But to sell it... I would have had to been offered money.

Sir, PM me your selling price!

I think this reveal deserves it's own thread already..possible movie deal in the works

cant wait to hear this explanation

What a collection Gerry! & please tell me you take road trips in that big ol' bus!?

Chicago Coin hula hula I was able to get it out of the garage. Looks like it's never been touched since it came off of a route,

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Having a game so close to shipping always put a smile on my face.

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Good pick-up, hope it cleans up nice. I love my Hula Hula!

It's great to see so much love lately for Volley. Definitely one of my favorite games of all time. Mine still gets tons of play and it's not going anywhere soon.

I feel the same way about mine. It's a sleeper. Great to see the title getting so much good press.

The Wiggler is back on top of the EM 100!
Also, Bally Skill Roll and Whoa Nellie made the list too.

Sold the coach but yes I used to drive her around. Ran and drove awesome. She has a new home now. .

Hey,henky,would love to see better pic of playfield since I never seen that game before,looks very neat,what I can see.also the volley game is beautiful. Nice work.but I really like the friendship 7 .nice reverse project. Not many here in Midwest.whenever I see one ,its in the furthest corners of u.s.glad to see so much interest in the old em,s.lately.

Shoulda put a machine in there! (or a few...)

Hey Gerry,question.could I get pic of number 1-10 score reel.want to see if they are same as my skill pool.thank you.

Sorry,score reels on friendship 7. Was curious to see if old Williams are mostly same.

Isn't Whoa Nellie more of a hybrid?

I don't know much about it. Not sure where it belongs. And Skill Rolls are nice, but definitely not an EM pinball.

I have this pin in my collection
and like it a fair amount, but not my favorite.
Main reason is that it is too easy to beat, but just as soon as you crush it for 3 free games,
you will get crushed by it, where you are lucky to break 50K for 3 straight games.

Yes, but it started out early in production as an EM idea, but yes, in the end all of them are solid-state games (except the first EM prototype which used a score motor - it was a conversion from Gottlieb's 1957 "Continental Cafe" two-player machine). BUT ALSO, except the "homegrown" ones. Here is a good explanation of the game's history and also the homegrown ones of earlier on written before it was mass-made and released by Stern a month later. (This was typed in February 2015, release for WNBJM was March 2015)

[Click the three dots to extend the quote window]

Written by Pinsider "ZNET" ( ZNET ):

In 2013, I embarked on a journey to make a home-grown version of WhizBang's brilliantly conceived Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons (WNBJM). I let the reins go free on Nellie. Her gallop was sure and swift. But, there were many steeplechases to hurdle. Here's what I learned during that ride.

For those unfamiliar with the genesis of this conversion game, the idea is the product of two established and highly talented members of the pinball industry, Dennis Nordman (designer) and Greg Freres (artist). WhizBang Pinball (founded by Dennis & Greg) consulted with well-known artist and silkscreener, Wade Krause. Wade suggested benefits to creating the backglass first. Doing so would fix the theme and also serve as income source for a stand-alone product. WhizBang enjoyed technical input into the game's design from Ken Walker, Chris Edler, Mark Weyna and others. A star rollover between the 4 pop bumpers bears an inside joke "10 Weyna Lit." Even the legendary Roger Sharpe provided design input, after playing the original whitewood at the Midwest Gaming Classic. There's a Youtube video of Roger playing the whitewood.

WhizBang made 1 EM game, a conversion from a 1957 Gottlieb Continental Cafe. Dennis selected that donor game based on the fact that he had one, with a broken backglass. Dennis & Greg found a total of 4 Continental Cafe donor games. Creating the EM conversion game involved a tremendous amount of labor. Fortunately, Kerry Imming stepped in and developed a solid state system for WNBJM, which included a sound board. That development allowed WhizBang to make the remaining 3 games solid state versions (although they may have made only 2 solid state versions after the debut of the EM).

Each of the 3 or 4 WhizBang games were sold to collectors for about $14K, as I recall. WhizBang sold playfields (2 runs of which the 2nd run had some minor color improvements), decal sets and plastics (which are extra thick, by the way) to several pinball enthusiasts (like me), who ruminated about making a home-grown Nellie and who (like me) did not have $14K dedicated to purchase a single game.

Those of us wishing to do create a home-grown Nellie, discovered that the donor game was as scarce as hen's teeth. A couple of guys tried to use a similar vintage Gottlieb game as a donor (i.e. 1956 Gottlieb Toreador), only to discover that the immense conversion task was rendered impossible, without a Continental Cafe because the games shared the same ruleset. Even with the Continental Cafe as the donor, the quantum of work was enormous. For example, both the gobble hole return and the playfield arch had to be modified. The gobble hole scoop had to be customized to fit. Continental Cafe is a 2 player game whereas Nellie is a single player. The list of challenges is long. The WNBJM playfield has a much different configuration from that of Continental Cafe (e.g. multiple gobble holes on Continental Cafe versus a singular gobble hole on Nellie). Consequently, nearly all of those Nellie playfields are likely hanging on walls.

California collector, Brad Grant, set out to make a home-grown version. He successfully made the 1st home-grown Nellie. Learning that Brad was able to tackle the undertaking, I was inspired to give it a go. I was lucky to find a Continental Cafe, which resulted in the 2nd home-grown Nellie (mine). Thus, there are 2 home-grown EM Nellies (Brad's and mine). I suppose that Brad's is the west coast Nellie and mine is the east coast Nellie (I'm in NJ). Melony gets around. I hear that a couple of guys found donor games and have also undertaken the daunting project so a couple more EM home-grown versions may surface.

