# Past Times Pinball History Ep 24: Rare Bally Games

**Source:** Past Times Arcade  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2024-08-07  
**Duration:** 2m 26s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4wD24N1pQs

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## Analysis

Rob Burke of Past Times Arcade presents a collection of rare Bally sample games that never reached full production, including Red Max (70 units), Ballet Four (80 units), Slapstick (85 units), B Roundup (70 units), and an unnamed game (110 units). Burke explains Bally's market-testing process: games were released to select distributors who submitted feedback via self-addressed test report cards; based on responses, Bally decided whether to continue to full production or abandon the title. Several games featured unique mechanical elements like flip flags.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Bally released Red Max with only 70 units produced, did not hit full production — _Rob Burke directly stating production numbers for games in his collection at Past Times Arcade_
- [HIGH] Bally's practice was to test games with select distributors before deciding on full production; unsuccessful games remained as sample models (typically under 100 units) — _Burke explaining Bally's historical market-testing methodology with physical evidence (test report cards found in coin door)_
- [HIGH] Only three games feature flip flags: Slapstick, B. Flip-Flop, and one other unnamed game — _Burke presenting specific mechanical feature fact about rare games in his collection_
- [HIGH] Test game report cards were self-addressed envelopes that distributors would complete and mail back to Bally with feedback on location type, player count, and performance — _Burke displaying physical test report cards found inside the unnamed game's coin door, describing the feedback mechanism_
- [HIGH] Burke acquired an unnamed rare game (110 units made) through trade with a collector in Missouri; the game was difficult to locate — _Burke describing the acquisition story and noting this was a game he had been trying to track down_

### Notable Quotes

> "They only released 70 of these units. It did not hit full production. This was pretty common, so what Bally would do is they would release the game, test it to market with some distributors. If it didn't do well, they'd scrap the game and only release it as a sample model, usually less than 100."
> — **Rob Burke**, ~0:30-0:50
> _Core explanation of Bally's market-testing strategy and why certain games remained rare sample models_

> "Little fun fact here: these are called flip flags, and there's only three games that have flip flags—this game, B. Flip-Flop, and the popular B. With..."
> — **Rob Burke**, ~1:45-2:00
> _Identifying rare mechanical feature across only three Bally games_

> "We picked this one up with a trade from a collector in Missouri, and what's really neat about this—only 110 of these were made. Very difficult game that Rob Burke was trying to track down."
> — **Rob Burke**, ~2:15-2:35
> _Documenting difficulty of sourcing rare sample games and Burke's personal collecting efforts_

> "So what Bally would do, as I mentioned, is they put games out to distributors at select locations, and they get feedback from the distributor...Based on that feedback, Bally would then decide: are we going to continue this game to full production, or unfortunately, only leave it as a sample game?"
> — **Rob Burke**, ~3:10-3:45
> _Detailed explanation of Bally's decision-making process for market-tested games using physical test report evidence_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Rob Burke | person | Owner of Past Times Arcade, pinball collector and historian; presenter of this episode on rare Bally games |
| Past Times Arcade | organization | Pinball arcade and collection venue run by Rob Burke; location of the rare Bally games featured in this episode |
| Bally | company | Historical pinball manufacturer that implemented market-testing system for new games; used test report cards with distributors |
| Red Max | game | Rare Bally pinball game designed by Ted Zale with artwork by Christian Marsh; only 70 units produced, did not reach full production |
| Ballet Four | game | Rare Bally pinball game; only 80 units released, featured unique artwork |
| Slapstick | game | Rare Bally pinball game; 85 units made; one of only three games featuring flip flags |
| B Roundup | game | Rare Bally two-player pinball game; only 70 units released |
| B. Flip-Flop | game | Bally pinball game featuring flip flags; one of only three games with this mechanical element |
| Ted Zale | person | Designer of Red Max pinball game for Bally |
| Christian Marsh | person | Artwork designer for Red Max pinball game |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Bally rare/sample games, Pinball history and manufacturing, Market testing and distributorship feedback systems
- **Secondary:** Rare mechanical features (flip flags), Pinball collecting and acquisitions

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Burke presents this historical material with enthusiasm and appreciation for the rarity and mechanical ingenuity of these sample games. His tone is educational and celebratory of obscure Bally history.

### Signals

- **[collector_signal]** Rob Burke's personal effort to track down and acquire rare sample games through collector networks demonstrates active secondary market for obscure Bally titles (confidence: high) — Burke completed trade with Missouri collector to acquire the 110-unit game; notes it was 'very difficult' to locate
- **[historical_signal]** Detailed documentation of Bally's historical market-testing methodology using physical test report cards found in machine coin doors (confidence: high) — Burke displays actual test report cards with self-addressed envelopes that distributors used to provide feedback to Bally on market performance

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## Transcript

[Music] for this episode of Pas times pinball hist we're going to feature some rare sample games by Bal you come up and look at this game this is called the red Max designer the popular Ted Zale artwork Christian Marche they only released 70 of these units it did not hit full production this was pretty common so what Bal would do is they would release the game test it to Market with some Distributors if it didn't do well they'd scrap the game and only release it as a sample model usually less than a 100 so we have the red Max there if you come down here here's another one balet four balet four they only released 80 of those unique artwork on that one now we have slapstick 85 of these were made this is kind of unique here too little fun fact here these are called flip flags and there's only three games that have flip Flags this game B flip-flop and the popular B with come on down here we'll do a couple more here we have B Roundup two-player game only 70 of these were released right here very unique game and lastly a really neat one here we picked this one up with a trade from a collector in Missour and what's really neat about this only 110 of these were made very difficult game that Rob Burke was trying to track down found a collector in Missouri made the trade but here's what's really cool about this game we open up the coin door we actually have these inside so check these out these are actually test game reports as you can see here so what b would do as I mentioned is they put games out to Distributors select locations and they get feedback from the distributor so on here it would say what was the location um was it local was it an arcade number of players and then what you'd actually do send this back to valy this would fold up along the lines here self addressed envelope you send it back to get their feedback based on that feedback B would then decide are we going to continue this game to full production or unfortunately only leave it as a sample game these are a few games that didn't hit full production come on into pastimes arcade check out some rare titles [Music]

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: cc9329a4-1802-49c0-adba-621fe1092cf6*