Episode 240 - Interview with Vic Camp 11-3-15

Vic Camp, expert bingo pinball player, joins me to talk about the bingo row, new bingo players that are getting games, his latest acquisition, and more!

Episode 241 - Bounty Shop Out Complete

Issues found and corrected in the Bounty.

1) General Cleaning

2) Skill shot not lighting in certain instances

3) Red letter game not awarding correctly in all cases

4) Magic screen unit dirty or misaligned causing extra number to spot on the backglass.

Solutions to all these problems found within!

Episode 242 - Replacing Score and Instruction Cards

New Score and Instruction cards are a great way to increase the attractiveness of your game. Instructions for how to print and cut it cards, as well as to affix them (if there are not dedicated holders).

Episode 243 - Williams DC Bumpers

Creditdotpinball asks why Williams went to using DC bumpers in their games.

Stretching what I say in this episode out a bit - if you have a coil driven by DC, dirt and wear are masked a bit by the DC drivers.

Episode 244 - Replay EM Free Play Mods

Replay games usually only require a single switch be defeated to see them on free play. In this episode I detail how to inspect and figure out the switch(es) involved.

Episode 245 - 1947 Gottlieb New Daily-Races

In 1947, Gottlieb made their last payout pinball - New Daily-Races.

It was so named because it was the spiritual sequel to the Daily-Races that Gottlieb produced before the war.

I'm highly intrigued by the gameplay and features on this machine, along with the unusual Parker artwork.

There is one currently for sale in Ohio!

Hey all - still me, but I asked to be rebranded to avoid confusion moving forward, and allow my username to reflect my love of the bingos, rather than the online username that I have used since I was 18.

Hi Charlie, unfortunately I do not have any experience with the dimensions on Pamco parts, nor a source. If you are able to estimate, some 30s games I've worked on have had wooden plungers and lifter assemblies fitted in place. Carving such a thing would be a different matter. Of course, the problem with this is that the wood will eventually break. As far as springs, you'll need to play around with a variety of springs to find the ones that work for this application.

What I might suggest, if you don't want to use a carving to take a mold and make a casting, would be to take measurements and ask someone with 3d printing experience to attempt to make one. Thankfully for the 1930s games, 3d printing exists.

There is also a prewar pinball Yahoo group that has many friendly members that may be able to find a source for your parts, or at least provide the measurements and spring types.

Good luck and thank you for listening!

Episode 246 - 1959 Bally Ballerina

Ballerina was an interesting experiment in bingo history.

A Magic Screen game with positions up to 'H' (the last with this feature), the game gets really interesting when you have the ability to increase the Magic Screen feature awarded by hitting rollovers on the playfield, and the ability to reverse the top row of holes (ex: 1 becomes 7 and 7 becomes 1).

Beautiful artwork (another curtain!), and interesting gameplay make this game very unique.

Thanks Taylor - I guess we'll see if I'm a one hit wonder next time.

Episode 247 - 1957 Bally Miss America

Miss America was an incredibly popular bingo produced by Bally starting in 1957. They brought this idea out several times throughout the years they were producing bingos.

Magic Lines A-E will light to shift the numbers on each row horizontally, allowing for some interesting combinations.

This game has two cards, and will light card #2 (also called the Extra Card) on a mystery interval (read: multiple coins).

Corners scoring on the main card, quadruple deck scoring, and the best bingo curtains I've yet seen make this a game to remember.

Episode 248 - My EM Happenings week of 11-9-15

Just catching up on what's happening in my bingo world.

I was interviewed by Nate @ coast2coastpinball.com regarding the bingo row and my love of the games. Thanks Nate!

I joined a pinball league and actually played pretty well on my first night (total accident, I assure you).

The ebay auctions I reference:
ebay.com link: biggie36

Episode 249 - Interview with Todd MacCulloch 11-11-15

Todd is a former NBA player, pinball collector, and operator in the Pacific Northwest.

He joins me to talk about some of the fantastic EM arcade games in his collection, along with a few new additions.

Todd has a variety of modern games at various establishments around Seattle - be sure to look up those establishments next time you're in town!

Episode 250 - 1951 United Leader

Leader was the first United game to have the extra ball feature. It also used a playfield layout almost exactly the same as the competing Bally for the first time.

This game has attractive coloration on the backglass and playfield, and reminds me very much of games that United made in the 1940s.

The cabinet is one of the floor-length models similar to the earlier United bingo games.

Episode 251 - 1974 Bally Miss America '75

Miss America '75 is the second incarnation of Bally's popular Miss America series of games.

A new artist and the double or nothing feature, ported from the 6 card bingos of the early 1970s, makes this game take on another entire dimension. Any ability to earn double the replays normally awarded is pretty cool.

The ability to move every number on the backglass on both cards is still the main draw.

