Shopping the Black Rose

I am not sure why I wanted to own this title, perhaps all of the hype surrounding Stern's newly released Pirates of the Caribbean pinball. Perhaps I already liked the way the game looked and played in PinMame. Whatever it was, I wanted to give one a try. I bought this game in the fall of 2006 from a fellow pinhead in Columbus, Ohio. This particular example came without either of the two common flaws that plague this title - playfield wear at the cannon and cabinet fade.

After playing the game for several months, I decided it was time to give the BR a good cleaning. After all, what else did I have to do while waiting for Northern Ohio's sub-zero February 2007 to pass? I started with the underside of the playfield.....

Holy crap! Has this thing EVER been cleaned? I am guessing not.

I then removed the Cannon assembly............

Hmmmmm.....I thought that cannon was made of clear plastic.

Wellwhaddayaknowaboutthat? It WAS made out of clear :-)

When moving to the topside of the playfield, The first item I wanted to take off was the large wire ramp that runs the length of the playfield from the broadside cannon VUK to the flippers. This proved to be rather troublesome, as the rear of the ramp is fastened behind the game's backboard. The only way to access this area is to completely remove the playfield from the cabinet. What a complete pain in the ass!

Stay tuned........