# Episode 36 - Ticker Tape Gameplay and Gigi Status **Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2015-04-16 **Duration:** 13m 39s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-36-ticker-tape-gameplay-and-gigi-status --- ## Analysis Nicholas Backbone discusses his restoration and gameplay progress on two EM/Bingo pinball machines: Ticker Tape, a bingo card-based game he recently acquired and cleaned, and GG (Gigi), a sequence game he is actively stripping and restoring. He details Ticker Tape's mechanics, scoring challenges, and ongoing troubleshooting needs, while describing GG's complexity due to its 14 bumpers and cosmetic damage requiring parts sourcing. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Ticker Tape has six bingo cards on the backglass, one lit per coin inserted, with super line features that award 4 or 5 instead of 3 or 4 respectively — _Nicholas Backbone describing Ticker Tape gameplay mechanics_ - [HIGH] GG has 14 different bumpers: three pop bumpers and eleven passive bumpers — _Nicholas Backbone detailing GG restoration challenges_ - [HIGH] Ticker Tape requires schematics to properly troubleshoot the spot feature, which is currently unreliable — _Nicholas Backbone discussing needed repairs_ - [HIGH] GG is a sequence game where the goal is to unlight each bumper — _Nicholas Backbone describing GG gameplay_ - [HIGH] Ticker Tape payoff for three in a row is four coins, incentivizing players to pursue four or five in a row instead — _Nicholas Backbone explaining Ticker Tape strategy_ ### Notable Quotes > "I did a light shop on The Valley Company ticker tape that I just picked up. Cleaned the playfield, fixed a couple of bugs, and rerubbered of course, cleaned all the metal. Basically, playfield is all clean." > — **Nicholas Backbone**, 0:30-1:00 > _Establishes the scope of Ticker Tape restoration work completed_ > "The highest in there score I gotten is 3 but I have come close to 5 in there several times. No Dialed in! though" > — **Nicholas Backbone**, 3:30 > _Humorously acknowledges his own transcription artifact while discussing Ticker Tape gameplay progress_ > "There are actually 14 different bumpers only three of which are pops. You have eleven passive bumpers and those contain similar hardware to a bumper and the only thing missing is the underside coil bracket and ring and yokes so you still have the annoying lamp sockets that you have to desolder." > — **Nicholas Backbone**, 4:15-4:45 > _Details the specific technical challenges of restoring GG's bumper array_ > "The main gameplay mechanic which I kind of breezed over is that there are six different bingo cards on the backglass. One is lit per coin that's inserted and there are extra features which are lit at random intervals." > — **Nicholas Backbone**, 7:00-7:20 > _Core explanation of Ticker Tape's bingo-based mechanic_ > "I've never played one and I'm really interested to get this thing going and see how the gameplay is. It looks very fun and it's a sequence game so you're trying to unlight each of the bumpers." > — **Nicholas Backbone**, 9:30-9:50 > _Establishes his excitement and gameplay expectations for the GG restoration_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Nicholas Backbone | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, active EM/Bingo pinball restorer and collector | | Ticker Tape | game | EM/Bingo pinball machine recently acquired by Nicholas Backbone; manufactured by The Valley Company; bingo card-based gameplay with six cards | | Gigi (GG) | game | EM pinball machine undergoing restoration by Nicholas Backbone; sequence-based game with 14 bumpers (3 pop, 11 passive); referred to as 'project GG' | | The Valley Company | company | Manufacturer of Ticker Tape pinball machine | | For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast hosted by Nicholas Backbone | ### Topics - **Primary:** EM/Bingo Pinball Restoration, Ticker Tape Gameplay Mechanics, GG (Gigi) Restoration Progress - **Secondary:** Playfield Cleaning and Maintenance, Parts Sourcing and Availability, Schematic Documentation Challenges ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.75) — Backbone expresses enthusiasm about his restoration projects and the gameplay mechanics he's discovering, though tempered by fatigue from extensive cleaning work and frustration with missing documentation and technical troubleshooting challenges ### Signals - **[restoration_signal]** Detailed account of Ticker Tape playfield cleaning, rerubbering, post waxing, and metal polishing; notes improved gameplay after restoration (confidence: high) — Nicholas describes two days of cleaning, playfieldware removal, post waxing, and metal polish work with observable gameplay improvements - **[restoration_signal]** GG restoration presents significant