Nicholas Baldridge

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast

Games EN ↓ 478 episodes

Detailing EM and Bingo pinball features, gameplay, and repair techniques.

Author

Nicholas Baldridge

Category

Games

Podcast website

foramusementonly.libsyn.com

Latest episode

Mar 14, 2025

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Episodes

Episode 278 - Interview with Adam Godfrey 12-06-15 14.12.2015

Adam is one of the hosts of the One and Done Pinball Podcast, and picked up his first EM a few months ago, a Williams Grand Prix. We talk about what was needed to bring it back to life, gameplay, bingos, and general pinball.

Episode 277 - Determining Dirty Wire Colors 13.12.2015

A couple of quick techniques for figuring out wire colors when they are faded or covered with goo/junk.

Episode 276 - 1935 Gottlieb Plus and Minus 12.12.2015

Plus and Minus is another Gottlieb payout game from 1935! This game features the same Liberty Bell graphic on the playfield, and liberty bell mint vendor on the front of the cab, which led to confusion about the title of the game. Plus and Minus has multiple trap holes, each of which is labeled with a picture and a point value - either positive or negative!

Episode 275 - 1935 Gottlieb Liberty Bell 11.12.2015

Gottlieb's Liberty Bell was a good study in 'firsts'. This was Gottlieb's first game with a mint vendor attached (to skirt the illegality of payout pinball), and also was the beginning of the 'Liberty Bell' series that Gottlieb used to describe other payout games.

Episode 274 - 1935 Gottlieb Match Play 10.12.2015

Match play is a payout game (Gottlieb's first EM payout game) that had an intriguing concept: fire one ball into a special playfield, then match the value of that ball on a special lower playfield with your second ball. If the values match, the game will pay out! Based on the point value matched, you will earn up to 20 coins!

Episode 273 - 1932 Gottlieb Cloverleaf 09.12.2015

Gottlieb made a variety of payout games from 1932-1947. Today's sample is their first payout game - 1932's Cloverleaf. Cloverleaf has a neat looping playfield design - shooting a marble around this playfield, your goal is to shake the ball into a center trough at the bottom. Doing so will pay you some number of pennies. Cool!

Episode 272 - 1946 Gottlieb Baffle Card 08.12.2015

Baffle Card is a bingo-esque game from Gottlieb, made in October of the year before flippers were added to Humpty Dumpty. You light one of four cards on the backglass, and then attempt to get the largest set of numbers to earn special and extra specials via rollovers. One intriguing aspect is the concept of 'points' on this game. There are 5 point values, two of which are the same, and I suspect t...

Episode 271 - 1952 Bally Frolics 07.12.2015

Frolics is a uniquely interesting six card bingo - it has both advancing odds and the extra ball feature! Looks incredibly challenging to earn a significant number of replays, as max payout without this game's unique feature (the superscore) is only 50 replays. With the superscore, your maximum for a 5 in a row hit is 200.

Episode 270 - Nantucket Nickel 06.12.2015

Special guest host, Fake Nick Baldridge, returns to the For Amusement Only airwaves to discuss a little known pingame manufacturer and their first release. Thanks again, FNB!

Episode 269 - 1952 Bally Palm Beach 05.12.2015

Bally's Palm Beach was the follow-on to Atlantic City. It brought back pick-a-play, advancing odds, and added rollover buttons. The rollovers would spot up to five numbers, and you could also earn spotted numbers through red or yellow button play. Between the five spotted numbers and three extra balls, you had the ability to light up to 13 different numbers on the bingo card! A single card bingo,...

Episode 268 - 1952 Bally Atlantic City 04.12.2015

Atlantic City was Bally's fourth production game, following Bright Lights, Coney Island, and Spot-Lite. Atlantic City was a slightly simpler game than Spot-Lite - a three card bingo with spotted numbers, extra balls, nice artwork and fixed payouts make this an interesting early bingo.

Episode 264 - 1966 Bally Zodiac 03.12.2015

I missed uploading this in the correct order (first time that's happened in almost 300 episodes, I think I am doing ok ;-)), so apologies if you just noticed that the episodes jumped from 267 back to 264. Zodiac is a 20 hole Mystic Lines bingo themed after the astrological signs of the zodiac (as one might guess). Some player-friendly features like mystery awarded score doubling or tripling in one...

