Any pinball players here?

[fortyshooter]

I play pinball at my neighbors' hangout quite a bit and have been searching around for my own machine in a Western type theme for a year or so.
My neighbor had stopped by a local shop that repairs and rebuilds the old machines and said that a Western type machine was for sale there so I went and took a look. Checked it out and it looked good and in fine running shape and it was being sold by another customer BUT the shop owner told me I might want to look at what he just got in that needed work. When I saw it I said that is what I am looking for and he said he would go thru it and repair/replace anything it needed plus touch up/refinish the play field which had some cracking paint. The back board was perfect being silk screen painted glass with lots of detail. This thing has 4 flippers 2 on each side and a lot of bumper action going on and is a 4 player game! Also 4 targets that can flip either way worth bonus points. A big bonus is there are several videos on Youtube of one being restored which might be handy for future repairs.
The machine is a Bally from 1976 called Flip Flop and it has a lot more ball action than the first one I almost bought. It definitely fits the Western theme! Price would be $100 bucks more than the first machine and should be ready in December. My wife seems excited to play it too which will be great for her!

[cooperhawk]

Ironically I have a Bally Flip Flop with a Western Background sitting right here beside me. I purchased it back in
1976 or so from North Mountain Amusement Company in Winchester, Va. It looks like the same machine you're
looking at. I also have a Seeburg Juke Box about that age, the one called the "Happy Days" Juke Box.

[BigAl52]

The wifes oldest son has one at his house. Not sure of the name of it but Ive played it about everytime Ive been up there. Im thinkin there was a song about a pinball player


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHc7bR6y06M

[fortyshooter]

Ironically I have a Bally Flip Flop with a Western Background sitting right here beside me. I purchased it back in
1976 or so from North Mountain Amusement Company in Winchester, Va. It looks like the same machine you're
looking at. I also have a Seeburg Juke Box about that age, the one called the "Happy Days" Juke Box.

Wow that is cool Coop! My neighbor has two pinball machines and a Juke Box from late 50's. Six of us get together there couple times a week and have a great time.

[Headhog]

The wifes oldest son has one at his house. Not sure of the name of it but Ive played it about everytime Ive been up there. Im thinkin there was a song about a pinball player


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHc7bR6y06M

Al, you brought back old memories with that link. Pinball Wizard was part of the Who's rock opera Tommy. I was going to college in NY City in 1969 when the album was released. Being a big fan, my friends and i got tickets to see them perform the rock opera at the Fillmore East. That was sometime in the fall of 1969. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Paul

[BigAl52]

The wifes oldest son has one at his house. Not sure of the name of it but Ive played it about everytime Ive been up there. Im thinkin there was a song about a pinball player


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHc7bR6y06M

Al, you brought back old memories with that link. Pinball Wizard was part of the Who's rock opera Tommy. I was going to college in NY City in 1969 when the album was released. Being a big fan, my friends and i got tickets to see them perform the rock opera at the Fillmore East. That was sometime in the fall of 1969. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Paul

No problem Paul. Those were the good ole days when life was a hole lot more simple

My Favorite Who Album cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIbMbXjbW98

[daytime dave]

We had a pinball machine at the firehouse when I was a volunteer. Your machine looks similar to what we had. It was a lot of fun. I used to get the tilt penalty all the time.
Ours had a multiball feature that had them going all over the place.
I don't have room for one, but I'd love one. Also a juke box with 50's, 60's and 70's hits on it. Congrats on yours. Hopefully all the cool kids will start hanging at your place.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Always been a fan. Started playing them when I was about 10 years old. I prefer the ones from the '70's and older. I've played many from the 50's that were just 5 Cents a game. Like the song too.

[rickhem]

Nice looking machine Fortyshooter! With the scoring it has, that is an old one too!

I had a second job for almost 10 years at a small arcade in Bloomfield, NJ, just outside of Newark, NJ. It got kids from neighboring towns, and this was in the 1990s, just as the home gaming systems were slowly growing in sophistication. The big games were Mortal Combat and Street Fighter in their various versions. The owner had those on big screen, rear projection monitors, and the kids would line up to play. There was a row of about 8-10 pinball machines, and it was definitely the older generation patrons that played those games. They had a Star Trek pinball game that included a mini game played on the dot-matrix scoreboard on the backglass. You entered that mode, the game went dark, then you drove the Enterprise's shuttlecraft through an underground mine using the flipper buttons for right and left turns. Man, I had some fun times at that job, but some tense times too, and eventually left when it got to be more than I wanted to deal with.
The owner had a lot of contacts for parts, repair, and even buying used games. I still kick myself for not getting a nice pinball game.

[fortyshooter]

Nice looking machine Fortyshooter! With the scoring it has, that is an old one too!

I had a second job for almost 10 years at a small arcade in Bloomfield, NJ, just outside of Newark, NJ. It got kids from neighboring towns, and this was in the 1990s, just as the home gaming systems were slowly growing in sophistication. The big games were Mortal Combat and Street Fighter in their various versions. The owner had those on big screen, rear projection monitors, and the kids would line up to play. There was a row of about 8-10 pinball machines, and it was definitely the older generation patrons that played those games. They had a Star Trek pinball game that included a mini game played on the dot-matrix scoreboard on the backglass. You entered that mode, the game went dark, then you drove the Enterprise's shuttlecraft through an underground mine using the flipper buttons for right and left turns. Man, I had some fun times at that job, but some tense times too, and eventually left when it got to be more than I wanted to deal with.
The owner had a lot of contacts for parts, repair, and even buying used games. I still kick myself for not getting a nice pinball game.

Still plenty of the old machines out there. The local shop in town that I go to finds most of them at estate sales and yard sales or on local Facebook market place.

[Hatchdog]

That’s an amazing coincidence Forty and Coop that you own the same pinball game.

When I was a kid in the 60’s pinball was only allowed for 18 years and older. I guess the local stiff shirts thought it was gambling. But, there was this lake resort at a lake called Liberty Lake near the Washington and Idaho border. This resort had a large game room and didn’t follow the age rules. I remember going out there a couple of times to play pinball. Funny how something triggers a memory.

Anyway Forty, hope they get your machine restored to your liking.