“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. ”
-Theodore Roosevelt
I think one sign of intellect is knowing when to throw in the towel. I don’t do it often, I generally like the feeling of satisfaction when I get to the end of a long arduous task. Sometimes though, when you’re beating your head against a wall and things are backing up in the queue, you need to call in “The Wolf”. Long story short: Comet board has been sent out.
I’m back on Whirlwind and Monopoly now. Monopoly has a bit of an accelerated timeline so I spent the better part of today on it. I put Whirlwind back together a few days ago though. 
It still needs some minor items (coil sleeves, flipper rebuild, etc). Mostly under-playfield stuff, but the aesthetics are done at this point. Probably back at Game Galaxy Arcade by the end of the month at the latest.
Side Note: If you’ve never been to Game Galaxy Arcade in Nashville, you’re missing out. I think it’s approaching or has passed the 30 pinball machine count. In addition there are multiple classic arcades if that’s your bag. Stop, go drive there now. You can read the rest of this later. You can also find them on Facebook here. For you Alabama folks they have a location down in Huntsville, AL as well.Now that you’re back from the Arcade… Monopoly teardown went well.
Some missing hardware here and there but nothing major. It’s amazing the difference between working on a game made in 1984 and one made in 2001, but also the similarities are pretty interesting. Some things just work well I suppose so why change them.
So I ordered a bunch of parts for Monopoly and Getaway.
I think I’ve got the Getaway playfield lift bracket issue worked out now but I need some springs. Here’s some pictures for a nice visual aid of what the hell I’m talking about. The left slide is bent outward, causing the cabinet scrapping. Springs on both sides are missing which cause the mechanism to lock.. so, the playfield won’t stay up without them. Springs on order.. moving on.
Not much to report other than my epic failure, but lots of initial recon and teardown pictures of Monopoly are now posted. Enjoy.
Pinball Restore 