Episode 267 - 1951 Bally Broadway 02.12.2015

This was actually the second Bally bingo produced - but it was either only made as samples or for a very limited run. The true second bingo Bally produced was Coney Island (see a previous episode for info on that excellent game). Same straightforward gameplay as Bright Lights, however, only a single card instead of six. This game also contains the same excellent artwork as Bright Lights, except fo...

Episode 266 - 1951 Bally Bright Lights 01.12.2015

Bally's Bright Lights was the first production Bingo by Bally in the post-1940s one ball horse race game world. Bright Lights is a straightforward six card bingo with no additional features. It has gorgeous artwork, a manual ball lift, and fixed payouts that are different than the standard Bally six card payouts.

Episode 265 - 1956 United Brazil 30.11.2015

United's Brazil has an interesting feature: the ability to spot up to three different numbers on three different rows! This game also features extra ball play, a single set of advancing odds, the United style of extended time tree, corners scoring, Lite-a-name (for an instant 5-in-a-line winner!), and the Pennant feature for earning your first extra ball automatically. With so many ways to win, wh...

Episode 263 - 1949 Chicago Coin Champion 29.11.2015

I finally found it! The game I've been trying to remember for almost 1/2 of a year! This is the first example of a game with player-controlled kicking rubbers (or slingshots). Fun basketball theme, with some interesting ideas in the artwork as well as the gameplay.

Episode 262 - Listener Question - Finding the Power 28.11.2015

We get a call on the bingos line - a listener wants to know how to safely work on a machine that has no on/off toggle switch, and how you can identify these machines.

Episode 261 - 1951 Chicago Coin Thing 27.11.2015

In 1951, Chicago Coin created a game around a hit record 'The Thing'. Roy Parker created a fantastic art package with great integration of the theme. Every aspect of the song is found in the artwork and gameplay. The backglass tells the entire story from the song, while the playfield tasks you with collecting the 'thing' by shooting a box in the center of the playfield. One of the best ideas is th...

Episode 260 - 1938 Stoner Super-Zeta 26.11.2015

Super-Zeta was a rehash of the earlier Zeta with the addition of a backbox. Super-Zeta is another proto-bingo with the roulette style tub. This looks less appealing to play as the ball doesn't travel around the playfield, nor is the bumper in the center a pop, merely a spring bumper.

Episode 259 - 1944 United Oklahoma 25.11.2015

Oklahoma is a conversion game by United. Flipperless sequence game with a super special kickout at the bottom center of the playfield. Beautiful backglass artwork and interesting bumper orientation make this a fun looking game!

Episode 258 - My Troubleshooting Technique 24.11.2015

I explain in great (probably too much) detail what my troubleshooting technique is and how to apply it to any given game! First, review the schematic located at http://ipdb.org/search.pl?any=bazaar&sortby=name&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#201 Then follow along while I explain how to find an issue with zipper flippers not closing.

Episode 257 - High Tap 23.11.2015

When should you (and when shouldn't you) use high tap on your EM. High tapping the machine provides an extra amount of voltage to all coils in the machine. If you have low line conditions (less than 120V or a large draw on a given circuit), high tap may be appropriate. Otherwise, it can cause damage to the machine (potentially).

Episode 256 - Interview with Phil Bogema 11-15-15 22.11.2015

Phil is a bingo player and restorer who just picked up a large number of bingos. Great titles, and Phil is interested in selling many of the games. Excellent titles, such as Sun Valley, Miss America '57, Key West, Show Time and more! If you're interested in one of the games, I will get you in touch with Phil. Phil and I chat about some restoration topics and various items of interest. Here are som...

Episode 255 - 1932 Genco Buster Ball 21.11.2015

Genco's first effort was incredibly solid. Cabinet and playfield were made out of painted aluminum, and could be interchanged with future games. The game's playfield glass has the score and instructions screened on, along with the scoring information for each of the lanes at the bottom of the game. Very attractive for only using a small group of colors (red, yellow, brown), along with the combinat...

Episode 254 - 1931 Gottlieb Baffle Ball 20.11.2015

A simplified version of Bingo - Baffle Ball has four large circular colored scoring sections, arranged in a diamond pattern. If you make a matching colored marble into the matching scoring circle, you earn double points! A small trap hole at the top will also double all scores. Due to the location and construction of the trap hole, landing a ball in that hole is best done on your last shot - other...

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