Scisys Leonardo story and info requested

[Brian B]

I happened across a Scisys Leonardo in nice shape. Last year, I was looking for pinball parts at a warehouse and I see "Kasparov" peaking out between two stacks of old circuit boards. Apparently, it was left over from some liquidation sale from many years ago. I asked to purchase it from the owner and he said to just take it as he at one time had dozens of them, they aren't worth anything, and most of them don't play out of the box, but they have a nice set included. He said it was the last one he had and he was tired of tripping over it. With this much less than enthusiastic description, I brought it home and promptly buried it all over again with boxes of pinball machine parts.

Just a little background, as you can tell, one of my hobbies is collecting pinball machines and I have lots of work to do to keep them all up and running. I was trying to make space when I saw that "Kasparov" box staring at me again. Had to find out what was inside. Opened it up and it looks like it was a display model as there is a price tag of $499 on it, set is new, missing computer connectors, has a few scratches on the A3 square and a nick or two, but it looks great otherwise. Also, IT WORKS!!

This game has been stored in an unheated, uncooled environment in NE Ohio for who know how many years. I think it is quite remarkable that it works at all.

My questions:

What is the approximate value of this item? I am sure the owner thought that it was only worth a nominal value and I want to give him a gift of thanks that is a comparable value.

Also, which module, Maestro or Analyst, would be considered the best to add to the Leonardo? I saw information online, but it still wasn't that clear to me. A through D, different Mhz? Endgame ROMs? It looks like it can't handle the Sparc, which is probably good because it looks to be made of unobtanium anyway.

This set has rekindled my interest in other dedicated sets--this may explain my interest in buying the Revelation II from another thread. I don't consider myself a collector but I have picked up several dedicated chess computers over the years. It is much more fun playing a game with real pieces than staring at a computer screen.

Thanks,
Brian B

[Steve B]

Well it depends on the condition
a mint Leonardo in its original box with pieces(and wooden box for pieces),manual and adaptor should sell for about $500
I would consider a gift of at least $250 to the person that gave it to you

as to the OSA modules...
many modules were released for sale
4 different programs by Kaplan(A,B,C and D)
sold at varying clock speeds...(4Mhz-10 Mhz)
in two styles. Maestro(no display) and Analyst(full featured display)
many different combinations were sold
I.E. Maestro B6(B program 6 MHz-no display)
Analyst C8 (C program 8 Mhz-with display)
you get the idea...

the general rule with the Kaplan modules...
Higher the program letter and clock speed..stronger the play
Analyst more desirable then Maestro

in addition to these ..two other modules were sold
Brute Force-By Morsch(Fritz author)
and the Sparc module-by the Spracklens(Fidelity chess engine authors)
this came in a 1 MB Ram version and a 4 MB version

the OSA modules are fairly hard to come by and generally sell for several hundred dollars when you can find one
the Brute Force and Sparc modules can sell for more then a Leonardo ,Galileo or even Renaissance board

"B" Regards
Steve

[Cyberchess]

Greetings Brian!

The timeless game of pinball sure brings back some great memories. Inspired by the 1975 film “Tommy,” my best friend and I often played hooky from school and opted of our favorite arcade, to do battle for silver-ball supremacy.

Some of my favorite machines include:

Joker Poker by Gottlieb; Nugent by Stern; Mata Hari by Bally; Evel Knievel by Bally; Grand Prix by Williams; Gorgar by Williams; Xenon by Bally; The Addams Family by Midway; FunHouse by Williams.

Sadly, I watched how over the years the ever-growing video game industry gradually sent the pinball machine and other electromechanical amusement devices the way of the dinosaur. One can certainly draw up parallels between pinball machines and dedicated chess computers, with the former requiring far more maintenance and part replacement. The repair technicians at our arcade wisely always left us with plenty of free credits subsequent to a service event – knowing that by doing so we would be grateful and not unnecessarily hard on the machines.

May I ask where you obtain your parts these days, and more importantly, how did you acquire the skills required to maintain these mechanical marvels?

Multiball Regards,
John

[Brian B]

Well it depends on the condition
a mint Leonardo in its original box with pieces(and wooden box for pieces),manual and adaptor should sell for about $500
I would consider a gift of at least $250 to the person that gave it to you

as to the OSA modules...
many modules were released for sale
4 different programs by Kaplan(A,B,C and D)
sold at varying clock speeds...(4Mhz-10 Mhz)
in two styles. Maestro(no display) and Analyst(full featured display)
many different combinations were sold
I.E. Maestro B6(B program 6 MHz-no display)
Analyst C8 (C program 8 Mhz-with display)
you get the idea...

the general rule with the Kaplan modules...
Higher the program letter and clock speed..stronger the play
Analyst more desirable then Maestro

"B" Regards
Steve

Thank you for the very informative reply. Are the endgame ROMs sold separately or are they usually sold within the Analyst or Maestro module?

I really like the Leonardo set. It is a nice size, has quality pieces and is just enjoyable to play, just needs more strength.

Thanks,
Brian B

[Brian B]

Greetings Brian!

