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Episode 416 - Robo-Frenzy, Multi Horse Race, Sing Along, 1941 Bally Fairmont

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·28m 50s·analyzed·Feb 22, 2018
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

RoboFrenzy wiring advances, one-ball horse race acquisition, and deep dive into 1941 Bally Fairmont design.

Summary

Nick Baldridge discusses his ongoing restoration and customization projects, including significant progress on RoboFrenzy (dual transformer wiring, coil integration), acquisition of a one-ball horse race playfield for his multi-bingo machine, and a newly acquired Gottlieb Singalong. He also provides an in-depth historical analysis of the 1941 Bally Fairmont, highlighting its innovative Schnabel Coin Master mechanism and advanced gameplay features predating Turf King by nine years.

Key Claims

  • RoboFrenzy uses a dual transformer system (24-volt and 50-volt) rather than single 24-volt design due to 50-volt coils selected during development

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge describing wiring progress on RoboFrenzy project

  • The one-ball horse race playfield acquired came from a Turf King and is being integrated into the multi-bingo machine

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge announcement of recent acquisition deal

  • Only two Bally Fairmont 1941 machines are known to exist

    medium confidence · Nick Baldridge citing documentation by Craig on Woodrail Pinball Machines Facebook group

  • The Schnabel Coin Master was a gear reduction system developed by Puget Sound Novelty Company for Bally Fairmont as an automated reset mechanism

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge describing documented features from Craig's research on Facebook

  • Turf King featured guaranteed advancing odds, an innovation by Don Hooker developed after Fairmont was produced

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge comparing Fairmont features to Turf King timeline

  • Bahama Beach was the only factory bingo with a payout hopper option, though aftermarket modifications exist

    medium confidence · Nick Baldridge discussing bingo payout mechanisms and variations

  • Nick's development computer died after being used for multi-bingo code work for approximately two years

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge opening explanation for shifting focus to RoboFrenzy

  • Fairmont playfield has lettered bumpers (A, B, C, D) that must be hit sequentially to light all selections, with random passive bumpers in the middle providing advancement bonuses

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge detailed gameplay mechanics analysis

Notable Quotes

  • “committing to at least 15 minutes meant that in reality it was more like two hours any time I came down here”

    Nick Baldridge @ early section — Reflects the passion and obsessive nature of custom pinball machine building; underestimating time commitment

  • “This is a ridiculous design that is way too complicated to actually be made in electromechanical. So, you know, I'm trying to make it as good as I can.”

    Nick Baldridge @ RoboFrenzy section — Reveals design philosophy and self-awareness about project scope while maintaining quality standards

  • “It's kind of silly to say that I'm looking forward to playing my own games, but I am. Especially the multi. I mean, I haven't really played that since York.”

    Nick Baldridge @ closing of personal projects section — Illustrates the challenge of hobby vs. maintenance workload for collectors/builders

  • “There's no way for it to jam, at least under the user's influence. Of course, the operator could throw a bunch of gunk on the arm or the cam inside or the gears and prevent that motor from turning.”

    Nick Baldridge @ Fairmont analysis — Technical assessment of Schnabel Coin Master innovation and practical operator concerns

  • “That's a huge deal. That's really, really cool. Having played quite a bit of Turf King, I can tell you sometimes you just need one more letter in order to get past your player's block, and you just can't get it no matter what you do.”

