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Episode 181 - 1963 Bally Bounty

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·27m 41s·analyzed·Sep 8, 2015
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Nick Baldridge analyzes 1963 Bally Bounty's mechanics and rarity.

Summary

Nick Baldridge provides an in-depth technical and thematic deep-dive into the 1963 Bally Bounty, a rare Magic Screen bingo pinball machine considered the holy grail among collectors. He explains the machine's complex gameplay mechanics including the skill shot feature, red letter game, super sections, and triple-deck scoring, while also detailing restoration challenges and the machine's nautical pirate theme. The episode emphasizes Bounty's rarity as an export-only game and confirms one will be on display at the York Show in October.

Key Claims

  • The 1963 Bounty is considered the holy grail of bingo machines by many collectors

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge directly states this in the introduction

  • Bounty was made for export only and is therefore rare in the United States

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge states 'these were made for export only' and 'in the United States, at least, they're rather hard to find'

  • The Bounty has a unique skill shot feature controlled by a reflex unit with multiple relays

    high confidence · Baldridge describes the mechanical complexity: 'This game is rather unique, not just in having the skill shot, but also in having a reflex unit'

  • Bounty features triple-deck scoring with independently stepping red, yellow, and green odds

    high confidence · Baldridge explains: 'this game has triple deck scoring. That means it has independent stepping of red, yellow, and green odds'

  • The skill shot can award up to 120 replays from the first ball

    high confidence · Baldridge states: 'the skill shot has a potential to earn up to 120 replays'

  • Bounty requires careful gap adjustment on switches and relays for proper skill shot function

    high confidence · Baldridge explains the restoration challenge: 'it's important to note the gapping on each of the switches relative to themselves in the relays, but also relative to the other relays'

  • A collector's Bounty machine (not Baldridge's personal unit) will be at the York Show on October 9-10

    high confidence · Baldridge states: 'by the show, I mean the fabulous White Rose Game Show that is also called the York Show. It will be October 9th and 10th, and this game we're going to discuss today will be there. Not my personal example for this one. A different collector's game will be coming.'

  • Many Bounty machines in America were likely export games that came back from Canada

    medium confidence · Baldridge speculates: 'I suspect that many of them, which are in America at this point, were either shipped out and not accounted for somehow, or were actually export games that went to Canada and then came back'

Notable Quotes

  • “this game is highly highly collectible it's considered the holy grail of bingos by many collectors”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~0:40 — Establishes Bounty's status and desirability in the collector community

  • “I'm lucky enough to own one of these, but that's only because my friend Steve was interested in selling one. He had one that was unrestored and unshopped.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~1:20 — Reveals acquisition story and rarity; emphasizes how difficult these games are to obtain

  • “The blue section is only three balls large, and depending on the feature that you have lit, you can either have to sync all three balls in the blue section to get 300 or 600, or if you're really lucky, then you can get the feature let to sync two balls in the blue section for 600 replays.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~3:30 — Demonstrates the complexity of Magic Screen scoring mechanics and high payout potential

  • “When I win on this machine. It's usually because of some kind of huge blue section event, rather than any skill on my part.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~4:45 — Illustrates the luck factor vs. skill in bingo machine gameplay

  • “This game is rather unique, not just in having the skill shot, but also in having a reflex unit, which portions the jumps for the skill shot itself. So there are actually two reflex units in this game.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~24:30 — Highlights the Bounty's mechanical uniqueness compared to other bingo machines

  • “Once you've verified this, the game should be pretty darn reliable. I have, after doing the light shopping that was necessary in order to get the game working, and then some cosmetic work, I haven't had to do much of anything to the bounty.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~26:00 — Provides restoration guidance and confirms the machine's reliability once properly set up

  • “it's important to test each position of the screen, make sure that it scores appropriately, especially with the super sections and the blue sections, and the OK game.”