complexity due to 14 bumpers requiring individual disassembly; describes desoldering lamp sockets and cleaning underside crud (confidence: high) — Detailed breakdown of bumper counts (3 pop, 11 passive) and associated lamp socket desoldering requirements - **[restoration_signal]** GG missing plastic found on eBay; also missing insert for rollover button; damaged insert from lamp placement; warped plastic requires flattening (confidence: high) — Nicholas discusses specific parts needs and eBay sourcing; acknowledges need for additional parts before game is playable - **[design_philosophy]** Ticker Tape design incentivizes coin insertion strategy: 6 coins lights all cards, but payoff (4 coins for 3-in-a-row) encourages players to pursue higher combinations (4-5) rather than settle (confidence: high) — Nicholas explains the risk/reward structure: 6 coin investment with 4 coin minimum return pushes strategy toward 4-5 in a row attempts - **[gameplay_signal]** Ticker Tape gameplay mirrors Magic Screen multi-color bingo variants; spot feature unreliable and requires schematic troubleshooting (confidence: high) — Nicholas describes super line feature, spot feature issues, and comparison to Magic Screen mechanics - **[restoration_signal]** GG playfield shows ball swirls in center, possible graffiti or glass breakage damage near 'beach lady' graphic; overall playfield condition improved after cleaning (confidence: high) — Nicholas details ongoing cosmetic work and uncertain approach to damage remediation - **[supply_chain_signal]** Difficulty locating Ticker Tape schematics; Nicholas prefers physical schematics over online versions for in-hand troubleshooting (confidence: medium) — Nicholas mentions uncertainty about schematic availability and prefers hardcopy documentation - **[gameplay_signal]** GG is a sequence game requiring players to unlight each of the 14 bumpers; Nicholas expresses strong interest in learning gameplay once restoration complete (confidence: high) — Nicholas describes core mechanic and indicates this is his first experience playing a GG machine --- ## Transcript The End What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. Tonight, once again, I'm rather tired. I've been cleaning for two days straight. I did a light shop on the valley ticker tape that I just picked up. Cleaned the playfield, fixed a couple of bugs, and rerubbered of course, cleaned all the metal. Basically, playfield is all clean. Reassembled it after waxing and shining up the posts and The game plays so much better now. It's still quite, quite fun. And I've discovered a couple other bugs and interesting things that are going on. However, I don't have any paperwork for it. So, and I prefer not to read on a screen when I'm working on a game. I prefer paper schematics. So, I gotta track I'm not sure if I can get some of those down, but that shouldn't be too difficult. Or I can work from a game from a similar era. But tonight I didn't make a hit above eight, and that was a double as opposed to nothing. But I did have a couple of hits on multiple cards at the same time. The game is a bit of a long game, and I'm not sure how exactly it was going to search those out, but it works very similarly to Hits in Multiple Colors on a Magic Screen game where it'll stop the search on the first card and allows you to pick double or nothing. Knapp sovereöllig Pawngames brute Pv â ¹ I'm still learning all the cards is to put in six quarters which lights all the cards and then as soon as I get a hit I take I take it just normal and then I put in progressively fewer quarters and try to earn the biggest hit that I can with four or five and in a line I hope that hasn happened The highest in a line score I gotten is 3 but I have come close to 5 in a line several times No dice though so the other machine I've been cleaning is my project GG, and I've started stripping the play field and that's a pretty difficult one to strip because of all the bumpers There are actually 14 different bumpers only three of which are pops The You have eleven passive pumpers and those contain similar hardware to a pop bumper and the only thing missing is the underside coil bracket and pop bumper ring and yokes so you still have the annoying lamp sockets that you have to desolder aidshir desarrollopeak electromagnet,екс, XDN K empowerment Dark Magical and Canadian and the obstacle quem is called upynthesized in their country good This week in pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteэтому Game of Thrones careg This week in Pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, translite); Crapman, black water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteregon It was pretty gnarly looking underneath. So, I've been scrubbing that and cleaning the normal crud that