    Nick Baldridge @ Fairmont gameplay features section — Demonstrates deep gameplay knowledge and appreciation for mechanical/design solutions to player frustration

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonRoboFrenzyproductFor Amusement OnlyorganizationMulti-bingoproductBally FairmontgameTurf KinggameGottlieb SingalonggameCraigpersonDon Hookerperson

Signals

  • ?

    restoration_signal: RoboFrenzy wiring progressing through coil integration, transformer configuration, and logic switch testing with router equipment purchased for lamp shield fabrication

    high · Detailed technical description of dual transformer wiring, completed coil separation, and upcoming lamp socket installation

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Multi-bingo development blocked by computer failure; replacement machine acquisition pending; waiting on specific parts deal expected to resolve this weekend

    high · Computer death mentioned as catalyst for RoboFrenzy focus; expected parts acquisition to enable alternate playfield wiring

  • ?

    collector_signal: Collector acquiring Gottlieb Singalong despite acknowledged space shortage; indicates strong emotional attachment and value perception overriding practical constraints

    high · Quote: 'I am laughably out of space... But a deal came up and I couldn't pass it up'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Schnabel Coin Master uses gear reduction motor system to automate reset without jamming risk; predates typical 1950s automatic reset by decade

    high · Detailed technical analysis of gear mechanism pushing metal arm through coil shutter to effect reset; 1941 design innovation documented by Craig

  • ?

    historical_signal: Fairmont (1941) demonstrates advanced mechanical features nine years before Turf King; guaranteed advancing odds is post-Fairmont innovation by Don Hooker

    high · Comparative analysis of Fairmont vs. Turf King features; Don Hooker joining industry timeline relative to Turf King development

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.086

0:00
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 ton of stuff going on as always, it seems this hobby never really slows down. Let's start, I suppose, with RoboFrenzy. after the untimely demise of my development computer that I've been using to work on the multibingo for the past couple years here I decided to devote my energy to working on RoboFrenzy of course this comes after I finished the four card themed bingos and I've got those set up in code and ready to install in the multibingo when the playfield is ready so the timing really couldn't have been much better that computer I'd been working hard for quite some time and it was starting to feel that way before it decided to just completely die but at any rate all good things come to an end I suppose and I'm going to wait for a couple weeks and save up some money and get the computer that I need rather than something just to fill the void.
1:32
So while I'm waiting on that, I've been working on RoboFrenzy. I've been devoting at least 15 minutes a night to it. I got sick somewhere in the middle of there.
1:43
My sickness was pretty abbreviated, but it was still enough to knock me down a bit. and so 15 minutes I thought was a reasonable goal I didn't have to get too committed and of course committing to at least 15 minutes meant that in reality it was more like 2 hours any time I came down here so I've got a nice work table in one of my pinball machines over here got the schematic rolled out on top of it and I'm just checking through wires, marking them with the wire color and making sure that everything makes sense. I've come across a couple of things that have to be redrawn in the schematic, and I'm penciling those in. So version 1 of my schematic assumes a 24-volt system, but with how things shook out, I ended up using 50-volt coils in the game, and so I decided that I'll just run a dual transformer system, one 24-volt and one 50-volt. so that's what I've done and I am basically marking those 50 volt coils on the schematic as such and writing a new common a new hot and a new common and tying them together unfortunately some of them are buried in the middle of the schematic which is pretty inconvenient but it is what it is so aside from that I've spent some time kind of cleaning up some of the bits and bobs so I've gone through and wired all the commons in the system which is basically all the hot side I call it commons because of course every coil shares that same lead but the true common side the one that feeds back into the transformer actually is in the middle of the schematic, so hot is tied to one side of the coil, and then common feeds through via various switches. So I call it common, but it's really not. It's the hot side. So each of these coils is tied together, and I've mounted the trip banks in the top of the cab. I had thought about putting them down lower because, of course, it's very tight with the back door closed and the two large six-position trip banks mounted up top. But unfortunately, I don't quite know the size and shape of the wheel mechanism that's going to allow for the player to position themselves, so I didn't want to put anything there that could encroach on that later, especially since I'm laying wire at this point. I didn't want to attach it to the front for fear that the player would be able to cheat in some way, either by kicking the machine or using a magnet of some kind. I'm trying to think this through as if it were being made. Of course, this is a ridiculous design that is way too complicated to actually be made in electromechanical. So, you know, I'm trying to make it as good as I can. And so far I'm feeling pretty good. So 24 volts are all wired. All my 50 volts are wired. And I'm just running through all the logic switches now. And I've got score reels separated, completely desoldered, and ready to go. So I'm looking forward to getting a couple of those wired in as well, and playing around with the reset sequence and making sure that it actually functions as intended. To that goal, I purchased a router thanks to one of the followers of the Pinside Thread about the build. I was lamenting the fact that I didn't have a router and that I didn't really know how to use one. And someone said, hey, they're only $30 today.
Puget Sound Novelty Company
company
Woodrail Pinball Machines Facebook grouporganization
Bahama Beachgame
Yorkevent
  • ?

