Manufacturer: Bally Sold: March 17, 2013 |
My descripition of Doodle Bug, which I picked up on the same day as Zip-A-Doo, pretty much describes my reason for delving for the first time into games that are almost before my time (I was 5 when this one hit the arcades), so I won't rehash that here.
Zip-A-Doo is an electromechanical machine as well--no printed circuit boards, just old-school switches, coils, and relays. Analog tech at its peak! The theme, like most of the machines of this era, is sort of nothing in particular. Back then, you didn't need a movie or TV license to sell a pinball machine. The artwork is by my favorite artist of that era of pinball, Christian Marche--I love the hippy-dippy colors and the weird, angular people! This machine is a 2-player game, and had a fairly limited run (1,083 were produced). It got some good reviews on the Internet Pinball Database so, even though I had never played it, I decided to add it to my collection.
As I mentioned in the Doodle Bug description, I found this game on Cragislist. It was a combination of the art and the price that got me interested...but I didn't bite at first. When the price dipped below $300, I had to take a look.
Unfortunately, this machine is a lot more weathered than Doodle Bug. The cabinet is faded and peeling in places, and the plywood is delaminating along the bottom edge. The playfield is pretty worn, but not super-bad. The back glass is very flaked, but is intact enough to show off the artwork. I don't like the gameplay on this one as much as I like Doodle Bug, but it grows on you after a while.
The game is working 100% (knock wood again), and that's what's most important. It might not be the show piece that Doodle Bug is, but the price was good for the pair. And I just love those bells and chimes!
