# Episode 67 - Bowling Games

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2015-05-17  
**Duration:** 17m 53s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-67-bowling-games

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge hosts a deep dive into electromechanical bowling arcade games, covering three main categories: ball bowlers (using actual bowling balls), shuffle bowlers (using metal pucks), and mannequin bowlers (miniature figures that bowl). The episode details manufacturers (Bally, United, Chicago Coin, Gottlieb, Keeney, Evans, Williams), mechanical innovations like regulation scoring and lighted pins, and collecting considerations including rarity and value.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Ball bowlers were made by three major manufacturers: Bally, United, and Chicago Coin — _Nick Baldridge, host discussion of ball bowler manufacturers_
- [HIGH] Most ball bowlers are in the 16 foot range, significantly larger than pinball machines — _Nick Baldridge describing physical dimensions of ball bowlers_
- [HIGH] Contact bowlers are the most desirable type of ball bowler where the ball actually strikes pins — _Nick Baldridge on desirability hierarchy of ball bowler types_
- [HIGH] Shuffle bowler wax is actually made of tiny ball bearings placed on the lanes, not wax — _Nick Baldridge explaining shuffle bowler maintenance technology_
- [HIGH] Gottlieb made only a couple of puck bowlers, with Bolette being their most famous model — _Nick Baldridge on Gottlieb's bowling game portfolio_
- [HIGH] Evans invented the mannequin bowler concept with 10-Strike, and Williams later bought their tooling to produce the same game — _Nick Baldridge discussing mannequin bowler history and manufacturer relationships_
- [HIGH] Ball bowlers typically cost about the same as playing a pinball machine but provided 10 frames of bowling versus minutes of pinball — _Nick Baldridge comparing value proposition of bowling games to pinball_
- [HIGH] Evans went out of business in the mid-1950s — _Nick Baldridge providing historical context on Evans manufacturer_
- [HIGH] Shuffle bowlers are nearly ubiquitous in the market, made by many manufacturers — _Nick Baldridge describing shuffle bowler market saturation_
- [HIGH] Ball bowlers that use actual balls command a premium price compared to shuffle bowlers — _Nick Baldridge on pricing hierarchy of bowling game types_

### Notable Quotes

> "no discussion of EM arcades and pinball machines would be complete without talking about the very large, very cool ball bowlers, shuffle bowlers, and mannequin bowlers"
> — **Nick Baldridge**, opening
> _Sets the episode's premise and establishes importance of bowling games to EM arcade history_

> "When you go bowling part of the fun is the crash as the ball hits the pins and seeing the ball return to you as well as the game scoring"
> — **Nick Baldridge**, mid-episode
> _Explains design philosophy behind contact bowler appeal_

> "It's a curved, almost U-shaped groove that the ball comes back on the right side and it returns straight to the player. You pick up the ball and you roll it. Just very neat, attractive method of return."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, mid-episode
> _Technical description of innovative ball return mechanism_

> "Shuffle bowler wax. And it's not really wax, it's a bunch of tiny ball bearings that you put on the lanes that allow the puck to fly back and bounce back to you very quickly."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, mid-episode
> _Clarifies common misconception about shuffle bowler maintenance technology_

> "You could spend some time on these things. You could, you could spend some time on these things. Uh, you got 10 frames worth of bowling instead of a few minutes or maybe several minutes if you were good of pinball"
> — **Nick Baldridge**, mid-episode
> _Explains value proposition and user experience advantage of bowling games_

> "The mannequin is a little guy and he's hunched over with one hand on the ground and that holds the actual ball now the user controls this mannequin and moves it adjust it to the left and right and then pushes a button and the mannequin actually rolls it down the alley"
> — **Nick Baldridge**, late-episode
> _Detailed mechanical description of mannequin bowler gameplay_