    design_innovation: Fairmont's random passive bumper bonus system provides sequential letter advancement as gimme feature when primary bumper targets blocked; innovative player engagement solution

    high · Detailed explanation of A/B/C/D bumper sequence with middle passive bumpers offering advancement if stuck; comparison to modern player frustration in Turf King

  • ?

    design_innovation: Fairmont features section-wide lighting of center tower that validates any hole hit in that section regardless of selection; innovative jackpot discovery mechanic

    high · Lamp tower lighting at random in purse/show/place/win sections; described as feature Nick wishes he had access to

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Nick acquiring one-ball horse race playfield from Turf King for multi-bingo integration; exploring design for playfield swapping vs. dedicated cabinet building

    high · Deal made for one-ball horse race playfield; currently in parts-collecting phase; evaluating fit within existing multi-bingo cabinet

  • ?

    product_strategy: Nick considering multiple payout implementation approaches for one-ball games: hopper, coin tubes with slot payout mechanism, or optional drawer-mounted hopper

    high · Discussion of hopper weight/size constraints; comparison to button drawer installation location; code-level ease of hopper implementation via relay control

  • ?

    community_signal: Craig documenting Bally Fairmont on Woodrail Pinball Machines Facebook group; collaborative historical game preservation and public knowledge sharing

    high · Nick's detailed analysis sourced from Craig's Facebook documentation; requests for additional Fairmont machines to clarify uncertain mechanics

  • ?

    collector_signal: Fairmont listed as extremely rare with only two known to exist; rarity enhances value and documentation importance in collector community

    medium · Craig's statement that only two Bally Fairmont machines known to exist; Nick's call for owners to contact with documentation

  • ?

    operational_signal: Collector unable to play own machines due to ongoing restoration/repair work obligations; time management challenge between building projects and leisure gameplay

    high · Quote: 'I haven't played one of my own games in many weeks... haven't had that luxury really since York'

