Bally · 1992 · Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)

The Addams Family

Name: The Addams Family
Brand: Bally

Design: Pat Lawlor, Larry DeMar · Art: John Youssi

No flipper game has outsold The Addams Family. Midway built 20,270 of them under the Bally name in 1992, off the back of the hit film. Pat Lawlor asked to design it because the TV show was his childhood favorite, and he did it with Larry DeMar, whose Thing Flips has the game take over a flipper and aim for the swamp. Thing himself rises out of his box and carries the ball away with a magnet. Raul Julia recorded new lines just for the game, and Anjelica Huston had her nose redrawn on the backglass. It was also the first game to make you finish a run of modes to reach a wizard mode. In 1994 Bally made 1,000 numbered Gold editions with new rules and gold trim, and late original games came in gold cabinets too.

Original 1992 run in the blue cabinetLate original-run games in a gold cabinet, a few with a blue backboxSpecial Collectors Edition (1994), called Addams Family Gold, 1,000 numbered games with gold trim, a certificate, an extra-ball button and updated software

Spec at a glance

Maker: Bally
Era: Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)
Theme: Movie licenses
Year: 1992
Players: 4
Made: Midway, sold as Bally, March 1992
Design: Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar (concept by Pat Lawlor)
Art: John Youssi
System: Williams WPC with the Fliptronics I flipper board
Display: Dot matrix (DMD)
Production: 20,270, the best-selling flipper game ever made
Weight: 255 lb with legs (IPDB measured)
Also listed as: Addams Family pinball, TAF, Addams Family Gold

Bench check

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries: Early WPC boards like this one hold the AA batteries right on the CPU board, and old alkalines leak onto the switch matrix and eat the traces. Ask for a photo of the CPU board and the battery holder. Clean green-free copper is what you want, and a remote battery holder is a good sign. It's the only game besides Addams Family Gold with the Fliptronics I board, and fitting a Fliptronics II board properly takes new wiring.
Display: The original is an orange plasma dot-matrix panel, and those wear out and eventually outgas. Look at a photo of the display lit up. Even brightness with no dark or glowing patches is good, and some owners have fitted a ColorDMD color display instead.
Playfield: With 20,270 made there are plenty to choose from, so be picky about wear. Ask for bright, straight-down photos of the area in front of the flippers, the inlanes and the mansion inserts. Look for worn-through paint and lifted inserts.
Toys and mechs: Thing is a plastic hand that comes out of its box, picks up the ball with a magnet and takes it below the playfield. The bookcase rotates to reveal the vault, and The Power is a set of spinning magnets under the playfield. Ask for a video of Thing grabbing a ball, the bookcase turning and the upper left flipper firing on its own during Thing Flips.
Cabinet and art: Look for the cloud topper, which extends the mansion on the backglass and flashes like lightning. Late original-run games came in gold cabinets, and a few have a gold cabinet with a blue backbox. Larry DeMar and Pat Lawlor both say that was a real factory mix-up.
Moving it: One was weighed at 255 lb with its legs on. Lower the hinged backbox forward onto padding before it goes anywhere, then take the legs off. Moving a WPC game with the backbox up is the one thing Williams' set-up instructions say never to do.
Parts and code: Midway's game ROMs go up to L-7, there's an unofficial L-6, and the Gold edition has its own updated software. The Fliptronics I board and its separate 50 V flipper power supply only fit this game, so check they're both there and working.

Should come with it

Cloud topper
Coin door keys
Manual

Hard to find if missing

Fliptronics I flipper board (fits only this game and the Gold edition)

Check the listing photos against these lists, and ask the seller about anything you can’t see. A missing toy, glass or key should come off the price.

What to check

Battery leakage on the CPU board and a tired plasma display are the common jobs on a game this age. The Thing hand, bookcase and Fliptronics I board are the parts to see working.

01Batteries: Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery holder. It should be clean, with no green or white crust.
02Thing: Ask for a video of Thing picking up the ball. The hand should rise, grab it and drop back into the box.
03Bookcase: Ask the seller to start a vault shot on video. The bookcase should turn all the way and the ball should lock.
04Flippers: Ask for a video of all four flippers in play. Each should snap up and hold without a buzz.
05Display: Look at the lit display in the photos. Every dot should glow evenly.
06Playfield: Ask for straight-down photos in good light. Look for worn paint in front of the flippers and inlanes.
07Gold edition: If it's sold as Gold, ask for the numbered plate and the certificate. The plate sits below the coin door.
08Topper: Check the photos for the cloud topper. It should be there and light up.