Episode 252 - 1931 Bingo Novelty and Gottlieb Bingo

Bingo was one of the first, if not the first coin operated pinball machine.

Bingo Novelty Manufacturing was the designer and initial manufacturer, however, it was quickly licensed to D. Gottlieb & Co. (a name you may recognize), newly formed, who themselves appeared to have some difficulty keeping up with the demand.

Production was sublicensed to other distributors, including Keeney (another later pinball producer).

Episode 253 - 1932 Bally 3-Ring Circus

3-Ring Circus was the first game that provided a score card from the manufacturer that listed payoffs for particular score thresholds.

The playfield has beautiful pin work, accentuating the 3 rings of the circus.

The flier for this game has all kinds of interesting details.

Episode 254 - 1931 Gottlieb Baffle Ball

A simplified version of Bingo - Baffle Ball has four large circular colored scoring sections, arranged in a diamond pattern.

If you make a matching colored marble into the matching scoring circle, you earn double points! A small trap hole at the top will also double all scores.

Due to the location and construction of the trap hole, landing a ball in that hole is best done on your last shot - otherwise, you are likely to knock the ball out of that hole.

Baffle Ball is Gottlieb's first original design

Episode 255 - 1932 Genco Buster Ball

Genco's first effort was incredibly solid. Cabinet and playfield were made out of painted aluminum, and could be interchanged with future games.

The game's playfield glass has the score and instructions screened on, along with the scoring information for each of the lanes at the bottom of the game.

Very attractive for only using a small group of colors (red, yellow, brown), along with the combination lifter/shooter lever, and the coin slot on the side of the glass make for a very interesting machine.

Episode 256 - Interview with Phil Bogema 11-15-15

Phil is a bingo player and restorer who just picked up a large number of bingos.

Great titles, and Phil is interested in selling many of the games.

Excellent titles, such as Sun Valley, Miss America '57, Key West, Show Time and more!

If you're interested in one of the games, I will get you in touch with Phil.

Phil and I chat about some restoration topics and various items of interest.

I've posted some examples of Phil's excellent restoration work on my Instagram and Facebook feeds.

Episode 257 - High Tap

When should you (and when shouldn't you) use high tap on your EM. High tapping the machine provides an extra amount of voltage to all coils in the machine.

If you have low line conditions (less than 120V or a large draw on a given circuit), high tap may be appropriate. Otherwise, it can cause damage to the machine (potentially).

Episode 258 - My Troubleshooting Technique

I explain in great (probably too much) detail what my troubleshooting technique is and how to apply it to any given game!

First, review the schematic located at http://ipdb.org/search.pl?any=bazaar&sortby=name&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#201

Then follow along while I explain how to find an issue with zipper flippers not closing.

Thanks Ryan - glad to know it helps! I've gotten some nice feedback from this one.

Episode 259 - 1944 United Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a conversion game by United. Flipperless sequence game with a super special kickout at the bottom center of the playfield.

Beautiful backglass artwork and interesting bumper orientation make this a fun looking game!

Episode 260 - 1938 Stoner Super-Zeta

Super-Zeta was a rehash of the earlier Zeta with the addition of a backbox. Super-Zeta is another proto-bingo with the roulette style tub. This looks less appealing to play as the ball doesn't travel around the playfield, nor is the bumper in the center a pop, merely a spring bumper.

Episode 261 - 1951 Chicago Coin Thing

In 1951, Chicago Coin created a game around a hit record 'The Thing'. Roy Parker created a fantastic art package with great integration of the theme.

Every aspect of the song is found in the artwork and gameplay. The backglass tells the entire story from the song, while the playfield tasks you with collecting the 'thing' by shooting a box in the center of the playfield.

One of the best ideas is the special noise that the pops make as the score motor rotates at intervals - Boom... Boom Boom.

Thanks to Bruce Zamost for permission to use portions of his writeup and his photos - photos to be found on our Facebook or Instagram pages.

One version of the song on which this game is based can be found on Youtube.

Happy 'Thing'sgiving!

Sorry everyone - haven't been updating the thread - I'll get back on it! Just cause I haven't updated the thread doesn't mean that I haven't been uploading the episodes.

Episode 262 - Listener Question - Finding the Power

We get a call on the bingos line - a listener wants to know how to safely work on a machine that has no on/off toggle switch, and how you can identify these machines.

Episode 263 - 1949 Chicago Coin Champion

I finally found it! The game I've been trying to remember for almost 1/2 of a year!

This is the first example of a game with player-controlled kicking rubbers (or slingshots).

Fun basketball theme, with some interesting ideas in the artwork as well as the gameplay.

Episode 265 - 1956 United Brazil

United's Brazil has an interesting feature: the ability to spot up to three different numbers on three different rows!

This game also features extra ball play, a single set of advancing odds, the United style of extended time tree, corners scoring, Lite-a-name (for an instant 5-in-a-line winner!), and the Pennant feature for earning your first extra ball automatically.