    • 6:03
    So I went ahead and got one of those. It's a small handheld deal. And I got some tips for it. And hopefully I'll be able to cut some good things like the power switch hole that I need, as well as the mounting position for the power cord. That's got to run out the back door somehow.
    6:27
    So I'll update further on that as I go. Of course, the router's main purpose is going to be to cut the lamp shields for the back glass.
    6:40
    That's going to be quite a job. So we'll see if this thing is up to the task. Hopefully so, though. More on that as it develops.
    6:52
    So I should have wiring pretty much finished in the next few weeks. Might be two or three episodes before it's completely done.
    7:02
    Because somewhere in there I need to actually wire up the lamp sockets, which I have not done any of yet I need to go out and get I going to get two quarter pieces of ply and route out one and the other one I'm going to drill to install the lamp sockets, and then I'm going to glue them together.
    7:26
    And hopefully that provides a robust enough surface for the lamps, and enough shadow that the light box for the lamps looks good on the back glass. But we'll have to see.
    7:46
    So there may be some experimentation there. I've got to get a hinge that'll work for the game and some other bits and bobs and sundries like that. But things are coming along. I can see where this is going to shape up, and I'm looking forward to that. In other news, I just made a deal for a one-ball horse race playfield.
    8:13
    The playfield that I am receiving came out of a Turf King, which I'm very familiar with. And my plan is to implement the one-ball games in the multi-bingo. There are a few dedicated collectors of the one-ball games, but they are few and far between compared to the bingos, which themselves are few and far between compared to, say, godly wedgeheads. So it's going to be quite the journey. I have paperwork for some of the old games and have been looking at that. Unfortunately, a lot of the crucial information is not documented in either the manual or schematic for these games, specifically what amounts to the spotting disc. The way a lot of these work is you insert a coin, and a motor spins and stops, and where it stops is what you get, and that's it.
    9:11
    The later games like Turf King have one of the best advantages, which is guaranteed advancing odds. so some of the earliest games you drop a coin and maybe it jumps right to the highest odds your next coin it jumps somewhere in the middle it can go down but on Turf King they always go up a pretty big deal but of course part of the charm of those older games is knowing when to stop so I'm looking forward to getting these games implemented and my current plan is to implement them in the multi itself the playfields for the one ball games are larger typically than a standard bingo playfield so I'll have to see if it fits within the cab if not I'll have to build a cab to hold it but I'm attempting to avoid that expense if I can and make it a little more convenient just have one system to swap playfields in and out of so some of the games have two different versions similar to the bingos where there could be multiple versions one that automatically plays replays and the other which accepts coins and the replays stay on the machine so in these one ball games the two different versions are replay which operate like a bingo or a standard flipper game where you push a start button and a replay comes off the meter and you're playing the game.
    10:53
    The other version is Payout, and only one of the bingos, as far as I'm aware, had a factory option to install a Payout hopper, and that's Bahama Beach.
    11:08
    None of the others had that option, although I've seen plenty of games that have been modified aftermarket to include a payout hopper.
    11:18
    Some of those come from Las Vegas, as far away as there, even though I'm out here in Virginia. So it's pretty interesting to see just how far these games travel. But the payout for the one balls is pretty interesting. It works kind of like a slot machine pre-hopper.
    11:46
    But I'm thinking what I could do to simulate that effect would be to have an optional hopper that can attach under the cabinet, similar to where the button drawer installs. So you could either install the button drawer or you could install the payout hopper. and I think that would be kind of fun to have both options but I'll have to see what kind of parts I can find of course I can get a hopper the big problem that I have with a hopper is that it's huge and very heavy but it could work the other thing I could do is install coin tubes and then install some kind of slot machine payout mechanism I think that may be easier, but of course from a computer's perspective, the hopper is probably easier because you just turn on a relay, spin until it's paid out enough coins.
    12:45
    That's pretty straightforward, actually, as far as code goes. So, we'll see. I am still in the parts collecting phase right now. I've got a really gorgeous playfield coming, and that's going to get me jazzed to write the games. And once they're written, I can work on improvements like setting up both the payout and non-payout versions of these games. And, of course, the non-payout is all that would be playable at a pinball show. but I can go ahead and write them and have them and play them myself at my home so looking forward to that ok so in other multi news of course I'm waiting on the computer that'll happen one of these days soon and while I'm waiting I've got plenty of playfields to wire and I'm working on a deal for a lot of parts that I need. In fact, that is pretty solid. Hopefully, if all things go well this weekend, I'll have almost all the parts that I have left for the multi. And once that happens, I can really begin wiring the alternate playfields. I am, in particular, waiting on some things that are required in order to wire some of these playfields. So hopefully, having that stuff will make a big difference. We shall see.
