1974 Bally's Nip-It Pinball Machine

This pinball machine was given to me by my Uncle who has had it since the late 1970's. As a child I would visit him and play it, I always thought it would be great to own it someday. To my surprise he offered it to me about a year or so ago. This is the same game which appeared on the TV show "Happy Days". It was the pinball machine in Al's Diner. This isn't THE ACTUAL machine from the show, but the same model.

For anyone who thinks it would be great to own an "old fashioned" pinball machine, heed my warnings. Owning one of these beasts is a labor of love. You'll love owning it, and you'll hate maintaining it.

There are about 2 million moving parts inside one of these machines. There about about 1 million little electrical contacts. If one of those contacts gets dirty things stop working! You must clean these often. The best course of action is to play the machine frequently. This will keep the dust and dirt off the contacts.

I'm having a problem with however. Maybe someone out there can help me figure it out? When the 10 point stepper trips, one of the relays in the back stays shut. It's supposed to shut and open to cause the 10 point chime to trigger. But it sticks closed and then the 10 point chime doesn't activate any more. It makes a loud buzzing noise as well then. The buzz comes from the solenoid for the 10 point chime. Any suggestions?

Anyway, it's a great game, there's a lot going on. The ball-o-gator has a second flipper button on the right side. Use this to grab the ball as it passes by. This sucks the ball down the side of the machine and you get 1000 points.

Also, you can trigger a switch which closes the flippers and prevents the ball from going down the middle. This is great because then you can only lose your turn if it goes down the side.

There is also a trigger which will open a gate on the right side. If the ball goes through the gate it ends up back on the plunger so it's like getting a free ball.

Finally, there is a dimple in on the play field which will capture the ball and spit out a second one in at the plunger. As you play your second ball, if you hit the right spot on the play field it will release the first ball. Now you have 2 balls going at the same time! Now the points can add up.

It's a lot of fun to play. I have mine set for free credits, but you could easily set it to accept quarters. Mine has a plaque on it for 10Fr not 25 cents, it came from Europe. But the coin mechanism is for quarters.

If you decide to get an old pinball machine like this remember it's a lot of work to keep them up and running. There are a ton of web sites out there for support and parts. Since you're not dealing with integrated circuits or even transistors, it's pretty easy to fix (if you know what you're doing).

If you're looking for any pinball machine, you should consider getting a brand new one or one that is only a couple of years old.  Also consider getting an extended warranty or service contract on it.

Good luck Pinball Wizard, play that silver ball! My high score! 109,000 I didn't get a photo of it before I reset it   :(