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This is a
copy of an article written some years ago by Russ Jensen, whom was kind
enough to contact me and pass it along so I could proudly share it here with you.
Although these machines are not Bingos, it looks like their whole purpose was to transport bingo parts across state lines after the
Bingos became illegal, in order to service those machines........ THE
'QUEENS' GAMES series of unique pingames which
employed 'number sequences' as a major game objective. Like the
"bingos", these machines had no flippers, but in all other respects
resembled an amusement pinball. With one exception, BEAUTY CONTEST, the names
of all these games contained the word
"queens", and for this reason I refer to them as the "Queens
Games". The other games in this series were: BEACH QUEENS, BEAUTY
QUEENS, TROPIC QUEENS, and ISLAND QUEENS. These numbers were lit by hitting
bumpers, etc, on the playfield. Lighting various amounts of these 'girls' (it
was how many numbers, not which ones that counted) would
result in different amounts of replays being awarded to the skillful player. Some of these games allowed the
player only 1 ball and others two or five. I have heard it rumored that one of
the reasons Bally came out with these games was to enable them to legally
ship "bingo" parts, since the Korpran Decision in 1957 had
declared "bingo pinballs" to be gambling devices subject to the
Johnson Act. Whether or not this is true I can not say, but at any
rate, the Bally "Queens Games" were an interesting addition to the
parade of "sequence pingames" over the years. tradition. This game was called FUN
CRUISE and Bally's brochure for it stated "by popular demand! Old
favorite, 'lights out' scoring." This game had 15 numbered flags on
the backglass which could be made by hitting bumpers, targets, or a
"mystery spotting" kickout hole. In addition to the numbers it
also had the standard point scoring typical of the flipper games of the
period. the happy arts of nudging, tapping,
and body English....speedy action of 3 sling-shot activated balls which
deliver twice the excitement, suspense and
satisfaction of 5 'flipper flapped' balls." And, a few months later,
Bally introduced a similar machine called DELUXE FUN CRUISE with many
of the same features, plus a "mystery spotting" thumper bumper. So
even in the mid-sixties pinball players could
still play a real old-fashioned "number sequence" flipperless
pingames.
In the early 1950s a law called the
"Johnson Act" was passed in the USA which made it illegal to ship
gambling equipment from one state to another unless the state to which it was
shipped allowed such equipment under it's laws. It was not until several
years later, however, that the Supreme Court declared that bingo pinballs
were considered gambling equipment and hence subject to the Johnson Act. This
law not only applied to complete machines but also to spare parts and
documentation connected with the machines. It was therefore illegal to ship
bingo parts, schematics or manuals for that matter, into states in which
bingos were illegal. So Bally created a series of similar games, most with
the word "Queens" in the name, such as BEAUTY CONTEST, BEACH
QUEENS, ISLAND QUEENS, TROPIC QUEENS, BEAUTY QUEENS. The story goes that
Bally created these "Queens games" using bingo parts, and since
these games did not fall under the gambling equipment definition of the
Johnson Act, the parts could also be shipped and the operator could use them
to fix bingos which they were still operation even though they were illegal
in that area. So I have been told by Russ Jensen,
the renowned American pinball collector and historian, in his last letter;
interesting indeed! I decided it was time for a closer look at my BEAUTY
CONTEST (1960 Bally, game number 641) and to share my knowledge with others.
After all, it seems I'm one of the few lucky people to own one of these
games! Luckily enough, I obtained some time ago, a copy of the schematic and
manual from Dennis Dodel (former editor of the "Pinball Trader"-
thanks, Dennis!) Now let's look at the game. The cabinet is different from those
normally used in pinballs; almost all of the mechanisms are in the back
cabinet, accessible by a swinging door, just like the one used in bingos.
