Judge Dredd

Bench check

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries

The board set is a WPC-089 CPU with DCS sound. Ask for a photo of the CPU, where leaking batteries drip onto the switch matrix. In the backbox, a spare growth connector near J136 sometimes gets pushed onto a lamp matrix header, which breaks the start and Supergame buttons. Judge Dredd also used the early trough opto receiver with all the switch logic on it, and trough vibration wears those out.

Display

It has the same high-voltage plasma DMD as other WPC games of 1993. Dots fade as it ages, and sparkles, clouds or ghosting point at high voltages. A display test photo shows you which.

Playfield

It has a diamond plate playfield. Ask for raking-light photos of all four flipper areas and the inlanes, and look for dull worn patches.

Toys and mechs

Deadworld needs two motorized systems working, the turning ring and planet and the magnetic crane, and the crane can get caught between cabinet and playfield and bend. The common gearbox fault is the large press-fit gear slipping on its splined shaft, so the motor turns and Deadworld doesn't. Ask for a video of Deadworld turning and the crane lifting a ball off.

Cabinet and art

It's a SuperPin widebody with an eagle topper on the backbox. Ask for photos of the topper, both cabinet sides and the lit backbox.

Moving it

Measure your doorways before you buy, because a SuperPin widebody needs more room than a standard game. With the legs off, it's a job for two people and a dolly.

Parts and code

L-7 is the latest code on record. An early L-1 code locks balls on the planet ring, but it only runs on prototype and early games because switch numbers changed. Unofficial L1AT (free play), L1AH (coin-op) and L-1D builds bring the ring lock to later games, and Gameroom Mods sells a locking-ring kit.