Recently we found a Bally Miss Universe. Not a 20 hole, neither a 25 hole, but a bingo with 18 numbered holes. In fact we had never played such a machine before and of what we had read about the Miss Universe, we could not made up our mind and make a decision to make room for her. The outside the Miss Universe looks still very well, but the surprise came by opening the backdoor. An entirely new inside, without a track of grease or nicotine attack. The playfield was brand-new, and the played balls did not leave a mark on it. But when we opened the front door, we really had been astonished. The meters of the played games and pay-out were still fitted. Probably the Miss Universe has never been in exploitation because only 743 coins were token and only 27 credits had been paid out. Nevertheless we noticed that the previous owner had had some problems. Problems he did not solve as they were still in the machine. The Tilt relay in the Tripbank had been burned and a diode fitted to the special diode-plate had been broken. This resulted in a strange humming in a relay because the feed of that relay appeared to be only 37 Volt. And although remarkable little was played on, the reset motor of the tripbank was rather stuck. But really this type of problems could be solved in less than no time and after that we played the Miss Universe. And how does such a Universal Lady play in fact? Well then there are only 18 numbered holes and you get just three balls to play, whereas there is no possibility for buying an extra ball. Starting the game get you however a couple of numbers free and by means of extra buying you will get more numbers, so that you can nevertheless score with three balls a five in line. Additionally, a mystery number (red or yellow) can be ratified, and in this way you still have an extra number. However scoring does not appear simple. We started with about 400 credits on the register and experience learned that at an average usage of approximately 30 credits, we could play for several hours, and still had some credits on the register. Obviously the Miss Universe from Bally was something new. We can’t answer the question if we shall make some room for the Miss Universe yet, but anyway it is something very differently than usual.
On occasion for Christmas 2009 I have made a small gift for under the tree. This is a mini performance of a Beach Time bingo what you can make with a sheet of thick paper that can be printed. The aim is the PDF file below. Just download and print, then cut out and glue so you can build your own mini bingo. Maybe I will have more models to go, that way to make a collection for on your desk. If you prefer a model just let me know..
End of May I received a tip that on a website there were some images with a few Bingo's, it was an album made by someone from Sweden and and in the picture was a Magic Ring to see (one of the hardest to find bingos) also stood a image of a Big Wheel. Because the Magic Ring always been a bingo that I wanted, I have sent an email asking if the bingo for sale. read more
I also got my hands on a Bonus7 and because I was interested in the extra game I decide it to mechanical restore the bingo. This bingo also has played already a lot of games but for me it´s not a bingo to make room for in my collection read more
Have also gone further with making backglasses and I made another step forward. Now I can make with the use of special glass and a new printing technology backglasses with even more color intension then ever before. I also went on making the mirror edges. read more
Finally we found the right way... Now we are able to make backglasses with the latest print technology which also print directly onto the glass but in a way that it seems as if the backglass is made by silk-screen printing. The special feature of this machine is that it now can print white color and the printer makes a real layer so the result is stunningly original and no longer improvements are needed. The machine will print in three layers, the first step is color printing and there after immediately print a white mask over it and finally again the black mask is printed with extra color in the features. click here to read the complete story.
We just made our final steps in backglass reproduction.... With the new technique everyone can make the best backglass possible without mistakes, now we´re able to make a single foil with all the layers intergrated which are needed to make the best backglass with the same looks as an original backglass. Because of our new technique you only have to put one single layer foil on the backside of a piece of glass. The new foil gives the backglass the nice sparkling colors and remain that color even when the feature lights up.
Example of the new foil technique from a backglas for a Williams pinball ´Lady Luck´ .
Pictures of a newly made playfield for a Miami Beach based on an old Ticker Tape playfield but made with the latest digital technique.
Making a new playfield was still on my to do list but had so far not been necessary because I could always have a nice original field to use but that changed when I decided to go for a Miami Beach restoration for my own collection. There were still a few Miami Beach bingos in storage but none of the bingo´s had a playfield field where I was really happy with. The bingo´s are all from the '50 years and usually many playgrounds suffered from time and playing but for me a reason to start my new project. Didn´t want to use an original field for this test and sacrifice therefore a playfield of a bingo that nobody wants anyway and often played a little, for me it was an old playfield of Ticker Tape because the layout was exactly the same as the Miami playfield. Read more...
