# Episode 208 - 1963 Bally 3-in-line

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2015-10-05  
**Duration:** 8m 39s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-208-1963-bally-3-in-line

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge discusses Bally's 1963 Three in Line, an early flipper game designed by Ted Zale that incorporated bingo mechanics to appeal to both flipper and bingo players. The game featured a central 3x3 bingo card on the backbox and playfield targets to light the card, with a drum majorette theme. Baldridge notes this represents an interesting design bridge between Bally's separate flipper and bingo divisions during the early 1960s.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Three in Line was one of Ted Zale's first games — _Nick Baldridge, host, introduces game as 'one of Ted Zale's first games' and references prior podcast episodes covering Zale's name_
- [HIGH] The game was designed to appeal to bingo players by incorporating bingo card mechanics into a flipper game — _Nick Baldridge describes the game as 'a flipper game that was designed... a word that is used to lure in bingo players' with a 3x3 bingo card at center of backbox_
- [MEDIUM] Bally's flipper and bingo divisions did not work together much, though some technology may have crossed over — _Nick Baldridge: 'The two divisions didn't work together, at least to my knowledge, very much, although I'm sure some technology slipped back and forth between the two houses'_
- [HIGH] Baldridge has never seen Three in Line in the wild or heard of it before researching for this episode — _Nick Baldridge: 'I've never seen one of these in the wild, it's not one that I've ever even heard of before I started looking tonight'_
- [HIGH] The game features a drum majorette theme, similar to other Gottlieb majorette-themed games — _Nick Baldridge describes artwork as having 'drum majorette theme' with 'several majorettes on the playfield' surrounding the bingo grid_

### Notable Quotes

> "This is a flipper game that was designed the word is a word that is used to lure in bingo players."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~4:30
> _Core insight into the strategic design intent behind Three in Line — bridging two player bases_

> "The two divisions didn't work together, at least to my knowledge, very much, although I'm sure some technology slipped back and forth between the two houses."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~10:45
> _Observation about internal Bally organizational structure and inter-divisional knowledge transfer during the 1960s_

> "Each and every ball is loaded with the came close excitement that ensures plenty of try again repeat play and earning power that tops all recent novelty records"
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~8:15
> _Original marketing copy from game flyer emphasizing repeat play and earning potential for operators_

> "I've never seen one of these in the wild, it's not one that I've ever even heard of before I started looking tonight."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~12:30
> _Indicates Three in Line is quite rare and obscure, even within the deep bingo pinball community_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; collector and historian of EM and bingo pinball machines; will be at York Show October 9-10 giving away autographed books |
| Ted Zale | person | Pinball designer; designed Bally's 1963 Three in Line; his name referenced multiple times in host's prior podcast episodes on Bally flipper innovations |
| Bally | company | Major pinball manufacturer; produced Three in Line in 1963; operated separate flipper and bingo divisions in early 1960s |
| Gottlieb | company | Competitor pinball manufacturer; produced majorette-themed games referenced for comparison to Three in Line's artwork theme |
| Three in Line | game | 1963 Bally flipper game designed by Ted Zale; features 3x3 bingo card mechanics; four-player novelty game; drum majorette theme; rare and not commonly encountered |
| York Show | event | Pinball expo occurring October 9-10 (next Friday and Saturday from recording date); Nick Baldridge will attend and give away books for making 4-5 in a line on any machine |
| Bingo Pinball War: Valley vs. United | product | Book by unnamed author (likely Jeffrey Lawton based on KB); Nick Baldridge will give away autographed copies at York Show |
| Valley Bingo Pinball Machines | product | Book that Nick Baldridge will give away autographed copies of at York Show |

### Topics

- **Primary:** EM pinball game design and mechanics, Bally game design and history, Bingo pinball mechanics and integration with flippers
- **Secondary:** Vintage pinball rarity and collecting, Pinball artwork and themes, York Show and pinball community events, Early pinball designer careers (Ted Zale)

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Three in Line represents Ted Zale's early design work, before he became known for innovations; provides insight into designer development and Bally's design talent in early 1960s (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'This is one of Ted Zale's first games' and reference to prior podcast episodes covering Zale's career trajectory
- **[design_philosophy]** Three in Line deliberately designed to bridge bingo and flipper player bases, suggesting Bally recognized distinct audiences and sought crossover appeal through mechanical innovation (confidence: high) — Game description as 'flipper game... designed... [to] lure in bingo players' with central bingo card mechanic; marketing copy emphasizing 'old favorite Lidoline play appeal' (linking to bingo heritage)
- **[industry_signal]** Bally's flipper and bingo divisions operated relatively independently in early 1960s, though some technology cross-pollination may have occurred (confidence: medium) — Nick Baldridge: 'The two divisions didn't work together, at least to my knowledge, very much, although I'm sure some technology slipped back and forth'
- **[restoration_signal]** Three in Line is extremely rare; host has never encountered one in the wild and only recently researched it, indicating limited survival and minimal field presence (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'I've never seen one of these in the wild, it's not one that I've ever even heard of before I started looking tonight'
- **[historical_signal]** Drum majorette theme was not unusual for early 1960s pinball games; Gottlieb produced similar majorette-themed titles, suggesting broader industry trend in novelty themes (confidence: medium) — Nick Baldridge comparison of Three in Line's majorette theme to Gottlieb majorette games, noting 'probably not all that crazy when you think about it that way'
- **[event_signal]** York Show (October 9-10) will feature special contest with signed book giveaways; host planning to distribute approximately half of books on Friday and three-quarters on Saturday based on attendance patterns (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge announces York Show attendance with giveaway contest for 4-5 in a line achievement on any machine

