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Episode 463 - Correction, NIB Tahiti, 1937 Bally Classic

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·11m 42s·analyzed·Jan 10, 2020
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

EM podcast covers Chicago Coins correction, NIB Tahiti bingo, and 1937 Bally Classic innovation.

Summary

Nick Baldridge corrects an error about Chicago Coins Festival's lane layout, discusses a newly listed NIB Bally Tahiti bingo machine (a 40-coin max Mystic Lines game he considers mediocre), and features a deep dive into Bally's Classic from 1937—an early horse-race game with innovative chrome steel playfield technology and a motorized 'whirling bumper' that was a significant design innovation for its era.

Key Claims

  • Chicago Coins Festival has A and E lanes at the top directly below the rebound rubber, not just at the bottom

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge correcting himself based on listener Ryan Klader's observation

  • Bally Tahiti is a 40 coin max Mystic Lines bingo game with simplified internal mechanics

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge describing the newly listed NIB Tahiti on eBay

  • Tahiti lacks the red letter game feature found in other Mystic Lines games and has fewer scoring options overall

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge's analysis of Tahiti's feature set

  • Multiple NIB Tahiti and Miss Universe machines have turned up over the years, suggesting they were 'duds' that didn't attract as many players on location

    medium confidence · Nick Baldridge speculating on why multiple NIB examples exist

  • Bally's Classic (1937) features a chrome steel playfield—an early experiment with metal playfield construction

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge quoting original factory flyer describing 'specially prepared plate of satin finish chrome steel'

  • The motorized 'whirling bumper' on Classic was a revolutionary design feature that spun and redirected the ball, similar in concept to motorized bumpers on Orbiter 1

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge's analysis and original flyer description of the spinning bumper mechanism

  • Bally's rubber tire bumpers on Classic were marketed as 'twice as bouncy' as Bally's earlier bumper spirals

    high confidence · Quote from original Bally factory flyer

  • Bally previously attempted metal and resin playfields but abandoned them—metal playfields created electrical hazards and dulling issues

    medium confidence · Nick Baldridge's historical commentary on Bally's playfield material experiments

Notable Quotes

  • “40 coins is an awful lot but the other thing that tells What's interesting to me is that the portioning inside has changed, and it's not changed for the better in my opinion.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 1:24 — Explains why Tahiti is considered mechanically inferior despite its 40-coin capacity

  • “Bally really kind of slimmed down the mechs inside to make them a little simpler to design, not necessarily simpler to run, and I don't happen to agree with some of those decisions.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 1:31 — Core criticism of Tahiti's design philosophy—cost-cutting that negatively impacted gameplay

  • “Rubber has tempted the talents of game designers for years, but the well-known insulating power of rubber has defied all attempts to use rubber in bumper type construction.”

    Nick Baldridge (quoting Bally factory flyer)@ 8:59 — Early industry engineering challenge with rubber materials in bumper design

  • “The revolutionary Whirling Bumper! Positively the most amazing action you ever saw! Located near the bottom of the board, the whirling bumper spins like a top and sends the ball snaking all over the field.”

    Nick Baldridge (quoting Bally factory flyer)@ 10:40 — Original marketing language revealing the innovative status of the motorized bumper concept

  • “Imagine an electric kicker capable of swiveling around to catch the ball from any angle and you'll get some idea of how the whirling bumper whips the ball into action.”

    Nick Baldridge (quoting Bally factory flyer)@ 10:51 — Factory analogy demonstrating how revolutionary the motorized bumper design was for 1937

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonRyan KladerpersonChicago Coins FestivalgameBally TahitigameBally's ClassicgameBallycompanyMystic Linesproduct_lineSilver SailsgameGolden Gate

Signals

  • ?

    historical_signal: Discussion of Bally's experimental use of metal, resin, and chrome steel playfields; metal playfields created electrical hazards, chrome steel was promoted as innovative technology

    high · Nick discusses failed metal playfield experiments and quotes factory flyer about 'new chrome steel playfield' as revolutionary feature

  • ?

    design_innovation: Bally's Classic (1937) featured a motorized 'whirling bumper' that continuously rotated and redirected ball; described as revolutionary mechanic in era

    high · Original flyer: 'whirling bumper spins like a top and sends the ball snaking all over the field'; compared to modern Orbiter 1 motorized bumpers

  • ?

    collector_signal: Multiple NIB examples of Tahiti and Miss Universe have emerged, suggesting these were location operator duds with poor on-route performance; NIB collectibility varies by game popularity

    medium · Nick: 'I have to imagine that's because these were kind of duds out on the road. Not as many players played these as many of the other games.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Bally simplified internal mechanics on Tahiti to reduce design complexity; Nick views this as cost-cutting that negatively impacted gameplay and fun factor

    high · Nick: 'Bally really kind of slimmed down the mechs inside to make them a little simpler to design, not necessarily simpler to run, and I don't happen to agree with some of those decisions.'

