some great EM videos - part 3

 Here are even more videos I am enthused about.  (previously: part 1, part 2)

Not quite EM, but still

start at the 8:00 mark of this video to get a technical tour of the Holly Crane from 1940, a USA crane that would later inspire the Japanese crane machines of the 1960s like Sega's Skil Diga.

The Imperator is one of my favourite slot machines of all time, and you'll quickly see why.

arcade update: new shelf for prewar pins

 I had a custom table/shelf built to better house my pre-war pins.  Check it out!

88" long

I can't stress enough how much my gameroom is a collaboration.  There is basically nothing I could have done here by myself, and I am very grateful to the wonderfully supportive arcade/pinball community and their patience and generosity.

I have many friends who have worked on my machines, helped me move machines in and out, helped me transport machines, have given me knowledge and wisdom, and let me rant in their general direction.  Without all of their assistance, this space would just be all storage.

I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but when I turned 40 I developed aggressive and severe cataracts and went fully blind in one eye before I got surgery.  I healed ok, but in order to maintain my ability to drive I needed two lenses with very different focal lengths, thus making near-sighted correction impossible.   I am no longer able to see things with precision close up with binocular vision.  I might try a jeweler's loupe for the one ok near-vision eye, but I've lost all binocular vision for precision.

The reality of this sunk in went I had to adjust a basic rollover switch on Dolly Parton.  Try as I might with different angles, illumination, and visual tools, I was unable to tend to the switch with any precision.  My days of being an amateur pinball tech are sadly behind me, and that kind of feels like shit to say.  Even the clunkiest of lug soldering is now impossible.

In response, I've obviously leaned very hard into the research aspects of the hobby, but oh I miss the satisfaction of aligning an AX relay.  When the pandemic came, I made sure to come up with a plan to have my arcade stuff taken care of in case I died.  I felt better to have a plan to ensure my family wouldn't be encumbered by a room full of arcade stuff.

I am so very grateful to still be here, to have regained some vision in my eyes, and to have had the chance to build a gameroom like this.  I am grateful for all of my friends and acquaintances in the hobby who have assisted me, and the number of people and what they have done is large.

My collection pays tribute to an aesthetic I had been chasing since a young child.  I am mostly into pinball, but the aesthetic root is actually kinetic ball devices.  Very specifically, this was all the result of being taken to Expo '86 and witnessing the premier of Swiss Jolly Ball by mechanical sculptor Charles Morgan.

It was that spark of joy and inspiration that my collection is in service to.

On to the machines.

1934 World's Series by Rock-ola: Champion model vs Production model [guest post]

The following text and photos are from Bruce Zamost, posted with permission.  He documents the differences between the 2 known types of the iconic World's Series pinball machine, the "Champion model", and the primary production model.

left: World's Series Champion model
right: World's Series production ('Second') model

Champion model

full production model

Playfield and mechanical variations on the Champion Model include:

• words "Champion Model";
• slimmer baseball graphic at top;
• 2 top players are higher (left side player's shoe is covered by ball return hardware);
• black lines around baseball diamond are absent;
• base labels are shown in divided backgrounds;
• different font, e.g. "RUNS";
• wire baserunner covers vs. nylon tabs;
• shadow behind down arrows above register are absent;
• yellows on production model playfield are orange on Champion Model---this includes the disc paint as well;
• different pin quantities in clusters both in upper and lower playfield;
• register casting lacks 2 integrated uprights and instead utilizes 3 separate, discrete lane guides above register;
• tilt lock-out rod;
• trough has differently oriented bell holes and bell brackets, no bells and holes are mysteriously covered with sheet metal;
• extra bracket on trough;
• 2 screws flanking baseball diamond are absent.

Differences in mechanicals noted as follows: [each bulletpoint relates to highlighted sections in the subsequent photographs -- cait]

• Red:  trough bells absent on Champion and bell hole orientation different.
• Green:  tilt rod with larger rear bracket present on Champion.  Front tilt bracket on production model has hole for accepting tilt rod even though that rod wasn't utilized on production models or at least on the vast majority of them.
• Amber:  larger cut out at tilt mechanism on Champion model.
• Yellow:  RWS 1 (Rockola World's Series 1) stamped on arm trough of Champion.   RSW 1A stamped on receiving basin of trough on production model. 
• Blue:  bracket instead of spring on prototype.
• Other:  additional securing screws on board on production model on top side.  This Champion board was drilled for use as a playfield as evidenced by pin holes.  Also, the prototype features the machined randomizer gear as opposed to a cast gear which I neglected to encircled but which can be seen in the photos.

    Red:  trough bells absent on Champion and bell hole orientation different.
Green:  tilt rod with larger rear bracket present on Champion.  Front tilt bracket on production model has hole for accepting tilt rod even though that rod wasn't utilized on production models or at least on the vast majority of them.
Amber:  larger cut out at tilt mechanism on Champion.