The timeless game of pinball sure brings back some great memories. Inspired by the 1975 film “Tommy,” my best friend and I often played hooky from school and opted of our favorite arcade, to do battle for silver-ball supremacy.

Some of my favorite machines include:

Joker Poker by Gottlieb; Nugent by Stern; Mata Hari by Bally; Evel Knievel by Bally; Grand Prix by Williams; Gorgar by Williams; Xenon by Bally; The Addams Family by Midway; FunHouse by Williams.

Sadly, I watched how over the years the ever-growing video game industry gradually sent the pinball machine and other electromechanical amusement devices the way of the dinosaur. One can certainly draw up parallels between pinball machines and dedicated chess computers, with the former requiring far more maintenance and part replacement. The repair technicians at our arcade wisely always left us with plenty of free credits subsequent to a service event – knowing that by doing so we would be grateful and not unnecessarily hard on the machines.

May I ask where you obtain your parts these days, and more importantly, how did you acquire the skills required to maintain these mechanical marvels?

Multiball Regards,
John

You have great taste in pins. My collection happens to include Addams Family, Funhouse, Evel Knievel, and three Xenons--long story. Joker Poker is certainly on my list of games to buy, as is Mata Hari. Pinball repair is like anything else. Spend a lot of time trying to figure out how things work, or spend a lot money to someone else that has already figured it out. Fortunately for me, I have been collecting pins for nearly 20 years, so I am pretty comfortable fixing them. There are plenty of resources online and the collector community is usually very helpful with repair suggestions. Best parts source is The Pinball Resource, www.pbresource.com, though several other sources are out there.

There are parallels between pinball machines and dedicated chess computers. Especially when it comes to parts rarity for machine specific items. Pinball is enjoying a resurgence with new collectors coming on board in the past few years. This influx of new collectors has helped fuel new boutique manufacturers as well as reproduction parts for games well out of date. It is nearly possible to build a classic Bally from scratch with new repro parts these days. This was not true several years ago. New PCBs, playfields, backglasses, plastics are now available. Perhaps a growing market may develop again with dedicated chess computers?

Has anyone ever tried to reproduce any chess computers? I guess the Revelation II with emulations may be the next best thing.

The Ball is Wild Regards,
Brian B

[Steve B]

Thank you for the very informative reply. Are the endgame ROMs sold separately or are they usually sold within the Analyst or Maestro module?

I really like the Leonardo set. It is a nice size, has quality pieces and is just enjoyable to play, just needs more strength.

Thanks,
Brian B

Endgame Roms were sold separately but oft times you will see them already installed by the owner ..can be in either module

D++ Regards
Steve

[Cyberchess]

You have great taste in pins. My collection happens to include Addams Family, Funhouse, Evel Knievel, and three Xenons--long story. Joker Poker is certainly on my list of games to buy, as is Mata Hari. Pinball repair is like anything else. Spend a lot of time trying to figure out how things work, or spend a lot money to someone else that has already figured it out. Fortunately for me, I have been collecting pins for nearly 20 years, so I am pretty comfortable fixing them. There are plenty of resources online and the collector community is usually very helpful with repair suggestions. Best parts source is The Pinball Resource, www.pbresource.com, though several other sources are out there.

There are parallels between pinball machines and dedicated chess computers. Especially when it comes to parts rarity for machine specific items. Pinball is enjoying a resurgence with new collectors coming on board in the past few years. This influx of new collectors has helped fuel new boutique manufacturers as well as reproduction parts for games well out of date. It is nearly possible to build a classic Bally from scratch with new repro parts these days. This was not true several years ago. New PCBs, playfields, backglasses, plastics are now available. Perhaps a growing market may develop again with dedicated chess computers?

Has anyone ever tried to reproduce any chess computers? I guess the Revelation II with emulations may be the next best thing.

The Ball is Wild Regards,
Brian B

That’s quite an impressive collection of late model machines, Brian! Do you prefer the solid state machines over the older electromechanical units with the rotating score wheels and bells?

I’ve yet to own my own pin, though used to have a collection of antique spring powered amusement devices, vending machines and mechanical coin banks. The amusement and vending machines also served as coin banks, since I left lots of loose change in the coin return slots for the benefit of my guests.

Because this was in the pre-public internet age, I had no access to shop manuals, though learned to strip, clean, lubricate, assemble and adjust on my own. These antique and vintage machines were extremely well-made, though when replacement parts were required, I learned to improvise, fabricate by hand, and if all else failed, obtain irreparable units that were junked for spare parts.

Gorgar really made an impression on me back in late ’79, as this was the first time I played a pinball machine with digitized voice. The voice was really raspy and demonic, and the accompanying eerie heartbeat sounds made for a wicked pinball experience. This machine was analogous to the Fidelity Voice Challenger unit that seemed right out of Star Wars.

I’m glad to hear that pinball is making a resurgence these days. The plastic tubes and such used on late model machines should be easily replicated using the 3-D printers of late.

High Score Regards,
John

[Cyberchess]

I’ve started a pinball thread in the “Any Other Business!” forum:

http://hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=66360#66360

See you there...

John