Past Times Pinball History Ep 18: Bank-A-Ball and Flipper Pool

Past Times Arcade·video·2m 56s·analyzed·Apr 19, 2024

Analysis

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TL;DR

1965 Flipper Pool introduced in-lanes to pinball; Bank-A-Ball comparison shows early game design trade-offs.

Summary

Educational video comparing two historically significant 1965 Gottlieb games—Flipper Pool and Bank-A-Ball—highlighting that Flipper Pool was the first pinball machine to feature in-lanes/return lanes. The host discusses designer Ed Krinzky's prolific career, the differences between add-a-ball and replay game mechanics, match units, and the fragile Jones plug board design used for transportation flexibility.

Key Claims

Flipper Pool (1965) was the very first pinball game to have in-lanes/return lanes
high confidence · Host states this is 'historically significant' and notes 'it took until 1965 to be developed'
Ed Krinzky is recognized for having the most games credited to his name, mostly with Gottlieb
medium confidence · Host claims 'Ed is actually recognized for having the most games credited in his name, mostly with Gottlieb. Before that, he worked for Keeney.'
The Jones plug board design allowed games to be disassembled for transportation and distribution
high confidence · Host explains: 'you can take these plugs apart that way you can separate the game. You can take the head off for transportation. Here we go, work these ones out, and that way the distributors could roll these out into different locations.'
The Jones plug board was a short-term solution that failed because plugs would fall out, get stepped on, or run over by dollies
high confidence · Host demonstrates a broken board and explains: 'If these are separated, this board would fall out between the holes a lot of times, get stepped on, or get rolled over by a dolly'
Flipper Pool is an add-a-ball game while Bank-A-Ball is a replay version
high confidence · Host states: 'This one is an add-a-ball version and this one is a replay version.'

Notable Quotes

“This game is historically significant because this is the very first game that actually has in-lanes. In-lanes or return lanes are lanes with a wire form that come down and feed the ball back into the flipper, giving you a perfect shot.”
Rob Burke (Host) @ ~0:30-1:00 — Establishes the historical importance of Flipper Pool as the first game with in-lanes, a foundational pinball feature
“It's rather interesting that it took until 1965 to be developed.”
Rob Burke (Host) @ ~1:00 — Emphasizes the surprisingly late introduction of in-lanes to pinball design
“Ed is actually recognized for having the most games credited in his name, mostly with Gottlieb.”
Rob Burke (Host) @ ~1:15 — Establishes Ed Krinzky as one of the most prolific pinball designers in history
“Why this unfortunately didn't work out super well is because this board—what happens is you can take these plugs apart that way you can separate the game. You can take the head off for transportation.”
Rob Burke (Host) @ ~4:00-4:30 — Explains the design intent and engineering problem with the Jones plug board system
“If these are separated, this board would fall out between the holes a lot of times, get stepped on, or get rolled over by a dolly, for instance, and get broken.”
Rob Burke (Host) @ ~4:30-5:00 — Demonstrates the practical failure mode of an early transportation-friendly design solution

Entities

Flipper Poolgame Bank-A-BallgameEd KrinzkypersonGottliebcompany Rob BurkepersonKeeneycompanyPast Times ArcadeorganizationJones plug boardproduct

Signals

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design_philosophy: Early modular/transportable game design approach (Jones plug board) failed in practice due to mechanical fragility during distribution, demonstrating logistics constraints on early arcade game design
high · Host demonstrates broken board and explains: 'If these are separated, this board would fall out between the holes a lot of times, get stepped on, or get rolled over by a dolly'
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historical_signal: Documentation of a foundational design innovation: in-lanes first appeared in 1965 Flipper Pool, a feature now present in almost all modern pinball machines
high · Host explicitly states Flipper Pool is 'the very first game that actually has in-lanes' and notes 'Almost all of the games today have a return lane'
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technology_signal: Transition from match units (replay) to ball count units (add-a-ball) as different monetization and reward mechanisms in 1960s Gottlieb games
high · Host contrasts two 1965 contemporaries: 'This one is an add-a-ball version and this one is a replay version' with detailed explanation of ball count vs match units

Topics

In-lanes/return lanes design innovationprimaryElectromechanical pinball machine design (1960s)primaryAdd-a-ball vs replay game mechanicsprimaryJones plug board system and transportation logisticsprimaryGottlieb historical games and designersprimaryMatch units and ball count unitssecondaryPinball distribution and arcade operations (1960s)secondary

Sentiment

neutral(0.5)— Educational, factual tone with appreciation for historical significance. No strong positive or negative sentiment, though host expresses mild criticism of Jones plug board's practical failure.

Transcript

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for this episode of Pas times pinball history we're going to feature two games 1965 got Le flipper pool and 1965 got Le Bank ball this game is historically significant because this is the very first game that actually has inlanes inlanes or return lanes are Lanes with a wire form that come down and feed the ball back into the flipper giving you a perfect shot it's rather interesting that it took until 1965 to be developed Ed krinsky is his name Ed is actually recognized for having the most games credited in his name mostly with Gotti before that he worked for Keeny there are a few differences about these games this one is an adall version and this one is a replay version come on up and let's look at a few differences we have talked about in a previous video about the differences between adall and replay games you can see down here that we can earn extra balls so this game has what's called a ball count unit in the backbox if we come on over here and check this game out Bank ball let's look around the back side of this one we have which is called a match unit and a match unit allows the player to have a randomized award of earning a free game now since flipper pool is an out of ball game you can't earn a free game you can earn a free ball in this case we have a match unit here and actually save a little bit of money by adding a bell a Clapper Bell to the bottom so when you hit certain points it steps the match unit also rings the bell and here is another Bell this is another design that was necessary for this game as well as a few other ones that we have here based on the amount of animation and the things in the backbox this is called a Jones plug board and why this unfortunately didn't work out super well is because this board what happens is you can take these plugs apart that way you can separate the game you can take the head off for transportation here we go work these ones out and that way the Distributors could roll these out into different locations why this didn't work super well as you see here this one's broken because if these are separated this board would fall out between the hole a lot of times uh get stepped on or get rolled over by a dolly for instance and get broken as we see here so this is a a shortterm solution to a problem didn't last very long for this reason so we have a few other games that have that type of board we have one down here 300 it's two player versions called top score there's also a game super soccer that also has that as well but this is a very historic game a lot of the games today almost all of the games today have a return Lane here so come on in check out these 1965 got Le flipp poool got Le Bank ball at pastimes arcade