Buying your first one? Red flags in a pinball listing covers the photos and videos to ask for, and the battery corrosion guide shows what leaking batteries do to an old CPU board.

Find one on eBay

We haven’t been through this game’s listings yet. Search eBay and run every listing through the checklist above. Ask for a video of a full game, a photo of the CPU board and photos of the playfield in good light, and ask what’s been replaced. Pass on any seller who won’t answer.

Search “Addams Family pinball” on eBay ↗eBay search

Compare with

Keep exploring

Maker

Era

Theme

Read

The Addams Family

Design: Pat Lawlor, Larry DeMar · Art: John Youssi

Spec at a glance

Maker

Bally

Era

Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)

Theme

Movie licenses

Year

1992

Players

Made

Midway, sold as Bally, March 1992

Design

Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar (concept by Pat Lawlor)

Art

John Youssi

System

Williams WPC with the Fliptronics I flipper board

Display

Dot matrix (DMD)

Production

20,270, the best-selling flipper game ever made

Weight

255 lb with legs (IPDB measured)

Also listed as

Addams Family pinball, TAF, Addams Family Gold

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries

Early WPC boards like this one hold the AA batteries right on the CPU board, and old alkalines leak onto the switch matrix and eat the traces. Ask for a photo of the CPU board and the battery holder. Clean green-free copper is what you want, and a remote battery holder is a good sign. It's the only game besides Addams Family Gold with the Fliptronics I board, and fitting a Fliptronics II board properly takes new wiring.

Display

The original is an orange plasma dot-matrix panel, and those wear out and eventually outgas. Look at a photo of the display lit up. Even brightness with no dark or glowing patches is good, and some owners have fitted a ColorDMD color display instead.

Playfield

With 20,270 made there are plenty to choose from, so be picky about wear. Ask for bright, straight-down photos of the area in front of the flippers, the inlanes and the mansion inserts. Look for worn-through paint and lifted inserts.

Toys and mechs

Thing is a plastic hand that comes out of its box, picks up the ball with a magnet and takes it below the playfield. The bookcase rotates to reveal the vault, and The Power is a set of spinning magnets under the playfield. Ask for a video of Thing grabbing a ball, the bookcase turning and the upper left flipper firing on its own during Thing Flips.

Cabinet and art

Look for the cloud topper, which extends the mansion on the backglass and flashes like lightning. Late original-run games came in gold cabinets, and a few have a gold cabinet with a blue backbox. Larry DeMar and Pat Lawlor both say that was a real factory mix-up.

Moving it

One was weighed at 255 lb with its legs on. Lower the hinged backbox forward onto padding before it goes anywhere, then take the legs off. Moving a WPC game with the backbox up is the one thing Williams' set-up instructions say never to do.

Parts and code

Midway's game ROMs go up to L-7, there's an unofficial L-6, and the Gold edition has its own updated software. The Fliptronics I board and its separate 50 V flipper power supply only fit this game, so check they're both there and working.

Should come with it

Cloud topper

Coin door keys

Manual

Hard to find if missing

Fliptronics I flipper board (fits only this game and the Gold edition)

Check the listing photos against these lists, and ask the seller about anything you can’t see. A missing toy, glass or key should come off the price.

What to check

Battery leakage on the CPU board and a tired plasma display are the common jobs on a game this age. The Thing hand, bookcase and Fliptronics I board are the parts to see working.

01Batteries: Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery holder. It should be clean, with no green or white crust.

02Thing: Ask for a video of Thing picking up the ball. The hand should rise, grab it and drop back into the box.

03Bookcase: Ask the seller to start a vault shot on video. The bookcase should turn all the way and the ball should lock.

04Flippers: Ask for a video of all four flippers in play. Each should snap up and hold without a buzz.

05Display: Look at the lit display in the photos. Every dot should glow evenly.

06Playfield: Ask for straight-down photos in good light. Look for worn paint in front of the flippers and inlanes.

07Gold edition: If it's sold as Gold, ask for the numbered plate and the certificate. The plate sits below the coin door.

08Topper: Check the photos for the cloud topper. It should be there and light up.

Buying your first one? Red flags in a pinball listing covers the photos and videos to ask for, and the battery corrosion guide shows what leaking batteries do to an old CPU board.

Find one on eBay

The Addams Family

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

Compare with

Twilight Zone

Doctor Who

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Fish Tales

Keep exploring

The Addams Family

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

Compare with

Twilight Zone

Doctor Who

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Fish Tales

Keep exploring