# Episode 357 - 1976 Bally Freedom

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2016-03-02  
**Duration:** 8m 11s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-357-1976-bally-freedom

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge analyzes the 1976 Bally Freedom, a flipper pinball machine released during the American Bicentennial. The game features variable pop bumper configurations across production runs, a central wheel mechanic for scoring, dual spinners, drop targets that award extra balls and specials, and patriotic artwork. Baldridge notes Freedom was a changeover title for Bally, available in both EM and solid state versions, marking their transition toward solid state while Gottlieb remained EM-focused.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Freedom had either three or four pop bumpers depending on production run—early runs had three clustered near top, later runs added a fourth center bumper then removed it in favor of standard flipper setup — _Nick Baldridge describing mechanical progression within Freedom's production run_
- [HIGH] Freedom was a changeover game for Bally and one of their first solid state titles, released in both EM and solid state versions — _Nick Baldridge noting Freedom's significance in Bally's transition to solid state in 1976_
- [HIGH] Bally was making moves to go fully solid state by 1976 while Gottlieb remained firmly in the EM era for another two years — _Nick Baldridge comparing manufacturer timelines for solid state adoption_
- [HIGH] The bonus on Freedom goes up to 19,000 points, doubling to 38,000 with the lit wheel double bonus value — _Nick Baldridge detailing Freedom's scoring mechanics_
- [HIGH] Clearing the five drop target bank on Freedom initially awards an extra ball, second clear lights special, and subsequent clears allow each hit to win a special indefinitely — _Nick Baldridge explaining drop target progression and replay strategy_

### Notable Quotes

> "With Freedom, you can see some of the interesting things that Bally was trying at the time."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~0:50
> _Sets up the game as a window into Bally's mid-1970s design philosophy_

> "Freedom is a great game but I think Spirit of 76 is much better. It's more difficult to win on than Freedom."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~7:30
> _Comparative assessment of two Bicentennial-era machines; reveals speaker's preference and gameplay observation_

> "The thing about pinball is sometimes you're not certain what game is going to be a keeper in your collection if you're a collector, until you've worked on an example, you've fixed one up, you've made it playable again."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~8:00
> _Reflects on collector experience and long-term ownership perspective in pinball_

> "Freedom was a changeover game for Bally. It was one of their first solid state titles and so they came out with an EM version and they came out with a solid state version."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~9:30
> _Key historical signal about Bally's transition strategy and manufacturing decisions_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; deep EM pinball knowledge, focuses on historical analysis |
| Bally Freedom | game | 1976 Bally flipper pinball machine, Bicentennial-themed, available in EM and solid state variants; subject of episode analysis |
| Spirit of '76 | game | Bally pinball machine from 1976 Bicentennial era; compared favorably to Freedom by speaker; discussed in prior episode |
| Bally | company | Major pinball manufacturer; produced Freedom in 1976 during transition toward solid state manufacturing |
| Gottlieb | company | Competing pinball manufacturer; remained EM-focused through 1978, two years longer than Bally's solid state transition |
| Spanish Eyes | game | Referenced as prior Bally design with center pop bumper configuration, design precedent for Freedom's center bumper variant |
| For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast | organization | Long-form podcast dedicated to EM and bingo pinball; hosted by Nick Baldridge; episode 357 focuses on Bally Freedom |

### Topics

- **Primary:** EM Pinball Design and Mechanics, 1976 Bicentennial Pinball Releases, Bally Manufacturing History and Solid State Transition, Production Variants and Design Iterations
- **Secondary:** Collector Ownership and Long-term Game Assessment, Comparative Game Analysis (Freedom vs Spirit of '76), Playfield Artwork and Aesthetic Design
- **Mentioned:** Manufacturer Competitive Timeline

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Nick Baldridge expresses genuine appreciation for Freedom's design and mechanics, finding it attractive and fun to play. Mild reservation expressed by preferring Spirit of '76 due to greater longevity/difficulty, but overall tone is appreciative of Freedom's historical significance and engineering choices.

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Freedom demonstrates Bally's pop bumper configuration experimentation across production runs—early three-bumper vs. later four-center-bumper vs. final standard setup—showing iterative design refinement mid-production (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge details three distinct pop bumper configurations within Freedom's production span
- **[historical_signal]** Bally released Freedom in both EM and solid state versions simultaneously in 1976, marking early dual-format strategy, while competing Gottlieb remained EM-only through 1978 (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge explicitly states Freedom was 'a changeover game' and 'one of their first solid state titles' with both versions available
- **[design_philosophy]** Freedom exemplifies Bally's 1976 design philosophy: central wheel scoring mechanic, dual spinners, progressive drop target bonus ladder (extra ball → special lighting → repeatable specials), and Bicentennial patriotic theming (confidence: high) — Comprehensive mechanical breakdown by Nick Baldridge covering wheel, spinners, drop targets, bonus progression, and patriotic artwork
- **[gameplay_signal]** Freedom's drop target bank is exploitable if player can consistently control right-hand flipper shots; left-hand flipper shots to drop targets tend to drain, creating asymmetric difficulty (confidence: medium) — Nick Baldridge notes drop targets are 'fairly easy to exploit if you're able to get the ball on the right-hand flipper' but 'much more dangerous from the left-hand flipper'
- **[product_strategy]** Bally released multiple patriotic-themed machines during 1976 Bicentennial (Freedom and Spirit of '76), leveraging pop culture licensing opportunity and American historical narrative (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge discusses both Freedom and Spirit of '76 as Bicentennial releases with similar red-white-blue and Revolutionary War artistic themes
- **[restoration_signal]** Ownership evaluation of EM machines requires hands-on restoration and extended play—single-machine samples may not be representative due to condition issues like playfield lean affecting shot difficulty (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge reflects that the Freedom he played 'may have had a left lean or something of that nature' and suggests full collector assessment requires restoration and sustained ownership
- **[comparative_analysis]** Freedom and Spirit of '76 occupy same niche (1976, Bally, patriotic theme) but Spirit of '76 is preferred for greater difficulty, longevity, and replayability despite Freedom's superior playfield artwork design (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge explicitly compares both machines, stating Spirit of '76 is 'much better' and more difficult, though acknowledges Freedom's playfield art is 'quite a bit' better

