Rockola Baseball identified

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ninecup
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Rockola Baseball identified

Post by ninecup »

Saw this recently on my travels. Has anybody got any ideas who the manufacturer was?
ballgame.jpg

pennymachines
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Re: Ball Game

Post by pennymachines »

It's a Rockola World Series Baseball game of 1937: http://americanacoinop.com/37WS.htm
Video of game here.
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slotalot
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Re: Ball Game

Post by slotalot »

Rockola World Series Baseball game of 1937
And on the inside we have
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This is the machine mech & man fettling it...
This is the machine mech & man fettling it...
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Re: Ball Game

Post by pennymachines »

Was there one of these on eBay UK a week or two ago?
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Re: Ball Game

Post by slotalot »

PennyMachines wrote:Was there one of these on eBay UK a week or two ago?
Hi PennyMachines :D , If there was one on Ebay it must have been well hidden, I never saw it :oops: .... anyone know if it was on Ebay and what it sold for :?: .... :tarah:
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gameswat
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Re: Rockola Baseball identified

Post by gameswat »

Hey, I'm guessing that you possibly got these two machines on UK eBay a few weeks ago confused as one '37 Baseball?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0272623343
1934 Rockola baseball.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... TQ:GB:1123
1936 Genco Soccer.

While the '34 baseball pin works in almost the same way as the '37 mechanically, Rockola did not invent the '37. They just copied a 1928 machine that was almost identical except for cabinet style. I've restored and worked on three of the '37 baseballs and they are a beautiful mechanism all run by counterweights. A little fiddly at times to adjust though.
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Re: Rockola Baseball identified

Post by pennymachines »

Thanks for the info gameswat. Somebody told me there was a Rockola Baseball on eBay just after Christmas and assured me it wasn't the 1944 pintable. But I'm sure, if he was right, someone here would have spotted it.

Who made the 1927 machine that Rockola copied? I think I've only seen one Rockola Baseball in the UK.
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Re: Rockola Baseball identified

Post by ninecup »

The one I took the photograph of was in a cafe at Eurodisney.
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gameswat
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Re: Rockola Baseball identified

Post by gameswat »

I think the 1928 version is called or is by All American Baseball. I know I have a pic somewhere but can't find it just now. If a '37 Rockola did turn up on UK eBay then it probably got bought by an American well before it ended, even very ratty examples were bringing $35,000 over there a few years ago.
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Re: Rockola Baseball identified

Post by gameswat »

Someone just told me the '37 Rockola World Series was on US eBay, not UK and sold for $35,000 usd in restored condition. I couldn't find it though?? A year or two ago this would've been more like $45,000, ha, so they don't have endless pockets over there after all!! Though $35,000 still seems pretty crazy to me, cause while the mech is a work of art the game play is pretty boring with such a short playfield. There's a Williams full size baseball from 1960 called "Official Baseball" with the same men on the playfield but the added bonus of the running men unit in the headboard. It has a playfield as long as a pinball, if not longer and is a way more exciting game to play. And all for about $4000 in good cond.
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Re: Rockola Baseball identified

Post by pennymachines »

Thanks for the info. Yeah - aesthetics have a big impact on price. Like you, I think I put a higher premium on play value than many collectors. The most entertaining games are rarely the most attractive ones, so it's generally a compromise. I adore the earliest British amusement machines, but their naïve game play, coupled with their high cost, prevent me from owning many. On the other hand, I think the last generation of pinballs probably supplied the most fun you could have with steel balls <insert lewd aside here>, but I wouldn't want one in the house for long.
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