Yes, they basically serve the same function, although, the ones they put on USA Football head-to-head and USA Football redemption have a few differences besides the shape of the marquee poles/how they attach to the marquee box....

For some bizarre reason they made the poles on the new version 9 inches shorter, and they made the marquee box pivot on either pole so you could raise the playfield all the way. Another difference is the addition of a speaker in the marquee box.

Yep, his is one of the earlier ones that came from the factory without an overhead marquee. Lots of them were like that, and later on they developed the overhead marquee assembly and offered it at no additional cost. There was a single page addendum that was issued with the flyers after the marquee assembly became available. The flyer below shows the original game without it:

A.G. Soccer-Ball flyer.jpg

There's not really anything you can do on the topside, aside from just making sure that nothing is binding on the Switch-Flipper™ wire arm. The adjustments for the flipper switches are all made under the playfield. Just bend the actuator arm on the microswitch a little bit. Be careful not to break the actuator wire that runs down through the flipper shaft. Sometimes it doesn't take much to snap the end of those off!

There really isn't anything to do to make it roll under them more easily. What I was trying to say is that you basically need to adjust the switch actuator arm just right so that even when the ball just barely grazes the flipper it will fire the coil. It's kind of a wacky setup but you can usually dial them in pretty well. Still, I know what you're saying....sometimes it just doesn't work perfectly no matter what....

If you get a chance, please look inside your cabinet to the left of where the coin box would sit, and let me know if there's a tag there with a handwritten cabinet or serial number on it. If there is, I'd like to add it to my Alvin G serial number log book. Thanks! This is one of two Alvin G titles that is typically devoid of any numbers, so you might not find anything. I have no idea why, but they just didn't label a lot of these. Almost all the other titles have multiple serial number stickers (usually 6 or so) and a stamped serial number under the coin box, but not on these....

If the flippers are working AT ALL (automatically) those ends will be intact.... and he said they are indeed working. But yes, say you were looking into buying a game that you didn't know much about. A quick peek (or a pic) under the playfield and you could easily tell if the end of an actuator wire is missing.

Hi Mark,

I do hope to create an Alvin G & Co. website at some point. I just have so many irons in the fire right now.... but someday it'll happen. Thanks for your offer of contributing! I very well may need some help there in the future.

Anyway, right now a big goal of mine is to complete some work so I can get every Alvin G production game set up in the same room, along with all my company memorabilia. That'll definitely help in getting good pics for the website. I'm also working on interviewing former Alvin G employees and doing lots of other research, so lots going on in the world of Alvin G here....