Played add-a-balls almost exclusively, on location back in the day in NY state. I wasn't even aware of replay games for quite some time, until my friend came home from a family vacation in NJ and told us about games he played that you could win free games on. We thought that was awesome, but to this day, I'm still an AAB fan myself.
Hard to say what my personal favorite one is, but "Gold Strike" was probably the most popular one at our local arcade. I played my very first one at another arcade, and thought it was the greatest game ever. Upon returning to our local haunt that day, I told the owner about "Gold Strike".
He got one probably within a week, and kids lined up to play it when it came in. The owner soon developed a dislike for the game, because it was such a patsy for us that very often, a 25c investment would provide an hour or more of pinball fun, punctuated frequently by the game's distinctive "thwack".
He tried often and unsuccessfully to have his mechanic tame it, eventually changing it to three balls per game. No one wanted to play it at all then, and so he relented, and put it back on five balls.
I've owned several of them over the years, and know several ways of "taming" the game, although I've never actually implemented any alterations to one.
So, in no particular order, I'll name some additional add-a-balls (all Gottlieb wedgeheads) that I would name as the top five.
"Free Fall"
"Dimension"
"Diamond Jack"
"Subway"
Gosh, now several others are coming to mind that I could easily include in the list.
"Card Trix"
"Pro Pool"
"Cow Poke"
"Melody"
"Mini Pool"
"Pin-Up"
"Lucky Hand"
"Pop A Card"
"Neptune"
Heck, there's so many great ones, I couldn't possibly name a favorite.
I'd be remiss if I failed to honorably mention a game I played more than any other at the arcade, and it isn't a Gottlieb. It's often razzed for its looks, but it's a heck of a good player; Williams "Granada".

I owned palace guard and royal guard so I forget which was the AAB but I liked the layout of both those games.

MET Premium ! My grail Game

"Palace Guard" is the AAB, and yes, it's a good player as well.
Forgot to mention "Hurdy Gurdy" above as another really good one.
Looking back, our local arcade was a wedgehead add-a-ball nirvana.
One that no one bothered with very much was "Stock Car". Not a good player at all.
There were several good Williams ones as well, including "Blast Off" and "Lucky Ace". One Bally AAB that I remember from that time was "Expressway".
For some reason, I don't recall ever playing any of the Gottlieb "flipper series" games on location, and never a "Square Head", or "Flipper Pool". They're all great games too.

I have the AAB virus as I have picked up Capt Card, Gold Strike and Volley in 4 months.

I agree with JR about Gold Strike-great game.

Ship Ahoy gets a ton of play at my house. I just put it on Novelty mode for the first time, what a racket that knocker makes!

Sky Jump is my favorite, so I would think that it’s Free Fall AAB sister would be an awesome game too.

I have the AAB virus as I picked up Capt Card, Gold Strike and Team One in 3 months and searching for more!

Dimension

Bank Shot
Might be my favorite add-a-ball Wedgehead of all time.

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"Bank Shot" and "Ship Ahoy" were the first two of the deep cabinet add-a-ball wedgeheads to appear in our local arcade. We were a little disillusioned with them, because of the modified add-a-ball design which seemed to be much stingier awarding extra balls. I don't remember if "Bank Shot" did, but the WOW on "Ship Ahoy" resets after one free ball is awarded. Maybe Gottlieb got a lot of feedback from operators who felt "Gold Strike" was too easy to beat. I know that the guy who owned our arcade thought so. Of course, we loved those marathon games back then.

In Iowa? Are you finding them locally, or getting them shipped in from other areas?

Ice Show.

What do you all think about Wms Swing Time? There is one I could get but the cabinet has been painted, including the coin slots and coin door. Supposedly it works.

Must be an add a ball, because the Ball In Play goes up to ten.

-undrdog

Yes, it's an add-a-ball, and a good player. Several of the Williams reverse wedgeheads were add-a-balls, and they are all fun games.
Only "Wing Ding" had a replay counterpart ("Zig-Zag").

On Bank Shot, the WOW remains lit for the duration of the ball in play. The #1 roll over wow will stay lit for the remainder of the game, until a ball rolls over it.

Btw...JR, do you still have that Ship Ahoy available?

Triple Action is convertable to add-a-ball. Way fun!
Expressway is not AAB.

So is Sky Kings !

We had a "Star Action" at the arcade. Same game, but no replay unit, white base color cabinet, and 10X the score values on the playfield.
Maybe a Bally expert can weigh in about "Expressway". I think the one we had at the arcade was an add-a-ball. Possibly some kind of conversion kit.
We also had a Gottlieb "Top Card" which was rigged to award extra balls via the replay counter. If you got the "Special" on early in the game, you could really
keep it going for a very long time, because the "Special" stays lit for the entire game. I had a game on it once that lasted about an hour and a half IIRC. I believe
it was the highest score ever on that game during it's time at that arcade. Something like 1,700,000+ (rolled it 17 times). We used to put a piece of masking tape with our name, high score and the date on the backglass replacing the previous one. It was a blast to surpass that previous high game especially when you first saw it posted and it seemed so out of reach!

Currently my favorite AAB is Team One. Though, I’ve switched it over to Novelty mode instead of AAB, where a WOW scores 50k points, and the game will count up to 2 million points with lights. I have a sign on it for league that simple says “3 balls, no whining”. It’s a ton of fun, but can make you want to punch it in the backbox (which means it’s perfect).

