Here I go again. Another multi-state, 20 hour / 1,000 mile plus round trip excursion to pickup a wish list Bally EM machine and parts for another wish list Bally EM. Taking my son along as a co-pilot and game wrangler.

In conjunction with finding these purchases, I decided to thin the herd and sell a game. When a Pinside buyer along this route popped up, we sealed a deal and the trip was on. He has a pretty amazing collection of games and hopefully I will be able to squeeze in a few games.

And because planning road trip logistics is fun, I found a third classic EM game along the route and am picking it up for a local Pinsider friend.

Rental truck is loaded and the adventure starts tonight at 11:30pm. Follow along for the game title reveals. I will post periodic updates from the road so grab your 5 hour energy shots, put the petal to the metal and we’ll be east bound and down.

93452B4F-E763-43F6-98EE-A7FB81F52910 (resized).jpeg

ABC7F5BA-EF66-42F7-82DD-E28F30514167 (resized).jpeg

And we are off. I never really thought these power shots worked for me but I brought them just in case. Heading east to KY and then WV.

40061F66-B804-4811-A9BA-ADF5B5203F91 (resized).jpegAB07F647-2B73-4405-B861-D234F0198AF8 (resized).jpeg

After 7 hours and 460 miles of driving, we hit our first stop in Bridgewater Virginia to pick up a 1964 Bally Harvest backbox and mostly populated playfield. These parts have been on eBay for over a year and I tried to snag them last summer but the seller was set on his price. Was able to get them for a better price and they will help in my restoration of my recently acquired Bally Hay Ride, the add-a-ball twin of Harvest.

Next stop is also in Virginia for what should be a very nice example of another wish list game.

Stay tuned .....

46839DBF-A09D-4B5D-B197-FDE6F11B5538 (resized).jpeg

5EDCF94A-1C60-469C-A24B-532DF1771AE8 (resized).jpeg

Stopped for a scenery break on I-64 east of Waynesboro. Quite windy this morning. The marker states that in 1933, a sailplane flew for 4 hours and landed in Maryland. Today, I think he might have made it to the Atlantic.

31A2011D-4D30-42E1-A662-4DDCEA99705A (resized).jpeg

865A8AE4-0376-445B-B6DD-85656B03F30E (resized).jpeg

2nd stop was in Charlottsville, Virginia to pick up my wish list Bally Magic Circle from June 1965, released when I was 2 months old. This particular example is in VERY nice condition and will restore beautifully. It has been with the same family for the past 40 or so years and I assured the seller that it is going to a good home. I saw this game listed for sale on CL over a year at about the same time as the Harvest parts.

3AF88FD9-D2E4-4FE0-AE61-F258CD825404 (resized).jpeg5A6BAF17-01DD-4CFD-A6E9-453EEC8D4B2E (resized).jpeg845CA0BA-1489-4979-A647-B8D744104F67 (resized).jpegB46AF4E1-F3ED-4CD9-9600-25AE8AB63454 (resized).jpeg

Truck is filling up fast and we still have 1 more game to pickup at the 3rd stop. How will it fit ??

With a little magic

2F2C7858-3D40-4851-898F-D6E30F1DFABA (resized).jpeg

7E4B6BE6-DC7B-448E-A0DA-E5FD3D7094B0 (resized).jpeg

DC836197-C6FA-4400-A923-AC8DBEDD21F8 (resized).jpeg

Be careful what you wish for.

Pinball Jenga just got a little more difficult. The third stop on this trip was to pick up a game for a friend. Once I got there, I found another game he might be interested in so now I have four games on the truck. A Gottlieb Hi Dolly and Royal Flush. My friend was out of space two games ago so who knows where these other two games are going to go.

And my wife thinks that *I* have a problem…

14128F4B-49A9-4989-8AB4-48554DC40E70 (resized).jpeg9EB17BA8-2FB7-4051-9B1B-716822C0245E (resized).jpegB4D09633-B753-47EE-83C1-7613F8499D00 (resized).jpegBE47B25F-AEE9-4B3B-BECF-6166426EF709 (resized).jpegD7D9B9FA-BE0F-4CC4-86EA-57034555D088 (resized).jpegFB1C9A86-9AF3-4D55-8EE7-3658959F1FA6 (resized).jpeg

No. It was 250.

The trip culminates with delivering a 1968 Bally Dixieland to none other than Nic Schell and the Roanoke Pinball Museum in Roanoke Virginia. I tried my best to pry the Skyrocket out of the collection but was unsuccessful. Thanks again to Nic for be a gracious tour guide and he just barely beat me on Snow Queen.

C9DDCC97-4B91-4699-85B4-27A19499935C (resized).jpeg

Oops

Final trip metrics:

25 hours : 11 minutes total duration
1061 miles driven
4 stops
2 each 5 Hour Energy shots used on return leg
1 moving violation (VA speed trap)
$ 10 Tolls to WV Turnpike