Bally · 1995 · Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)

Theatre of Magic

Name: Theatre of Magic
Brand: Bally

Design: John Popadiuk · Art: Linda Deal (Doane)

Theatre of Magic started life as The Magic of David Copperfield. John Popadiuk had space set aside on the playfield for one of Copperfield's illusions, but the deal fell through, and Midway released it under the Bally name in March 1995 as an original theme. You play a young magician working through the illusions toward a Grand Finale. The Magic Trunk is the showpiece. It turns to four faces, and one of them catches the ball with a magnet, levitates it and makes it vanish. The cabinet is drawn as a magician's trunk, and the upper rollovers are printed backwards so they read right in a mirror. An opera singer and an actor voice the game. Linda Deal did the art, and 6,600 were made.

1995 production gamePrototypes with a magic post between the flippers

Spec at a glance

Maker: Bally
Era: Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)
Theme: Original themes
Year: 1995
Players: 4
Made: Midway, sold as Bally, March 1995
Design: John Popadiuk
Art: Linda Deal (also known as Linda Doane)
System: Williams WPC-S (Security) with DCS sound
Display: Dot matrix (DMD)
Production: 6,600
Also listed as: Theater of Magic pinball, ToM pinball

Bench check

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries: WPC-S moved the battery onto a small daughter card clipped to the CPU board, which mostly ended the leak damage of earlier WPC games. Used boards are often missing that card, so ask for a photo of the CPU board. Each game also has its own security chip, and a wrong or bad one shows a G13 or U22 error at startup.
Display: The plasma dot-matrix display has a limited life and will outgas. In the photos, even dots are good, and a dim or patchy panel means a replacement.
Playfield: Ask for straight-down photos in good light around the flippers, the trunk and the ramps. The flippers droop a little more than other games of the time to make the orbits easier, so don't read that as a fault. Paint wear and lifted inserts are the real ones.
Toys and mechs: The Magic Trunk rotates to four sides, and one side has a magnet that holds the ball, levitates it and drops it into a sinkhole. The Spirit Ring magnet lifts the ball off the left ramp and drops it on the right one. Ask for a video of the trunk turning and catching a ball, and the Spirit Ring moving the ball across.
Cabinet and art: The cabinet is drawn to look like an old magician's trunk, Greg Freres's idea, with a lot of brown in the art. Check the cabinet sides and backglass in the photos for fading and scuffs. Look for the mirror on the back panel too, since the upper rollovers are only visible in it.
Moving it: Lower the hinged backbox forward onto padding first, since Williams' WPC set-up instructions say never to move a game with it up. Then take the legs off.
Parts and code: There's a V1.2 game ROM, an export V1.3 and a home V1.4H ROM by Louis Koziarz. Prototypes had a magic post between the flippers, so a game with one is either a prototype or modified.

Should come with it

Coin door keys
Manual
Back panel mirror

Hard to find if missing

WPC-S battery daughter card
The security chip matched to this game

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

A missing battery daughter card, a mismatched security chip and a worn plasma display are the usual board issues. The Magic Trunk and Spirit Ring magnets are the mechanisms to see working.

01Batteries: Ask for a photo of the CPU board. The battery daughter card should be there and clean.
02Startup: Ask for a video of the game booting. It should start without a G13 or U22 error.
03Magic Trunk: Ask for a video of the trunk turning and catching a ball. It should rotate smoothly and hold the ball.
04Spirit Ring: Ask for a video of a left ramp shot. The magnet should carry the ball over to the right ramp.
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 at the flippers and around the trunk.
07Mirror: Check the photos for the mirror on the back panel. It should be there and unbroken.

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 “Theatre of Magic pinball” on eBay ↗eBay search

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Maker

Era

Theme

Read

Theatre of Magic

Design: John Popadiuk · Art: Linda Deal (Doane)

1995 production gamePrototypes with a magic post between the flippers

Spec at a glance

Maker

Bally

Era

Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)

Theme

Original themes

Year

1995

Players

Made

Midway, sold as Bally, March 1995

Design

John Popadiuk

Art

Linda Deal (also known as Linda Doane)

System

Williams WPC-S (Security) with DCS sound

Display

Dot matrix (DMD)

Production

6,600

Also listed as

Theater of Magic pinball, ToM pinball

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries

WPC-S moved the battery onto a small daughter card clipped to the CPU board, which mostly ended the leak damage of earlier WPC games. Used boards are often missing that card, so ask for a photo of the CPU board. Each game also has its own security chip, and a wrong or bad one shows a G13 or U22 error at startup.

Display

The plasma dot-matrix display has a limited life and will outgas. In the photos, even dots are good, and a dim or patchy panel means a replacement.

Playfield

Ask for straight-down photos in good light around the flippers, the trunk and the ramps. The flippers droop a little more than other games of the time to make the orbits easier, so don't read that as a fault. Paint wear and lifted inserts are the real ones.

Toys and mechs

The Magic Trunk rotates to four sides, and one side has a magnet that holds the ball, levitates it and drops it into a sinkhole. The Spirit Ring magnet lifts the ball off the left ramp and drops it on the right one. Ask for a video of the trunk turning and catching a ball, and the Spirit Ring moving the ball across.

Cabinet and art

The cabinet is drawn to look like an old magician's trunk, Greg Freres's idea, with a lot of brown in the art. Check the cabinet sides and backglass in the photos for fading and scuffs. Look for the mirror on the back panel too, since the upper rollovers are only visible in it.

Moving it

Lower the hinged backbox forward onto padding first, since Williams' WPC set-up instructions say never to move a game with it up. Then take the legs off.

Parts and code

There's a V1.2 game ROM, an export V1.3 and a home V1.4H ROM by Louis Koziarz. Prototypes had a magic post between the flippers, so a game with one is either a prototype or modified.

Should come with it

Coin door keys

Manual

Back panel mirror

Hard to find if missing

WPC-S battery daughter card

The security chip matched to this game

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

A missing battery daughter card, a mismatched security chip and a worn plasma display are the usual board issues. The Magic Trunk and Spirit Ring magnets are the mechanisms to see working.

01Batteries: Ask for a photo of the CPU board. The battery daughter card should be there and clean.

02Startup: Ask for a video of the game booting. It should start without a G13 or U22 error.

03Magic Trunk: Ask for a video of the trunk turning and catching a ball. It should rotate smoothly and hold the ball.

04Spirit Ring: Ask for a video of a left ramp shot. The magnet should carry the ball over to the right ramp.

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 at the flippers and around the trunk.

07Mirror: Check the photos for the mirror on the back panel. It should be there and unbroken.

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

Theatre of Magic

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

Compare with

Attack from Mars

Scared Stiff

White Water

Keep exploring

Theatre of Magic

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

Compare with

Attack from Mars

Scared Stiff

White Water

Keep exploring