  • ?

    content_signal: Listener Ryan Klader provided correction about Chicago Coins Festival lane layout; demonstrates active audience participation and fact-checking community

Topics

Early EM pinball innovation (1930s-1940s)primaryBally design philosophy and engineering decisionsprimaryPlayfield material experimentation (metal, resin, chrome steel)primaryMotorized/rotating bumper mechanicsprimaryBingo pinball game variants and feature comparisonsecondaryNIB (new in box) collectible pinball machinessecondaryLocation operator performance and game popularitysecondaryListener engagement and podcast correctionsmentioned

Sentiment

mixed(0.55)— Nick is appreciative of the Tahiti discovery and excited about Classic's innovations, but critical of Tahiti's mechanical choices and cost-cutting. Nostalgia and historical fascination dominate discussion of Classic.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.035

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 Baldridge. First up, a correction. Last episode I talked about Chicago Coins Festival and I mentioned that the only lanes where you could get A and E were down at the bottom, but as it turns out, eagle-eared listener Ryan Klader, heard me say that and pointed out that there are in fact, A and E lanes at the top directly below the rebound rubber and on the other side. I don't know how I missed that, but I did. So thanks Ryan for pointing that out and there you go. This game looks a little less challenging now, but it still looks super fun to me. I'm still interested to hear from anybody who's played it.
0:54
In other news, a new in box sort of bingo pinball was listed on eBay. It's a Bally Tahiti. This is unfortunately not one of the better games in my opinion. It's a 40 coin max game which means that exactly what it sounds like. You can only put in up to 40 coins and then you're done. Now 40 coins is an awful lot but the other thing that that tells
1:24
What's interesting to me is that the portioning inside has changed, and it's not changed for the better in my opinion. Bally really kind of slimmed down the mechs inside to make them a little simpler to design, not necessarily simpler to run, and I don't happen to agree with some of those decisions. Um, so in my opinion, it's just not quite as fun as most of the other Mystic Lines games for that reason. It is a Mystic Lines game, so you can move around every number on the back glass. It's 20 whole game. There are no extra balls, but there is the ability to earn letters B and C in the Mystic Lines in a different order than normal. So normally in the Mystic Lines games, you have to get ABC in order, in order to move all the
2:18
game
Bountygame
Miss Universegame
Unitedproduct_line
Orbiter 1game

high · Nick: 'eagle-eared listener Ryan Klader, heard me say that and pointed out that there are in fact, A and E lanes at the top'

  • ?

    restoration_signal: NIB Tahiti machine on eBay was opened and documented with photos by seller; Nick notes this diminishes some collector appeal but provides valuable archival documentation of original packaging

    high · Nick discusses eBay listing where seller opened box and photographed packing materials; notes seller removed NIB status but provided documentation

  • ?

    historical_signal: Bally's Classic (1937) designed with pay-on-even-number mechanic, suggesting playfield was heavily tested to make even scores difficult; represents early risk-taking in game design

    medium · Nick: 'I also think it's a bold move to pay on any even number score. That must mean that this playfield layout was tested pretty heavily'

