I just joined Pinside, have been playing pinball since I was in single digits and collecting (is two machines a collection?) for about 18 years. The machines I grew up with were mostly manufactured in the 50s and 60s, but the internet has introduced me to the pre-war era and it is refreshing to find so many varied ideas had been born in such a short span of years.

A couple of years ago, Mike Hasanov’s Youtube video led me to begin a project recreating the 1935 Flying Colors machine. My measurements for the recreation have been based on that single video, a handful of photos and scant published information online. Where I am completely in the dark is in what’s happening under the playfield. I could find ways of accomplishing the same functionality, but would love to know how the manufacturer did it.

I have broken down the project into three sections: putting together the playfield (game play), putting together the coin, ball and plunger mechanicals and getting the looks close (graphics and cabinet). Getting the game play right is first priority and I have enough photos to get the aesthetics close. That leaves the complete void of my knowledge of the original under playfield mechanicals.

This is a call to all past and present owners of this machine, for under-playfield photos and any other documentation on the mechanics of the Genco Flying Colors machine. It would be immeasurably valuable for my project.

Thanks.

A start:

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Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

Studying the video, yes, the coin push would reset the tilt, also drain the balls and maybe cock the “automatic” plunger (the ball lifter might alternatively power this last action). Is anyone aware of any other Genco machines from this era using this “automatic” plunger mechanism?

I noticed, looking frame by frame of the video, that the ball lifter pushes all the balls onto the shooting lane simultaneously, so its extra length must be front to back rather than side to side. I wonder if there is some sort of randomization/shuffling of the balls during either the draining action or the lifting, given the nature of the game play.

By the way, this is intended to be a reproduction using all modern materials, nothing vintage but the design. For example, the two “castings” shown in the photo, the tilt mech cup and instructions frame, were both 3-D printed.

Billboard ad for the machine, touting the NEW “Automatic Plunger”. Another ad calls it Genco’s first machine with this feature, perhaps also its last

Wish I’d been around to get one at that price!

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Photos showing the coin mech linkage to the tilt reset and showing the ball drain and entire ball lifter mech would be great!! It is the plunger that is automatic and probably super rare. I plan to get the game play tweaked using a regular plunger and worry about automation later.