Operator hacks: 'bugs'

This one got posted to FB:  an operator has attached these "bugs" to the teeth of a reel.

This effectively combines two teeth into one and prevents the machine from stopping in between them, rendering those symbols impossible to stop on.

bagatelle notes: Toupie Hollandaise / Dutch spinning top

Back in my original bagatelle posts I had this one table at the bottom I didn't understand, with cast characters standing over gates, and no visible plunger, and no real obvious shooting area.

Turns out this is called Toupie Hollandaise, aka Toptafel, aka a spinning top game from Holland.  It apparently has origins from the 17th century, but the larger sized tables were mostly 19th-20th century.   It's thematic connection to bagatelle being that it was an aristocratic game played on a custom table surface.  No cues, no balls, this game used spinning tops to try and knock down tiny pegs / skittles.  It is often mislabelled as "bagatelle" in many of the auctions they've appeared in.

Some tables had bells hanging between gates, which I believe gave points in addition to toppling the skittles.  These balls would be thematically similar to the bells in carombolette tables, and pin bagatelles.

This game did offer an opportunity to nudge the playfield to manipulate play, as well some tables apparently had a bell underneath that would ring if you were too rough.  An early form of Tilt? (*this needs to be verified, currently hearsay)

I've found lots of discussion of these tables, but very few primary sources.  They are still popular carpentry projects, and yes after 400 years they basically evolved in to Beyblades.

pictures via Dead Flip on twitter
click through for a short video