    • Columns, in this case you can get ACB. Kind of a neat little gimmick, not really something that I would base an entire game around. That said, the scoring options are also less. They got rid of the red letter game, for example. Anyway, this game, not one of my favorites. It is cool to see a new bingo pinball machine though.
    2:48
    And being able to unbox one I mean that really neat Now unfortunately the person who selling it has already opened the box To me that a good chunk of the fun And they taken pictures of everything pulled apart which you know is part of the experience that you buying I would think That said, quite a few of these have turned up over the years, new in box, this and Miss Universe, and I have to imagine that's because these were kind of duds out on the road. Not as many players played these as many of the other games. So while it's cool that there's a new in box bingo, I would say, you know, it's unfortunate that it's not a game like Golden Gate or Silver Sails or Bounty, Double
    3:42
    I'm also curious if a new inbox United will ever show up. United games are so very different. I'm really interested in knowing what the packaging material might have been like for a United. I have a feeling that it would share some similarities, but it would be a little different. Oh, and that's the other interesting thing. The packing material for Tahiti is almost exactly the same as it was for SilverSails.
    4:18
    And I guess it makes sense, but the cabinet and head design is a little bit different on Tahiti, well the head design is different on Tahiti than it is on SilverSails, so it's a little surprising to me that the packing material is so very similar. So in that regard, I'm glad that the seller opened it up. There will be a link in the show notes to go check out that auction. It's out in California if you'd like to check it out.
    4:49
    Today's featured game is Bally's Classic from 1937. This is a one-ball horse race game, but of a different stripe. It does not have trap holes on the playfield. Instead, there are a bunch of different bumpers. And on the backglass, there are different horses, but those horses are pretty much just decoration. And in fact, you can swap out the backglass with an auto race theme that you can purchase from the factory in case horse racing is less acceptable to the demographic that you're operating with.
    5:28
    So the goal of the game is to get an even number of points. If you end the game with and a pinball passe when scored in Hui That you win if you have an even number when you finish playing There quite a few barriers to actually finishing with an even number Not the least of which is the army of bumpers down near the drain that you have to bypass assuming that you get an even number before you get there
    6:06
    They're all passive though, so it should be easy to navigate past them without hitting them multiple times, theoretically. But there is one feature on this playfield that is unusual and that is the constantly rotating bumper. It reminds me of the bumpers from Orbiter 1 where instead of a traditional pop bumper there's just a motorized bumper and it's just turning the whole time and if you hit it it'll fling the ball off in an interesting direction. It is located basically dead center in the
    6:45
    The bottom half of the playfield. Pretty interesting idea and design choice. I also think it's a bold move to pay on any even number score. That must mean that this playfield layout was tested pretty heavily and it's pretty hard to get through with an even number. You only have one shot to do it, so there's not, you know, five balls waiting for you to do this. It uses a totalizer, kind of like
    7:15
    190 Nerd, There's also a score Threshold feature, so if you happen to hit above the score threshold, whether it's odd or even, doesn't matter, then you automatically get paid out the amount of odds that are shown on the back glass, which I think is pretty neat.
    7:59
    So this is a very early game with the ability to win on score, and it's a very early game with a constantly spinning motorized bumper. Now let's read some stuff from the flyer because I think it's not only fascinating but also kind of hilarious. So they talk about the bumpers on the playfield and these bumpers, as I mentioned, they're pretty static. The only thing is their construction is such that they're not like a typical post or a typical bumper.
    8:34
    They like a huge post that with a skirt that is sticking way out beyond where you would normally expect the rubber on a bumper to stick out So they call these rubber tire bumpers and they have the bounciest material known to science I don't know if you knew this. Rubber has tempted the talents of game designers for years, but the well-known insulating power of rubber has defied all attempts to use rubber in bumper type construction.
    9:08
    And it remained for Bally engineers to solve the problem by means of the revolutionary SuperCharge playfield featured on Classic. Thanks to the clever invention Classic rubber tire bumpers have the pep and power obtainable only in pure gum rubber, twice as bouncy as Bally's bumper spirals. Yet each and every hit or bump is instantly flashed on the totalizer in big brilliant numbers. So this next thing is one of the most important and it's a really interesting early experiment that Bally did with different playfield materials. So Bally had over the years tried making metal playfields, just purely metal playfields. They've also tried making resin playfields, neither of which held up for various reasons. In the case of the metal playfields, it's because
    10:02
    The electricity had to flow through the playfield at all times. It was really easy to get shocked. It... I don't know if it was harder to keep clean or not, but I have to imagine that it would be pretty challenging to keep it clean and attractive for people coming up to play it because it's constantly getting dulled by the ball rolling over it. At any rate, on the flyer it says, new chrome steel playfield, a specially prepared plate of satin finish chrome steel. The supercharged playfield is ultramodern in appearance with a silver-bright luster unusually rich in eye appeal. A perfect surface for smooth, speedy ball action.
    10:40
    And the revolutionary Whirling Bumper! Positively the most amazing action you ever saw! Located near the bottom of the board, the whirling bumper spins like a top and sends the ball snaking all over the field. Imagine an electric kicker capable of swiveling around to catch the ball from any angle and you'll get some idea of how the whirling bumper whips the ball into action. See it yourself and you'll agree that the whirling bumper alone ensures constant repeat play and heavy collection. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty interested in giving this thing a shot. Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for listening. My name again is Nick Baldrige.
    11:14
    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. Thank you very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time.