For Amusement Only Em And Bingo Pinball Podcast

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

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).

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. Here are some examples of Phil's excellent restoration work:  

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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!

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:http://www.ebay.com/sch/biggie36/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

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.

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.

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!

Replay games can all be set to free play very simply (pretty much).  Find the switch or switches that tell the game you're at max credits and jump it out of the circuit.

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.

New score and instruction cards are a great way to increase the attractiveness of your game. Instructions for how to print and cut out cards, and affix them to the apron (if there are not dedicated holders).

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!

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!

Bally's Spot-Lite was the third bingo game that Bally produced after the one-ball era had ended in 1950.   Spot-Lite has the first use of Pick-a-play in a Bally bingo (although the button colors are slightly different), and has the first use of spotted numbers in a bingo.   The internals are unique for a bingo as well - the control unit and several steppers are contained in a board inside the cabinet, similar to the one-balls rather than Coney Island (the second bingo off the line). A beautiful single card game with extra balls and a corners feature. Yet another I'd love to play.  Up to five numbers can be spotted independently - one of which is my favorite/least favorite number: 16, the center of the bingo card.