I outfitted my version with theme-appropriate, puerile melon "knobs" for the ball lift and shooter rods. I used the existing backbox molding and extended it to accommodate the larger lexan backglass. My design mimics the WhizBang cabinet crate design by affixing wooden planks around the cabinet decals. I covered portions of the cabinet with chicken wire. The melon crate "wallpaper"on the backbox is actually a one-of-a-kind montage. The thought of constructing a crate base crossed my mind. But, since my carpentry skills are very limited, I opted for the decorative, fluted wooden legs up front and heavier, pedestrian wooden legs for the rear. The project was arduous. Working on the game, with a cold beer "Weyna Lit" was essential because there was no blueprint. This was not a routine playfield swap.

I experimented with post colors for awhile before going with a mostly red translucent array. I opted for red flipper bats. Most importantly, I equipped my game with a 1970s vintage Gottlieb chime. So, at least the sound is politically correct. Who can argue with that melodious chime? Perhaps the Stern version will have chimes.

Brad retained a professional cabinet-maker, Steve Gligorea, to create his game's cabinet. He did so out of some kind of reclaimed fruit crate wood. Brad helped me figure out which parts to purchase, when I was stumped. [Shout out to Brad. . .thanks again!]

The WhizBang versions all included the crate. Artist Greg Freres heard about my Garden State home-grown version. Greg was kind enough to autograph my game's instruction card. Also, Greg posted photos my home-grown WNBJM on the WhizBang Facebook page. Just remember, Nellie isn't the one with the melons. Nellie is the horse. ----Bruce (February 15, 2015)

Source is on the game listing page for the ORIGINAL creation (3 units produced): https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/whoa-nellie-big-juicy-melons/stories/home-grown-big-juicy-melons-in-the-garden-state-letting-the-reins-go-free-on-nellie

And here is the IPDB listing for the original game, 3 produced officially and 1 EM prototype: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=5863

Otaku, If you ever want to stop by to play my home-grown Whoa Nellie, let me know. Two years ago, I added an interactive cowbell topper to the game. Here's a video clip:

I prefer this version over the mass produced hybrid one.

I passed on the game only because I didn't want to do the restoration it deserves. The games condition was decent but would require way too much clean up and the back glass wasn't great nor was the playfield for my taste. The game overall would be presentable if someone is willing to put tons of work into it.

Artwork is awesome, and if you're going EM it's also the preferable version thanks to fewer reels/weight/size to deal with.

That said, the SS-hybrid also features real chimes as well as resetting drops and 2x/3x/4x/5x multipliers which add more fun to the game. Enough, in my opinion, to just barely edge out the EM versions... despite how much I love those score reels.

(same for Joker Poker, though for Cleo it's EM all the way)

A lot of pushing stuff around today.. Grand Tour, Knockout and Heat Wave are all in the other garage being worked on..

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Super Spin restoration project is almost done........
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Next project is an EM Cleopatra, probably my last EM in my collection.
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Looks good. Always liked pegging that vari-target shot off the left flipper - not easy to time. Gottlieb came out with those rubber post caps for the light shields but the op's we're being called out a lot on repair jobs when they came off - so they went back to the trusty metal acorn caps.

I'm looking for a Cleopatra myself. Congrats on finding one.

I finally joined the EM club this week! Added my first 2 EMs: Solar City and Far Out.
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Welcome to the Club-machines look very nice.

Congrats from a fellow Texan -- they look great!

decided to repaint something this weekend that needed to be done. so i picked this one

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Beautiful, as always. Exceptional work.

Nice job! Was that for Jacks or Lucky?

i have both, either can go in it. but it was the jacks open cab.

$400 - $500

Looks great. My Lucky Hand needs a repaint at some point. Did you buy stencils or make them?

Great way to start ! Good pair. They would even be cool just by themselves.... I'll guess you will add more anyway....

Ship Ahoy is a great game. One of my favorites. If it plays scoop it up if you can negotiate a good price. Fun playing game.

Really? That seems low, I think I've seen most of them go for $600-$700 in only moderate shape. It really depends on condition though.

Playfield wear is the biggest thing. Cabinets can be painted and backglasses have reproductions (some, much much today then a few years ago too) but playfields are irreplacable unless you get lucky and they are running a reproduction run of one, and even then you have to have a LOT of spending money (ready to go as well) are they are upwards of $600.

Playfield first, backglass second, cabinet last. Of course you save yourself a lot of trouble if all three are perfect. In the later 70's games you shouldn't have too too much trouble so don't jump on the first example you find if it's rough and expensive/priced like a nice one.

And I've got the disease. Welcome to the fun!

A $500 pin that needs a $200 shop job (labor value) and $100 in parts is now worth $800. And, that's not even considering a new back glass if needed/available. That guy is fishing with that price imo.

Condition, Condition, Condition. Does it work? Will it clean up or is the playfield shot? How's the backglass? How is the cab? The game I think you are talking about first came up on CL for $700 then the price has just went up from there (same pics). So someone has told him oh that game is valuable. I think its now listed at $1000. It turns me off when a seller goes up. Start high and work down, not start low and work up. My guess (I haven't seen the game) is that its overpriced for its condition or it would have sold. But with all of that said it wouldn't hurt to check it out and make an offer to the seller. I have bought a lot of things that way.

Spg101 I exchanged some messages with the guy last week. We never discussed price but he said he doesn't really want to sell it. He just listed it because his wife pushed him to do it. Depending on the wife's temperament / their relationship that could mean it will sit at $1000 forever or it could mean he will take whatever is offered. I suspect the former.