the 6 most useful tools (I never knew I needed)

I'm not a super hands-on technical person, and mostly have learned how to repair stuff as I go, and perhaps not to the standards of a someone you might describe as "competent".  I don't have a "workshop" space, and tend to just fix stuff on my couch and/or coffee table when needed.

For working on random coin-op, here are the 6 tools I appreciate the most, but which I hadn't realized I'd need when I started:

1) digital micrometer
2) leaf switch adjuster
3) telescoping magnet
4) angled-wedge lifter thing that kind of looks like a screwdriver? Also has a magnetic tip.
5) dental pick

6) wood clamps

Ed Nickels' The History of Bagatelle and its Influence on Pinball

Here is a very short article by Ed Nickels, published by the Association for Games & Puzzles International (AGPI) Quarterly.  It can  still be seen online in the Spring 2008 issue (Vol 10 No. 1) but I am including it here just in case that site goes offline some day.

 

I very much appreciate the breezy tone that loops in Bowls from ancient Egypt and 14th century Paille Maille.  The quick sentence that connects Bowls and nine hole bagatelle!

It hits lot of salient historical notes without dwelling on aristocratic France as some magical womb of pinball.

It is excerpted from his speech at 2007's Pinball Expo.  I am very grateful for Pinball News for sharing the audio from the presentation (mp3).

Ed Nickels at Pinball Expo 2007 - via pinballnews

Ed Nickels had an exhibition in 2016 showcasing his bagatelle collection, but I've yet to find images from it.  

2016-01-16 bagatelle exhibit note in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

exploring the arcade in 黒い賭博師 悪魔の左手 aka Kuroi Tobakushi: Akuma no Hidarite aka Black Gambler: Devil's Left Hand (1966)

I finally found a high quality transfer of this gem!

1966 - 黒い賭博師 悪魔の左手 / Kuroi Tobakushi: Akuma no Hidarite (The Black Gambler - Devil's Left Hand)

This is a sequel to 黒い賭博師 / Kuroi tobakushi (The Black Gambler which I posted about earlier.

(Be sure to check the other arcade explorations, especially if you're as interested in old Japanese games as I am.)

Mini Cascade

After searching for over a year, Mini Cascade is here.  It's pretty great to have 2 British grail machines side by side.  Thank you to my friend in the Netherlands.

some wall games from 1976

 was browsing some 1976 issues of Replay magazine and found these images for all the wall games fans out there.

I absolutely love this image with the PCB:

"production lady" LOL come on man she has a name I'm sure

bagatelle notes: Pigeon Hole / Trou Madam + bar billiards

Games like Pigeon Hole come up a lot when researching old bagatelle boards.  It was easy to lay a wooden set of gates across an existing playfield to create a new game experience.

The idea of shooting a ball through gates on the table is one of the earliest innovations, appearing relatively shortly after billiards evolved from a lawn game into an indoor table game.

Bar billiards is also included here because it was the mid-later 19th century where we really saw dedicated tables for pigeon hole and games that bar billiards would model after.  These are both billiard games of skill, and included for how they interface with the history of bagatelle as it relates to pinball.

These games are all billiards variants.

1674 illustration showing a gate on the playfield for Port & Kings

Pigeon Hole tables from 1872 J. M. Brunswick catalog

1782-08-04 troumadam illustration from Gillows records
(from the book A Short Dictionary of Furniture by Gloag)

some updates

new flyer for Marry Computer added to exploring the arcade in Android Kaikader

Lots of new information and pics added to the Tamakorogashi post, basically triple it's initial size now.

transitional electric pachinko machines: check for the entry "Unknown LCD game seen in promo video" and 1977 Sankyo 'Invader'

Added Cambrinus game to the carombolette article.

Expanded the "pin bagatelle" page to include Klondike Pool specifically

Updated on naming the bagatelles to include Klondike Pool.