Niche Collections: JC's Arrangeball & Challengeball machines

On my journey into researching Japanese machines it took me a while before I discovered Arrangeballs.  I was watching some Japanese youtuber visit a retro-gaming parlor ("Shōwa" era games) and paused the video, grabbed a screen snap, and had to ask, "What the heck is that on the wall behind him"?  It looked like a pachinko at first glance, but it had a row of numbers along the bottom, and didn't have a normal feeder tray.  What's going on here?

The machines turned out to be called Arrangeball, and outside of the background in a few retro parlor shots, I couldn't find much about them.  I eventually discovered a small fanbase for them outside of Japan and fell in what might be love, but probably was more accurately lust.

Instead of the traditional abstracted gambling currency of choice in Japan (pachinko balls,) these games worked on tokens.  It must have been unfortunate timing because legislative changes spelled their demise about a decade in.  After they passed however, integrated circuit machines saw the rise of pachislo machines, which also operated on tokens.   Coulda shoulda woulda, arrangeballs had their tiny moment in time.

It reminds me of the short window of American pinball machines that paid out coins.  They too lasted about a decade before being legislated out of existence.  The American gambling pinballs went on to have credit counters and evolved from there.  The innovations of arrangeball machines were mostly lost to time as the rise of solid state machines, spinning digital reels, and electric shooters would pave the way for the 1980s modern pachinko boom, and subsequently pachislo.  

Legislation would be repealed and elements of arrangeball would continue into the solid-state era, under the guise of arepachi machines, but their numbers pale in comparison to contemporary digipachi (deijipachi / デジパチ) machines, and even to the humble (yet delightful) hanemono machines.

Niche Collection 004: JC's Arrangeball & Challengeball machines

the basics
who: JC (pachitalk)
where: America
what: Japanese Arrangeball & Challengeball machines
when: "I started collecting them in 2010 or so"
how many:   "I have 7 left out of 20 or so different models I've owned over the years.  A handful of the models I imported myself and as far as I can tell, are the only copies in the U.S."

Taiyo electron "Full Throttle 2"

Taiyo electron "Full Throttle 2" back side

Game play is as follows:
-Typical matrix number arrangement: wins on columns, rows, and center four (this is the basic scoring of almost every arrangeball machine)
-3 Center digital readout numbers "spin" upon token insert
-First 3 balls in any [unique] pockets stop the spinning of the numbers
-If one spinning number stops on a 7 then both tulips open for 0.7 seconds
-Two 7s open tulips for 2 seconds
-Three 7s open tulips for 10 seconds (I have never managed to do this)
-Three of any number opens the tulips for 2 seconds
-A ball in either tulip lights 4 numbers on the matrix as specified on each tulip:  lower left and right pockets light numbers 2+4 and 13+15 respectively.   Center top pocket doubles the score, lights the number 5, and turns on indicator light in upper-left of machine.
-This machine has multiple sound effects which are token insert, token payout, tulip open, balls in pockets, and ball in top center pocket (score doubler)
-Lights behind spinners flash red when tulips open
-Volume control is mounted on inside of lower frame

A little planning is involved in that the tulips don't open until the third digit stops spinning.  So if there's one or two 7s lit, then it's wise to have balls in the air in the hopes that one lands in the tulip when it opens when the third number stops.  If the last ball is what stops the third digit then there's no balls to go into the open tulips.

I started collecting after I bought a typical 70's pachinko machine for my girlfriend as a gag gift.  These were something we both remembered from childhood and in learning about it, I became more interested in them a bought a few more.  However, these pachinkos, while interesting, were pretty boring and there was no logical end to a given game.  I then discovered arrangeballs from a pachitalk member and finally found one.  I instantly was much more interested in these machines as they have some strategy to them, pay out in tokens, and have short games.  Much better than "regular" pachinko in my and many others opinion.

Satomi Robots Miracle Arrangeball

Satomi Robots Miracle Arrangeball - cell detail
Note the pockets labelled A B C D

Satomi Robots Miracle Arrangeball - coin entry and button selector to choose which tulips to open

In terms of history of these machines, it's very hard to find definitive info. I think they were made for about 10 years from the early 70's to early 80's and then they were banned.

