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Trivia and Factoids
Is there a Bally
Bingo called "Spotem"?
Link
I
This issue has been addressed on rec.games.pinball as well as in Chapter 7
of Jeffery Lawton Bally Bingo Pinball book
Posted on rec.games.pinball
03/27/2001 there is a thread between Lovemypins and Jeffery Lawton about a
machine Lovepins just purchased.
Lovemypins writes: I bought a bingo, now I need help! I have checked my complete
list of Bally and United bingos and 'Spotem' doesn't appear on either of
them?
Jeffery Lawtons response: His Spot-Em is really a Barrel of Fun with a
repro backglass. Look in my book and you will see his game in the
"Ohio Dime Game" chapter.
Matt needed to disassemble his Bingo to move it.
Rick and Bob came to the
rescue in this posting on 12/02 2001 on rec.games.pinball:
From: Rick: Matt, first of all, you'll need a helper...these Bingos are
much heavier than most, if not all pinballs. In fact, most of their weight
is in the head. After you find some help (and maybe remove the backglass
and put it somewhere for safety), open the back door; then disconnect
(unplug) the cable connectors that come up thru the body hole into the head
and push them into the body (you may want to mark them so they go back into
the correct terminal strips...if I remember right, they all should be
different lengths, but mark them to be safe); then, while your helper is
holding the head, take out the 4 large bolts WARNING, the head is top heavy
and will try to tip forward!). Now you can remove the head, then take off
the legs, then relocate your game. Reassemble in the reverse order. By the
way, this will work for any EM pinball machine and any SS pinball machine
that the head is not attached by a pivot/ hinge. Also, the SS machines
usually have to be opened from the front by removing the backglass, then
opening the lamp/ display insert board, then you can get to the circuit
board connectors and the head bolts.
From: Bob Herbison: Well you are going to need at least two strong, healthy
men (read no back problems) to get this done. As Rick previously noted, 90%
of the weight on a Bingo of this vintage is in the head. It is going to be
heavier than you could ever imagine.
One clarification on Rick's advice, he said to be careful when removing the
head bolts because the head would tip forward. Actually it is going to tip
what I would call backwards, that is to say away from the playfield. This
is because you will have the door open and there is quite a bit of hardware
mounted on the door. That coupled with the fact of the lever effect of the
door hanging out there in space can make things get out of control in a
hurry!
Let's clear this up; There were two kinds of ball shooters - metal and
chrome?
From: smddms@my-deja.com on rec.games.pinball
Date: 1999/07/19
Hi, I am looking for an early 50's Bally Bingo ball shooter rod bezel. The
part has a round pyramid shape and mounts on the outside of the cabinet in
front of the ball shooter rod and spring. It is usually red in color. Does
anyone know where I can get this part? Steve
Response from WACKO172: All of these that I have seen are chrome metal. A
plastic ball shooter housing in the '50 's? I have the metal ones. But you
have to tell me whether or not it has a hole in it or not for the ball lift
lever.
smddms follows up: Dave, the part is actually metal and was found on the first
4 or 5 bingo models produced (1951-1952). On subsequent designs it was
changed to the chrome piece that you are describing. I put a picture of the
part I am looking for at: http://members.aol.com/smddms/bezel.jpg Thanks,
Steve
Is there such a thing as Solid-State Bingos?
Dan Leach writes: Belgium, Spain, Taiwan, and Japan have all made them and
it also looks like Bally made a limit run:
From: ecorl@cbclegal.com - dated: 1997/05/08
Bally made one solid state Bingo. The entire production run, ~1000 units,
was shipped to Belgium. None were offered for sale in the U.S. The name of
the game was 'Continental'. The Bally model number was 1195E. Several
Belgian and Spanish companies have attempted to produce their own Bingos
and some have shown up in the U.S. but they seem plagued with problems.
Belgium Bingos follow-up - dated: 1997/11/12
A while back somebody asked if bingo games were still being made, and I
responded that I'd seen an ad but no longer had it. In this month's AB
Europe magazine there was an ad for Wimi Games in Belgium and their latest
bingo product "Royal Seven." According to the ad the product is a
solid state game with sound, speech, and multiple alphanumeric displays.
The art is very simple - a playfield much like the old style bingos, and
with 7 bingo cards there's not much room on the backglass for any art other
than the logo. The cabinet looks to be made of varnished wood, with a
chrome lockdown bar with A-B-C-D-E buttons on the left and two buttons on
the right (though one might be a lock - hard to tell). The coin door looks
like a black pinball style door, only it features an extra ball button in
its upper left corner and a start button in its upper right corner.
