Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Episode 445 - Service Calls, Coin-Op Carnival Shipping, Universal 5-Star, 1952 Gottlieb Coronation

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·23m 28s·held·Apr 11, 2019
View original

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

EM podcast host covers service calls, book shipping, apprenticeship work, and Coronation game analysis.

Summary

Nicholas Baldridge discusses his recent service work on EM games including Evel Knievel (EM), updates on Coin-Op Carnival book shipping logistics, his efforts teaching Sophie machine repair using Universal's 5 Star, and a detailed breakdown of 1952 Gottlieb Coronation's gameplay mechanics, artwork, and design features.

Key Claims

  • The EM version of Evel Knievel (EM) and its Solid State counterpart have nearly indistinguishable gameplay

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge, who has worked on both versions and played the solid state extensively, noting the faithful recreation of gameplay mechanics

  • A box of 100 autographed copies of Coin-Op Carnival was lost or destroyed in mail transit with no recovery option

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge describing the shipping incident after Texas Pinball Festival, stating Ryan is signing replacement copies

  • Universal's 5 Star uses leather clutch washers and a control unit similar to bingo control units

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge explaining the mechanical components he and Sophie disassembled during repair work

  • Coronation features four distinct ways to win replays: bumper chevron completion, trap hole four-in-a-row, scoring threshold, and points threshold

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge providing detailed breakdown of game rules and replay conditions

  • The Coin-Op Carnival tour includes 16 stops across 10 states with the second stop at Michigan State University's Abrams Planetarium

    high confidence · Nicholas Baldridge announcing Ryan's presentation including 360-degree video shot with Wayne Neyens

Notable Quotes

  • “The EM gameplay is extremely similar to the Solid State gameplay, to the point where it's almost indistinguishable, actually. It's very impressive that they recreated the gameplay in Solid State so faithfully.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~2:30 — Affirms design fidelity between EM and Solid State versions of Evil Knievel

  • “I'm more of a troubleshoot kind of guy versus a complete and total tear down and rebuild.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~11:45 — Defines his repair philosophy and approach to machine maintenance

  • “There's really no difference in driving the entire shaft and driving just one set of cams.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~16:20 — Teaching point demonstrating motor mechanics to apprentice Sophie

  • “It's one thing to visualize what the door looks like when it's closed after you've worked on a game and it's another thing to see it”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~19:30 — Expressing enthusiasm about the Clearly Insane 2 bingo acrylic casing project

  • “The art package on this game is considered a classic. It is one of those games that people think of when they think of wood rails is Coronation.”

    Nicholas Baldridge @ ~28:00 — Establishing Coronation's iconic status in wood rail game design and aesthetics

Entities

Nicholas BaldridgepersonSophiepersonRyan ClaytorpersonWayne NeyenspersonSeanpersonRoy ParkerpersonGottliebcompanyWilliamscompanyUnitedcompanyPinball Resourcecompany

Signals

  • ?

    operational_signal: Nick Baldrige teaching Sophie comprehensive EM machine repair techniques including motor clutch maintenance, stepper cleaning, switch diagnosis, and playfield restoration on Universal 5 Star

    high · Extended discussion of step-by-step training on motor disassembly, clutch washer cleaning, stepper maintenance, and upcoming playfield work

  • ?

    product_launch: Coin-Op Carnival experiencing significant shipping delays: initial box of 100 autographed copies lost in mail, requiring replacement printing and signing, with orders backed up for weeks

    high · Nick describes running out of books quickly after TPF, lost shipment from Ryan, restocking supplies delays, second batch of 100 signed copies in transit expected early next week

  • ?

    event_signal: Coin-Op Carnival multi-state tour launching with second stop at Michigan State University Abrams Planetarium featuring 360-degree video presentation and playable machines

    high · Nick announces April 14, 2019 presentation at 6 p.m. with Wayne Neyens 360-degree video, five classic games on display, first-come first-serve seating, book signing

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Evil Knievel EM version demonstrates nearly identical gameplay to solid state version, with EM being vulnerable to point loss from fast ball contact with score motor versus solid state computer accuracy

    high · Nick compares both versions extensively, noting faithful recreation but EM point-loss vulnerability and solid state chime tune as only real advantages

