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Niche Collection 005: Caitlyn's purely mechanical and upright games http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2020/ ... urely.html

Niche Collection 006: Neo Skywalker's Euro pinball machines https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2020 ... -euro.html

Niche Collection 007: Mr. Sugiyama's Pachinko Museum https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2020 ... hinko.html

A cool and very unusual collection. Nice to see so many first generation Pachinkos all in one place.

Niche Mechanisms 001: the drop shelf http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2020/ ... shelf.html

Niche Mechanisms 002: catchers http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2021/ ... chers.html

Niche Mechanisms 003: skill flicks https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2021 ... licks.html

Niche Mechanisms 004: rotation http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2022/ ... ation.html

Niche Mechanisms 005: booze barometers
http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2023/ ... eters.html

Niche Mechanisms 006: spirals
https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2023 ... irals.html

Impressive line-up. Here are three more:

Bolland/BM Co. All Winners


Bryans Pilwin Play

Wonders Chip Or Bust

Thank you! I will add those to the post later this weekend.
I thought a bit about the specific criteria I wanted to use and I decided to not list machines where the ball is launched via a spiral, so that first one, the BM Co All Winners, wouldn't meet my criteria, but the other 2 do as it's the spiral itself that is the whole of the gameplay.

Do you know when that BMCo All Winners is from? It seems nearly identical to a Japanese patent document I have.

I don't see why the BM Co doesn't fit in? I can see the "Whirl Wind" above is a spiral machine because the spiral decides the winner but the "All Winners" is a standard allwin with one extra set of rails. In fact, the "Chip or Bust" has the same number of rails as the "All Winners".

I'm also a bit confused about the criteria.
All positions of the gallery on All Winners, as the name suggests, are winners. You only lose if you miss the gallery, so you have a very good chance. The catch is, you only get your penny back.
I think these metal backed BM Co's may date from the 1920s, a few years before the cloth-backed 1930s games like Pin-Royal, but it's just a hunch.

Play on these games is quite different from other allwins, creating an illusion that the ball speeds up as it traverses the more-or-less Archimedean spiral. This is because as it approaches the centre successive turnings are shorter. The nearer a win target is placed to the end, the harder it becomes to achieve. On Pilwin Play it's immediately before the end; on Chip or Bust, its one turn before the end.

coppinpr wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:38 am I don't see why the BM Co doesn't fit in? I can see the "Whirl Wind" above is a spiral machine because the spiral decides the winner but the "All Winners" is a standard allwin with one extra set of rails. In fact, the "Chip or Bust" has the same number of rails as the "All Winners".

the difference is that All Winners launches the ball in to a pin field, and the other 2 have the ball purely within the spiral and rely on the action of the spiral exclusively. No launching. I didn't include any regular allwins in the post.

Spiral games fit into the 'Can't win on them' category.
I'll be visiting an arcade at Scarborough tomorrow, which has one. I'll report back if I get a win!
Wonders Boomerang also fits this category.

cait001 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2023 12:16 am ...the difference is that All Winners launches the ball in to a pin field, and the other 2 have the ball purely within the spiral and rely on the action of the spiral exclusively.

OK, that makes sense.

brigham wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2023 7:45 am Spiral games fit into the 'Can't win on them' category.
I'll be visiting an arcade at Scarborough tomorrow, which has one. I'll report back if I get a win!
Wonders Boomerang also fits this category.

There's a knack to Boomerang - keep it short and, true to its name, the ball keeps returning to the striker for another try. Shoot it too hard and you lose fast.

I've found no strategy on Wonders Spin-A-Win. If the paddles are in the right position you can hit the central ball return hole quite easily, but that's all.

Another spiral game: Teifun, 1907

Niche Mechanisms 007: basketball ball-popping
https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2024 ... -ball.html