of Varkon (requested info). See part 2 for some videos and more info on Varkon.

01/26/2023

So I don’t really post much on here other than tournament stuff. I’m all about keeping the machines tuned up. A never ending job!

But this one was interesting, as I had never seen this before in my 15+ years of pinball repair.

It’s from Heighway Pinball “Alien” upper right flipper.

The coil stop shattered, along with the pawl / crank. Coil sleeve, split near the fl**ge, and burned a transistor on one of the 4 node boards. All fixable. In fact, I’ve fixed a bunch of the node boards and have spares on hand to swap out. Game is currently running and as fun as ever.

The flipper coil stops and mechs are compatible with Williams WPC / System 11 style, so they are easy to change out.

The pic shows the old and new mechs together for comparison.

Coil stop is an A-12111.

Let me know if you would like to see more repairs / crazy parts changes.

First pics are from the Alien machine. The last pics are a lot of (no where near all) the parts we’ve changed out over the last 3 years.

I’m going to need to eat more cheese balls or pretzels to get a second container as this one is now full.

Thanks for everyone coming out and enjoying the machines! I enjoy keeping them running!

Thanks to Greg for his help over the years!

- M.T. Ken Walker

11/22/2022

Imagine the pinball collection they could have had if they hadn't spent that research money on something we already knew!

See all you little addicts on Saturday at 7:00pm for the Flip Frenzy!

Don't forget the charity tournament tonight at Enterrium and the Sunday tournament at ORD Pinball.

10/30/2022

Good week of pinball Tournaments!

ORD is having their last Sunday event tonight.

Enterrium has their monthly on Tuesday.

We have our Flip Frenzy on Saturday.

Hope to see everyone this week!

www.ifpapinball.com/calendar

04/03/2022

Galloping Ghost Pinball is finally back to being open seven days a week! 3pm - 11pm!

01/21/2022

Our hearts are hurting for your loss, Penni Epstein and family! Lyman brought so much joy to so many people!

Lyman Sheats playing his creation, Monster Bash at Galloping Ghost Pinball!