# Episode 462 - Rest in Peace, Dan Ferguson, New Game Developments, 1967 Chicago Coin Festival

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2019-12-27  
**Duration:** 8m 19s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-462-rest-in-peace-dan-ferguson-new-game-developments-1967-chicago-coin-festival

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge hosts a tribute to Dan Ferguson, the deceased owner of the Lone Star Pinball Museum in Houston, who was instrumental in organizing the Texas Pinball Festival and Houston Arcade Expo. The episode features a detailed technical deep-dive into Festival, a 1967 Chicago Coin game notable for being the manufacturer's first machine with flipper return lanes and use of a carousel roto unit similar to Gottlieb designs.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Dan Ferguson passed away on December 14th, 2019 — _Nick Baldridge, host of For Amusement Only, stated this as a factual event_
- [HIGH] Festival (1967, Chicago Coin) was Chicago Coin's first game with flipper return lanes — _Nick Baldridge citing IPDB documentation and technical analysis_
- [MEDIUM] Festival uses a carousel roto unit similar to Gottlieb's Diamond Jack or King of Diamonds but with circular stand-up targets instead of vertical rectangles — _Nick Baldridge's technical analysis; notes he suspects layout is similar but hasn't seen unit itself_
- [MEDIUM] Festival had an add-ball version produced — _IPDB notes referenced by Nick Baldridge; comparison to Chicago Coin Twinkie_
- [MEDIUM] As far as Nick Baldridge knows, Chicago Coin did not make any other games utilizing a roto unit in this fashion — _Nick Baldridge's analysis; speculates possible patent concerns as reason_
- [HIGH] Dan Ferguson built a horse racing game from spare parts, creating custom playfields and mechanics — _Nick Baldridge recounting personal visit to Lone Star Pinball Museum in August (implied 2019)_

### Notable Quotes

> "Dan was extremely gracious, opened up the Lone Star Pinball Museum to us, and then walked us through the whole thing. And we had just fantastic conversations."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~0:30-0:50
> _Establishes personal relationship and Dan's generosity; sets tone for tribute_

> "Dan was instrumental in the Texas Pinball Festival and the Houston Arcade Expo as well as running the Lone Star Pinball Museum. And he was a staple of the Houston collector community from what I can tell. Just a super nice guy, really generous with his time and his knowledge."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~1:20-1:35
> _Summarizes Dan Ferguson's contributions to the pinball community and his character_

> "I am sad to hear of his passing. My sincere condolences to all of his friends and family and the entirety of the pinball and coin-operated collecting hobby."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~1:35-1:50
> _Formal eulogy; reflects community respect_

> "This is ChicagoCoin's first game with flipper return lanes, as the IPDB calls them. They're in lanes that feed directly to the flipper."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~2:40-2:55
> _Key technical innovation identified in Festival_

> "I normally don't pick games that I don't think would be fun and I'm interested to see how this plays, especially with that roto unit."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~5:50-6:05
> _Indicates genuine interest in Festival's gameplay and mechanical design_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Dan Ferguson | person | Owner of Lone Star Pinball Museum in Houston, Texas; instrumental in Texas Pinball Festival and Houston Arcade Expo; deceased December 14, 2019 |
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; EM pinball expert and game designer/builder; visited Dan Ferguson in August 2019 |
| Ryan | person | Co-host or colleague of Nick Baldridge who accompanied him on Houston tour stops in August 2019 |
| Lone Star Pinball Museum | organization | Museum in Houston, Texas operated by Dan Ferguson; houses extensive collection of pinball machines, trade stimulators, memorabilia, and neon signs |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Event organized with involvement of Dan Ferguson; major Texas pinball community gathering |
| Houston Arcade Expo | event | Event organized with involvement of Dan Ferguson in Houston, Texas |
| Festival | game | Chicago Coin pinball machine, made January 1967; four-player; notable for flipper return lanes and carousel roto unit |
| Chicago Coin | company | Pinball manufacturer; produced Festival (1967) and Twinkie (referenced as having add-ball version) |
| Gottlieb | company | Pinball manufacturer; produced Diamond Jack and King of Diamonds, both featuring carousel roto units |
| Diamond Jack | game | Gottlieb pinball machine featuring carousel roto unit with vertical-oriented rectangular targets |
| King of Diamonds | game | Gottlieb pinball machine featuring carousel roto unit |
| Twinkie | game | Chicago Coin pinball machine; had add-ball version with stacking capability |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast hosted by Nick Baldridge; focuses on electromechanical and bingo pinball machines |
| IPDB | organization | Internet Pinball Database; referenced by Nick Baldridge for technical specifications and production details |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Community tribute and obituary, Electromechanical pinball machine design, Chicago Coin manufacturing history
- **Secondary:** Carousel roto unit mechanism, Game rules and scoring, Pinball patent history
- **Mentioned:** Museum collections and preservation