  • ?

    content_signal: Detailed episode analysis of 1952 Gottlieb Coronation covering complete rules, replay conditions, scoring pockets, playfield layout, artwork provenance, and plastic reproductions by Ryan Claytor

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.070

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. Always a lot happening the past couple weeks. No exception, of course. I feel like I say that every time. Maybe that's my new opening. I've been catching up on service calls that have been backlogged for the past month or so. shipping out copies of CoinOp Carnival and associated merchandise,
0:31
and teaching Sophie how to repair machines, starting with Universal's 5 Star, which we've been working on together. So let's talk a little bit about everything here. Service calls have been primarily solid state. However, I did repair an EM Evil Knievel, which is pretty fun. I've worked on two or three of the solid state version here very recently, and of course played the solid state version quite a bit, but the EM version I had never played before, and I'd never worked on one, so that was a treat, and got it rolling 100%, so that's always a lot of fun. the game had what seemed like one issue and turned out to be multiple it was stuck in a reset loop initially and then had a variety of other problems related to extra ball and ball count and bonus stepping and lighting the appropriate spitter lane there were a few different light issues most of them related to sockets but once I got it rolling it played through a few games quite reliably, so hopefully everything is A-OK with that for the foreseeable future, anyway. I will say that the EM gameplay is extremely similar to the Solid State gameplay, to the point where it's almost indistinguishable, actually. It's very impressive that they recreated the gameplay in Solid State so faithfully.
2:09
So, about the only advantages that the Solid State version has is the little tune that it plays on the chimes when you first coin up or start a player. And of course in the EM version, if the ball is traveling very quickly and hits several targets in a row that happen to rotate the score motor, you may be robbed of points, which is where the solid state has an advantage because, of course, the computer keeps track of all that. And as long as it is keeping up with the ball itself, then you'll get all your points. Of course, those early computers are not extremely fast, so even they can sometimes miss points depending on the switches, which is why early solid states have those capacitors on the switches to try and lengthen the pulse of the switch.
Michigan State University Abrams Planetarium
event
For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcastorganization
Evel Knievel (EM)game
[name withheld pending review]game
Universalgame
Coronationgame
Williamsgame
Paul Bunyangame
Mystic Marvelgame
Space Pilotgame
Around the Worldgame
Score-Boardgame
Bally Golden Gategame
Coin-Op Carnivalproduct

high · 20+ minute segment on Coronation's chevron bumpers, trap holes, crown hole, slingshots, special button, point rollers, Roy Parker backglass, and geometric cabinet art

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Ryan Claytor reproduced original Coronation plastics now available through Pinball Resource, achieving quality high enough that Nick considers purchasing despite not owning the machine

    high · Nick praises reproduction quality and describes considering purchase of plastic set; credits Ryan Claytor as creator

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Nick favors hands-on troubleshooting and targeted repair over complete disassembly, trusting game's self-cleaning action and testing to identify actual problems rather than preventive teardown

    high · Nick explicitly states 'I'm more of a troubleshoot kind of guy versus a complete and total tear down and rebuild' with exception for motor/clutch work

  • ?

    historical_signal: Coronation commemorated Queen Elizabeth II's 1952 coronation with beach-themed artwork representing unconventional interpretation of royal ceremony

    high · Nick notes theme features queen in bathing suit with subjects on beach setting rather than Westminster Abbey, with Roy Parker backglass artwork

  • ?

    collector_signal: Coronation recognized as iconic wood rail game with highly valued aesthetic including geometric cabinet art, Roy Parker backglass, and detailed playfield plastics with crown and herald imagery

    high · Nick states 'one of those games that people think of when they think of wood rails is Coronation' and praises plastic set as 'one of the most beautiful plastic sets I think I've ever laid eyes on'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Universal 5 Star features proto-bingo control unit design with leather clutch washers and three distinct sections actuated by clutches, similar to full bingo control units but smaller

    high · Nick describes taking apart clutch sections with Sophie, finding grease and rust buildup on motor shaft, cleaning and re-oiling clutch washers for proper engagement