Inside, although much more empty, it looks like a bingo; all the parts used
are the same as you find inside those gambling games! Even the coin door is of the bingo
type. There is only one red button on it which is used to play the credits
(apart from the one used for slug rejection). The front wooden moulding
(which is removed to pull out the playfield glass) is of the more
conventional type and has no button. But, wait a minute! There's another door
which is smaller than the coin door on the left side! And what is that coin
unit inside the cabinet which is otherwise empty, except for the usual tilt
assemblies to the right of the main switch? A quick look at the diagram
uncovers this mystery. The operator can choose a
percentage of coins which, through a solenoid-operated diverter placed in the
coin chute, (called "Auto-Mission coin-divider" in the flyer), fall
inside an extra cash-box inside the left door. This percentage may vary from
one coin for every two inserted, up to one for every six inserted. The backglass shows a modern (by
60s standards) looking hotel, with the windows showing the scores from 1,000
to 9,000 and from 10,000 to 90,000. The scores are back-lighted, as is usual
in the games from that era. There are 11 girls wearing swimsuits in the
backglass, standing by a swimming pool placed in front of the hotel. Two
palm-trees are in the background. A bingo-type, three digit replay
counter is also present. The backglass is completed by the usual
"Tilt" light but there are no match numbers or ball-to-play
indications. The "Game Over" lamp is linked to a light on the right
of the playfield bottom arch which says "Deposit Coin". Otherwise,
if you have at least one credit, another label says "Push Red Button to
Play Replays". The playfield graphics are very
nice, reflecting the backglass, showing a closer look at that swimming pool
with three girls taking a dip with an inflatable sea-horse. There are no
flippers, one thumper bumper, nine "dead" bumpers (numbered one to
nine). Also, there are two strange
slingshots which use two coils instead of one. They work in this way: the
main coil (115 volts) is energized through the usual playfield switches,
providing the slingshot action and remaining latched; but quickly the other
coil unlatches the first. These slingshot assemblies are more powerful than
the normal ones we usually find in a flipper-type pinball. They are capable
of shooting the ball to the upper zone of the playfield. Not bad, in a game
without flippers! An eject-hole is present in the center which is the type
usually found in Bally games built some years later, with automatic
ball-return. Yes, this game actually HAS automatic ball return! And not a
motorized ball lift like on Bingos, there is a normal ball-return eject hole,
identical to the one described above! Hitting any of the numbered bumpers
lights the corresponding girl on the backglass. A close look at the inside
wiring discovers that girls 10 and 11 are tied together (kinky, eh!) so in
truth, there are only ten girls to be lit. These two figures (10 and 11) can
only be spotted by entering the eject hole in the middle of the playfield. In
fact, this eject hole can spot any two of the 11 girls. You can change the
current "girl to be spotted" by hitting any contact on the
playfield. Only trouble is the eject hole is aimed directly at the out-hole
and, as you have only one ball per play, this is something to beware of! Now for a look at the scoring. Four
rubber rebounds score 1,000 as does the thumper bumper. The dead bumper and
the eject hole score 5,000. These points can be useful for competitions, but
no award is baséd on the scoring. What you really need to do is to spot the
girls. At the end of the game, a minimum of six girls lit, awards two
replays. If you have seven lit you get four replays, eight awards eight
replays, nine girls awards 20 replays and all 11 girls lit awards 100 to 180
replays!! Replays can only be played. It's
not possible, like on bingos, to buy extra balls, change the odds, etc. Note
that turning off the machine resets all the remaining credits. Considering
that usually no one would have the will to play something like 180 games,
this is obviously provided for the benefit of the operator, to permit him to
pay to the player the value of the remaining credits and then subtract them
from the machine. The left side door can be very
useful in this context. The owner can give the operator keys to the left door
only, to permit payment of credits with coins taken from this secondary cash
box without having to give access to the main cash box and the inner
mechanisms. Considering the whole game, it
plays very fast, due to the fact that there is only one ball per play and no
flippers. I don't think Bally built it only for providing spare parts for
bingos: BEAUTY CONTEST is very well thought out. It is a real gambling
machine, very different from the usual bingos or slot machines. I believe it
was only by chance that these kind of games were permitted in countries where
other gambling machines were not allowed. These games were built, mainly with
bingo parts, to allow the operator to indirectly order replacement parts for
their unauthorized machines by ordering spares for the "queens"
games. If Bally really wanted to send forbidden spares (or complete games) to
other countries, I believe they could have found a more efficient way. First of all, a game built with
this in mind should have had many more parts inside of the same type used in
bingos. There should be more motors, for example, like the motorized ball
lift on bingos. Along this line there should not be two eject holes, a device
that wasn't even installed in normal pinball machines. Another system Bally
could have used is the one used today by Tecnoplay (Republic of San Marino,
inside Italy). In 1988 they sold a pinball called SPACE TEAM. If you notice,
there are more buttons on the cabinet then are found on simple pinball games.
In fact, by simply changing the backglass and making some minor adjustments
the game could become a real bingo, forbidden to be sold in Italy! My final argument in favor of my
thesis is that I found my BEAUTY CONTEST here in Italy, where it was normally
distributed as a gambling machine. Okay, in 1960 in Italy, every gambling
machine was theoretically forbidden (as they are today), and even normal
pinballs were fighting for survival. (Later only no-replay games were
allowed). But it was possible, if necessary, to order any spare parts needed.
So why send a game here, only to allow access to Hforbidden" spare
parts, parts which were only outlawed in a few states of the USA? ~
~
January 26th, 1960 <<<Associated Links>>> http://danny.cdyn.com/bcontesta.htm http://danny.cdyn.com/queens2.htm ~
I’d love to hear from someone with one of these please! ~
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Does She
Or Doesn't She - By Federico Croci - Bolonga, Italy - 
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Of course I started looking around and ended up stumbling across this little
– It’s a flyer from Italy for Italy ~
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