For Amusement Only Em And Bingo Pinball Podcast

Acapulco is Bally's second (and last) Magic Numbers game.  These games have a set of 2x6 numbers on a chain that operate in a similar fashion to Magic Squares.  These are disabled before you shoot your fourth ball or via the extended time tree, before fifth or after fifth. On top of this feature, the game allows for up to 1200 replays on a single game, and brings back the Ballyhole (though it is not marked as such on the playfield).   Several interesting and unique or almost unique features, a beautiful playfield, cabinet and backglass round out the package.

Bingo legs have a hidden feature that could save your game or your life - there is an extra plate welded in towards the top of the leg to add strength and prevent collapse.   Inspect your metal bingo legs carefully to ensure that the extra plate is installed or the game could come crashing down!

I worked on a customer's Bikini today, and spent some time cleaning and troubleshooting.  The technician that worked on this game on location made a variety of interesting tweaks and apparently documented very well.  Unfortunately, the documentation did not survive.   Listen as I go through the troubleshooting process I used to figure out what was wrong and how to correct.

Happy Halloween everyone! Midway's Mystery Score is one of the few pitch and bat games that are not themed after baseball.  It has a monster theme, with artwork filled with small jokes and interesting details.   Two sets of score reels to keep track of a single player game?  It's true, and unusual.  Red and Green score separately, each with their own threshold for free games.  

Setting bingos on free play is actually relatively straightforward - there are really only two major differences during the entire Bally run. One thing I believe I forgot to fully flesh out: The 'anti-cheat' switch that I reference is also known as the anti free-play switch, and is located on the left (or numerically high) side of the replay register.  

How do you put your wedgehead into free play?  I have a few suggestions.   My main recommendation does not require an additional switch, however, there are several ways, depending on the era and type of circuit used to count coin drops. A few are listed here!

Chad is a fellow EM collector with a Bally Beach Club bingo in his collection. After experiencing the bingo row, he is now looking for another great bingo game for his collection. He is a heck of a nice guy, with a love for the mechanical aspects of these fantastic machines. I hope he's playing a new bingo soon!

Bally's Yacht Club used a mechanism that was not used in any other bingo! The numbers on the backbox are arranged in a 9x5 grid.  By default, the second through the sixth column of numbers are surrounded by a yellow border.  This is the card you are playing for. If you earn the feature, you can move those yellow lines to surround a different set of 5x5 numbers!  This changes the makeup of each row as you move the surrounds. In my mind this is the precursor to the Magic Screen - just less expensive! It was likely confusing for new players, which may have been why it was never used again.

Run down of the items that had issues before/at York in Bounty and how I plan to correct.  Disassembly and reassembly of magic screen, lubricating clutches, checking all steppers and re-cleaning them.  Replay register tear down, clean and rebuild, and more. Basically, finishing the rest of the shop job that I started on this game when I got it.

In 1962, the Magic Screen games were kings of bingo production.  During this time, Bally experimented with a new way to use the same mechanism - instead of sections that allow for different scoring, what if the player could control the makeup of the bingo card, one column at a time. Seemingly a natural evolution to the typical ways that a player can control the makeup of their cards, this method was never repeated by Bally. A single button game, another unusual feature of "The Twist" was that the player was notified what their next coin would do: advance one of the sets of odds or advance the 'magic cards' feature. Another game I'd love to play one day.

Magic Screen Units, when misaligned, exhibit certain symptoms which will help you diagnose (and correct) the problem.

Exhibit's Mystery is a beautiful sequence game. A masquerade theme, with mystery kick out awards. Complete sequences 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12 to light three different playfield specials. Gorgeous backglass and playfield artwork with fantastic lightboard design and a great stencil round out the package.

Magic Squares units are a really neat moving numbers feature. After working on a few games with this feature, I really appreciate their simplicity in design.

You've got the whole thing apart... now what?  Follow these instructions and you'll get it back together quicker than you might think. 

Now that you have the thing apart, you should be able to clean it!  Be very careful of what and how you apply cleaning agents to the reels, the numbers like to move with the cleaner.   Tomorrow we'll talk about how to put the whole thing back together.

Disassembly and cleaning of the replay register is very important for correct operation of any multi-replay game (such as a bingo or upright arcade/slot). There are many small pieces to keep track of on this unit.  Pay attention to the direction from which you remove the main shaft!  Only one reel is keyed and you will break the reel if you are not paying attention.

United's Jones Plug design is fairly unique in the world of pin games.  The parallel rows of male pins are replaced by a single inline package, with pins that wrap around the edge of the plate. Cool!  And infuriating!

An interesting idea for a new feature on a bingo is incorporated in this 20 hole game: by earning a 'Gate' feature, the player can swing the rebound rubber out of the way and get to the second row of holes easily. The rest of the game does not look incredibly appealing - it is low-scoring and has no extra ball feature, and no Red Letter game.

Pretty self-explanatory - don't use Vaseline on any motor on an EM.  Was used during World War II to keep games going, but hardens into cement!  If your game has Vaseline on any motor, it will need to be removed.

Adam from the One and Done Pinball Podcast calls in to ask a question about how to determine if a spring needs to be replaced and how to know what kind of spring to order. Parts catalogs are invaluable for EM games.