Pinball Machine Resource Page

At Pinball Castle, we love everything about pinball machines. Although we don’t know how to repair every part of every pinball machine, the products listed below will help you replace any part you’re looking for. But first, we want to list some honorable mentions of other websites to check out. These websites are great resources for asking questions or finding out more about pinball.

Good Pinball Websites

Internet Pinball Database

The IPDB is a great information site for everything about pinball machines. They have a ranking of top 300 titles voted on by other pinball players, breaking down what makes these machines so great.

There’s also a searchable database to find information on over 6,000 different pinball machines from the past 80 years. This is a great place to find pictures of all sorts of machines to know what you should expect when looking to buy a machine.

Pinside Forum

This forum has everything you need to know about pinball machines, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can always ask a question. There are thousands of members on this site that will happily inform someone trying to get into pinball.

They also have a top 100 list voted on by users and other polls made by the community. This can also be a great place to buy a pinball machine as they have a classified ads section too.

Boston Pinball

Boston Pinball has created a list of eBay sales over the past 15 years of thousands of titles. This can help a lot when you’re trying to determine the value of machines and what they sold for recently.

Pinball Prices

Pinball Prices is similar to Boston Pinball as it’s a database of sales, but it’s a bit newer, with only about 1,200 game titles so far. This one is different to Boston Pinball since it has taken over 2,800 sales not just from eBay, but online auctions, Pinside, LiveAuctioners and a couple more places too. These two sites will definitely help you get a better idea of the prices machines are selling for.

Mr. Pinball

Mr. Pinball out with a pinball list and price guide (almost) every year, with the most recent including over 3,000 titles. They also include a classified ads page for users to browse any sales in their area.

IPSND

This page will help you find out where serial numbers are on all sorts of machines and from different eras. It’s also good to upload your serial number of your machines into this database, so the community can know how many are still in use around the world.

Notable Online Pinball Stores

Macro Specialties

Macro Specialties has a wide variety of machine parts that you can look up by title to find specific parts. They also have a useful knowledge center where you can find out more about pinball machines and the game in general.

Game Room Guys

You can access Game Room Guys’ various online stores here and here. They have lots of machines on offer, with pinball machines and other arcade games to choose from.

Arcade Museum

Arcade Museum has a big list of owner’s manuals you can open right on your computer. This is very useful for secondhand machines where you don’t get the manual and need to make a repair.

Manuals Lib

Manuals Lib has a decent amount of pinball machine and pinball game manuals you can access for free as well.

Notable Products

Cleaning

Klean Strip Naptha is very good cleaner for any dirt on your field for use with a microfiber towel. Use a little bit on the rag you’ll find it picks up dirt very easily. Don’t apply too much pressure though, as you don’t want to damage anything. CP-100 cleaner is great for plastics and light dirt on the field. If there are heavy dirt spots you may need something a little stronger like the Klean Strip Naptha.

Micro Fiber Rags are must when cleaning your machine since they are very delicate. You’ll want to use a new rag every time you change chemicals to make sure you’re putting only the wax or cleaner on the field at one time.

Waxes

Tech Wax 2.0 is made for cars but will work great on the playfield with its clear coat drying. It has a very good protection layer to prevent abrasion on the field too. Chemical Guys 3X Paste Wax is another highly rated wax. It’s a form of carnauba wax which is popular with pinball owners, but it can sometimes cause a milky tint. However, it usually offers a nice liquid-look finish.

Replacement Parts

Plungers

Retro Arcades Plunger can be a good replacement if your plunger breaks on you. They have a red plastic or metal version available. Game Room Guys can provide a shooter rod and spring.

Balls And Locks

Replacement pinballs are a must as you will need to replace a pinball every once in a while. If the pinball has any rust, you should immediately replace it as it can scratch the field. If you ever have to drill out a lock to get into your machine you might need a replacement lock.

Rings And Flippers

Rubber rings will need to be replaced pretty frequently since they take a lot of abuse. There are some universal rings, but you can use the link above to find rings for specific machines. Flipper rubbers get a lot of wear, especially on heavily played machines.

Light Bulbs

Light Bulbs are always blowing out, especially on older machines before LEDs were used. For these you will definitely want to check a manual for your specific game before buying any new ones as they vary from machine to machine.

The Legs

The legs of the pinball machine are holding a lot of weight, so replacing the leg bolts might be required to avoid any disasters. If your pinball machine isn’t perfectly level, you might need some heavy duty leg levelers.

Triggers And Coils

Triggers will need to be replaced every once in a while, and there are plenty of options and colors to choose from. Coils can die as well, causing your flippers or targets to go dull. This coil is for Bally and Classic Stern machines, but shopping around will yield options for other machines too.