Bally Theatre of Magic Pinball
Repairs, Restorations, Tweaks and Insights
Introduction
August 2, 2021 (Updated May 22, 2022)
Theatre of Magic is an incredible pinball machine. It's beautiful, has an excellent playfield layout, and is very fun to play.
What? That was kind of vague? Ok. Here's a few more items.
- The cabinet artwork is excellent.
- The playfield artwork is excellent.
- The Magic Trunk is a superb toy.
- The game has 4 large magnets that play perfectly into the Magic theme.
- The DMD animations are top notch.
- The music, voice and sounds are excellent.
- The game has tremendous flow.
All of which adds up to a wonderful experience while playing Theatre of Magic.
The Theatre of Magic I picked up is in excellent condition. It is also very original, meaning it has no "mods" and still has incondescent lighting. I only know of the following issues:
- One of the General Illumination connectors shows signs of burning
- The chrome legs are not in the best condition
- The Trap Door squeeks
Adding LEDs and LEDOCD
May 22, 2022
Note: I did this back in 2021 but never wrote anything about it.
My Theatre of Magic came with incandescent lights and I decided to uprade it to LEDs. I've been slow to adopt LEDs. This is mostly because I've seen many LED conversions that, in my option, are terrible. To keep Theatre of Magic having the original feel but with a punch more of brightness, I used "Sunlight" 2 SMD LEDs from Comet. I only did this for the matrix lights, not the general Illumination.
I'm a strong believer that, by default, any Bally/Williams pin that is converted to LEDs must use the LEDOCD board by Herg. I purchased one and installed it.
Theatre of Magic looks incredible after the upgrade. However, since I didn't do any of the absurd (IMHO) extreme colors that some people enjoy, it's quite difficult to capture how good it looks in a picture.
Such a great looking playfield!
August 4, 2021
Common Burnt General Illumination Connector
August 4, 2021
It's very common for Bally/Williams games to have burnt G.I. connectors. It's so common that it's basically expected on any games from the 90s that hasn't had the G.I. connector repaired. Luckily it's an easy repair.
Below is a picture of the burnt G.I. connector still attached to Theatre of Magic followed by a close up of the connector after it is removed. This shows the other side of the connector compared to the previous picture. The last picture shows the repaired G.I. connector.
A Bit About the Magic Trunk
August 4, 2021
The Magic Trunk is the main toy in Theatre of Magic. It rotates and each side performs (or allows) a different task.
Below are pictures of the 4 different sides.
- The first is the solid side, which is typically used as a bash toy.
- The second is the "magic" side which causes the pinball to lift from the playfield and stay on the bullseye.
- Third is a side with a single lamp.
- The forth has an opening at the bottom, allowing the pinball to go below the trunk and to the underside of the playfield.
"Unbreakable" Magic Trunk
August 15, 2021
The Magic Trunk on Theatre of Magic gets hit by the pinball a lot. As a result, the Magic Trunk is known to chip and/or break over time (and sometimes rather quickly). My Theatre of Magic came with a slightly chipped trunk. However, it also came with an uninstalled replacement trunk --- the "Unbreakable Trunk for Theatre of Magic". This trunk is created by user georgio on Pinside and made out of Silicon, allowing it to flex and not break. People have reported the "unbreakable" trunk looks perfect after 2+ years.
Below is a picture of the "Unbreakable Trunk for Theatre of Magic". I'm intentionally showing the trunk's flexibility.
Replacing the Theatre of Magic turnk is very easy. It is held in place by 4 screws and, occationally, some double stick tape. The 4 screws are shown below followed by a picture of the trunk mechanism with the covering removed.
Top of Playfield Pictures
August 2, 2021
Here are some pictures of the Theatre of Magic playfield.
Below the Playfield Pictures
August 2, 2021
Here are some pictures of the bottom side of the playfield.
Side Art
August 4, 2021
The best picture I have at the moment of Theatre of Magic's cabinet art is the one below. It shows the game partially setup.