> "Evans versions are these gorgeous wood rail cabinets. Again, they come down to the floor in the front, so you've got all that wood grain, and it's just breathtaking."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, late-episode
> _Aesthetic appreciation of Evans cabinet design driving collector appeal_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, expert on electromechanical arcade and pinball games |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast focused on electromechanical arcade and pinball game history and discussion |
| Bally | company | Historical pinball and arcade game manufacturer that produced ball bowlers |
| United | company | Arcade game manufacturer that produced ball bowlers and specialty games like Midget Alley |
| Chicago Coin | company | EM arcade game manufacturer known for gun games, shooting galleries, and ball bowlers |
| Gottlieb | company | EM arcade and pinball manufacturer that produced puck bowlers including Bolette; also known for horse racing game Daily Races |
| Keeney | company | Manufacturer of ball bowlers during the EM era, known for designs like 10 Pins with rubber ring pin protection |
| Evans | company | EM arcade manufacturer that invented mannequin bowler concept with 10-Strike; went out of business mid-1950s; Williams later acquired tooling |
| Williams | company | Major pinball and arcade manufacturer that acquired Evans' tooling and produced 10-Strike mannequin bowler game |
| Jim Willing | person | Guest interviewed for episode on bowling games and EM machines; experienced with Keeney lighted bowlers |
| Roy Parker | person | Artist whose artwork appears on Gottlieb puck bowler games |
| Ball Bowlers | product | Category of EM arcade bowling games using actual bowling balls; made by Bally, United, Chicago Coin, and Keeney |
| Shuffle Bowlers | product | Category of EM bowling games using metal pucks instead of balls; made by numerous manufacturers |
| Mannequin Bowlers | product | Category of EM bowling games featuring miniature bowling figures; originated by Evans, later produced by Williams |
| Bolette | game | Gottlieb puck bowler with lighted scoring, compact size, attractive wood rail cabinet, desirable for limited space |
| 10 Pins | game | Keeney contact bowler with pins protected by rubber rings; part of naming wordplay trend in bowling games |
| Midget Alley | game | United bowling game with gnome-themed artwork, ball return visible with turret mechanism, AC/DC motor firing system; smaller than standard ball bowlers |
| 10-Strike | game | Mannequin bowler game invented by Evans with wood rail cabinet; later reproduced by Williams with similar gameplay but 1960s aesthetic; does not provide regulation scoring |
| Daily Races | game | Gottlieb horse racing game with cabinet design similar to Bolette, extending to floor with wood grain aesthetic |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Electromechanical Bowling Games - History and Technology, Ball Bowlers - Design, Mechanics, and Manufacturers, Shuffle Bowlers - Puck-Based Gameplay and Maintenance, Mannequin Bowlers - Innovation and Collector Appeal, EM Arcade Game Collecting - Rarity, Value, and Cabinet Design
- **Secondary:** Regulation Scoring Technology in EM Bowling Games, Comparative Value and User Experience vs. Pinball Machines, Historical Manufacturer Relationships and Asset Acquisition

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Comprehensive overview of bowling game manufacturers (Bally, United, Chicago Coin, Gottlieb, Keeney, Evans, Williams) and their respective product lines across multiple decades (confidence: high) — Detailed discussion of each manufacturer's bowling game contributions and design approaches
- **[design_innovation]** Multiple innovative mechanical solutions documented: lighted pin scoring systems, ball bearing-based shuffle bowler lanes, rubber ring pin protection, AC/DC motor turret systems, U-shaped ball return mechanisms (confidence: high) — Detailed technical descriptions of specific mechanical innovations across all three bowling game categories
- **[collector_signal]** Contact ball bowlers (especially Gottlieb and Keeney models) command premium prices; mannequin bowlers (particularly Evans wood rail versions) highly collectible; shuffle bowlers nearly ubiquitous and thus less valuable (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge explicitly states contact bowlers are 'most desirable,' Gottlieb versions 'highly valued,' shuffle bowlers 'almost a dime a dozen'
- **[historical_signal]** Williams acquired Evans' tooling after Evans closed mid-1950s, producing identical 10-Strike mannequin bowler game with updated cabinet aesthetics (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'Evans went out of business in the mid-50s. And apparently Williams bought their tooling because they came out with a 10-strike. And it used the same exact mannequin.'
- **[restoration_signal]** Shuffle bowlers require specialized maintenance using ball bearing 'wax' on lanes rather than traditional friction-reducing substances; bucket collection systems needed for bearings falling through lanes (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge explains shuffle bowler wax is actually 'tiny ball bearings that you put on the lanes' with collection buckets below
- **[design_philosophy]** Bowling games positioned as economical alternatives to pinball with equivalent play cost but 10 frames of gameplay versus minutes of pinball, representing different value proposition for operators and players (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'you could spend some time on these things. Uh, you got 10 frames worth of bowling instead of a few minutes'
- **[historical_signal]** Bowling game naming conventions frequently employed wordplay around 'ten,' 'pins,' and 'strike,' indicating marketing strategy to emphasize sport authenticity (confidence: medium) — Nick Baldridge notes 'Some play on the words of 10 and pins or strike' in game titles like Keeney's 10 Pins
- **[product_concern]** Contact bowler pin-flipping mechanisms more durable than flip-up styles; flip-up pins easily broken by actual ball contact, affecting design choices across manufacturers (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'the flip-up style were used in the shuffle bowlers, and they would be easily broken by actual contact. So, again, in most instances'
- **[historical_signal]** Bowling games subject to territorial restrictions similar to replay/novelty game regulations; back glass artwork would change based on free play versus novelty mode settings (confidence: medium) — Nick Baldridge discusses territory restrictions and backlash artwork changes 'similar in concept to Anibal versus replay games'
- **[content_signal]** Jim Willing interviewed as subject matter expert on bowling games, particularly Keeney lighted bowler experience, indicating active collector/preservationist in EM bowling game community (confidence: medium) — Nick Baldridge mentions 'I discussed with Jim Willing in my interview' and references his Keeney lighted bowler experience
- **[design_innovation]** Evolution from non-regulation to regulation scoring in bowling games represented major technical advancement; lighted pin systems allowed compact space utilization compared to contact mechanisms (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge explains lighted pin systems 'allowed for a more limited space to house one of these things' versus contact bowlers at 16-foot range
- **[restoration_signal]** Wood rail cabinet design (Evans mannequin bowlers, Gottlieb Bolette) extending to floor with wood grain finish highly valued by collectors for aesthetic appeal independent of mechanical function (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'Evans versions are these gorgeous wood rail cabinets...you've got all that wood grain, and it's just breathtaking'