  • ?

    community_signal: Sean's Clearly Insane 2 bingo acrylic casing project featuring Bally Golden Gate gaining significant community attention and admiration, near completion with impressive internal component visibility

    high · Nick met Sean at event, describes being impressed by Pinside thread photos showing head packed with components, expresses enthusiasm about final reception

    • 2:58
    So tomorrow I'll be working on a Williams Aztec, and I've worked on a couple of those in the past, so I should be able to make quick work of it, but we will see.
    3:11
    So I also mentioned Coin-Op Carnival. The reception continues to be just overwhelming. I'm so very pleased and humbled by the reaction to the book. And in fact, the orders have come in so fast and furious that I ran out of shipping supplies very quickly after TPF. And once I restocked on those, which had to be special ordered because they're bags and boards and things of various sizes, then I quickly ran out of books Ryan autographed and sent a box of 100 books to me very shortly before I ran out of my books here and unfortunately the box got lost or destroyed in the mail and there's no way for us to claim it I mean, hopefully they'll be able to forward its remnants on to me but I assume, and so does Ryan, that those books are just gone. So he ended up signing another 100 copies, and they're on the way to me now, and they should be here early next week. We'll see, but that's the hope. And at that point, I can continue fulfilling orders. Thanks to everybody who's been patiently waiting. I know it's been a couple weeks, but I want to make sure everybody gets the thing that they ordered, in the order that they ordered it, if that makes sense.
    4:42
    In other coin-op carnival news, Ryan is hosting the second tour stop on our 16-stop 10-state tour at the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University this Sunday, April 14, 2019, at 6 p.m.
    5:00
    And Ryan is doing something very special for this presentation. It is in the Abrams Planetarium, as I mentioned, and he has taken a 360-degree video with Wayne Nines in his home, and we'll be broadcasting that on the planetarium. It's quite something to see, and I was lucky enough to catch a sneak peek at our last co-family vacation this past year. So Ryan's been working very hard on this presentation And it will include information about Koinop Carnival as well as a signing afterwards And Ryan has arranged for multiple Games that either Wayne Nines has designed or were featured Within Koinop Carnival number one to be at the Abrams Planetarium after the presentation The games are Paul Bunyan by Gottlieb Mystic Marvel also by Gottlieb which was featured in issue number one William's Space Pilot, featured in issue number one, Gottlieb's Around the World, and Gottlieb's Scoreboard.
    6:11
    This is a very interesting collection of machines, and they're all fantastic players. So hopefully everybody gets to check this out, and I would encourage anybody who's within driving distance to head to the Abrams Planetarium this Sunday. There are no advance tickets, and it is first come, first serve.
    6:30
    Next up, I mentioned that I'm teaching Sophie how to repair EM games, and we started with Universal's 5 Star.
    6:38
    Universal was basically the gambling division of United. So United made flipper games and shuffle alleys and all kinds of different things. and they had this gambling division where their different gambling games would go. Five Star is kind of a proto-bingo. It's not exactly a bingo. There are bingo cards on the back glass, but the playfield layout is wholly unique and very interesting.
    7:05
    But hopefully I'll have the mechanic on to talk all about it once we're pretty close to done. At the moment, I've gone through basic maintenance with her, checking relay switches, making sure that she understands the difference between normally open and normally closed, things of that nature, as well as basic cleaning techniques for switches. Now, I'm the type that likes to wait to clean switches unless they're just absolutely filthy and you can tell that they need it until I see the game in operation. I am not one to completely disassemble all the switch stacks and make sure that every switch face is polished instead I trust that the game's self-cleaning action has done what it needs to do and then see what behaviors the game exhibits or doesn't exhibit and fix from there So I'm more of a troubleshoot kind of guy versus a complete and total tear down and rebuild. However, there are exceptions to that rule, and one of those is the motor. So this is a game that has something akin to a control unit. It's smaller than most of the bingo control units, but it is a control unit nonetheless. There are three distinct sections similar to the control unit, And each of these sections is actuated by a leather clutch washer and a clutch, very similar to the bingo control units.
    8:47
    So Sophie learned how to take those apart and clean every inch of those. So the motor shaft has been cleaned, and that was pretty filthy and rusty. Now, the reason it was taken apart was because I test each motor and stepper in every game, and if the motor is hard to turn by hand, then it's a sign that either the clutches need some form of repair or maintenance, or that the motor shaft is just covered in crud. And there was a little bit of both in this game. The clutch washers were covered in grease and not just oil, and that needed to be cleaned off, as well as the shaft was just covered in crud and rust.