accrues under all these different bumpers. And the couple other cosmetic flaws on this playfield, there's an insert that's missing that holds one of the rollover buttons. The SparePlay Field should supply that There also an insert that bubbled one of the special inserts So I assuming that the lamp locked on at some point and someone had moved the lamp all the way up into the insert So I may end up replacing that insert as well I undecided on that yet I may try just to heat it up a bit but that probably won be successful The machine was missing a plastic and I happened to find it on eBay and that arrived today So that pretty exciting It warped and wavy but I should be able to flatten it out And the machine should look pretty good Except for the lack of maintenance that was done to this machine that allowed a ton of dirt to Video Entonces me The pinball is in much better shape to start with and has much nicer shooter lane and so forth. However, it's got some interesting damage to it. I'm not sure if it's graffiti or what exactly. It could be that playfield glass broke or something and carved a little bit of the playfield up near the lovely beach lady. I'm not sure what tack I'm going to take with this yet, but in the end it should be pretty nice. The original playfield is cleaned up fairly well. I still have some more ball swirls and the like to get out right in the center of the playfield where they're highly visible, but the rest of the playfield has brightened up and it looks pretty presentable at the moment. Back to ticker tape. The main gameplay mechanic which I kind of breezed over is that there are six different bingo cards on the back glass. One is lit per coin that's inserted and there are extra features which are lit at random intervals. There's something called a super line which allows you to score four if you only have three in that line or five if you have four in that line. So it's well worth the effort to try to land in that line. 20 coming already off the park, 23.07 I need the schematic to troubleshoot that and I may end up just reading the schematic online but as I mentioned I much prefer to have it in hand. I thought I'd troubleshot that and ended up fixing something entirely different but so I need a peek at the schematic to get that fixed. The game plays without the spot feature in fact it's Unarner the latest So the goal of it is to get three four or five in a row and you can get those vertically horizontally or diagonally If you only input one coin, only the first card will light. The machine will reset and you'll be able to play. If you insert more coins, it lights more cards. Gameplay in band준anciality from two different America. Once you're into a group and you have old friends in a small town, doing skates you're g entfernt from your friends, so you lost them to nature. It starts with the first and a game, that memory note and question in between the 3-4-6 character is already going to be fishing for weed. Because, being a bot you'll already have a saying, find throw job ris darker, go clubbing, I guess Fuck Pi Church When ur playing and u act like you're gonna be wastein Va sentiently, powered unuresc Student at G layer and Agent by phenol first of all. It's just where it was at first u asked national why, i'min rank institute, over lige so at first glance agn Karaasa barmant Tip slope Papeimage Ur ok It's instar atoria and So, you have to plan your shots fairly quickly and fairly well. The nice thing is if you dump in six coins at a time, then you're much more likely to get a winning combination. However, you only win back four if you get three in a row. So, you need to really try for four in a row or five in a row if you can. Each additional card is a bonus. minimこんな I'm moving back to GG. I've never played one and I'm really interested to get this thing going and see how the gameplay is. It looks very fun and it's a sequence game so you're trying to unlight each of the bumpers. More to come on that once I actually get this thing going but it shouldn't be too long. I do need to get some parts so it'll be just a little bit but hopefully not too long. And that's kind of what's going on with me right now. It's just cleaning cleaning cleaning and hopefully playing playing playing. So I know this wasn't incredibly exciting but I just wanted to give you a taste of what ticker tapes gameplay was like especially with it cleaned up. Atuckenamp observatory 1800 focus trouve, 17 Kirallz innovator Written and editing NIK tenemos puu and you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocketcasts, via RSS, on Facebook, or directly on our website. Thanks very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time. _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 463e1aad-0e7a-46b4-83aa-12e989c0540f*