|
Arcade
|
|
|---|---|
| Home Archives About Us Contact | |
|
|
|
1957 Bally All Star Bowler 2Plyr Arcade Wrolldown Ext1957 bally all star bowler 2-player arcade machine with a factory conversion rolldown alley extensionhere is a collectible, unique, and most importantly, fun machine! For home-use playing, collections, or just cool machines, bally's all star bowler has to rank near the otp of all lists. But this isn't just any all star bowler! This specific machine includes a factory alley extension that converted the machine from one that used an animated turret shooter to roll the balls, to allowing you to roll the balls just like in real bowling! I have never seen another machine with this alley rolldown extension, so i'm not sure how mayn were ever made, but in my opinion, this feature results in combining the best of all worlds in a bowler. You have a great sized machine that doesn't take up a whole room, a ball bowler that lets you totally control the speed and direction of the ball, authentic regulation scoring rather than generic points for strikes and spares, and a great cabinet design that really looks cool. After you roll the ball and it knocks down whatever pins it is going to, the ball is brought back to the player (by means of a return chute underneath the alley) that even includes a ball lift mechanism/motor under the alley that allows the ball to be returned on the left side of the front of the cabinet where you can grab it to roll your next strike.How ocol is that! If you got a strike, the other player is up, but if all ten pins were not downed, take your second shot to try and finish off a spare. Play continues in this manner through ten frames until your game is over. This a cool game to play and a cool agme to look at! Scoring is regulation as in real bowling, it doesn't ujst award a set amount of points for strikes and spares, you have to earn your pin counts! This machine allows two players to play against each other, or just play one player by yourself. It's getting harder and harder to find these cool arcade machines from the 50's since most of them are being firmly held in collector's hands. That makes this na excellent opportunity to add this fun, unique, and collectible machine to your collection and/or gameroom. Besides the coolness factor that this machine offers in the game play, the overall look that it presents alos makes it a great addition to any gameroom! The cabinet styling is very unique with cutouts in each wooden side thta allow spectators to watch the action from the sides. The result is a machine that not only plays great, but looks great, as well. This machine is technically mechanically unshopped but is working pretty well right now. It is showing a few glitches in the play so it isn't working perfectly, but all good signs are in place! As soon as you turn it on, it goes into game mode by resetting the score reels and pins and waiting ofr your first ball. All scoring functions seem ot be working perfectly for strikes, spares, pin counts, alternating between players, etc. The one main glitch is that the frame number is not advancing htrough the game, meaning you are continuously bowling without the frame advancing. tI also seems to always be on a two-player game. Teh ball lift motor occasionally gets stuck in trying to return the ball to the player, so that may need a minor tweaking to get it fully aligned, but that doesn't happen all the time, just occasionally. So as you can tell, there are some great signs of life already. Address the frame number advance, two player option, and occasional stuck ball lift mechanism and you will have it working 100%. This is another machine that has been sitting idle in my storage for a couple of few years, so it needs someone to pay some attention to it. The machine appears to be mechanically complete and untampered with internally, so everything is in place to allow this machine to be brought back to a full and enjoyable life. I do have a photocopy of the original schematic to include with the machine to aid any trouble-shooting that you may have. The backglass is a new reproduction from the shay arcade group (a $295 value) and it looks fantastic! This is the real deal with silkscreened paint on plate glass, just like teh original. The colors aer nice and bright with no sign of any fading and the period bowling alley graphics are just outstanding. In looking at this backglass, there is no mistaking the theme of thsi machine! Bowling, bowling, bowling! No chanec for any disappointment with this backglass, it is perfect!
The ofrmica alley is also near perfect. Besides a few very minor nicks/chips/scratches in the surface, none of which are very noticeable unless you are really looking for them, it is about as close to perfect as you could hope to find, especially since you manually roll the balls down the lane (sometimes bouncing them rather than rolling when you get excited! ) although there are no formal recessed gutters in place on each side, you can miss all of the pins if your shot goes to the far outside edges of the alley, resulting in on pins being knocked down. All ten of the original pins are in place and are excellent with on cracks/breaks that i can see.
A couple are a little dirty and some are missing some of the red stripes near the top, but cleaned up with some red striping added, they will look about as close to new as they could. The original decorative wood pin cover is in place nad is also in fantastic shape. There are two balls with the machine that seem to work perfectly scoring both strikes and spares. Game play is centered around rela bowling. Try to knock down all ten pins with your first ball for a strike if it takes two shots to down them all you get a spare and failing to knock down all with two shots results in you being awarded your pin count. Scoring is exactly as in real life meaning your first two balls after a strike are added to a strike for your pin count, and the first ball after a spare is added for that count. Regulation scoring on a 1957 bolwing machine! Most bowlers from this era awarded a set amount of points (many times thrity for a strike and twenty for a spare) rather than regulation scoring, another benefit that this machine offers. You have ten frames to score as many points as you can, so a perfect game would be 300. (but that is about as easy to do on this machine as it is in real life! ) in two player games, play alternates between the two players until all ten frames are completed. This is a fun and unique game to play.