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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 bowling is a very american pastime and And no discussion of EM arcades and pinball machines would be complete without talking about the very large, very cool ball bowlers, shuffle bowlers, and mannequin bowlers. So today I thought we'd have a little initial discussion about ball bowlers and shuffle and mannequin bowlers and see what we can learn. So, if you enjoy bowling, then you'll be surprised to find, as I discussed with Jim Willing in my interview, that there are purely electromechanical machines that can score regulation bowling. and these machines are divided into machines that use an actual ball or that use a puck as in a shuffle bowler or where you don't control the ball at all directly but there's another representation of a bowler, as in mannequin games. So, for ball bowlers, there are three major manufacturers, Bally, United, and Chicago Coin. Chicago Coin is well known for making EM arcade games. They also develop some pinball machines, But one of their best-known EM arcade dalliances was with gun games and shooting galleries and the like. So they had a pretty diverse portfolio of machines of various types. So, uh, Bally United Chicago Coin made actual ball bowlers. These machines had large balls, about the size of a ski ball, a little bigger. And you would roll it down the lane, and the machine would keep track of which pins that you hit. Now, ball bowlers are divided themselves into a few different types. You've got contact bowlers, and then you've got lighted scoring, and then you've got ones where you just roll over pins, and then the pins move up above, similar to a shuffle bowler. Now, I believe James Willing talked about a Keeney lighted bowler that he had. and those lighted scoring games would light all 10 pins by default, and as you rolled the ball over the lane switches, it would close and turn off the lamp in each pin. It's kind of a cool idea, and allowed for a more limited space to house one of these things. they're big, these ball bowlers. Most are in the 16 foot range, so that's quite a bit larger than a pin. Now, the most desirable games are the contact games, and that where the ball actually strikes the pins So when you go bowling part of the fun is the crash as the ball hits the pins and seeing the ball return to you as well as the game scoring. These games initially could not do regulation scoring. the very earliest bowlers would instead provide these other game modes that you could start which would keep track of points in a different way. So it was a big advancement when they figured out a way to do regulation scoring and provide that information to the player immediately after each roll. Now the ball return on these is also pretty cool. There's a curved, almost U-shaped groove that the ball comes back on the right side and it returns straight to the player. You pick up the ball and you roll it. Just very neat. attractive method of return. Very similar to an actual bowling alley ball return, except that the actual return lane is completely exposed. So, moving on from contact bowlers, which are just so cool, as the ball strikes the pins, depending on the model, the pins will retract up and out of the way, revealing the pins which you have left to knock down, or they will flip up, depending. Most of the contact bowlers did not have the flip-up style, because in most instances, the flip-up style were used in the shuffle bowlers, and they would be easily broken by actual contact. So, again, moving on from the contact style, there were the flip-up style, and those had lane switches. And as I mentioned about the lighted scoring ones, the lane switches are very large metal tongues, tongues which stick up through the lane at the end in the typical 10 pin pattern and depending on where the ball strikes and which pins are indicated by the ball rolling over the lane switches, it will determine if you've got a strike or a spare or what's going on. what's going on. And these are cool because the pins flip up, and again, they reveal the ones that you have left. Many of the shuffle bowlers use the same method. So shuffle bowlers, the difference between those and a ball bowler is that the shuffle bowlers have a puck, kind of like a hockey puck, but made out of metal. and you fling it down the alleyway and it just bounces right back to you. Many, many manufacturers made these shuffle bowlers. The idea being that they had less maintenance than the ball bowlers because you don't have something actually physically striking something farther away. They required maybe slightly less maintenance. The thing about shuffle bowlers is that they require something called shuffle bowler wax. And it's not really wax, it's a bunch of tiny ball bearings that you put on the lanes that allow the puck to fly back and bounce back to you very quickly. You don't just wax the lane, you actually put these ball bearings in. So these ball bearings will fall through the lane at the back And they typically had a little bucket underneath of those lane switches to collect the ball bearings as they fell Just an interesting idea I mean to do that rather than to have wax or some other friction remover doing this. And this is in the years before air hockey and the like. So, I had mentioned that there are several