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Death of Dan Ferguson, key organizer of Texas Pinball Festival, Houston Arcade Expo, and operator of Lone Star Pinball Museum. Described as generous, influential figure in Houston collector community. (confidence: high) — Extended tribute segment; personal recollection of meeting; acknowledgment of his institutional roles in organizing major community events
- **[design_innovation]** Festival (1967) identified as Chicago Coin's first game with flipper return lanes; also notable for use of carousel roto unit similar to Gottlieb designs (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge's technical analysis citing IPDB; detailed mechanical description of flipper return lane functionality
- **[historical_signal]** Chicago Coin's adaptation of carousel roto unit mechanism from Gottlieb; suggests either licensing or independent mechanical innovation; possibly constrained by patent concerns (confidence: medium) — Comparison of Festival and Gottlieb machines (Diamond Jack, King of Diamonds); speculation that Chicago Coin may have faced patent issues limiting further adoption
- **[restoration_signal]** Dan Ferguson constructed a horse racing game from spare parts, fabricating custom playfields and internal mechanics; example of collector expertise and preservation work (confidence: high) — First-hand account from Nick Baldridge's visit to Lone Star Pinball Museum; Ferguson reportedly had original pieces but created most components
- **[content_signal]** Nick Baldridge continuing to produce For Amusement Only during holiday season with lighter EM news; also actively developing new solid-state flipper game project (confidence: high) — Host commentary on seasonal news slowdown; mention of build thread and ongoing development work
- **[venue_signal]** Lone Star Pinball Museum in Houston maintains substantial collection of pinball machines, trade stimulators, memorabilia, and neon signage; served as destination for touring community members (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge's detailed description of museum visit in August 2019; characterization of Dan Ferguson's curation efforts

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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. For those that celebrate, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and for those that are still celebrating, a Happy Hanukkah. I wanted to speak a bit tonight about the passing of Dan Ferguson, the owner of the Lone Star Pinball Museum in Houston, Texas. Ryan and I were privileged enough to have met Dan in between the two tour stops that we ran in Houston back in August. And Dan was extremely gracious, opened up the Lone Star Pinball Museum to us, and then walked us through the whole thing. And we had just fantastic conversations. I got to see his games and, of course, his extremely impressive collection of various trade stimulators, memorabilia, neon signs, just all kinds of cool stuff that he had packed into the Lone Star Pinball Museum. and one of my favorite pieces there was a horse racing game that Dan had actually built from spare parts. He had a few of the pieces of the original game, but he had to make his own playfields, he had to make all of the mechanics inside the game, and he and I got to talking about that, and I was just extremely impressed. I came away extremely impressed. having only met Dan that one time I was hoping to be able to spend more time with him either over the phone or upon you know future trips to Houston but unfortunately that was not to be Dan passed away on December the 14th of 2019 Dan was instrumental in the Texas Pinball Festival and the Houston Arcade Expo as well as running the Lone Star Pinball Museum And he was a staple of the Houston collector community from what I can tell Just a super nice guy, really generous with his time and his knowledge. And I am sad to hear of his passing. My sincere condolences to all of his friends and family and the entirety of the pinball and coin-operated collecting hobby. as one might expect around the holidays EM news is a little bit light I have not been doing any service calls and haven't had time to do much playing either so things have been rather slow for me on the pinball front however I am working every day on the new flipper game that I'm creating and if you'd like to follow along I'll put a link in the show notes to the build thread where I'm talking about various challenges. It's a solid-state game, so it doesn't quite fit the motif of the show here, but I figure I can mention it every so often. Today's featured game is Festival by Chicago Coin, made in January of 1967. This is a relatively straightforward four-player game, but there are a couple of features which make it look like a super fun player. This is ChicagoCoin's first game with flipper return lanes, as the IPDB calls them. They're inlanes that feed directly to the flipper. So let's talk about the rules for the game. This game has a sequence, A through E, that has to be spelled completely in order to increase the target value. By default, you get one times the scoring, and the targets are actually mounted on a roto unit, a carousel roto unit, very similar to the one that's found in Diamond Jack or King of Diamonds. But hey wait that a Gottlieb game and this is Chicago Coin What the heck Well I can tell you that the targets attached to the mechanism are different than the Gottlieb ones whereas the Gottlieb ones are kind of vertical-oriented rectangles. These are circular stand-up targets, essentially, which are put on that rotor unit. Now, I don't have pictures of the unit itself, but I suspect that it's got to be laid out almost exactly the same as the Gottlieb one. There's only, you know, maybe one other way that that can possibly work, and it wouldn't work nearly as well as the Gottlieb one. But I assume that this works almost exactly the same. The letter A is on the left out lane. B can be hit on a rollover button in the mid play field on the left, or by a rollover at the top right beside the rebound rubber on the upper left. C is right in the center. It's the center lane at the top. Or it's the right in lane or the left in lane. So either in lane will spot C as well as that center rollover. D is the right rollover or the right button rollover on the mid play field. And then E, the only place you can get E, is the right out lane. So left and right out lane have to be hit in order to complete the sequence one time. So when you complete the sequence one time, it boosts the target values from one time to ten times. If you complete the sequence a second time, it boosts it from ten to one hundred times. So the numbers are one through five, and then there's a star. while the star is showing if the star is lit on the playfield you will score 50 points for the star and you also light the extra ball light Now the IPDB notes that there was apparently an add version of this produced and if that worked like the Chicago coin Twinkie that I owned, then you could stack the extra balls and play them off that way. So there would be an indication on the apron that you could shoot again, But there was no indication on the glass of how many balls you had left to shoot. In this case, there was a shoot-again light on the playfield, so maybe they didn't make a second version of the apron for this, for the Adaball version. They just kept that light lit. But at any rate, the theme of this game, if you couldn't tell, is a festival. It's a party. So there's musical instruments, and there's people dancing, and I think the layout looks pretty fun. I know that's surprising. I normally don't pick games that I don't think would be fun and I'm interested to see how this plays, especially with that roto unit. As far as I know, Chicago Coin did not make any other games that utilized a roto unit in this fashion. I'm not sure why that might be other than perhaps they got in trouble for their implementation being too close to the patent. But regardless, I think this is a school game, and if anybody has played this game, I would love to hear more about it. Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for listening. 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-BINGOS1. 724-246-4671. You can listen to me on iTunes, Pocket Cast via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at Bingo Podcast. Or you can listen to me on my website, which is foreignamusementonly.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: f91ae933-3402-4091-9421-ec734a4b4fa9*