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## Transcript

 what's that sound it's for amusement only the em and bingo pinball podcast welcome back to for amusement only this is Nicholas Baldridge tonight i wanted to talk about 1976's bally freedom freedom is a flipper pinball machine not a bingo but it was made during the Bicentennial, just like last night's game, Spirit of 76. With Freedom, you can see some of the interesting things that Bally was trying at the time. Freedom has either three or four pop bumpers, depending on what part of the production run it was in. In the early production run, there were three pop bumpers clustered near the top, two pop on the left-hand side, and then one on the right. And then a fourth pop bumper was down in between the flippers in the position, like on Spanish Eyes or one of the other games that had the center pop. But later in the production run, they moved to a more standard flipper setup and removed that fourth pop bumper. That alone is pretty interesting. But let's talk about the rest of the game. Right off the plunge you have a sort of typical at this time valley skill shot where there's a kick out hole right in the center of the play field up at the top under the ball arch. When you land in this saucer it'll score the indicated value on the wheel, which remains in the last position from the previous game. Now this wheel is the big central focal point of this machine And it is a circle as you might imagine from the name wheel with a bunch of arrows that are pointing to either different point values or different features many are either 500 or 5,000 points but some are things like double bonus or lighting the spinners that's right there's two different spinners, which score either 100 points per spin or 1,000 points per spin when lit. Those are on the left and right hand side, directly to the left and right of the pop bumpers. In the pop bumper area, there's a stand-up target, which when hit will advance the bonus. And on the left hand side, there's a set of five drop targets. These five drop targets, when you knock them all down the first time, will give you an immediate extra ball. Next time you knock them all down, it will light special, and at that point, each target that you hit will win a special. And every time you clear the entire bank, it resets and you can keep winning specials. There's a kick out hole on the right hand side directly underneath the right hand spinner that will also award you the spinner value. So you don't have to make a great spinner shot and then land up in that central kick out hole. You can also score it on the right hand side. The bonus on this game goes up to 19,000 points and you can double that by getting the lit wheel value of double bonus which will award thirty eight thousand points that's pretty decent thing to shoot for now when i've played this game i typically just match the drop targets as much as possible because your goal is to earn replays at least it is typically for me when i playing I want a high score yes but I also want to beat the machine And so I'll try and clear that bank as much as possible, because it's fairly easy to exploit if you're able to get the ball on the right-hand flipper. It's much more dangerous to try and make those shots from the left-hand flipper, since they tend to go in the outline. So, let's talk about the artwork. Now, the artwork on this will sound very similar to yesterday's Spirit of 76. Again, you've got an American theme, but in this case, instead of just plain red, white, and blue, they included the American Eagle on the sides. The base coat is white. And then the back glass has the Revolutionary War marching band on a background of red, white, and blue. The playfield artwork I actually like quite a bit more than Spirit of 76's artwork, but that's mainly because of the large wheel feature as well as the bonus arch and eagles to the left and right. Overall, I think this is a very attractive game and I think it's very, very fun. If I had Freedom and Spirit of 76 right beside each other I'd probably choose Spirit of 76 just for longevity. I think Freedom is a great game but I think Spirit of 76 is much better. It's more difficult to win on than Freedom. But I only played one Freedom ever and it possible that that one had a left lean or something of that nature and made it easier to hit the drop targets than they were initially designed to be hit So, you know, the thing about pinball is sometimes you're not certain what game is going to be a keeper in your collection if you're a collector. Until you've worked on an example, you've fixed one up, you've made it playable again, and then kept it around for a while and seen what you think of it. So it's quite possible if I owned a Bally Freedom and a Spirit of 76, I might actually prefer the Freedom. But based off of my experience, which is all I have, at the moment, I would choose Spirit of 76. One other interesting note about Freedom, it was a changeover game for Bally. it was one of their first solid state titles and so they came out with an EM version and they came out with a solid state version now I've only played the EM version and I'm not sure how the solid state machine differs but it's interesting to note that Belli was already making moves in 1976 to go fully solid state while Gottlieb remained firmly in the EM era for another two years. Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for joining me. My name again is Nick Baldrige. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line. That's 724-BINGOS-1. 724-246-4671. You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at Bingo Podcast. Or you can listen to us on our website, which is formusementonly.libsyn.com Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 29796a36-d4a4-4d5e-a376-5fd736e214aa*