Here my gold top army navy 1935

-Jeff

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awesome video! inspiration to finally do some gameplay videos of my rockolas soon!
thanks for sharing

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A PM game? = Purely mechanical? I have zero experience with very early games

I’d love to see some of the more creative mechs used to score points.

I’ve always thought it would be cool to build a mechanical pin, but the scoring seems like the most difficult part. Besides having the ball drop into different valued holes, I wonder what was done in the past.

Sign me up, we have a few of these in the house now. I only have pictures of Score-a-lite on my phone atm. I'm currently working on getting it 100%. It is close, I just need to fix some flakey switches and lamps.

We also have a Bally Signal Jr. I'll try and get some pictures and videos up soon.

There are a several more in the basement that need a lot of work. When I start digging into them I'll post pictures.

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That’s pretty sweet.

here it comes:

used the opportunity to try out what's possible on my new iphone, completely filmed and edited on my mobile.

i adore this machine, so calming to play after a heated game on a modern pin.

Hope you like it, i'll do jigsaw soon.
cheers

That looks fantastic, super cool game. Nice video as well.

thanks guys, was fun to do and i had an awesome game while filming!

i hope this inspires others too, i'm looking forward to more flipperless video action, i think i've seen everything that's out there multiple times

Can anyone give me an idea what a Jiggers Jr 1932 goes for in price?

I came across one and am curious about pricing & if there's anything I should specifically look for?

Thanks

I just hit the Tri-fecta! This will look very nice next to my World's Series and Jig-Saw. Can't wait to set it up tomorrow!

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Wow! Lucky you - beautiful

This one recently sold on ebay: ebay.com link: 1932 Genco Jiggers Jr Pinball Game

The big red flag is that it is missing the coin slide so you have to reach inside to manually reset it. And no playfield glass but that can be rectified for $30 at the local glass shop.
The colours are bright but there is a lot of track wear.
It's also one of the numerous Goofy ripoffs that came out, so a nice and complete one probably wouldn't go for more than $300-400.

Controversial opinion, let's rank Rock-ola games:
World's Series > Army Navy > Jigsaw

I recently got a PAMCO Contact (Master) and noticed that a previous owner had made an incision in the sliding under-plate that keeps the balls on the playfield, and which is pushed in to reset the game.
They had carved out the "OUT" hole at the bottom, so that while playing any ball that makes it to the bottom is returned to the shooter lane, just like in a bingo machine.

A nightmare for operators, sure, but in a home environment I found it actually makes the game even more. It let's you land all 10 balls into pockets. And for games with playfield advances via a trigger hole (like Contact, Signal, etc) it provides more action that way.

I don't see myself cutting out that hole in any other games, but I have decided to leave the Contact Master as-is and not fully patch up that bottom plate.

I think the prices are higher for pre war games in good complete condition.
I bought my Jig-Saw last summer for around Eur 1500 and had to spend a few hundred for some missing original parts coming from the US. The game is in a very good condition unrestored and with a known history of previous owners. I agree with Jay Leno as he says: It can only be original once.

Excellent demonstration. Rockola World's Series is the game that, as an adult, reintroduced me to the hobby 30 years ago.

Based on your video, you've really mastered the game. Looking forward to your Jigsaw video.

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considering the obscurity of that title, a remake would be such a blessing to the hobby!

i have a MBr on order but i'd change that up for an Army Navy remake in a heartbeat
never played one though so i can only rank World's Series and Jigsaw, first one gets my vote for gameplay but the artdesign of jigsaw is just beyond awesome!

I think there are def different price tiers of pre-war games. Rock-Ola, unless I'm wildly off, are the most collectible and fetch the most consistent amounts.
lower-tier tends to be the games that are plunger only and with static playfields, like Jiggers. (IMHO obviously)

Thanks for the replies gentlemen!

That one on sale looks really good. Hopefully it works. The ad looks like it is an estate sale. Are you going to go for it?

It looks good and I plan on checking it out this weekend. The price was a little high that's why I was asking here.

*ahem*
there are still plenty of women collecting!

And ladies

Here is a quick shot of Signal Jr. It cleaned up pretty well. I'm going to try and get some better pictures of it.

I'm really digging all of these. There are so many cool old pins out there.

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I really like Signal. Thats a great playing game

-Jeff

Yeah, my girlfriend picked it up at Pinfest last year along with Mat-Cha-Skor. Her aunt wanted Mat-Cha-Skor, and we were on the fence about Signal. At the time we had no clue what we were getting into as far as parts and repairs on these. The seller said they were both complete, and true to his word they were.

We cleaned Signal Jr up in time to take it to Pincinnati in early December and it was an absolute hit with the younger kids running around. We even took it to her parents house for Christmas so the whole family could play it. These early pins are just too cool, it is a shame so many of them are so hard to find.

I'm currently working on a Relay Jr, but it doesn't have any of the trap mechs on the bottom. I guess I'm going to have to figure something out.

https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1944

I have a Signal Jr. and two of the solenoids are not working. Connections all seem good, but does anyone have any experience working with these super old solenoids? should I open them up and respin the wiring and check for breaks?
Would there be a workable replacement?

Nice games.

Love this thread, such good looking games.

been busy again
Here is my Jigsaw, could not complete the puzzle despite trying for nearly an hour but it was a close game

Another enjoyable Rockola demonstration. Good job, Ben!

I wish I knew the answer, we were lucky and all of the coils on Signal worked. I would love to have some spare parts though.

Two Signals getting set up

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I was given Big Broadcast Special by a friend. He played the heck out of it as a kid. No legs and the bottom is delaminating. The story goes that it came out of one of Al Capone's speakeasies in Chicago. It's dated 1932-3, so I am not certain the time frame fits. Capone went to prison in 1931 for tax evasion, and prohibition ended around then. I guess it could have been a bar that was once owned/run by Capone.
I had some legs made and had the metal front panel parts nickel re-plated. Now I just have to find time to get it back together, cleaned up, and the cabinet sanded, repaired and repainted. Is there a source for the small balls for this era. It came with them but I would rather put in new. Thanks

Could be a physical Location....Capone was arrested in 1931.
Prohibition ended in 1933.

I asked his Niece, Deidre, about Pinball in her Uncles places a few years back,
and she said she remembered Slot Machines, but not Pinball.

The pinball in the 30s that were used for Gambling, could have been in the same locations though, as Capones, but with
Notoriety....

Great Game, Big Broadcast Though!

Marco sells steel balls in most of the sizes you would ever want
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/BALL-STEEL?VIEW_SIZE=60&view=card&sortOrder=SortProductField:totalTimesViewed

Marbles are lighter and change the game play but are a fun alternative https://www.moonmarble.com/c-83-opaque-game-marbles-all-sizes.aspx

I just picked up a 1936 Western Equipment Top ‘EM. In good shape, not working yet.

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Sweet! Id love to see more pics of the scoring mech in the backbox.
Is it projection wheel scoring?

Never seen a game from them....creative spring bumpers!

Here is the wheel

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cool find! Can you post a better picture of the game's backbox? IPDB could sure use your photos too, btw https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3465&picno=44569&zoom=1

Seems to be a great gameplay concept: top lane determines Dealer's Hand (center rollover is dealer goes bust) then hole on the playfield is your hand.
If you beat the dealer, you get the payout on the odds wheel relating to what hole you used to defeat the dealer!

That is amazing! Does it have a Payout mech?

The cost of the game was really high back then....doubt many exist...first Ive seen, and in amazing shape!

Nice Find!