Flip Flop

Pictured here is are two Early Production games as seen in the manufacturer's flyer, with green flip flags instead of red ones, the playfield wood side rails are yellow instead of red, the upper ball arch is yellow metal instead of red plastic, and the mushroom bumpers are white instead of red. One has a yellow-and-black card holder and the other has a red one. Although the flyer game has a blue Double Bonus Insert, these Early Production games have a red insert. The owner of one of the games told us this red insert later broke so he replaced it with a blue one to match the color in the flyer. On production games, this insert is green. One unusual example of this game is shown here and has green flip flags. It had white mushroom bumpers until they were replaced with yellow ones by the owner. Unlike the flyer game, the backbox is factory-mounted upside down (flip-flopped?) onto the main cabinet. There is no serial number stamped anywhere on the cabinet or backbox. Inside the backbox is a paper tag with number 6527. If that is the serial number, then it exceeds the number of games in the Production Run, as the last number in the run is expected to be 6350. However, to label this game as Later Production based on the paper tag seems incongruous with the green flags and white mushroom bumpers expected of Early Production games. J.P. Poelzer, a collector in Seattle, tells us that the Seattle Center was a test location for Bally back in the 1970s as he personally saw many Bally games put out for test play before they were actually released. Until we have more information, the fact that he obtained this unusual game from that location and that it has no serial number causes us to identify his game as a prototype. For another game with green flip flags and inverted backbox, see the low-production Bally's 1975 'Slap Stick'.