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## Transcript

 What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only. This is Nick Baldrige. A reminder that I'll be at the York Show October 9th and 10th, which is next Friday and Saturday. I'm very much looking forward to it. And as part of that, I will be giving away copies of Valley Bingo Pinball Machines and the Bingo Pinball War Valley vs. United, autographed by the author. To anybody who can make a four or five in a line on any machine, step up, try your hand, see if you can do it. If you can, then you too can win a copy of one of these books. As long as the number of books holds out. What I will likely do, just so nobody has any hurt feelings, is try to give away about half of them on Friday and half on Saturday. We'll see how it goes. Saturday is usually the busiest day so it may be three quarters on Saturday and a quarter on Friday. I don't know yet. We'll play it by ear. Sounds good. Okay, tonight I wanted to talk about a flipper game, Bally's 1963 Three in Line. Now this is one of Ted Zale's first games and if you listen back to some of my I'm a Bally Flipper Innovations podcast. You'll hear his name come up over and over again. Before he was a star designer, he designed this game, which is very much inspired by the bingos It a four player and at the center of the backbox there is a nine digit three by three bingo card And to light this card you have to hit specific targets on the playfield Several stand ups and a couple rollovers The game has multiple rollover entrances to the playfield. Three pops, interesting runarounds with gates that lead you straight to a pop. Looks like a pretty cool playfield. Now, what's really interesting about it is that this is a flipper game that was designed The word is a word that is used to lure in bingo players. And the flyer is one of the most interesting things. It says new four-player novelty game has old favorite Lidoline play appeal. And there's a guy whispering to another guy on the flyer. It says it's got one ball play appeal and It's got one ball play appeal too. Now what's interesting about this is Lidoline is the name of one of Bally's early bingos. And the one balls of course were the predecessors to the bingos. So this is pretty interesting advertisement and the way that it's described is pretty interesting as well. Each and every ball can light three spots in line to ring up a juicy out-hole bonus, and each and every ball can light all nine spots for special scores. Each and every ball shot is a fresh new adventure with all nine targets live and all nine spots ready to sparkle in response to the player skill Each and every ball is loaded with the came close excitement that ensures plenty of try again repeat play and earning power that tops all recent novelty records Kind of fascinating when you think about what the bingo division was doing at this time in 1963. They were making magic screen games. The two divisions didn't work together, at least to my knowledge, very much, although I'm sure some technology slipped back and forth between the two houses. So this is kind of fascinating. This is what I had from the game. The game was named after a person who obviously played the bingos and understood them, designed a game which had a bingo card as its central hook. It's just kinda cool. So, I've never seen one of these in the wild, it's not one that I've ever even heard of before I started looking tonight. I started looking tonight. So, hopefully I'll get to play one one day because it does look like a really fun game. I like the layout quite a bit. And I also think that it would be pretty difficult to complete the sequence despite the seeming ease with which you could light just three in a row. I'm sure in practice it's a lot more difficult. So let's talk for a second about the artwork. This has a drum majorette theme which you might think at first glance is pretty unusual but Gottlieb produced several games which featured Majorettes for example that the name of one of the games as the central theme So probably not all that crazy when you think about it that way The artwork is really nothing super special. There are several majorettes on the playfield, kind of surrounding the bingo grid and on the backbox there are three stepping in unison directly under the bingo card representing the three in line that this game has as a title. I think it's certainly serviceable artwork, I just am not super excited by it. The plastics and cabinet artwork are reminiscent of a red, white, and blue kind of patriotic theme with the plastics on the left and right hand sides of the playfield actually formingCurtains, Main Tiffany Carlo 호� illustrates playing Quflam you, Qusht Campanientes. buildings up on pinball experiencing us golf and everywhere well 35 hope he 만든 something do you feel playing mill allons do the game play with me but I look sweat it would be A fun game. Well that's all for tonight. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at foreamusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line at 724-BINGOS1, 724-246-4671. You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter at bingopodcast. You can follow me on Instagram at nbaldridge or you can listen to us on our website which is foreamusementonly.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: 7c6ed460-6a70-4e73-b08f-d9ff3e059c7e*