    9:37
    So Sophie learned how to take apart each individual section while keeping the motor pieces lined up so that assembly was easy. and then learned how to clean the clutch washers, re-oil them, and reassemble everything again. Now, putting the motor back in was something that I had to do because it required an absolute ton of pressure on the counterspring in order to get the motor shaft to seat just right on the spindle coming out of the motor. but Sophia is doing very well. She's scrubbing all the steppers. Every stepper is clean now and everything moves quite freely. There were a few springs which were stretched but it appears that they may have been replacement springs which were not quite the right size so I'm not certain if they'll be fine with use or if they'll break down and need replacing but doing everything by hand, everything works properly in Snaps 2 and does what it's supposed to do. So, we'll see. Now, there is one wire in this game which goes to a Jones plug, ordinarily, I assume, but in this case, it's broken off from the Jones plug and is just wire-nutted together with a wire in the head, between the head and the playfield. So this particular wire runs to the ball count unit end of stroke switch. Now I'm guessing that there's a broken wire somewhere in the bundle leading up to the Jones plug, because on the Jones plug every single position is quite firm. So there's a broken wire somewhere in the bundle, which means that I going to have to find the dead wire and then solder this wire in its place So next up Sophia already knows how to clean playfields but I going to have her clean and re the playfield because there's something transformative about being able to clean up and re-rubber a playfield. It just brings that appealing look to the game, and it's something that is quite obvious that you've had a very vast impact, whereas this stuff is more theory-driven than reality. Now, I did show her the difference between spinning the motor by hand before doing the motor work and after, and showed her how to manipulate each of the series of cams so that the clutches would engage or disengage. And there's really no difference in driving the entire shaft and driving just one set of cams. so that's going well next up, it's been a little while since I've directed people to the acrylic bingo project and it's called Clearly Insane 2 bingo, and there's a pin side thread about it but it's getting very close to completion now and the pictures that he's posted in the thread recently just have me salivating it's so cool the game that he is putting into this clear casing is a Bally Golden Gate which happens to be an extremely complex bingo pinball machine so looking at the pictures on the pin side thread you can see the head and it's just slam packed with stuff it's one thing to visualize what the door looks like when it's closed after you've worked on a game and it's another thing to see it, and I bet it's going to be just amazing to see it in action because there's so many different components that have to work hand-in-hand and so very close together in a bingo pinball machine. It's truly a sight to behold, and seeing one open like this through the acrylic casing is going to be even better. So I was lucky enough to meet the mastermind behind this project. His name is Sean, and he was a super nice guy. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this game, and hopefully it gets a great reception when it comes out,
    14:14
    because it's such a cool project and such a tremendous amount of work. But it is truly amazing. So today's game is 1952's Gottlieb Coronation, and Coronation was created to commemorate the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II in England and it has a variety of features and multiple ways to score replays and looks like an awesome game. Now I have not had the pleasure of playing this game yet but I do hope to one day soon and I know I say that frequently but this game looks really cool. So here's the basic setup. You have two chevrons, which are angling down towards the player. The first chevron is made up of bumpers, labeled 1 through 7.
    15:11
    And if you knock out all seven bumpers, then a button on the center of the playfield will light and award you special every single time that you roll over it. Now that button happens to be in a dangerous area because it is surrounded by the other chevron, which is comprised of seven trap holes arranged in that arrow. And the game will keep track of where the balls are in that chevron. And if you have four in a row, then you win a replay that way as well. And, of course, the inline scoring appeals to me. I don't know why.
    15:54
    But that's not all. You can win on score, and you can win on points on this game. Now, points are awarded by hitting the rollovers on the left and right side of the playfield. And once you hit the point threshold, you start winning replays there.
    16:09
