I was finally able to find a Medieval Madness that wasn't either trashed, or already restored and with an asking price in excess of $10,000.00 (which I was unwilling to obviously pay).  I purchased mine from Derrill Amick, and the transaction was extremely pleasant.  Anyone who has the oppertunity to deal with him will find that he is a wonderful guy to deal with - honest, straight-forward and quite humble.  This was my first long-distance transaction, and I was more than a little anxious not being able to see and play the game personally before buying it.  But I did do my homework!  A search on RGP and a few phone calls helped me relax.  All the information I received on Derrill and my subsequent dealings with him made this one of the smoothest transactions I have had.  So on to the details:

The machine had not been shopped in quite some time - something I knew up front and had NO problems doing.  Derrill assured me there were no credit dots, switch errors, or serious problems with the machine.  There were a few cabinet scratches, but he had purchased a set of new cabinet decals which he generously placed inside the cabinet.  He also sent along a box of spare parts - which he could have easily sold individually on eBay, but instead included with the game.  The game was shipped via NAVL and arrived unscathed.  I assembled the legs and immediately decided to go ahead and shop it BEFORE even turning it on (much to the dismay of my son).  I removed everything from the playfield except the pop bumper assemblies.  When my son got home from school, he immediately dropped his books (which I distinctly heard down in the basement), ran down the stairs, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw all the parts on the table instead of in the machine.  I explained the reason - the playfield really needed to be cleaned - and he jumped right in and helped me out (for about 15 minutes).  There was a school dance that night, and I promised to have it back together by the time he came home.  I then proceeded to clean the playfield with 409, then the orange cleaner, then finally with one of the now famous Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  The Magic Erasers did a fabulous job - except for the white film it left behind - which meant I had to clean it one last time with windex to remove the film.  I then polished with Novus #2 and then #1, and finally finished the whole thing off with 2 coats of Mother's Carnuba Wax.  Quite a nice shine.  Only one playfield blemish was found, near the outhole for the moat.  I covered that area with a 1" square of Mylar to prevent further damage.  Troll flap decals were replaced and covered with Mylar as well.  All plastics, ramps and rails were cleaned and waxed.  All of the metal peices were taken to the polisher and given a high gloss mirror finish - you can see yourself in these now.  I then checked every single connector and plug to make sure they were all seated correctly, and tested every fuse for correct size and continuity.  Last, I changed the batteries and cleaned the translite.  Finally, everything was reassembled.  I only had one nut left over when it was all done, and that was when my son walked in.  After about 5 minutes of searching, he found the post with the missing nut and she was ready to roll.  Almost.

I then explained to the impatient one, that I was going to go through the tests and set-up screens before we played.  He got to see what all the tests were and why they were important - something he has never seen me do before.  We found only one switch error, due to a broken wire on the RH Sword Lock lane.  The upper pop bumper was also a little flaky and will probably need to be rebuilt soon.  The LH Troll passed the switch test, but doesn't respond well except when hit dead centere - kind of like the Balrog on LOTR!  I will adjust him later as well.  Last, the flippers will need to be rebuilt soon as well.  I replaced the flipper rubber and have a full set of rubber coming from Rick at BAA.  I also have a set of hole protectors from Kerry at Mantis Amusements which will be going on when the new rubber arrives.  Nothing else came up, so I cleaned the glass, set it on FREE PLAY, and let my son have the first ball.

It played very well.  And very fast.  Must have been that fabulous cleaning and waxing of the playfield!  I scored 61 Million on my second game.  My son scored 91 Million the very next day and bumped me from the coveted Grand Champion spot.  I haven't told him that I scored 93 Million tonight and bumped HIM off of the Grand Champion spot, but I am sure it is not the last time we will play tag on the H.S.T.D. table.  It is a very funny and fun game to play.  I have now been crowned "King of the Realm" a total of 5 times.  After each time, I have increased the difficulty of the game, and most of the modes are now set to difficult.  Not as much fun for casual guests, but more challenging to my son and I !


 

Naturally, I have thought about customizing this one to my liking in much the way that I have done to most of my other machines.  The enhancements are mostly cosmetic, and do NOT affect game play, except to make the game more enjoyable to look at.  The dragon has already been detailed and reinstalled.  I put him back in without the clear plastic on top.  Not sure how or when a ball will ever fall into the wings, but if it does, I will address it then.  To see more detailed pictures of the dragon, just click on his picture below:
 

 
I have also created some cards as well - instruction and balls per play - which can be accessed on the cards page (click here).  They can also be seen in some of the photos below.

The castle was next on the list.  It was detailed, and a few lights added to spice it up just a bit.  The center castle - the one with the big window - was given a flickering candlelight and an image of the king.  In addition, when the castle is destroyed, ALL of the castle sections flash, and the king becomes quite visible in the center tower.  Pictures (and video?) to follow.
 

I have also added LEDs inside the trolls to have them glow.  Perhaps this is where the current "glowing eyed trolls" idea came from.

   
The dragon has been extensively modified.  Something quite unique.  While many have done the fiber optic eyes and nostrils, I took it one (maybe two) steps further.  The wings are "lined" with a glowing fiber optic rope, which has a steady glow to accent the wings.  When the dragon flashes, the wings brighten further.  Very cool effect.  Video to follow.

Merlin was replaced.  I was tired of staring at that unlit and somewhat boring Merlin plastic, so I replaced him with a REAL Merlin with a magical globe that glows.  It is tied into the Merlin light under the playfield and makes recognizing the lit target easier to see.


The final addition to the game was the topper.  Since the entire game seems loosely based very much on "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," I acquired a set of knight figures for the top.  The 5 knights and king from the movie match up extremely well with the knights on the game.  Naturally, they will be lit up and tied into the game lighting so that you can see which knight is yelling at you!  


Again, pictures to follow.  I also have one last tweak for the game, but this one needs a little more research in the electronics area, and I will post details AFTER I have it all figured out (I don't want anyone trumping my ideas this time, like the light up camera for TZ!).  Below are a few pictures of the machine as it sits now in my basement: