For Amusement Only Em And Bingo Pinball Podcast

EM and purely mechanical slot machines are very interesting creatures, mostly due to the way the mechanisms work together. I am highly impressed with anything that is purely mechanical, though some of the EM machines have unusual or captivating features. For this episode, I focus on two manufacturers, Bally and Mills.

Trade Stimulators were small countertop amusement devices - typically modeled after slot machines. These games would vend something similar to a gumball or other small trinket - to skirt gambling laws.  The gameplay was typically gambling.  If the slot came up a winner, you would notify the bar owner or shopkeep and win a free beer or other prize, or in some cases, a payout. For amusement only, indeed!

Magic Pockets are a unique under playfield mechanism, only used on two Bally Bingos in 1955 - Gayety and Gay Time.  These bingos allowed you to reposition balls in the top row of the bingo playfield (numbers 1-7). If this wasn't enough, these machines also had the magic lines feature that allowed you to reposition numbers on the backglass.  This allowed for the ability to make some great winning combinations.

Gottlieb was famously against payout games, however in 1951, they produced a bingo style game with a throwback playfield. There are several interesting and unusual features in this game, which are detailed within!

Most of the big amusement manufacturers made EM rifle games, some early examples with lighted scoring, and most with score reels. These games are very interesting in the way they present the targets to the player vs. what is actually happening inside the game. Adjustments, game mechanics and cabinet style are discussed.

In 1955, Bally experimented with their payout game formula, making an attractive and innovative game called "Crosswords". Crosswords is an interesting game - you put in coins to light additional puzzles on the backglass (up to four), then play your game - if you spell a word (max of four letters), you win replays.  You earn a multiplier-style reward if you also land a ball in one of two specially marked star holes. It is a very attractive and interesting game, and looks like a lot of fun to play.

James Willing of the Spooky Pinball Podcast's EM Dungeon segment (http://spookypinball.com/podcast) comes on to fill in my knowledge gaps on bowling games and their special modes and features, including ball bowlers and shuffle / puck bowlers.  Jim put up some photos of the United Skippy machine's glass on the EM Dungeon Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/emdungeon), which I will reshare on my Facebook as well.  https://www.facebook.com/foramusementonlypodcast

The Reflex Unit is shrouded in secrecy in bingos and horse racing games.  It acts as an auto-portioning circuit.  When you win on a bingo, it steps up, preventing the machine from granting you awards quickly.  Conversely, when you press the button to play off credits or put in money, the machine steps down. The connection between the hit Duran Duran song and this unit is also explained.

The super card was an additional feature on games with a single card.  It allowed you to shoot for a smaller 3x3 grid of numbers instead of the normal 5x5 grid.   The super card granted you 4-in-line scores instead of the normal 3-in-line for 3 in a row, so worth shooting for if it was lit.

Phil Bogema is a very good player from Colorado and Maryland.   He was able to max out credits on machines on route (900 credits) very quickly. Phil has a very analytical mind, and it was fascinating to talk to him about his playing days and play style. He also was active on the Old Binger forums before they went down, and has restored many bingos. His stories on Danny's site (danny.cdyn.com) are very interesting, and recommended reading.

Terry DeZwarte, of www.pinballlife.com and dayonepinball.com fame, has recreated the 1934 Pacific Amusement Co (PAMCO) game Contact Master as Scoregasm Master.  Scoregasm Master retains the gameplay and features of the 1930s game, but adds beautiful new artwork, a great cabinet (with wooden legs!), and some minor solid state changes. It is great to see the great gameplay of the 30s pingames return with Scoregasm Master. Unfortunately, the first 15(ish) minutes of the audio are a little rough. Stick with it, good stuff! We discuss some of the differences between this modern game and the original, the return of the pedastal-style tilt mechanism, reliability, scoring techniques and the open source nature of the game. If you would like to purchase a Scoregasm Master, contact terry@pinballlife.com - these are an incredibly limited quantity, and likely no more will be made! For those attending the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown next week, there will be a Scoregasm Master at the show - check it out!

Taylor Reese, a local collector and one of the hosts of the One and Done Pinball Podcast comes on and I try to convince him to pick up an EM flipper game. Taylor provides a service called Reese Rails, where he manufactures new oak playfield rails.  You can find him on Facebook under Reese Rails, or message him on pinside.com at TaylorVA to get the conversation started.  You can see some of his excellent work on the Oak Replacement Playfield Rails thread on pinside at https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/oak-replacement-playfield-rails-wh2o-and-taf-ready-to-ship-or-york He also is very active on Instagram as @richmondpinball, and also is one of the members/league runners of the River City Flippers.  You can see league happenings at richmondpinball.org You can also hear his thoughts on Wizard of Oz on the latest Pinball Podcast, episode 56 - http://www.thepinballpodcast.com/2015/05/26/episode-56-ding-dongle-the-wizard-is-dead

Older games (from the 30s-40s-50s) used coin slides instead of gravity-fed coin slots.  This episode explains how to manipulate them, and remove and clean them.  I also discuss some of the downsides to coin slides.

How to clean and care for your score reels.  Note that this is only my method, but by following these steps, I've never had an issue!  Last in my series of 6 episodes on score reels.

Some score reels have PCBs attached - what do they do?  Why would a game with mechanical scoring need a circuit board?  Find out here! Episode 5 in a series on score reels.

Some of the differences between various makes and models of score reels.  Gottlieb Decagons in various formations, and other oddities.  Episode 4 in a series on score reels.

Episode 3 in a series on score reels.  What are the pieces that actually hold a score reel together?  How do they work together and change state?

How do score reels function?  Pt. 2 in a series on score reels.  As a continuous stepper with pictures instead of rivets!

What is a score reel?  This and other questions will be answered.  Score reels were first used in the 1950s, and continued to be used through most of the 1970s.

Early pinball machines from the 1930s, all the way through the 40s and into the 50s, used a method of keeping score that was unique to the era.  "Lighted scoring" was a way for the game to show you your score and to keep track of your current score for the purpose of awarding replays.  I describe how lighted scoring is controlled, and the similarity between it and its successor, the score reel.