For Amusement Only Em And Bingo Pinball Podcast

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. ( for details). You can see some of these beautiful games and the reproduction parts, as well as contact Jeff at

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:  Also, I wrote up a Pinside thread with lots of photos! 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:  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.   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. 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   

Bingo Butch Glauda is an operator and serious bingo collector. He owns one of each Bally bingo pinball machine and needs only three more United games to complete his collection. Butch tells many great stories about operating, which games made the most money, and his fascinating history with these great machines. He was extremely generous with his time, and I am pleased to have spent time with him after York this year.

I recap the details from the York show!  I had a lot of fun talking to everyone and watching them play the Multi-Bingo over three days! Thank you for coming out and giving the games a shot in the Bingo Row! The Multi had over 8000 Red/Yellow button presses over the weekend.  That equates to roughly 400+ games.  I'm thrilled with that number. Thank you to everyone that brought games and shared with the public. Today's 'Year of Flipperless' game is Baker's "Twinkle".  Backglass animation, multiple ways to win, and a unique playfield mechanism make this game extremely fun and challenging to play. I was lucky to see it and play it at the York show! http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2691

The Multi-Bingo will be available for you to play on September 29th and 30th, 2017!  Come play it, say hello, and compete on any of the bingo pinball machines in the 3rd annual Bingo Row.  Win a 4 or 5 in a row, come show me, and you'll receive this year's prize: beautifully illustrated key fobs by Ryan Claytor of Elephant Eater Comics. See if you can name all the bingo card styles represented!   Today's game is the beautiful Bally Skyscraper - one of the first games with illumination.  A skill score is added to your eventual total, to award a maximum of 45 replays! ... just remember the show title.   http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2205&picno=51161

I had some folks over to playtest the game - outsiders tend to play the game differently than I do, so it's valuable to see if anything new breaks. Out of many many games played and discussed, only one new bug appeared.  I have figured out how to mitigate it. I've also been working really hard to put the polish on the game.  It looks great, plays great, and I'm trying to make it as good as it can be before York. Speaking of York - come to the Bingo Row at the White Rose Gameroom Show Sept. 29th and 30th in York, PA!  Play the game and try for a 4 or 5 in a line to win a prize, made just for the show!   Today's Year of Flipperless game is 1947's Williams 'Amber' -    It's got a really interesting layout that looks very challenging.  I love gobble holes, love curtains, and love a good sequence game with a good payoff for skillful play.  Looks like the total package!

The Multi-Bingo is really taking shape.  I discuss some of the difficulty in introducing bugs that are unexpected when thinking about the reset sequence of the EM games vs. a solid state. Today's year of flipperless game is 1934's Exhibit Golden Gate. Golden Gate has an interesting middle playfield feature that allows for high scoring if you land balls in the 'open gate' hole. You can also return 'Out' balls to play by hitting a different hole. Fun looking machine with an interesting gimmick. http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1048

I talk about the process for installing the backglass in the Multi-Bingo.  Check out the podcast Facebook page or the Pinside thread to see some photos of this beautiful artwork! I also discuss some of the other improvements in progress or complete. Today's featured game is 1933's Genco 42nd Street, a pure mechanical game with metal diverters and cool 3d artwork integrated with the painted playfield artwork.   http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=923

Happy 99th birthday to Wayne Neyens, fantastic pinball designer for Gottlieb!   Bingo Row 2017 prep is underway!  I am working to make the Multi-Bingo a great game to play.   Robo-Frenzy cabinet has been put together, and I am working out installing the mechanics now.   I recently worked on a Chicago Coin Baseball Champ, and I talk about some service notes and playability notes.  Great game!   Today's 'Year of Flipperless' game is 1934's Automatic 'Action'.   http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=17&picno=14

The Multi-Bingo programming, a labor of love for 70 weeks, is complete!  Yep, 138 games later, and this thing has shaped up very well. I talk about next steps (briefly, gotta have some surprises), and my next project....   Robo-Frenzy!  I've already discussed it a lot on the show, but now I'm starting work on it in earnest. Today's game for the Year of Flipperless is 1938's Exhibit Coney Island. It has some unique features, but unfortunately, no images of the game nor video exist. Please send information to the IPDB if you happen to own or come across this beautiful piece of Americana.

The Multi-Bingo marches on!  Only 9 games left to implement.  Pretty exciting to be down to the single digits. I discuss some of the 'special' games included with the hybrid solid state 1960s bingos. Then, some slow, but important progress on Robo-Frenzy. Next, a service call that had several interesting components!  Was it a machine that doesn't have any photos on the IPDB? Today's featured game is 1937's Genco Archer - a beautiful game with a great theme. http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=4526

All 25 hole games are complete in the Multi!  I'm down to 20 games left to implement. In this episode, I discuss the method I am using to prevent damage to the Magic Pockets unit, and special thanks to Michael Ocean for a second opinion on the code I had written. Ryan Claytor and I spent some time discussing the Robo-Frenzy cabinet and some time at the Flippers arcade at Grandy, NC. Some great questions came from a user on Pinside regarding the bingos I've implemented thus far.  Some pretty interesting tech stuff, so I thought I'd put some in the podcast. Today's game is the first of the YEAR OF FLIPPERLESS (as suggested by Ryan Claytor): 1938 Exhibit 'Regatta' http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=4671

The Multi-Bingo is coming along!  New parts, new machines, new playfields - great!   Phil Bogema is bringing a beautifully restored Parade and a Show-Time to the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown!  Check out those great (and unusual in the case of Parade) games. June 9-11th in Denver, CO -    Universal 5 Star is a bingo pinball-style machine made before the first widely accepted bingo pinball machine!  Check out the pics on the right side.  Weird, attractive game that looks very challenging.