With so many ways to win, why does this look like such a fun game? Because of how the features work together - I'm sure that most wins are just out of reach, even with all of the help shown above.

Beautiful Molentin artwork.

Episode 266 - 1951 Bally Bright Lights

Bally's Bright Lights was the first production Bingo by Bally in the post-1940s one ball horse race game world.

Bright Lights is a straightforward six card bingo with no additional features. It has gorgeous artwork, a manual ball lift, and fixed payouts that are different than the standard Bally six card payouts.

Ha! Just realized that 264 didn't get uploaded! Man, I'm all out of whack.

That'll be up tomorrow.

Tonight's Episode: Episode 267 - 1951 Bally Broadway

This was actually the second Bally bingo produced - but it was either only made as samples or for a very limited run.

The true second bingo Bally produced was Coney Island (see a previous episode for info on that excellent game).

Same straightforward gameplay as Bright Lights, however, only a single card instead of six.

This game also contains the same excellent artwork as Bright Lights, except for the backglass. Gorgeous early bingo!

Episode 264 - 1966 Bally Zodiac

I missed uploading this in the correct order (first time that's happened in almost 300 episodes, I think I am doing ok ), so apologies if you just noticed that the episodes jumped from 267 back to 264.

Zodiac is a 20 hole Mystic Lines bingo themed after the astrological signs of the zodiac (as one might guess).

Some player-friendly features like mystery awarded score doubling or tripling in one color, along with the excellent red letter game and Star Zone play.

Zodiac has some fantastic backglass artwork, and a neat cabinet stencil.

Episode 268 - 1952 Bally Atlantic City

Atlantic City was Bally's fourth production game, following Bright Lights, Coney Island, and Spot-Lite.

Atlantic City was a slightly simpler game than Spot-Lite - a three card bingo with spotted numbers, extra balls, nice artwork and fixed payouts make this an interesting early bingo.

Episode 269 - 1952 Bally Palm Beach

Bally's Palm Beach was the follow-on to Atlantic City. It brought back pick-a-play, advancing odds, and added rollover buttons.

The rollovers would spot up to five numbers, and you could also earn spotted numbers through red or yellow button play.

Between the five spotted numbers and three extra balls, you had the ability to light up to 13 different numbers on the bingo card!

A single card bingo, this was also the first game to feature super cards - the super card is a 3x3 grid, where a 3-in-a-line scores the 4-in-a-line odds.

Episode 270 - Natucket Nickel

Special guest host, Fake Nick Baldridge, returns to the For Amusement Only airwaves to discuss a little known pingame manufacturer and their first release. Thanks again, FNB!

Episode 271 - 1952 Bally Frolics

Frolics is a uniquely interesting six card bingo - it has both advancing odds and the extra ball feature!

Looks incredibly challenging to earn a significant number of replays, as max payout without this game's unique feature (the superscore) is only 50 replays.

With the superscore, your maximum for a 5 in a row hit is 200.

Episode 272 - 1946 Gottlieb Baffle Card

Baffle Card is a bingo-esque game from Gottlieb, made in October of the year before flippers were added to Humpty Dumpty.

You light one of four cards on the backglass, and then attempt to get the largest set of numbers to earn special and extra specials via rollovers.

One intriguing aspect is the concept of 'points' on this game. There are 5 point values, two of which are the same, and I suspect these would pay off. I've seen pics of the game and don't see any payout mechanism, but quite interesting. The head appears to have a knock off button mounted on the side, so it's possible that this would pay out nickels based on the number of points accrued per game.

This is all high speculation, though! If anyone has any idea, please let me know

Episode 273 - 1932 Gottlieb Cloverleaf

Gottlieb made a variety of payout games from 1932-1947. Today's sample is their first payout game - 1932's Cloverleaf.

Cloverleaf has a neat looping playfield design - shooting a marble around this playfield, your goal is to shake the ball into a center trough at the bottom.

Doing so will pay you some number of pennies. Cool!

Episode 274 - 1935 Gottlieb Match Play

Match play is a payout game (Gottlieb's first EM payout game) that had an intriguing concept: fire one ball into a special playfield, then match the value of that ball on a special lower playfield with your second ball.

If the values match, the game will pay out! Based on the point value matched, you will earn up to 20 coins!

Wow! Another one I wasn't familiar with - that layout looks quite fun to play!

Does it have spring bumpers or typical bumpers? Looks like this was a transition game for Genco.

Spring bumper games are really cool! They add quite a bit of interesting ball movement to the game.

I can certainly help with some adjustment tips and so forth... hmm... maybe I feel a show coming on!

yikes! I think that would ruin that playfield design for sure - the stair-stepping nature of 1-7 would take some good nudging to accomplish with regularity, and lighted spring bumper specials? C'mon!