    Nick Baldridge — Restoration best practices for Magic Screen games generally

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonBountygameBallycompanyFor Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball PodcastorganizationYork ShoweventMagic ScreenproductPinball PodcastorganizationStevepersonDonperson

Signals

  • ?

    historical_signal: Bounty represents a pinnacle of Bally bingo design with Magic Screen, reflex unit skill shot, and triple-deck scoring - sophisticated mechanical integration

    high · Baldridge describes Bounty as having 'two reflex units' and 'several different relays in the back box' working together for the skill shot

  • ?

    collector_signal: Bounty is highly sought after in collector community; export-only production makes U.S. examples rare; considered 'holy grail' by many

    high · Baldridge states it's 'highly highly collectible' and 'considered the holy grail of bingos by many collectors' and 'made for export only' making them 'rather hard to find' in the United States

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Bounty requires careful switch gapping adjustment and relay interoperation testing; Magic Screen games need verification of each screen position for proper scoring

    high · Baldridge details: 'it's important to note the gapping on each of the switches relative to themselves in the relays' and 'test each position of the screen, make sure that it scores appropriately'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Bounty's skill shot is a unique electromechanical feature controlled by dedicated reflex unit; allows players to earn up to 120 replays on first ball with guaranteed odds advancement per coin

    high · Baldridge explains: 'the skill shot is an entirely separate game that's played only with the first ball. And each coin that you put in gives you a guaranteed step on the skill shot' with potential for '120 replays'

  • ?

    product_concern: Bounty can suffer from pitted switch contacts affecting skill shot lamp lighting; requires maintenance to keep in working order

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.083

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.
0:14
Tonight I wanted to continue in my series of bingos that will be at the show. and by the show, I mean the fabulous White Rose Game Show that is also called the York Show. It will be October 9th and 10th, and this game we're going to discuss today will be there.
0:37
Not my personal example for this one. A different collector's game will be coming. So, the game we're going to talk about tonight is Bally's amazing, excellent masterpiece, the 1963 Bounty. Bounty you've probably heard quite a bit about if you've been listening to the podcast for some time, or if you've been listening to the Pinball Podcast with Don and Jeff. One of the things that convinced me that I should probably get into podcasting about these excellent machines is that I sent them a write-up on some of the features and gameplay of The Bounty, and they sounded impressed that such things existed, so I wanted to get the word out. this game is highly highly collectible it's considered the holy grail of bingos by many collectors this game has a feature which is unique all into itself and has the cherished Magic Screen gameplay that collectors prize.
2:13
Aside from that, it's got excellent cosmetics and a really pretty cool artwork and theme. So I think it's attractive to players to come and give it a shot. I'm lucky enough to own one of these, but that's only because my friend Steve was interested in selling one.
2:42
@ ~25:30

  • “these were made for export only. And so in the United States, at least, they're rather hard to find.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~25:10 — Explains Bounty's rarity and collector appeal

  • “The skill shot has a potential to earn up to 120 replays. 120 replays off of, you know, your first ball is pretty good. That's a good feeling when that happens.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~20:00 — Conveys the skill shot's high-reward potential and emotional appeal to players

  • “It is highly unlikely that you'll have the odds ticked up all that way. So, yeah, it just rarely happens. I think I've had like a handful of times. in all the times I've played Bounty”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~12:00 — Provides empirical frequency data on rare features through personal gameplay experience

    • Jeffperson

    high · Baldridge states: 'I have one switch which had become fairly pitted and doesn't make great contact, and I believe that it will make it so that the skill shot doesn't light one of the lamps in my game'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Bounty gameplay heavily influenced by luck with blue section events; skill shot provides reliable early-game bonus if player can consistently hit target numbers

    high · Baldridge notes: 'When I win on this machine. It's usually because of some kind of huge blue section event, rather than any skill on my part' but 'you get guaranteed advances' via skill shot

  • ?

    event_signal: York Show (October 9-10) will feature a collector's Bounty machine; signals ongoing community interest in high-end bingo machines at major gatherings

    high · Baldridge confirms: 'by the show, I mean the fabulous White Rose Game Show that is also called the York Show. It will be October 9th and 10th, and this game we're going to discuss today will be there'

  • ?

    community_signal: Baldridge's podcast inspired by Pinball Podcast (Don and Jeff) coverage of Bounty; indicates growing media attention to bingo machines and cross-podcast collaboration in niche community

    high · Baldridge states: 'One of the things that convinced me that I should probably get into podcasting about these excellent machines is that I sent them a write-up' to Pinball Podcast and 'they sounded impressed'

  • $

    market_signal: Bounty export-only production suggests mid-1960s Bally targeted international markets; games may have entered U.S. secondary market through Canada, affecting availability and provenance

    medium · Baldridge speculates: 'many of them, which are in America at this point, were either shipped out and not accounted for somehow, or were actually export games that went to Canada and then came back'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Bally implemented multiple unique features across bingo lineup (skill shot on Bounty, white button super section options on other machines) to differentiate models and appeal to different player preferences

    medium · Baldridge explains: 'Ballybingos had a white button that they would put on the front of the machine that would allow you to play for a unique feature. Some of the machines allowed you to push this white button for a chance to light one or both super sections. On the bounty, it lights the skill shot.'

