Rainbo, Arc en Ciel, Spry Ball - pinballs
- badpenny
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Rainbo, Arc en Ciel, Spry Ball - pinballs
If my Spanish holds up arc en ciel means arch in the heaven/sky so I guess that's a rainbow?
Hello Lee
I guess you're refering to two machines on ebay at the moment. The Arc en Ciel is an early example of what would evolve into what we now know as pinball. My knowledge of these machines is vague, so I'll leave that to someone else.
The Rowntree's Fruit Gum is an Oliver Whales allwin dating from sometime in the mid fifties, and this type of machine would have been popular in arcades right through the 1960s. The vendor dates it as c1940, which is incorrect. Caution is required with some descriptions of machines on ebay, which can range from slightly inaccurate to damn right wrong! In fairness, (with the exception of the date) the vendor has not misrepresented this particular machine, and has added a note that he believes it to be original. As for as I can see from the pictures, it would appear to be entirely original, and in quite good condition.
Hope this has helped
Jerry
I guess you're refering to two machines on ebay at the moment. The Arc en Ciel is an early example of what would evolve into what we now know as pinball. My knowledge of these machines is vague, so I'll leave that to someone else.
The Rowntree's Fruit Gum is an Oliver Whales allwin dating from sometime in the mid fifties, and this type of machine would have been popular in arcades right through the 1960s. The vendor dates it as c1940, which is incorrect. Caution is required with some descriptions of machines on ebay, which can range from slightly inaccurate to damn right wrong! In fairness, (with the exception of the date) the vendor has not misrepresented this particular machine, and has added a note that he believes it to be original. As for as I can see from the pictures, it would appear to be entirely original, and in quite good condition.
Hope this has helped
Jerry
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Arc en Ciel (arc in the sky) is a version of the 1932 Rainbo pintable by Keeney and Sons of Chicago, probably made the same year, possibly by (or under licence to) Keeney for the French market.
The bold, colourful playfield with it's simple layout and the absence of integral legs is typical of a "first generation" pinball. By 1933 legs were standard and playfield features were becoming more sophisticated.
It's much earlier than the Rowntree's Fruit Gum, arguably more interesting and rarer (although made in far greater numbers originally) but would normally sell for rather less. Collectors tend to prefer payout or prize-giving games that don't take so much floor space.
The bold, colourful playfield with it's simple layout and the absence of integral legs is typical of a "first generation" pinball. By 1933 legs were standard and playfield features were becoming more sophisticated.
It's much earlier than the Rowntree's Fruit Gum, arguably more interesting and rarer (although made in far greater numbers originally) but would normally sell for rather less. Collectors tend to prefer payout or prize-giving games that don't take so much floor space.
Spry-Ball pinball
Topic merged - Site Admin.
Hi, I came across this Spry Ball today. I would be grateful for any information on this machine. It doesn't work. Can you tell me what's missing, age? It's on 1d, Midland Components, Ltd., Coventry, Patents Pending - that's all I've got. Help
Hi, I came across this Spry Ball today. I would be grateful for any information on this machine. It doesn't work. Can you tell me what's missing, age? It's on 1d, Midland Components, Ltd., Coventry, Patents Pending - that's all I've got. Help
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Re: Spry-Ball pinball
Here's the IPDB page:
It appears to be a British clone of Keeney & Son's very popular Rainbo pinball of 1932, with exactly the same playfield layout. I used to have a different British clone of this game, which even imitated Rainbo's paintwork.Made 1933... 10 balls for 1 English penny. The game pictured here is missing its legs and a stick of wood was later attached to the cabinet bottom to provide playfield slant. The cabinet measures 32 inches long (not including the ball plunger assembly), 20 inches wide, and 14 inches high at the front end.
Re: Spry-Ball pinball
Hi
Do you have any photos of the mechanism to explain how this works?
I like building replicas and this would be a great machine to replicate for my grandchildren.
Any photos and info you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Do you have any photos of the mechanism to explain how this works?
I like building replicas and this would be a great machine to replicate for my grandchildren.
Any photos and info you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Re: Spry-Ball pinball
Strange, an identical machine was on the repair shop yesterday. You wait for ages, then two turn up.
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Re: Spry-Ball pinball
These are quite simple, the most complex bit being the ball lift mechanism. There is a nice video showing an isolated mechanism in detail here: Fun with Pinball
See Ball Lift (Requires Flash Player)
The other part is releasing all the balls upon insertion of a coin. The easiest (and usual) way to achieve this is with an Essex (or similar) coin acceptor. This device will allow the player to push the lower ball trap to the open position (against a spring) upon insertion of a suitable coin.
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Re: Spry-Ball pinball
These are the most basic of coin-operated bagatelles with countless variants and bootleg versions. They can be had rather cheaply, but also are fun things to try and build oneself, whether with nails on a board or with Lego or other construction toys.
- bryans fan
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Re: Spry-Ball pinball
I recently obtained this flyer, thanks to sweetmeats, and thought the owner of the Spry Ball would appreciate having a copy: Spry-Ball pinball flyer
- coppinpr
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Re: Spry-Ball pinball
I do like the telegrams address on the flyer "Dazzlers".
A cleverly written flyer, "yours for £5, less than one week's takings". Well yes, but only if you buy on HP, and you would still owe £12! But the best part is, "reports of takings of £7 to £8 per week". Well, that's over 1,900 games per week (274 per day if the venue is open 7 days a week). Let's say a 10 ball games takes 5 mins; that's continuous uninterrupted play for over 22 hours per day. Let's be generous and say a game only takes 3 mins. If the venue is open 11 hours per day that would mean the players would be queuing up when the place opens and forced to leave when it closed. With 10 balls per game 7 million balls would be propelled per year; the machine would be worn out before you finished the HP agreement.
A cleverly written flyer, "yours for £5, less than one week's takings". Well yes, but only if you buy on HP, and you would still owe £12! But the best part is, "reports of takings of £7 to £8 per week". Well, that's over 1,900 games per week (274 per day if the venue is open 7 days a week). Let's say a 10 ball games takes 5 mins; that's continuous uninterrupted play for over 22 hours per day. Let's be generous and say a game only takes 3 mins. If the venue is open 11 hours per day that would mean the players would be queuing up when the place opens and forced to leave when it closed. With 10 balls per game 7 million balls would be propelled per year; the machine would be worn out before you finished the HP agreement.
Re: Spry-Ball pinball
sloty wrote:Strange, an identical machine was on the repair shop yesterday, you wait for ages, then two turn up.
A few pics of the Spry-Ball pin ball that was shown again recently, nice little machine, the owner said it had been in her family since the late 1930s and it came from Brighton Pier. I did notice an 'F J' stencilled out of the wood internally, and wondered if this had anything to do with the manufacturer - pics are not good quality as they were screen shots from the TV
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