Mechanical Memories Magazine

Issue: 2012-May - Issue 66

.,,
\~
~
'
~
,,
I offer the story through the series of emails that the seller and I exchanged. 'J' will be
me; 'S' will be the seller. I initiated the dialogue while the auction was ongoing. The
opening 'ask' bid was $350 and there were no bidders at the start of our
correspondence. The emails are transcribed as written and received, misspelling and
grammar mistakes uncorrected but with personal information deleted.
The Good
.J
Hi****, Can you tell me anything about the operation ofthis game? I assume the
lever on the right launches the balls. How are they released? What if one lands in the
targets on the upper playfield? What about that vertical lever in the centre, bottom?
Can you tell what coin is uses? Any other info would be appreciated. Also, you're
Thousand Oaks, CA? Thanks.
§
Great Questions! It takes nickels. The lever in the centre next to the coin slot
releases the balls to the bottom. The 'flipper' to the right of that sends the balls to the
upper play area. There are 6 white balls and 1 red ball. I don't know how it scores
unless there is a battery inside. I think it may be from England but can't be sure. Sorry
I couldn't tell you more.
Page 16
J.
****, thank you for the speedy reply! If you don't mind, a few more quick
questions. Are those circles on the top of the playfield flat against the field or do they
stick out so that a ball can fall into them? I can't tell from the photos. If the ball can
fall inside the game, how are they released for the next game? Does the game actually
play if you put in a nickel? By play, I mean does it do what you described, allowing
the player to release the balls so they may be shot onto the playfield? There is a metal
circle just under the upper lock on the front door. Is there a button in the centre? Does
it do anything that you can tell? Thanks! As you can tell, I'm definitely interested.
Kind regards,
§
Just added a note in the listing about shipping AND professional packaging. They
wanted a zip code, so I just picked one. To answer your questions ... Yes, after your
previous question, I went out with several coins. The nickel was a perfect fit (making
this game seem older than I thought). I put it in and did all the stuff I described
previously. That is the only way I would know. The metal circle by the lock has a little
hole in the centre. I believe it had a lever there to pull open the door open after you
unlocked it, but that is missing. It is the same circle that is under the "flipper" lever.
The circles on the top are not flat. They stick out and have pins around them (kind of
like pinball). Nothing falls through them though. The ball hits them and then goes
down one of the metal tracks below, and then to the area that they started in. Ask as
many questions as you like, and I will do my best to answer them.
J.
****, thank you again for your information. In the pictures on Ebay, as shown,
there is nothing that prevents the balls from falling through the scoring chutes and
landing where the pictures show them, on that bottom ledge. I'm pretty sure there are
individual "fingers" that protrude out at the bottom of each chute. These little rods
catch the falling balls in the individual chutes, allowing for the score to be added up at
the end of the game. At the beginning of the next game, the fingers are then pulled
back to allow the balls to drop to the bottom ledge. Am I correct in this? If so, what
pulls away the fingers? The lever in the centre of the door or pushing in the coin
mechanism with a nickel in place? I apologize for the questions but my biggest
concern is that there may be pieces of the internal mechanism missing. Without being
able to see inside, I can only try and understand from the current operation of the
game if it is complete. Thanks! Kind regards,
§
am not sure how to answer this question. Like I said, I don't know anything about
this game (or other games). Your questions have been a learning experience for me on
it. I know more now than I did when I listed it. I am just not sure how much more I
can tell you. When you use the flipper on the ball, it goes up and hits the top and then
goes down one of the individual chutes and ends up on the very bottom UNDER the
area where you see the balls now. When all of them get below, I guess you press the
release button to start again. I don' t think we will know exactly how it plays unless we
know what it is, and that I haven' t been able to find that out. This is another reason I
put local pick up, so a person could come and look at it if they chose to .
Page 17

Download Page 16: PDF File | Image

Download Page 17 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.