I own one. It's my fave Bally EM. If you played an add-a-ball, there must be a conversion kit I ain't heard about. The beauty of this game is you can go for points and/or specials. The specials (free games) are available on the playfield without draining, so you can rack 'em up.

Williams Smarty is the AAB version of Ding Dong. I love DD; haven't found a Smarty out this way yet. Would love one.

Got a "Smarty" years ago for $20. It was pretty decent, except the cabinet paint was badly flaking.
I passed it on to my brother who shopped it and did a quick repaint on it, and sold it at the Allentown show for a handsome profit.

"Dimension" is a great game, but can really bite you in the butt sometimes.
You can win a lot of extra balls on it, but you can lose them very quickly too.
"Astro" is another really fun add-a-ball game which I neglected to mention.

This is s different take, I like RZ AAB!!

I have three and like ‘em all: Flipper, Flipper Pool, and Melody.

Flipper is great because you can get extra balls with even chances throughout the game, from the opening plunge to your seemingly final desperation shot. The extra balls fit the magic theme of the game really well, because you “pick a card” through a rollover, then if you hit that card again for the free ball, it’s like the magician correctly guessing the card for the win. Then there’s the historical significance which is cool.

Flipper Pool and Melody are both great too. You have to build up a bit more to get the extra balls on these so the extra balls are a little harder to come by. Different personalities. I’ve enjoyed mixing up the settings to give a nice mix of challenge and reward.

Melody is flat out the most beautiful pin I’ve got in the stable and the family favorite around here. High marks of daughter/wife approval are sort of a bonus because I’m hoping it buys me a little extra sympathy for when the next pin comes through the door...

Dagnabbit! I ain't even seen one in the wild! Ding Dong is one of my fave games. Love the horseshoe and the word grid concept!

For some reason, "Melody" seems to have great appeal to the fairer sex.

Not a big AAB fan here, but my Spanish Eyes can be set up as one. This is my current favorite EM.

My GTB Home Run can keep me going for hours straight. Originally, I was looking for a Batter Up. It was a four year quest and I thought I would never find one, then an opportunity to play both and pick between them came to me. I decided on the Home Run. Both are great add-a-ball games. The difference is HR 3” flipper, BU 2” flipper, the PF is relatively the same.

Right now its a recently refurbished Williams Lady Luck. Doing the usual 100 games before a Review but can see why its highly rated. Yields well to nudging, Logical targets to manipulate a final "21" score and fast as snot when waxed. One of the few small flipper games I like, they are spaced correctly and respond with accuracy and snap.

I don't believe that's an add-a-ball machine.

Found Team One and Capt Card in Wisconsin and Gold Strick in Minnesota

Jungle King for the win! Fun game good shots, rip off Doc Suess art..what more do you need

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Lady Luck, while a fun game, is not AAB.

Dimension
Love drop target pins. I own two but will be selling one, probably in February.

I used to have Ship Ahoy and currently have Pleasure Isle. Both good fun games. I would love to play free fall and gold strike. Gotta love racking up super high scores on AAB games.

I have the schematic. It does not have the down-counting Balls To Play system. There are Ball In Play lights 1-5, and the reset for the Ball Count unit is tied into the whole-game reset. No signs of where a factory-designed kit would be installed, unlike some earlier games.

For historical context, among Bally 1-players, Red Max and El Toro use Ball IN Play, while Fore and Odds & Evens use Balls TO Play. So Expressway was slightly before they changed over to the AAB-friendly system.
.................David Marston

I'm not a Bally expert, but I think Expressway left the factory both ways. My add AAB version has the replay relay assembly wired, but no replay wheel and the backglass is blacked out in front with the factory silver coating on the reverse. I don't have the schematic where I can get to it, and some of the labels are missing in the backbox but I think the replay unit runs the aab function, adjusted by a little jones plug in the back box. As far as gameplay, I like the replay version better since you can only win and "save" one added ball at a time with the AAB mode, and score is the only incentive/reward once you have that, until it drains and you start over. Blair

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Thank you for posting that photo. I do recall our arcade's "Expressway" having that light on the card tray to indicate an extra ball. Replays were strictly forbidden at that time in NY, and I never ever once recall any machine anywhere which awarded a credit or replay for making the "Special". Maybe not your classic add-a-ball mode, but the feature was similar to the multi-player games which gave one free ball per ball in play (same player shoots again).

Funny, I thought someone would mention Majorettes. great AAB game.

We enjoyed playing a Gottlieb Stock Car AAB in Hartford, CT in the 70s. Only 350 made - I haven't seen one since then.

Intriguing! When you can get at the schematic, please post the project number. I wonder if your schematic says #897-A (mine says #897). If it does, IPDB will want that info.

It would be strange for them to use the replay counter for just a Same Player Shoots Again type of extra ball. Back in 1964, it was a full ball counter on the Happy Tour AAB game.
https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1119&picno=9129
Look at the center of the backglass.
.................David Marston

Love my Spot Pool

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Right.

Italian export version of "Bank Shot". Are there any major differences?
I have the backglass for it, but that's it.

unfortunately I sold it because of space issues but the buyer still has it and I have a "right to buy"" on it and that is Bally HAY RIDE. Rare at 150 made I think, with a fairly easy looking playfield thats harder then hell to complete. A real ball buster in that way. Someday I hope to buy it back but I would have to go get a building to keep them all which is NEVER accomplished!

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