Michael Schiess Presents Bally Bumper (1935)

Mystery Pinball Theater 3000·video·4m 54s·analyzed·Mar 11, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.014

TL;DR

Bally Bumper (1935): first electrical pinball machine with fascinating police confiscation history.

Summary

Michael Schiess presents the Bally Bumper (1935), widely considered the first electrical pinball machine. The segment covers its historical significance, gameplay mechanics (bumpers, tilt, score projection), and a remarkable provenance story involving Oakland police confiscating gambling machines in 1937 and gifting them to Alameda officers. Schiess demonstrates gameplay and shares anecdotes about setting high scores.

Key Claims

Bally Bumper (1935) was the first electrical pinball machine
high confidence · Michael Schiess opening statement: 'actually this was the first electrical pinball machine'
Oakland police confiscated gambling pinball machines in 1937 and gave them to Alameda officers as gifts
high confidence · Schiess recounting a story from an old man who said his brother (both identical twin Alameda cops) received the machine: 'We got them back in 1937 when Oakland cops confiscated them and they brought them over to Alameda as gifts to the policemen'
Bally Bumper had a projector-based scoring system and required physical nudging without tilting
high confidence · Schiess demonstrating: 'it's got a little projector for your score. You get five balls, you pull it up. Every time that ball hits a bumper, you get ten points'
Bingo machines and early pinball machines without flipper buttons were designed to allow players to hold drinks and cigarettes
medium confidence · Schiess commentary: 'bingo machines don't have flipper buttons so that you can drink and smoke while you launch the balls'
The maximum possible score on Bally Bumper is 410 points
high confidence · Schiess anecdote: 'it only goes up to 410'

Notable Quotes

“This was the first electrical pinball machine. This is the first one where the ball's not falling in a hole and you're having to count all your score up.”
Michael Schiess@ 0:14 — Establishes the historical significance of Bally Bumper as a technological milestone in pinball evolution
“We got them back in 1937 when Oakland cops confiscated them and they brought them over to Alameda as gifts to the policemen.”
Michael Schiess (recounting a source's story)@ 2:34 — Reveals the machine's remarkable provenance and connection to law enforcement gambling enforcement history
“To me, this is like pure pinball because it's all about getting that shot just right so you can get as many as you can.”
Michael Schiess@ 2:45 — Articulates what Schiess sees as the essence of early pinball design and skill-based gameplay
“I went through about a half a bottle of Jameson's. Finally got it up to 370. And I thought wow. I thought I had the highest score because it only goes up to 410.”
Michael Schiess@ 3:31 — Humorous anecdote illustrating competitive play and the machine's scoring ceiling
“There's always a bigger fish.”
Michael Schiess@ 4:09 — Philosophical reflection on competitive pinball play after being beaten by Johnny Pinball Briggs

Entities

Bally BumpergameMichael SchiesspersonJohnny Pinball BriggspersonBallycompanyOakland Police DepartmentorganizationAlameda Police DepartmentorganizationLucky Juju PinballvenueMystery Pinball Theater 3000organization

Signals

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community_signal: Lucky Juju Pinball operates as educational venue/museum dedicated to pinball history preservation and public engagement
medium · Schiess mentions 'trying to start a pinball museum' and using the venue to display and demonstrate historical machines
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restoration_signal: Rare surviving example of 1935 Bally Bumper with continuous operation history from 1937 police gift onwards, housed in personal collection
high · Schiess recounts finding machine in working condition in Alameda cop's garage, set up and maintained continuously since 1937
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historical_signal: First electrical pinball machine documented and demonstrated with working example from 1935 Bally Bumper
high · Michael Schiess states 'this was the first electrical pinball machine' and demonstrates it with projection-based scoring system

Topics

Pinball history and originsprimaryElectrical pinball technology evolutionprimaryGambling and law enforcement confiscation of pinball machinessecondaryGameplay mechanics and skill-based designsecondaryMachine preservation and collectingsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Enthusiastic and reverent tone toward the Bally Bumper's historical significance; warm, educational atmosphere with humor and admiration for the machine and its provenance story

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.015

We're talking about this valley bumper. Bumper. Valley bumper, yeah. So this, to me, you know, there might be some people that will argue with me saying this was more significant, but actually this was the first electrical pinball machine. This is the first one where the ball's not falling in a hole and you're having to count all your score up. Okay. This one works such that it's got a little projector for your score. You get five balls, you pull it up. Every time that ball hits a bunker, you get ten points. Oh, wow. Oh, and you're supposed to nudge but not tilt. Right. So if I tilt it too much, see? Boop, tilt. So now I get nothing. I can launch balls all day and I won't get anything because it's tilted. Wow, this was 1935? Yeah, 1935. And this one the cool thing about this is Merrick Waria there a picture of him shoving over a machine It one of these Oh wow I sure he hated this one in particular because this one really made it easy to gamble So, in Oakland, they were confiscating, you know, they were gambling machines. Oakland cops were confiscating them, but they didn't, I mean, back then this thing was like an Apple computer. I mean, he's a piece of tech hardware from the 30s. They weren't going to throw it away. They brought him over to Alameda, and they gave him to the Alameda cops. And when I first opened up the little juju in the back, the lucky juju pinball, this old guy came by, and he saw that I was trying to start a pinball museum, and he told me about this. And I went, well, yeah, I want to go see it, you know. Well, it was in his brother's garage. His brother had just passed away. They were twins. They were identical twins. They were both cops in Alameda, and they both got one of these machines. And the way I found out, when I got in there, it was set up in this guy's garage, his brother's garage. It was working? Yeah, it was working. It was all clean and everything. And I said wow thanks for setting it up You didn have to do that I didn set it up It always been like that Always When did you get them And then he told me the story We got them back in 1937 when Oakland cops confiscated them and they brought them over to Alameda as gifts to the policemen. So it's pretty amazing. It's really... I mean, to me, this is like pure pinball because it's all about getting that shot just right. so you can get as many as you can. Wow. And if you get five, that's pretty good. Five per ball. If you hit the thing five times, you're doing pretty good. Oh, you get a little bounce there. Yeah. That's awesome. I always like to try and hit the top one first. This one here is cool. Dang. One more. All right. So, boy, back in the day, I wanted to set the high score. I had this in my basement. And I went through about a half a bottle of Jameson's. Finally got it up to 370 And I thought wow I got the highest score because it only goes up to 410 Okay And I thought, wow, nobody's going to beat that, right? So a couple days later, I bring it in here, and Johnny, who works here, Johnny Briggs, he sets the high scores on everything. He almost immediately got 380. And I was like, man. That's the worst hangover I've ever had. Oh, man. You just beat it like that. There's always a bigger fish. Without any whiskey either. Wow. But imagine, this is just, the thing that's cool about this, you've got your smoke in one hand and your beer in the other. This is what gambling machines didn't have, flipper buttons. That's why bingo machines don't have flipper buttons so that you can drink and smoke while you launch the balls. That's great. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. Thank you so much, Michael. That's pretty cool. That is terrific. I love that one. Bumper, you guys now have your education. Go forth and multiply. This is amazing.