Sing Along tear down started - and that playfield is really rough. I located a different used playfield that should clean up ok. Very excited to rebuild this game.
Robo-Frenzy wiring continues, albeit slowly.
I speak about some repairs, including Shoot-A-Line and a Dixieland that just would not stay fixed, ending it with a Williams Skylab.
Finally, the Year of Flipperless has a new entry: 1946's Bally Double Barrel.
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=708
As usual, lots going on - I've begun work in depth in wiring Robo-Frenzy. All coils have power, but switches and steppers between still need to be wired. I also need to install a light board and wire lamps. Much of the game is driven by illuminated elements, so testing will not be much fun until I can see what I'm doing!
I've also taken the first step to making a Multi Horse Race game. These predecessors to the bingo pinballs are fascinating in their own right.
I also picked up a game that's been on my want list for many years: Gottlieb's Sing Along. Beautiful game with compelling gameplay.
Lastly, thanks to a user on the woodrail Facebook group, some of the interesting gameplay elements of 1941's Bally Fairmont are explained as the Year of Flipperless continues.
Jeff is an avid collector of pre-war pinball (games produced prior to WWII), coordinates the History of Pinball booth at the Texas Pinball Festival, and helps reproduce rare and unique parts for games where reproductions do not already exist.
The History of Pinball booth typically includes 15 playable machines from many pre-war collectors. This year's booth will be set up on March 16th-18th, 2018, at the Texas Pinball Festival in Frisco, Texas. (http://texaspinball.com for details).
You can see some of these beautiful games and the reproduction parts, as well as contact Jeff at www.facebook.com/prewarpinball
I finished working on a '72 Williams "Line Drive". Well, enough to play, but the crowd doesn't go wild!
Next, I talk a little bit about what I've been working on on Robo-Frenzy. Lots more to come.
Finally, I go over 1935's Pamco "Roto Lite". This is an excellent example of how forward-thinking Don Hooker was, and how he was already making his mark on the industry in the 1930s!
Thank you to Dennis for the suggestion!
Fox Hunt is done! Ryan came down and picked it up on a whirlwind trip. I filmed a short video of gameplay/features: https://youtu.be/TimlRylVL_Y
Also, I wrote up a Pinside thread with lots of photos!
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1940-chicago-coin-fox-hunt
Aside from this, I've been doing some repairs around town again, and had the pleasure to work on an original Shoot-A-Line. This particular one had some operator changes that contributed to its downfall, but will hopefully be scoring again soon.
Thank you, as always, for listening!
The 1940 Chicago Coin Fox Hunt is just about finished.
Two shorted 'coils in a can' are taken apart and rewound. I have a trip relay coil to replace, as well as two springs that are not doing their job, and a shorted lamp socket. Otherwise, things are working pretty darn well.
Serenade was picked up by Bingo Butch and his son, Mike, and Mike already has it up and running. Great finish to the year in bingos the pinball community just learned of its existence at the beginning of the year!
Today's Year of Flipperless game is Genco's 1939 Airport. A beautiful machine with an interesting ruleset that requires the player to traverse the entire playfield across 5 balls, with a ball return feature.
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=36&picno=19261&zoom=1
A friend of mine asked me to pick any meter I wanted to, to replace my really poor DMM that I've been fighting forever (thanks Ryan!).
A Sanwa SP-21 is what I chose: https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/analogue-multimeters/3534304/
Good balance of price and features. Has a continuity test, despite being an analog meter, as well as a diode test. Both are basically resistance tests, but nice to have. Uses two double-A batteries, which is convenient.
I talk a bit about my first service call using the meter, as well as some challenges specific to the game.
Next, a listener writes to discuss an alternative method of demagnetizing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p01225sBSJI
Today's Year of Flipperless is Rockola's Screamo from October of 1935.
Another proto-bingo, this time with a literal card layout, but a more fun playfield than most of the other early bingo concepts.
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2071&picno=66169
I hope all my American listeners had a great Thanksgiving. I am very thankful for all of you.
Today is a cautionary tale. Managed to set the game I was working on on fire... sleep is necessary, but so is remembering to remove a jumper before stopping for the night.
Today's Year of Flipperless - Exhibit's 1934 Lightning '36.
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1440&picno=46488&zoom=1
Compared to PAMCO's Contact:
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3029&picno=23059&zoom=1
Some discussion of a pre-war game I'm working on currently, and the Year of Flipperless game, Chicago Coin's 1934 Show Boat.
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2136&picno=16947
Scott Gullicks is part of Riot Pinball, LLC, who are best known for their creation "Wrath of Olympus", a full-size DMD-style pinball machine.
This year at Expo, Scott unveiled a new project, focused on portability and competition: "Dead Man's Hand", which is based heavily on the layout of the card-themed bingos.
Scott joins me to discuss his experience with bingos and the motivation behind the creation of "Dead Man's Hand".
Shortly after our interview, Riot Pinball announced a partnership with VPCabs to produce the game. It is available now at https://virtualpinball.com/products/dead-mans-hand