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Grand Slam

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:52 pm
by widget2k4
I know there was no info on this pintable anywhere on the net at all but just thought on an off chance someone on here may know something about it.
I have started cleaning it and putting it back together. It's a very intriguing mechanism in it but I have no idea what you're meant to do or how it works. I need a coin slide for it and that's why I was hoping someone could shed some light on it.

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:01 am
by jonesthegarage
I can't make out the words from your photo but it is almost certainly based on the card game "Bridge". Post a close up of the words if you can.

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:39 am
by coppinpr
Nice machine, and it would be nice to know what the internal mech actually does AND a close up of the instructions but from the photo it looks like it shows two bidding hands for bridge (most likely one from each team). The balls appear to randomly fall to either side with most falling through the (losing?) middle chute. The hands get better the more balls on the same side with all 10 scoring a grand slam. At first I thought it might be a two player game but that would not make sense as no player could score a grand slam with only half the number of balls (that last half sentence is the story of my life really. :lol: )

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:01 am
by coppinpr
OK, I've blown up the photo to read the instructions. Talk about over complicated!! It appears (and I'm not that sure) that it builds up hands for each side with balls going into the north/west chute being a random fall for each side. Five balls on either south or east drop through (by weight?) into the score chute joining random balls from the north/west. The end result seems to be either east or south has the winning hand which seems pointless; free games are given for each ball in the score chute but that seems to mean exactly what it says, a free game for each BALL, so 6 balls in the score chute and you get a free game of 6 balls.

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:27 am
by widget2k4
Here is a better picture of the instructions and a picture of the underside before I stripped it.

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:00 am
by jonesthegarage
Definitely based on bridge then although I don't believe the term "book" features in the actual game the term "finesse" does. It is not a game I know or have any desire to learn so can't help you any more than that. As coppinpr says, it does look overly complicated for what it is but so is the card game, much rather a game of crib anytime.

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:15 am
by coppinpr
Although I have played bridge it's not a game I like (I am a life long games player though, these days mostly Mahjong and hearts (which is a whist variant like bridge really).

The term "book" does occur in bridge and in this case helps to understand the game play of the machine.
In bridge you must bid the number of tricks you think you will win. The lowest bid is "1 club" - this means you need to win 7 tricks. The first 6 tricks do not count in the bid and are called "the book". On your game the balls fall to one side as non counting tricks until the "book" is reached (in the games case 5 balls) when they then fall into the score chute and then count towards the winning score, as they would in bridge. :didact: :lol:

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:53 am
by badpenny
As an aside .......
You can enlarge photos on here by clicking on the photo.
You will then see another small version of it, but with options along the top. One of which is to enlarge.

BP

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:13 pm
by widget2k4
Rather complicated for a game of pinball lol but I do like it, no idea on the maker though.

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:56 pm
by gameswat
Widget, please post some cabinet shots as that may be the clue to who made it. Many companies had unique ball lift/plunger castings etc.

Re: Grand slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:44 pm
by widget2k4
The plungers are disconnected but I've laid them in place.

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:27 pm
by gameswat
I don't recognise those plunger levers off hand and after looking through a book full of pin adverts from 1934/35, nothing compared. I've asked a buddy who I think has the earlier volume of that book to check it out. I can't see any electrics to the playfield but there appears to be a battery holder with one battery in the base? Possibly just for a bell or buzzer?

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 5:43 pm
by widget2k4
No electronics mate, that's a plunger thing like a vacuum for the ball release gate. It goes down slowly after you would push the coin lever in. You can see the other part on my earlier photos.

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:04 pm
by gameswat
Sorry, I meant behind that in the middle of the cabinet on the mid rhd side? Maybe a weird tilt then??

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:21 pm
by livinginthepast
The National Automatic Machine Company of St Paul Minnessota made a pure mechanical Grand Slam pinball machine September 1933. This is listed on the internet pinball database

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:33 pm
by widget2k4
It's a heavy roller used for the tilt

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:38 pm
by jingle
Living in the past maybe right
That's who I came up with but could find no pics anywhere
Thee other reason that I think he maybe right
Is that when I found these pinballs in a lock up in Blackpool
There were 19 in all and believe it or not
They all dated 1933,
Everyone of them
Weird or what

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:44 pm
by jingle
By the way the playfield as come up spiffing
There widget

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:15 pm
by widget2k4
That's some find there like Bob :)

Yes it came up not bad with a bit of spit and polish, just need to find a coin mech for it now.

Here is another one of yours I done

Re: Grand Slam

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:02 pm
by jingle
Very nice job there Keith
Nice to see new life breathed in to them !THUMBS!

I was amazed there was no worm in any of the machines :o