    Now, I mentioned the four in the line on the second chevron, but there's actually a way to crown that chevron. There's a trap hole at the very top of the playfield, which is surrounded by posts. you have to very skillfully nudge the ball into that hole. But if you manage to land in there, that's the crown hole, and you get four in a row, then you win two replays. So the skillful player has several opportunities for infinite replays and the ability to end the game by trapping five balls on the playfield and earn two replays that way as well. Of course, like most games, this is easier said than done. This game does not have a shield for the flippers or having the flippers close to touching each other so that balls cannot drain behind them. The balls can actually drain on this game, so the player has to keep on their toes in more ways than one. There are no outlanes on this game. Instead, there are two very large slingshots, which are angled up towards the playfield. Now, unfortunately, if you hit one of those, you're very likely to go into one of the trap holes that you don want So nudging in this game is of course required as it is with most of the wood rails The art package on this game is considered a classic It is one of those games that people think of when they think of wood rails is Coronation So the art package on the cabinet is the traditional geometric shapes. It's very interesting compared to some of Gottlieb's other cabinets of the time. In this case, there are lightning bolts, which are in a small band, which goes from the head all the way around the front of the cabinet and then back up the other side of the head. There are spoon shapes or comet shapes, which go from the sides of the cabinets around the front, and those have stars on them. And then you have kind of the more traditional flat colors on the head and these semi-circles with straight lines coming out and down on the back of the cab.
    18:34
    But the back glass is Roy Parker artwork. It features a blonde queen in a bathing suit and purple cape. and she's holding a stylized version of the Sovereign Scepter with cross.
    18:50
    Now she is sitting in the extreme foreground and in the background there are other people at the beach which I assume is on the banks of the Thames and there are other people there for the coronation. I guess they decided to do it at the beach that day instead of at Westminster Abbey. the playfield artwork is a continuation of the back glass theme, the queen in a new bathing suit outfit is with her subjects on the beach and her subjects are primarily female as pictured on the playfield here with a castle in the background and a herald blowing a horn with a G tapestry hanging from it the trap hole chevrons have stylized scepters running through them, one side red and one side yellow, and the special windlet button in the center has a crown arrayed around it. Up at the top, the crown hole itself has the crown displayed on the playfield. The playfield hole at the top also serves triple duty, aside from giving you that nice bonus on the completed scepter, it also will spot the number one in the chevron, which is pretty difficult to hit, being down near the trap holes, the one closest to the trap holes, in fact. And it lights the point rollovers on the side, so by default those rollovers award one point each, and there's two rollovers arranged right in front of each other. But if you have a ball in the crown hole, then those rollovers are worth two points each, which is huge. And the hole itself awards one million in score, so it's the highest scoring pocket on the play field. Each pocket on the scepter score a half million, and the stand-up rebounds on the right and left award 100,000 points when lit, as do the stand-ups near the slings. they're arranged right above them these switches including the slings I assume award 10,000 points unless they are lit and lighting them is a task that I'm not sure how to complete so if anybody happens to know I would love to know that now the other thing I would like to note about this game are the plastics and this is one of the most beautiful plastic sets I think I've ever laid eyes on the right hand sling plastic is an image of a crown with that stylized scepter that the queen is holding on the back glass and the sling on the left are heralds and flag bearers arrayed on either side of the now crowned queen riding a horse through the castle just beautiful So right above the slings, there are two plastics which contain flags, which are flying in honor of the coronation. And above that, there is a polearm on the plastics, covering those 100,000 switches I mentioned near bumpers. And those polearms also have a ribbon wrapped around them to show that it is a celebration. And I just think it is gorgeous. Just an amazing group of artwork on this game. Now, the plastics have been reproduced by Ryan Claytor, whom you might know as the co-author of Coin-Op Carnival. And he did a phenomenal job. You can see those plastics, which are available at Pinball Resource. And they're incredible, incredible.
    22:50
    They're so nice that I'm thinking about picking up a set, and I don't even have the game. 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, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at bingopodcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at bingopodcast, or you can listen to me on my website, which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com. thank you very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time