Arrangeballs offer you 16 balls for a token.  Get the balls in slots labeled 1-16 to light the numbers on the card.  There are often side-troughs that will mercifully return missed balls to the shooter lane.  A completed column awards one token, a row awards 2, and the center 4-square awards 3.  The playfield pockets light the hard-to-hit numbers (which are also along the bottom, but also difficult to enter,) and often one hole gives an instant coin payout when hit.
Beyond those basics, some had extra gimmicks like the spinning numbers of the Full Throttle 2 (at the top), or moving playfields like the bull's horns below:

Satomi Miracle Buffalo Arrangeball

Satomi Miracle Buffalo Arrangeball - door open

Satomi Miracle Buffalo Arrangeball
the bull horns open and close mechanically

Satomi Miracle Buffalo Arrangeball - mechanism to open and close the bull horns

If anyone is interested in collecting, be prepared to pay a lot and have a hard time finding them.  They can be found on YJA but there's no guarantees they'll work, shipping is in the hundreds of dollars, and there are no spare parts.

Taiyo Electron Piero Arrange Ball

Taiyo Electron Piero Arrange Ball- detail

Taiyo Electron Piero Arrange Ball - instructions and ball trough

Taiyo Electron Piero Arrange Ball - the advent of the segment display counter!

Taiyo Electron Piero Arrange Ball - detail on the Hex -> decimal translation chart

Taiyo Electron Piero Arrange Ball - playfield detail

My favorite features are bonus modes that some of these machines have.

Satomi Miracle Space Wars Arrangeball

Satomi Miracle Space Wars Arrangeball - door open

Satomi Miracle Space Wars Arrangeball - detail

The best thing about working on them is simply seeing how they work and the engineering involved.  Worst thing is that many of the IC's are proprietary and no longer available.

Satomi Lion Super Miracle Arrangeball

Satomi San Diego Miracle Arrangeball

Satomi San Diego Miracle Arrangeball - internals

"Arrangeball is the general term describing these types of machines and "Challengeball" is a name use by some manufacturers for their arrangeball machines -- they're essentially synonyms.

Taiyo Electron Challenge Ball Paper-Rock-Scissors

Taiyo Electron Challenge Ball Paper-Rock-Scissors - door open

JC replied that he has never played them on location, and they are indeed hard to find anywhere.  You can sometimes find them in retro shops / parlors in Japan.

a rare shot of arrangeballs in a pachinko parlor 

Since Arrangeballs work on tokens, you wouldn't have the normal site of pachinko balls stacked in buckets

Even among machines that are already rare and obscure, there are always ones that especially unique and rare:

Fuji Jankyu Mahjong 

Kyoraku Baseball Coin-Op 1980

The Kyoraku is not really like an arrangeball in that there's no number matrix to try to complete rows, columns, etc, so I'm not sure how to categorize it.. The gameplay was to get the balls in certain pockets which were single, double, triple, or home runs. Each "run" to home plate scored one point which was one token.  It did have a cool feature that I've only seen on this game and that was a hopper that held coins on the outside of the machine that with a push of a button, fed a token into the coin slot.

Kyoraku Baseball Coin-Op 1980 - detail

Sanyo Ball Boxing Themed Coin-Op

Sanyo Ball Boxing Themed Coin-Op - playfield

And even more machines:

Taiyo Electron Big Spin 2 Challengeball 1981

Taiyo Electron Big Spin 2 Challengeball 1981 - detail
Another machine where playfield tulips can open depend on the slot spins

Taiyo Electron Bonus Line

Taiyo Electron Magic Neon Challengeball

Taiyo Electron Number Bank Challengeball 1980

Taiyo Electron Throttle 2 Challengeball 

Taiyo Electron Throttle 2 Challengeball - door open

Have a machine to sell?

Standard boilerplate for everyone that arrives here via searches:  If you have any of these kinds of machines and want more info on yours and/or want to sell them, please email me at thetastates@gmail.com and I'll see if I can help you.  No matter where you are in the world, chances are there's probably a community of people I can get you in touch with.

Have a collection to showcase?

If you a niche collection that might be appropriate here, please email me at thetastates@gmail.com