different manufacturers of these ball bowlers. Well, Godlieb got into making puck bowlers. They only made a couple of them, but they are very attractive. They have Roy Parker artwork, and they're pretty neat. Now, Their most famous one is called Bolette. Bolette has lighted scoring or lighted pins. It's a shuffled bowler, but it's very small. It is desirable if you don't have a lot of space. They didn't make a whole ton of them, but it's in a beautiful wood rail cabinet. But it extends down to the floor, you know, similar to that New Daily Races, that horse racing game that they made. So beyond that, there were a few oddities. And these are not in the mannequin territory, but they're not shuffle bowlers and they're not exactly ball bowlers either. They did use a ball, like a ski ball ball. and they would have a ball return that was visible. But it would come down to this turret. And similar to center launching pinball machines, this ball would rest in here and when it was time to shoot, the ball would start spinning at a high velocity. and the way that it works is there's this AC motor which is running at 120 volts and just spinning this thing like crazy and as you select your shot so you can aim this turret and then you push a button and it switches from AC to DC and fires that ball out of there at high speed. It's pretty cool. I'd suggest looking up videos on YouTube for United's Midget Alley. It's got pretty neat artwork depicting gnomes bowling. Again, it's kind of a ball bowler. It's smaller than a normal sized ball bowler. And that would be a good one in a collection with limited space. But any of these ball bowlers that use actual balls, you're going to pay a premium for. And Gottlieb's couple 4As are also highly valued. So shuffle bowlers, on the other hand, are almost a dime a dozen. So many manufacturers made shuffle bowlers, and they all worked pretty much the same way. But interestingly enough, the shuffle bowlers tend to have the most complete games. This is after they had figured out regulation scoring. But when they did so, they left in, typically, the non-regulation scoring types. So someone who's more well-versed in bowling would be able to tell me, and they're for you, what exactly those different types do. I have no idea. I don't know what a flash game is, for example. But another thing to note about these bowling games is that they typically cost about the price of playing a pinball machine. But you got 10 frames worth of bowling instead of a few minutes or maybe several minutes if you were good of pinball So, uh, you could, you could spend some time on these things. Uh, there are some, Keeney was another manufacturer during the ball bowler phase and, um, their Their designs for the ball bowlers are pretty neat looking. So I had mentioned about contact bowlers. Well, theirs, they have one called 10 pins. And that's a common theme in bowlers too. Some play on the words of 10 and pins or strike or something of that nature. So, Kini's 10 pins has actual pins, and the way that they're protected is by a rubber ring. That's a pretty clever idea. Like a pinball rubber. So, for our last portion of tonight's discussion, I wanted to talk about mannequin bowlers. Now, mannequin EM games are kind of a takeoff on the EM arcade games I was talking about yesterday, where you have something that physically represents the thing that you're doing. In this case, it's a little miniature guy rolling a bowling ball down the alley. The same design was used by multiple manufacturers. The first to come up with the idea was Evans in their 10-strike. And Evans went out of business in the mid-50s. And apparently Williams bought their tooling because they came out with a 10-strike. And it used the same exact mannequin. so the mannequin is a little guy and he's hunched over with one hand on the ground and that holds the actual ball now the user controls this mannequin and moves it uh adjust it to the left and right and then pushes a button and the mannequin actually rolls it down the alley and knocks the pins over it's pretty cool these are highly collectible and the evans versions are these gorgeous wood rail cabinets. Again, they come down to the floor in the front, so you've got all that wood grain, and it's just breathtaking. Williams' version has more of that near-60s feel, so it's got of course different artwork on the back glass and the gameplay is similar to the Evans version you aim and bowl. Now 10 strike doesn't do regulation scoring and it can be set to either replay or novelty So depending on your score threshold, it can actually give you a free game or not. And much like other bowlers, this would be restricted by territory. And depending on the game, now not necessarily 10-strike, but other games, they would actually change the back less hard. This is similar in concept to Anibal versus replay games, where the backlash artwork would change depending on if you were winning extra balls or you were winning free games. So, that's all for tonight. Thank you again for joining me. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com. you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast via RSS on Facebook or on our website which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com thanks again 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: 859f41e1-f7f1-4156-8b98-5036908bd788*