    • He had one that was unrestored and unshopped. Now, it could mostly play a game. At least it would load some balls up. but it had issues with scoring and it had issues with some of the gameplay features, most especially the unique feature, which we'll get into shortly.
    3:09
    All those things were corrected fairly easily, and the game plays beautifully. I really love it. I have put quite a bit of time into playing that game, and it consistently beats me, even to this day. Now, as with all Magic Screen games, The Bounty is a multi-coin game. That means that you continuously, not continuously, but you feed in money at the start of the game, and this is phase one of the gameplay, and you try to get increases in features or odds or both, and then you start playing for the unique feature, which is called the skill shot.
    3:59
    So before we get further into that discussion, let's talk about the features and odds that this game has, which are common to the Magic Screen games.
    4:10
    It has a screen of numbers, which will move and shift from left to right to reveal different colored sections, which are arranged in different geometric patterns, which will allow you to score three, four, or five in one colored section instead of in a row. This is a very powerful feature for Bingo Player because you're able to get a winner where you didn't have an inline win before, but the game forces you to choose a position before you're done with your game. So, in the normal feature for the Magic Screen, you're allowed to reposition the screen before you shoot your fourth ball. So after you shoot your third and it settles in, you can still reposition the screen up until you shoot your fourth ball. Once you shoot your fourth ball, it's going to lock the screen in that position and you're no longer able to control it. From here, if you land three, four, or five in that colored section, you can collect replays just as if you got three, four, or five in a row. Now at this time, Bally had introduced several extra features to the Magic Screen gameplay. You have a blue section, which rather than scoring five in a line for one of the colors, gives you either 300 or 600 replays. The blue section is only three balls large, and depending on the feature that you have lit, you can either have to sync all three balls in the blue section to get 300 or 600, or if you're really lucky, then you can get the feature let to sync two balls in the blue section for 600 replays. Now when I win on this machine. It's usually because of some kind of huge blue section event, rather than any skill on my part. Like I say, the bounty beats me pretty badly. However, I haven't played it a whole lot since I've gotten ticker tape, and now I'm able to more consistently make many of the numbers.
    6:46
    So it possible that you know the last time I got a couple hundred replays but I haven racked up many more than that That was one of my best games ever Well when I finish up anyway
    7:05
    I have had some big winners, including some 600 wins, but I tend to squander those. I never know when to leave the machine.
    7:16
    At any rate, this game has triple deck scoring. That means it has independent stepping of red, yellow, and green odds.
    7:25
    Those odds track with either lines drawn on the back glass or sections drawn on the screen. As I said, they advance independently. The green odds are, for some reason, tied to the feature called the OK game or the red letter. Now what this feature gives you is it allows you to move the screen over to the right and reveal a reverse L-shaped orange section.
    8:02
    When you sink two balls into this section anywhere and then hold down the R button, which allows you normally to register replays, it will start the red letter game.
    8:19
    Now each of the letters in the word Bounty, B-O-U-N-T-Y, will light red as indicated by the green odds.
    8:34
    The first few odds jumps will keep the letter highlighted as B, and when it starts really jumping up, the letters will change as well.
    8:49
    There are a total of eight odds steps in the green, and the first three will highlight B. Each additional one changes the letter up one. So once you get to the fourth position, it highlights O and so forth. now on the score and instruction cards which are located down on the apron of the game it will list each of the letters in bounty and on that card it will list what that letter will give you and the red letter game is essentially an entirely separate game that will start, all your balls will dump and the game will start making sounds like crazy as it's racking up the odds and features for that guaranteed red letter game.
    9:44
    So, as an example, if you have the B lit in bounty, it's going to rack up your red replays fairly high, your yellow replays somewhere in the middle, and your green replays down low. So, then it's going to light A, B, C, and D on the magic screen, along with before fourth on the time tree.
    10:14
    And that is it, I believe. Now, in the red letter game, you can pump in additional nickels to play for features or odds and try to get jumps. In my experience, it is rather difficult to attain odds or feature jumps in the red letter game. It's easier to get feature jumps than odds jumps. Now, I don't know if that's just not actually a thing, and it's just my experience that's telling me that. I haven't investigated it deeply enough to know if the game auto-portions red letter odds and feature jumps. But what I do know is that whenever I put nickels in, it tends to give me nothing. So I become rather shy of putting in extra nickels. So what I will do on the red letter game is I play the game as per normal, try to get three, four, or five in a row or section, and then collect my replays.