As for features, it looks like it has a ton (as the last solid state games
did) - magic number, super lines, diamond patterns, various scoring
features, extra balls, etc. Of course in a modern solid state game each one
of these features doesn't add extra weight to the game! :)
These guys have a website and their ad also advertises that they have
"All kinds of second hand bingo machines." The ad also gives
Eurautomat as their address, Tel +32 (53) 83.94.94.
Other than the ad I know nothing about this company, as well as nothing
about shipping games to/from Europe.
Follow-up dated: 1999/10/15
Solid state Bingo's are still being made in Belgium. Comes in
"traditional" looking, (fake)oak cabinets. Yes, I agree there's
magic missing. It's a great feeling when you take a 600-1200 credit win,
ticking up 1 credit at the time(takes ages)! Now there's a 2 second beep
and it's all over. Cairgp@remrod.demon.co.uk
Do the motors always run on these machines?
From Jim Stratton on rec.games.pinball Date 1995/07/17
I have a Bally Surf Club bingo. The Control unit motor and the Mixer unit
motor run continuously while the game is in progress......is this normal?
The schematic shows that unless the game is tilted the motors continue to
run. Seems hard on the motors.....must be durable. Also, what is a reflex
unit.....does it keep things random????
Steve Pazar responds: Jim, I believe that the Control, and Mixer motors do
run continuously DURING a game. They should shut down when a game is
completed, or tilted. The Reflex unit is indeed a 'randomizer'.
Are there any other
games built with Bingo parts?
Link II -
Queen machines, Link III
- Fun Cruise, and Link IV
- Twin Joker
In Russ Jensen's article titled "Inside your Bingo" he alludes to
the "one-ball horse race" machines and that Bingos were initially
built off of the same circuitry.
Here Micheal Sands references another:
Fun
Cruise, had the best sling shots ever on a game! I am restoring a Bingo,
Silver Sails. I also got a Fun Cruise by Bally. This game was made using
bingo parts, but was a ruse to allow gambling machine parts to be
transported across state lines. The game uses bingo parts through out but
is not a bingo.
Fun Cruise has no flippers. There are mushroom targets scattered around the
center of the game and funny plastic targets on the sides. The targets are
all numbered from one to 13. There are 15 flags in the back box,
corresponding to all the numbers, plus two. The final two flags can only be
lit by a random pattern for a capture hole, located in the bottom center of
the playfield.
So, no flippers. You shoot the three balls, watch them bounce around, and
finally drain. The game then adds up your flags and gives you replays for
flags beyond eight or nine.
As you can see the Queen machines were also Bingo related, Bob Ellingson
writes:
Beauty
Contest is a 1950s Bally machine that is known to us old timers as a
"Queen machine". This is because it usually had 15 females
dressed in sun or bathing suits on the backglass. The game, at the time of
release, was rumored to be a slick way for Bally to send repair/replacement
parts into various locales for their (then) much maligned Bingo machines.
It does not seem like a realistic rumor though, because the games are
mechanically bare bones as compared with their Bingo brothers, with little
if anything that can be used to repair a Bingo. The game itself is a
one-ball game that has no flippers, but instead has 2 strong sling bumpers
at the bottom of the playfield arch and a spotter saucer hole (tags number
lit) in the center of the playfield. The idea is to light a certain number
(operator adjustable) of "queens" and be paid a progressively
larger multiple of the cost of the game. Outside of the gambling aspect it
gets boring pretty fast, but is a fine example of the unusual pins Bally
was into in the 1950s. I do have one in my collection in and would be
pleased to answer any questions you might have.
Dan Leach writes: On my Odds and Ends pages I show a Twin Joker machine
that was likely spare parts as well as a non-obvious Crosswords Bingo
Were these Bingo really illegal in some states?
From: Russel Willoughby (russel@iglou.com)
Subject: Re: PINBALL ILLEGAL ?
Date: 1996/02/10
Yes, pinball was illegal in many places in the U.S. during the '60s and
early '70s. Flipper pinball was often confused with bingo machines, which
_were_ predominantly used for gambling. (If you racked up a bunch of credits
on a bingo, you could usually "exchange" them for a cash prize.)
Laws were (and still are) different everywhere; replays are still illegal
in NYC and many other cities.
I doubt that many people were ever arrested for playing pinball, but a lot
of machines were confiscated and destroyed, and I'm sure some operators and
distributors had to pay fines and/or serve jail time for dealing in pinball
and bingo machines. In the eyes of the law in many cities, these machines
fell into the same category as slot machines and roulette wheels, and were
treated accordingly.
Haven't you ever heard of Mayor LaGuardia?
Russel Willoughby
russel@iglou.com
What's the biggest payout ever on a Bingo?
