For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast Feed

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=
Episode 248 - My EM Happenings week of 11-9-15


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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!
Episode 249 - Interview with Todd MacCulloch 11-11-15


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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.
Episode 250 - 1951 United Leader


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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.
Episode 251 - 1974 Bally Miss America '75


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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).
Episode 252 - 1931 Bingo Novelty and Gottlieb Bingo


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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.
Episode 253 - 1932 Bally 3-Ring Circus


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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.
Episode 254 - 1931 Gottlieb Baffle Ball


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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.
Episode 255 - 1932 Genco Buster Ball


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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:
Episode 256 - Interview with Phil Bogema 11-15-15


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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).
Episode 257 - High Tap


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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.
Episode 258 - My Troubleshooting Technique


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Oklahoma is a conversion game by United. Flipperless sequence game with a super special kickout at the bottom center of the playfield. Beautiful backglass artwork and interesting bumper orientation make this a fun looking game!
Episode 259 - 1944 United Oklahoma


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Super-Zeta was a rehash of the earlier Zeta with the addition of a backbox. Super-Zeta is another proto-bingo with the roulette style tub. This looks less appealing to play as the ball doesn't travel around the playfield, nor is the bumper in the center a pop, merely a spring bumper.
Episode 260 - 1938 Stoner Super-Zeta


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In 1951, Chicago Coin created a game around a hit record 'The Thing'. Roy Parker created a fantastic art package with great integration of the theme. Every aspect of the song is found in the artwork and gameplay. The backglass tells the entire story from the song, while the playfield tasks you with collecting the 'thing' by shooting a box in the center of the playfield. One of the best ideas is the special noise that the pops make as the score motor rotates at intervals - Boom... Boom Boom. Thanks to Bruce Zamost for permission to use portions of his writeup and his photos - photos to be found on our Facebook or Instagram pages. One version of the song on which this game is based can be found on Youtube. Happy 'Thing'sgiving!
Episode 261 - 1951 Chicago Coin Thing


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We get a call on the bingos line - a listener wants to know how to safely work on a machine that has no on/off toggle switch, and how you can identify these machines.
Episode 262 - Listener Question - Finding the Power


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I finally found it! The game I've been trying to remember for almost 1/2 of a year! This is the first example of a game with player-controlled kicking rubbers (or slingshots). Fun basketball theme, with some interesting ideas in the artwork as well as the gameplay.
Episode 263 - 1949 Chicago Coin Champion


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United's Brazil has an interesting feature: the ability to spot up to three different numbers on three different rows! This game also features extra ball play, a single set of advancing odds, the United style of extended time tree, corners scoring, Lite-a-name (for an instant 5-in-a-line winner!), and the Pennant feature for earning your first extra ball automatically. With so many ways to win, why does this look like such a fun game? Because of how the features work together - I'm sure that most wins are just out of reach, even with all of the help shown above. Beautiful Molentin artwork.
Episode 265 - 1956 United Brazil


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Bally's Bright Lights was the first production Bingo by Bally in the post-1940s one ball horse race game world. Bright Lights is a straightforward six card bingo with no additional features. It has gorgeous artwork, a manual ball lift, and fixed payouts that are different than the standard Bally six card payouts.
Episode 266 - 1951 Bally Bright Lights


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This was actually the second Bally bingo produced - but it was either only made as samples or for a very limited run. The true second bingo Bally produced was Coney Island (see a previous episode for info on that excellent game). Same straightforward gameplay as Bright Lights, however, only a single card instead of six. This game also contains the same excellent artwork as Bright Lights, except for the backglass. Gorgeous early bingo!
Episode 267 - 1951 Bally Broadway


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I missed uploading this in the correct order (first time that's happened in almost 300 episodes, I think I am doing ok ;)), so apologies if you just noticed that the episodes jumped from 267 back to 264. Zodiac is a 20 hole Mystic Lines bingo themed after the astrological signs of the zodiac (as one might guess). Some player-friendly features like mystery awarded score doubling or tripling in one color, along with the excellent red letter game and Star Zone play. Zodiac has some fantastic backglass artwork, and a neat cabinet stencil.
Episode 264 - 1966 Bally Zodiac


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Atlantic City was Bally's fourth production game, following Bright Lights, Coney Island, and Spot-Lite. Atlantic City was a slightly simpler game than Spot-Lite - a three card bingo with spotted numbers, extra balls, nice artwork and fixed payouts make this an interesting early bingo.
Episode 268 - 1952 Bally Atlantic City


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Bally's Palm Beach was the follow-on to Atlantic City. It brought back pick-a-play, advancing odds, and added rollover buttons. The rollovers would spot up to five numbers, and you could also earn spotted numbers through red or yellow button play. Between the five spotted numbers and three extra balls, you had the ability to light up to 13 different numbers on the bingo card! A single card bingo, this was also the first game to feature super cards - the super card is a 3x3 grid, where a 3-in-a-line scores the 4-in-a-line odds.
Episode 269 - 1952 Bally Palm Beach


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Special guest host, Fake Nick Baldridge, returns to the For Amusement Only airwaves to discuss a little known pingame manufacturer and their first release. Thanks again, FNB!
Episode 270 - Nantucket Nickel


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Frolics is a uniquely interesting six card bingo - it has both advancing odds and the extra ball feature! Looks incredibly challenging to earn a significant number of replays, as max payout without this game's unique feature (the superscore) is only 50 replays. With the superscore, your maximum for a 5 in a row hit is 200.
Episode 271 - 1952 Bally Frolics


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Baffle Card is a bingo-esque game from Gottlieb, made in October of the year before flippers were added to Humpty Dumpty. You light one of four cards on the backglass, and then attempt to get the largest set of numbers to earn special and extra specials via rollovers. One intriguing aspect is the concept of 'points' on this game. There are 5 point values, two of which are the same, and I suspect these would pay off. I've seen pics of the game and don't see any payout mechanism, but quite interesting. The head appears to have a knock off button mounted on the side, so it's possible that this would pay out nickels based on the number of points accrued per game. This is all high speculation, though! If anyone has any idea, please let me know.
Episode 272 - 1946 Gottlieb Baffle Card


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General chit-chat
Help Users
You can interact with the ChatGPT Bot in any Chat Room and there is a dedicated room. The command is /ai followed by a space and then your ? or inquiry.
ie: /ai What is a EM Pinball Machine?
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  • ChatGPT @ ChatGPT:
    @, As of my knowledge cutoff in 2023, the 1933 version of the film "Contact" does not exist. It seems there might be a confusion with the title or the year. The well-known film "Contact" is a science fiction drama released in 1997, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. It is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Carl Sagan.

    If you are looking for a different film from 1933 or a film with a similar title, please provide more details so I can assist you better. If you are indeed referring to the 1997 film "Contact," it is widely available on various streaming platforms, DVD, and Blu-ray.
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  • A (Guest) Alena:
    No I mean the 1933 version of the pinball Contact
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  • D @ DLWood:
    New to FP. I'm on Linux and using Lutris. Have installed FP from the Lutris repo. It does not have BAM support so I can only play non-BAM tables. Some of the tables show up w/o a playfield image...how do I fix that?
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