    11:23
    Now, normally it will give me such an increase in odds in the red that it makes me want to play for the red rather than whatever I was playing for in the previous game.
    11:35
    Now, I always finish the previous game before starting the red letter, and the reason is this. You only need two balls to start the red letter game, and the remaining three can make a three in line. Now, the problem with this line of thinking is you can tilt So you have to make sure that you're Playing the game well So this is all Relatively standard magic screen stuff So what else does Bounty have?
    12:11
    It's got something called Extra, okay And when this is lit It allows you to move the magic screen over to the right an additional position.
    12:24
    It doesn't reveal any more numbers in the orange section, but it does allow you to position the center column of numbers, the first three, and the first one over into the second column of numbers in the orange section. This allows you to score a red letter game more easily, especially if you have an extended time tree.
    12:49
    Now I had to stop recording this episode partway through, so pardon me if I'm repeating myself. I know I have talked about this many, many times previously, but the time tree by default is locked to before fourth. you can advance the time tree to before 5th or, best of all, after 5th. Now with a magic screen, if you have after 5th lit and you have a 3 in line, even on the default A, B, C, D positions on the magic screen, you can get a winner in all three different colors normally, if it's a vertical win. if it's a horizontal win you can possibly get a winner in an additional colored section but it's less likely so your best winning potential on a magic screen game is to get a vertical 3 4 or 5 in a line hopefully 5 and then move the screen an additional two spaces and collect in each color which you can do The replays are counted independently per color.
    13:59
    And I don't know if I've mentioned this before previously, but these games are smart enough to know, with triple deck scoring, if you've scored in a particular color.
    14:08
    And therefore, it won't allow you to score again. so if you've already gotten a 5 and a line in the red and you collect in a different color and then come back to red it's not going to allow you to score in the red again pretty obvious when you think about it but someone had to come up with that idea so it's pretty impressive now moving on the next OK game feature is Super OK I'm not sure how many other games had Super OK, it may just be Bally Super OK gave you the OK game that was specified by the letter N if you had B, O or U lit. So it would automatically jump to N. It would not increase your green odds commensurate with this, unfortunately. It would just jump to N.
    15:16
    Now, if you had T or Y lit, if your green odds were all the way up or just about all the way up, it would also jump it back to N. So you can, in fact, wind up with a worse red letter game than you would have had otherwise with that feature. It is highly unlikely that you'll have the odds ticked up all that way. So, yeah, it just rarely happens. I've only had the super okay light relatively rarely. I think I've had like a handful of times. in all the times I've played Bounty, so it is a rare feature to acquire.
    16:06
    Now, beyond that, this Magic Screen game has super sections, and rather than them scoring some kind of special in-line win, it will give you 2 score as 3, 3 score as 4, and four score as five. The super sections are red or yellow, and they're marked with white or black lines to indicate that they're super sections. They're not just the standard yellow color or red color.
    16:46
    So unless that feature is lit, you don't get that extra winning potential. That's a very powerful feature to have. again you can get 2 in the yellow super section and it will score as 3 now if you happen to get 3 in that yellow super section it will score as 4 and 4 is 5 where this comes into play is that the yellow super section has a 3 ball vertical portion along with an upside down L that extends another two positions over. So think of it this way. If you had a three in line win and you had the yellow supersection lit then you would score four in the yellow then you can move the screen over to the right and score in the red and another couple positions and score in the green. at least assuming you had OKLIT to move it over that many positions but let's just make that a given so you can have a rather large win in the yellow that you wouldn't normally have just because of that super section so where does that leave us? leaves us with the unique feature for this machine.
    18:22
    Ballybingos had a white button that they would put on the front of the machine that would allow you to play for a unique feature.
    18:33
    Some of the machines allowed you to push this white button for a chance to light one or both super sections.
    18:42
    On the bounty, it lights the skill shot. Now the skill shot is an entirely separate game that's played only with the first ball.
    18:53
    And each coin that you put in gives you a guaranteed step on the skill shot. Now what you're trying to do is get the highest number of replays that you're comfortable betting for.
    19:10