From: Donellllll
Subject: Biggest payouts on 5 & 10 cent pins
Date: 2000-12-17 11:19:10 PST
Old timers memory test. What is the biggest cash payout you ever got on a
nickel or /dime pinball and howl? Please separate Bingos from 5 ball
"score" games. Score- .05-- $.45 (9 hit on 1949 Melody-Super
special when lit hit). Bingo -.10 - $32 equivalent in Belgium Francs. 5 in
a line doubled on a Bingo. I'm sure others can easily top these hits.
Anybody ever hit the $45 "Feature" on a one ball? What's your
best?
Best holiday memories,
Don L.
From:
okorange@my-deja.com Phil
Bogema
Subject: Re: Biggest payouts on 5 & 10 cent pins
Date: 2000-12-27 19:50:15 PST
On the bingos, the best hit I ever had was something around 1,000 nickels.
It was on a 20
holer and I remember the game was Safari; I hit the number 4 to win, but I
don't remember what the exact hit was. Getting old, I guess.
My dad (who is 82 now) has been telling a story for years that we're all
sick of now. He went into a drugstore in Maryland in about 1944, put a
nickel in a one ball machine, and hit for 900 games. He doesn't know the
name of the machine, but he asked some kid if they paid out. The kid said
"If they know you." My dad said, "For 5 bucks you know
me," and cleared 40 dollars out of the deal!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!
... dollar, that is a pretty good deal. I know that the 25-hole pinball
machines certainly
never paid back 75 cents on the dollar. Gosh, you were lucky if you got ...
Link
V - Williams True Bingo
The only "True Bingo" made by Williams?
From an interview between Russ Jensen and Harry Williams
My next phone call to Mr. Williams occurred a little over a year later, on April
2, 1979. I first asked Harry if he knew which company first originated the
"match feature"? He replied he thought it might have been United,
or possibly Keeney, remarking that Keeney designer Mel Binks was a good
designer. He then said that his ex-partner Sam Stern might remember, but
that he himself was not sure. I then asked Harry if he remembered the
pingames made by Williams in the early 1950's, which had a "bingo
format". He replied he remembered them producing LONG BEACH (the only
true "bingo pinball" made by Williams).
Just how tall are legs on these Bingos?
rec.games.pinball Date: 1998/10/07
Hi Gang: Just obtained a Hi Fi Bingo and installed the wooden legs. As I
sauntered up to the pin, it appears to sit much higher than my other pins including
another Bingo with metal legs, set up near it. Even the flipper buttons
feel uncomfortably high. So......the question is..... what is the proper
length in inches) for the wooded legs on a 1950s Bingo machine?
Response: I have a '51 Bally Coney Island bingo and it has about 30
1/2" legs, making the game about 37" to the top of the lock down
bar.
But on my '51 Gottlieb Cyclone I have 33 1/2" legs making it about
40" to the top of the bar and it looks kinda tall so I don't know
where these legs came from or what the correct size is.
Are Bingo balls non-magnetic or magnetic?
rec.games.pinball Date: 2001-02-22 10:12:08 PST
Keneye wrote: I am not a Bingo guy but I have heard original Bingo balls
were non magnetic? Does anyone know if that is true? Ken
Response: Bingo balls as originally supplied were non-magnetic and usually
stainless steel. The reason is that bingos were often used as gambling
machines (despite what the manufacturers said...). If the balls were
magnetic cheating would be pretty easy!
Steve
Response: Yes, they are non magnetic. Jeffrey Lawton
One method of working around the gambling issue of the "free play
meter"
Link
VI - Work Around
A little trivia from Raymond Watts: The bingo machines did not pay out
cash, but had a replay meter that could be knocked off and unused credits
redeemed. An attack was made against the bingos because of the free play
meter. Not even amusement pinballs were supposed to award free games. The
operators masked the replay meter with a two-way mirror. Normally one could
not read the value on the meter. Two small brass screws were placed on the
lower front cabinet that when bridged with a nickel would complete a
circuit to a light behind the mirror allowing the meter to be read.
Where can we play Bingo in San Fransico?
From: cjwells_98@yahoo.com
Subject: Bingo Machines
Date: 2000/11/20
Interesting find - we were traveling bar to bar today looking for new
places to play pinball in San Francisco, and we came across Club 93, @ 93
9th Street. A very traditional looking, wood floor, big, dark bar,
generally aging clientel. Went in looking for pinball, and found three
bingo machines. A 1952 United Mfg. Co. Show Boat, and two 1955 Triple
Play's. 25 cents each play, all in great condition. Show Boat had some
peeling in the backglass, but the Triple Play's were great. It was great to
see these things still working, and on a location - in the perfect setting
for them.
Subject: Re: Bingo with Skill Shot Feature?
Author Unknown:
Posted on rec.games.pinball on Date: 2000/08/30
Nashville has a double double score feature on the 11th coin it lights a
random number 7 25 18 9 1 if you get the lit whole the scoring is 4X
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