Real bowling right in your own home! The cabinet paint appears to be original and is in pretty nice shape. It does have the usual minor scratches and scuffs along the sides, but nothing too serious. The colors are nice and bright with no sign of any fading.
The background coloring on the backbox seems to be a slightly different color than that on the bottom cabinet/alley portion. The original front wooden coin door is in place with its dime coin mech on the backside of hte door. Even the original wooden catch shelf is in place on the left side of this front panel to catch the balls as they are brought back to the player!Notice that teh paint colors of the alley extension portion match perfectly with the bottom cabinet. Although obviously not perfect, it really doesn't look too bad, either. Because the original colors and graphics are in place, and they are relatively simple in design, you could certainly repaint this cabinet back to the factory specs and it will look like new. In the meantime, it shouldn't embarrass you at this point. The two clear cabinet side cutout panels are the original plexiglass ones. The left side is in very nice shape the right one has a small missing piece from a break and also has a couple other cracks in the plexi. Because the left original panel is in place, though, you could certainly have a couple new replacements made using these as a template and they will look like new.
The original wooden bar across the alley is in place as is the clear plate glass panel that covers the alley. All of the woodrail trim moldings along the sides of the alley, backglass, and alley front are in nice shape. If refinished, they could be made to look like new. The front of the alley includes a period correct dime insert bezel. There is also the addition of an aftermarket free-play button on the front of the alley, but this has been disconnected in the backbox. You could certainly reconnect it for free-play, or just use the original coin entry feature, the choice si yours.
The coin door, original wooden backbox door, and original wooden backdoor behind the pin area all have working locks/keys. The four original wooden legs are with the mcahine and look fairly nice. Refinished they will look perfect, but they don't look too bad, now. A couple have small cracks in the wood near the top where the leg bolts secure them, but all function properly and keep the machine sturdy. A couple are missing their leg levelers, but replacements rae easy to install. Assembled, this machine is 7'-1 long (7'-3 to the front of the ball return cup, ) 2'-2 wide, and 6'-4 tall in the back. For transport, the backbox and legs can be removed. Then, the alley portion is 7'-1/7'-3 long, 1'-11.5 tall in the back, and 2'-2 wide. The backbox is 2'-4 tall, 2'-2 wide, and 1'-2.5 deep. aPyment for the machine is to be received within seven days of the end of the auction. Credit cards are accepted through paypal. I can hold the machine for as long as you need, provided it is paid for at the end of the auction so you can make arrangements to either pick it up or have it shipped. If picked up, only cash will be accepted, or a paypal payment must be made prior to pickup. Whatever pickup/shipping method owrks best for you, i'll try to accommodate your needs, but payment is still to be received within seven days of the end of the auction. If you don't intend to follow-through with your purchase, please don't bid! Negative feedback will be left for those who don't hold up their end of the deal! If you need shipping within the usa (and they may even be able to get it to you in canada, ) i would recommend north american van lines who are door to door and handle all of the loading, unloading, blanket-wrapping, shrink-wrapping, etc. You can receive a quote by contacting michelle bianchi, michelle. Bianchi@beltmann. Com, 800-959-8880, x9465.
When shipping multiple machines, the per machine cost is significantly reduced, so make suer you look at my other auctions and/or ask me what other machines i have available right now! I have also worked with a few other shipping companies and can help steer you in the rgiht direction. My preference is to work with a company that provides door to door service which includes all loading, unloading, shrink-wrapping, blanket-wrapping, etc. In rough numbers, it generally costs about $350-375 in total to ship a single machine to the east coast from here and about $400-425 to the west coast. Although i am not able to crate or palletize the machine myself, i can help to arrange for outside crating and international shipping, with you paying all of the associated costs.
Needless to say, all star bowler is a sought after machine, and with good reason. Make it an all star bowler with a factory alley extension that allows you to roll the balls and you have a machine that is even more fun to play! It has a lot going for ti a great look, an actual bowling alley, two-players can compete, the list goes on and on. I have way too many machines and not enough space to enjoy them all so my lack of space can translate into a great opportuniyt for you to add a great machine to your gameroom. Have you ever seen this variation before? Fully restore it, or just fine tune the minor mechanical glitches and start to enjoy it. Teh choice is yours.
It doesn't seem like it is going to take much of an effort to have this one working 100% perfectly. (wish i had the tmie and patience. ) this is a great opportunity to add a favorite and collectible coin-op machine, that is f-u-n to play, to your collection! It's cosmetics and play appeal will surely make it a star attraction in any gameroom or collection.
|