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Game - for sale

For sale: Bally Gay Time bingo pinball machine (1955)

Added: 2022-07-02 18:43:19 UTC • Ended: July 30th, 2022
Condition: Partially restored (almost original)

Linked to game

Price

$ 975 (OBO)

Open for offers

I’ve got a terrific Bally Gay Time that I’m selling before moving to a smaller home. It presents beautifully and can be a focal point in any woodrail or bingo collection. Be sure to view my supplemental Pinterest photos and YouTube gameplay video; links are near the bottom.

All features and payouts work correctly; the game needs nothing. It has a nickel coin mech but is set for free play. The motors are pleasingly quiet. It comes with an original user manual and schematic. Neither shows any wear. I suspect they have never been used.

The backglass is original. It has small areas of touch-up (see photos) and several small spots of paint loss along the top. It is a gorgeous design, with each of the three dozen or so hearts outlined with delicate silvered lines. The colors are strong and vivid, with no fading. It looks gorgeous.

The playfield has almost no wear; it looks great. There is some lacquer loss in the lower ball lane, slightly more than typical. I’ve cleaned and waxed and detailed the playfield. I’ve polished the screws, plastics and springs around the playfield perimeter. The light posts are in great condition, with no burns or discoloration. The top left post has new red paint on its top that you probably wouldn’t notice if it wasn’t called out. The playfield has NOS score and instruction cards. I’ve installed new rubber throughout. The balls are new mirror-glazed. The knobs and buttons on the front rail are in great condition, with no loss of plating. The raised plate for the right-left buttons is a vintage operator addition.

The cabinet paint is original with areas of well-done touchup in multiple locations (see photos). The design really pops with bold colors. I believe that a prior owner lacquered the wood rails on the body and head. The lower wood rail on the head has a birthmark of unknown origin. I’m including a replacement rail with the game (see photos). I cleaned the legs and gave them a lacquer overcoat – they look great. I believe the leg levelers are original. If not, they are old. I installed period-correct ILCO locks on the front and rear doors. The two rear door locks are keyed alike. The original coin box is included.

Gay Time is the second of two Bally releases with the “magic pockets” feature that allows the player to shift balls in the first row right or left as many positions as desired. Combined with four “magic lines” on the backglass that permit the player to shift numbers up or down by one position, it provides lots of strategy, fun and tears. It’s so fiendish that I’ve always suspected that the design was cooked up by Albert Einstein on a 3-day meth bender. Gay Time also is Bally’s first release to use yellow and red scoring lines and what would become their wildly popular 3-L scores as 4-L feature. The first game with “magic pockets” is the more commonly-seen Gayety, also from 1955. Gayety has only three magic lines and lacks the yellow and red features that promote winners from 3-L to 4-L. If you want a pockets game, you want Gay Time. I had Gay Time on my want list for years before getting this one from collector Nick Baldridge. Before Nick, Vic Camp was the owner. Vic’s photos are used in the ipdb.org Gay Time entry.

Ask me anything about the game or come by to play it if you are local. I’m 15 miles south of I-90 at Lake Okoboji in northwest Iowa. If you need shipping, I’ve used Beltmann both as a buyer and seller, and with good results. I can hold the game with a deposit for several months if needed.

https://www.beltmannlogistics.com/solutions/coin-op-and-gaming/

Pinside album with many additional photos:

https://www.pinterest.com/o_time/gay-time/

YouTube gameplay video:

https://youtu.be/lUWKBqOszzI


Item photos

02 (resized).jpeg
01 Gay Time - nice view of full backglass and playfield (resized).jpeg
03 Gay Time lower 2-3 playfield. (resized).jpeg
04 Gay Time ball shooter lane (resized).jpeg
05 Gay Time - full left view (resized).jpeg
06 Gay Time left side of head (resized).jpeg
07 Gay Time left body #1 (resized).jpeg
08 Gay Time left body #2 (resized).jpeg
09 Gay Time right 3-4 view (resized).jpeg
11 Gay Time backglass - top (resized).jpeg
12 Gay Time backglass - center (resized).jpeg
13 Gay Time backglass - lower (resized).jpeg
13A Top of Bally Gay Time reverse-side backglass.  Their is touch-up along top left edge and two small roundish areas of paint l
13B Reverse side of Gay Time backglass - bottom half.  Shows red touch-up beneath extra balls section. (resized).jpeg
14 Gay Time birthmark on head lower rail (resized).jpeg
15 Extra wood rail for Gay Time to replace birthmarked rail. (resized).jpeg
16 Gay Time left playfield detail. (resized).jpeg
17 Gay Time playfield. (resized).jpeg
18 Gay Time playfield (resized).jpeg
19 Gay Time Magic Pockets panel on backglass (resized).jpeg
20 Gay Time head interior and control unit (resized).jpeg
20 Gay Time rear door with mixer unit (resized).jpeg
21 Gay Time front cabinet (resized).jpeg
22 Gay Time lower right playfield detail (resized).jpeg
23 Gay Time user manual and schematic (resized).jpeg
24 Gay Time lower backglass detail (resized).jpeg

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Note! This is an archived ad. No longer for sale!

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Item location

Seattle, WA, US

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