    14:22
    And the last bit of news just as far as EM stuff that going on I got a new game tonight it pretty surprising to me because I am laughably out of space I mean there is absolutely nowhere for me to put this thing but a deal came up and I couldn't pass it up a Gottlieb Singalong which is one of my favorite games came up at a very good price the back glass is really nice the cabinet has had some work done to it I think it got wet at some point in the past and some parts of it have been replaced that said, they did a reasonable job on the cabinet the playfield has had a lot of wear and a lot of touch up and that is not quite as good but that said, I'm looking forward to having a sing-along of my very own.
    15:19
    I really love that game. I find the gameplay very compelling. So hopefully I'll have that fixed up at some point and on legs. Right now it's folded up, but one of these days soon. I should have a little bit more space, and we'll see what I can do there. So I'm building RoboFrenzy in the middle of the aisle, and I've got Singalong down at the other end of the aisle.
    15:48
    You can kind of squeeze past both of them and play some of the games right now. But that said, I haven't played one of my own games in many weeks.
    16:00
    So it's about time for me to do that. I have a couple more things I need to do to a couple of the games. and once those are done I should have some free time hopefully to be able to just come down here and veg out a little bit and play some games I haven't had that luxury really since York I've been working on fixing games or working on other games around town and just have not had a chance so that's going to be exciting it's kind of silly to say that I'm looking forward to playing my own games but I am especially the multi, I mean I haven't really played that since York so I need to get back into that and hopefully I'll stream a little gameplay too show you all some different bingos that are hard to find or that are unusual or have interesting features or that I just find very compelling there's quite a few of them for today's year of Flipperless.
    17:13
    Let's talk about Bally's 1941 Fairmont. Fairmont is one of the one-ball horse race games. And a beautiful example has been partially documented by a man named Craig on the Woodrail Pinball Machines Facebook group. so I thought I'd go over this game because it's very impressive for the time period this is 9 years before Turf King and some of the features in this game are just mind-boggling so it's a horse race game and the playfield is divided into sections purse, show, place and win and your goal is to match the selection that's lit at random with the particular hole that you land in in one of those sections. And depending on where you land and the odds which are lit on the back glass at the time, you'll win the corresponding number of nickels.
    18:19
    Right from the beginning, this game is fairly unique. Bally contracted with Puget Sound Novelty Company, and what they developed was this thing called the Schnabel Coin Master.
    18:34
    It must have been named after somebody. I can't figure out why it's named Schnabel other than it would have been somebody's last name.
    18:43
    But what this is, it's a pretty ingenious device. If you've played an older game, you know that one of the weaknesses of those older games is the coin slide. It's, of course, an indelible part of early pinball, is pushing in that coin slide, feeling the game reset underneath you, and pulling the slide back out. It's pretty neat, and there's very few things which are like it. Of course, the automatic resets of later games where you drop a coin in a shoot and then it just takes care of the rest is pretty neat as well. But there's something about pushing in that coin slide and feeling it, if you know what I'm saying. So the weakness of these, of course, is that the player can hold the game in a reset state, or the coin mechanism can become jammed, the coin mechanism being the slide itself. This is far more dangerous when it's mechanically controlling the reset sequence. If you think about it, perhaps there are relays which are built to drop out almost immediately. Things like, oh, I don't know, a reset relay.
    19:57
    Well, the game knows that it is engaged and so tries to drop it immediately, and it can't. If the coin slide is wedged in, in the furthest point, then unfortunately the game can't reset. The coil keeps trying to trip and cannot, and therefore the coil will burn. if you're lucky the fuse will blow if you're unlucky the game will catch on fire so the interesting thing about this Schnabel Coin Master is that they tried to solve this problem and the way they did it was with this gear reduction system as Craig describes it on Facebook and it sounds like a vacuum cleaner it's a very loud motor and when you put in the coin this motor spins up, and all that it does is through a series of different gears, it turns, it rotates this metal arm, which is laid out horizontally. And this metal arm has a knob on the end, and what this knob does is push what amounts to half of a coin slide, and it pushes into the shutter and resets the game.
    21:13
