|
Who fixes my machines when I can't
Great Pinball Links
|
Bally Little JoeAfter researching flyers on the web and sending emails to collectors who had one in their collection, I thought this would be a great pin to own. I was not let down as the Little Joe has turned out to be my favorite acquisition. But acquiring one was harder than making the decision to look for one. I first found two mint flyers for sale on E-bay and had them framed and on the wall next to the Sea Ray and Grand Prix when those were our only two machines. After vigilantly watching E-bay and the Mr. Pinball Classifieds, I finally found a Joe in New Jersey for $100. It was without legs and a chime unit, the cabinet was pretty scuffed up and worst of all, the backglass was cracked clean through from top to bottom. I got a quote for shipping which turned out to be prohibitive ($300 for a $100 item) so I shelved the idea and placed an add for a Joe on Mr. Pinball. After seeing a really nice one in Seattle and letting it go for the same reason, I got an email from Bob Bartlett in Alexandria, Kentucky. He had one that he would sell me for $250 but it had a cracked backglass. Wouldn't you know it? It was the one from New Jersey that he had picked up on one of his pinball roundup trips. I drove down to Kentucky in late May 2003 and brought it back in my Subaru Outback (which many people still can not believe). To date, I have yet to see another one in my area in decent condition.
Other than the crack that you can see, the backglass of the machine is in very good condition without any of the usual fading that plagues Little Joes. The playfield is in very good shape with only a bit of wear around the bumpers. The cabinet was pretty scuffed and scratched however. Nonetheless, with it placed in the corner you never see the sides and thus I don't mind it since the pin plays great. The apron was a bit rusty and I got a used one from a Nip-it in Nova Scotia off of E-bay to replace it (with a French label for 25cents for "une partie"). I also replaced the faded bumper caps to spruce it up a bit and was able to find another owner who sold me the instruction card pack which it had been missing. The ball shooter assembly has also given us some troubles and I've tried finagling with different combinations of plungers but still don't have it quite right. It's also missing the ball rail in the upper playfield, which doesn't affect play at all since the rubber ring does the same job as the rail. It will get a full shopping this coming summer. We have it set up to award free balls at 45,000, 68,000 and 80,000 points.
Strategy I never thought a game without advanced bonus could be so much fun, but the Joe definitely is a blast. Skill shots abound, even on the initial plunger shot. Points are scored depending upon the total of the yellow and white dice that are lit at any time in the game. White dice (although they are in the red area) are lit by passing through the associated rollover switch on the initial shot at the top of the playfield. Yellow dice (of course they're in the blue area) alternate 1 to 6 by hitting one of the three mushroom bumpers. Any combination totaling 4 will light the free ball target or award a free ball when passing through the upper playfield scoring gate. Any combination of 7 or 11 will award 5000 points at the scoring gate or light the kickout hole for 5000 (instead of the normal 3000). Any combination totaling 8 will open the lower ball save gate (which stays open for the duration of the ball in play). Any combination totaling 6 will open the upper gate for 3000 points and a return to the shooter alley. Although a play-more post adds to the features, there's not much more to it! The game strategy is very simple. Keep the ball in play after making an initial plunger shot that gets you either 5000 points or a free ball coming through the scoring gate. In doing so, make sure you do it with a 1,2 or 3 lit white die so that an in-play combination of 4 will be possible and you'll have a chance to light and hit the free ball target. Three of the hardest skill shots in pinball await you on the playfield when trying to shoot for the free ball target, the upper gate or the scoring kickout hole. Game Rating I took a risk on this game and was rewarded big time. Probably the fastest game we own, but if you play it right, the ball in play can last seemingly forever. My dad says that he feels as if he's been in a war after he plays it. A real champion effort by Bally for a not so well known pin. Give it a full 10 out of 10. And that's with the crack!!!
| ||||||
 | |
| Me under the Joe after a repair expedition. | |