    And then you press the gold button on the lockdown bar. and the game will spin. It'll stop and light either one or two numbers and those numbers will be flashing and you have to make that number with your first ball. If you do, then the game will start racking up replays and ticking down the number displayed in the skill shot line on the back glass. once you've earned all the replays then you play the rest of your game as per normal if you miss a skill shot then you just keep playing your game as per normal as if nothing happened but you've completely wasted all the credits that you put in or nickels, depending so the skill shot has a potential to earn up to 120 replays.
    20:14
    120 replays off of, you know, your first ball is pretty good. That's a good feeling when that happens. Now, sometimes you'll put in a nickel, and it will jump two odds at once.
    20:30
    That's a very good feeling as well. So it usually worth playing for because you get guaranteed advances like I mentioned and so you never waste a nickel playing for that feature Now you do have to be good and be able to make the numbers in order to make that work for you, but it is well worth doing so. Now, aside from all those features, if that wasn't enough, the game allows you to play for an additional three extra balls. So once you finish your five-ball game, you can put it in extra ball mode and start feeding in nickels, and the game will search, and it will either advance up to first extra in ball to provide you a new ball in your shooter lane, or it will give you nothing at all. Now this is common for a multi-coin bingo, and so you either play until you get an extra ball, or until you're tired of throwing your money away. and then you start a new game.
    21:43
    I will tell you that depending on the features and odds which are lit, the game portions those extra balls differently, and it can be very difficult to achieve them.
    21:58
    Now, other than that, let's talk about the theme and the game itself. the theme is pirates bounty evokes nautical scenes so you have ships which are screened onto the cabinet and then you have some ladies apparently having a picnic of some kind on the back glass and the ships are coming into the island.
    22:41
    There are some ladies on the playfield. And then the ocean and the yellow sky is represented on the cabinet.
    22:54
    It's a very attractive cabinet. It's not my favorite bingo stencil, but I do enjoy it quite a bit. metal rails and metal legs. It's a very attractive package altogether.
    23:16
    With the typical large magic screen head with the wooden surrounds, it really is an attractive game.
    23:27
    So, again, this game will be at the York Show. and it is a rare treat to find one because these were made for export only.
    23:39
    And so in the United States, at least, they're rather hard to find. A lot of them were shipped up to Canada, and so I suspect that many of them, which are in America at this point, were either shipped out and not accounted for somehow, or were actually export games that went to Canada and then came back.
    24:09
    These games have the same issues that typically happen with Magic Screen games, and so when you get one, it's important to test each position of the screen, make sure that it scores appropriately, especially with the super sections and the blue sections, and the OK game.
    24:33
    Once you've verified this, the game should be pretty darn reliable. I have, after doing the light shopping that was necessary in order to get the game working, and then some cosmetic work, I haven't had to do much of anything to the bounty.
    24:53
    It has been pretty reliable. Now, I mentioned that the skill shot needed some extra work. This game is rather unique, not just in having the skill shot, but also in having a reflex unit, which portions the jumps for the skill shot itself.
    25:12
    So there are actually two reflex units in this game. There are other bingos which have multiple reflex units, but this one is unique in the skill shot. And the way the skill shot is controlled are with several different relays in the back box, and those all have to interoperate pretty nicely in order for the feature to work. So, this is one of those cases where it's important to note the gapping on each of the switches relative to themselves in the relays, but also relative to the other relays which work in concert to provide that feature. I have one switch which had become fairly pitted and doesn't make great contact, and I believe that it will make it so that the skill shot doesn't light one of the lamps in my game. Now, the game which is going to be at the Ork Show is going to be in a thousand percent working order. it should be a thing of beauty but that is one of the problems that plagues my game it doesn't happen very frequently but when it does it is frustrating so at some point I'll tear that relay apart and put in a new switch but I haven't done it yet we've got a couple of those things stacking up if you have been a long time listener and I'll get to them eventually. But I've got to stop getting in new projects for that to happen. I get too excited.
    27:02
    Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you again for joining me. My name again is Nick Baldrige. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line.
    27:13
    That's 724-BINGOS1, 724-246-4671. you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter at Bingo Podcast you can follow me on Instagram at nbaldridge or you can listen to us on our website which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com thank you very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time