    That's pretty unique because there's no way for it to jam at least under the user's influence. Of course the operator could throw a bunch of gunk on the arm or the cam inside or the gears and prevent that motor from turning but as it is designed there should be no way for the coin mechanism to jam It pretty novel especially in 1941 So what you essentially talking about is an automatic reset system like those games from the 1950s, 1960s. However, it's done via a gigantic motor. It's pretty cool.
    21:57
    So let's talk about the gameplay of Fairmont, because I find this very interesting as well. Keep in mind, again, this is nine years before Turf King, and I've been over the features of that before, and there are quite a few, but the features of this game are very, very interesting.
    22:17
    This game does not have guaranteed advancing odds. It's too early for that. That was an invention of Don Hooker, and he invented that after Fairmont was produced.
    22:29
    He came on, it's my understanding, just a year or two before Turf King was made, and that is one of the first guaranteed advancing odds games. So, one-ball horse race games before then, and I mentioned actually earlier in this episode, if you put in a coin, there's no guarantee what odds you'll get.
    22:50
    It could go down to the very lowest odds, even though you were at the highest with the last nickel. so as I mentioned before you have to kind of know when to play and when not to play perhaps your selection is terrible but your odds are great so sometimes you want to take a chance so aside from the random selection of odds you also have the random selection of the selection which is the actual horse that you're trying to land the ball into that hole but there's also a way to multiply your odds and it's based on the number of coins that have been inserted and it's up to four coins changes the way this multiplier works unfortunately the instruction card on IPDB is pretty blurry so I'm not able to see exactly how that works but I assume this is some kind of proto method to secure these multiple coins in an instance where your odds started out at a fairly high amount.
    24:01
    So, other than that, there are lettered bumpers on the playfield in the upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right. Those are marked A, B, C, and D, and you have to hit them sequentially. Once you do, then all seven selections will light,
    24:22
    and essentially any hole you put it into will be a winner. There are also trophy holes down at the bottom,
    24:31
    and I'm not certain what they do on this game, but I believe what they'll do is light all selections next game. Next, let's talk about the other two bumpers which are on this playfield. That's right, there's six on here. in between A, B, C, and D, right in the middle of the play field on the edges, are two other passive bumpers. They will light at random and if you hit it while lit, it will give you the next letter in sequence. So say you had A lit already because you had hit that one but you just could not hit B. If you manage to hit one of those randomly lit passive bumpers in the middle, it will give you B and then next you have to hit C. That's a huge deal. That's really, really cool.
    25:21
    Having played quite a bit of Turf King, I can tell you sometimes you just need one more letter in order to get past your player's block, and you just can't get it no matter what you do.
    25:36
    So that would be an extremely powerful feature. It's kind of a gimme if you've been pumping money into this thing for a while.
    25:46
    Another interesting feature is that on each of the sections, purse, show, place, and when, there is an odd-looking lamp tower right in the center of that section, and it's underneath the number four hole, which is always in the center of these play fields.
    26:09
    This lamp tower will light at random in one of the sections, And if you happen to land anywhere in that section while that is lit, then you earn the corresponding number of nickels, even though you didn't necessarily hit your selection.
    26:28
    That is a really neat feature, and one that I desperately wish that I had sometimes. The game itself is gorgeous Beautiful wooden cabinet, floor length Wood rail The playfield artwork is phenomenal There are small jockeys riding horses The actual figures themselves of the jockey and horse are small Not just the jockey, of course and the background artwork is a just explosion of color in each of the sections. It's extremely eye-catching. Looking at the back glass, there's a beautiful horse race scene, which is underneath the odds section, and each of the selections is very large and bright and colorful, just as it is on Turf King and many of the other one-ball games.
    27:33
    Your A, B, C, D are arrayed at the top, right in the center, above the odds. And then the trophies are to the left and right. And when those are lit and you hit the hole again, I presume it lights all selections for next game. Unfortunately, I don't know that for sure. Hopefully I can clarify and I'll get back to you on that.
    27:57
    It was a wonderful game. From what Craig says, only two are known to exist. So, if you happen to have a Bally Fairmont 1941, reach out. Let me know. I'd be interested to see it and hear your take on the machine.
    28:14
    And that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for joining me. My name again is Nick Baldridge. 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, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, Google Play Music, 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 foramusementonly.libsyn.com Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.