In 1932, the Bally Manufacturing Corporation was founded by Raymond Moloney of Lion manufacturing in Chicago, Illinois. It transpired when Bally's original parent company, Lion Manufacturing, established the company to make pinball games. The company took its name from their first game, Ballyhoo. The company quickly became a leading maker of the pinball games. In the late 1930s, Moloney began making gambling equipment, and had great success developing and improving the mechanical slot machines that were the core of the nascent gaming industry. After manufacturing airplane parts during World War II, Bally Manufacturing Corporation continued to produce innovations in flipper less pinball machines, arcade amusement games, bingo machines, payout machines and console slot machines through the late 1950s. The 1938 Bally Bambino, developed and named after the iconic Babe Ruth and the 1940 Bally Torpedo are my favorites. Bally was bought out by a group of investors in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, Bally continued to dominate the slot machine industry, cornering over 90% of the worldwide market by the end of the decade. Bally became a publicly traded company and expanded with many acquisitions, including Midway Manufacturing, an amusement game company from Chicago, Illinois. Later Bally Manufacturing successfully expanded their business into video games, casinos, health clubs and theme parks.
Bally Manufacturing Co. released 868 machines. (1932 - 2011) - Below are some examples from The Torrence Collection.
1930S BALLY MFG. RANGER
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Absolutely one of the rarest early gun games ever made. 100% original, including gun stand and in perfect working order. Insert a nickel, the internal light turns on and the jungle themed target wheel begins to spin. The player uses a pistol mounted on the front of the game and shoots steel projected balls at the targets. If a player scores between 900 - 1500 points, they are awarded a payout of free games.
1934 BALLY MFG. SIGNAL
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Rare pre-war flipperless pinball. Has mechanical cast signals on the playfield. Has an electric bell. Bally Signal's object is to shoot balls into the Score Runways. This will advance when another ball falls into the Signal hole. Uses four 6-volt batteries. Beautiful condition!
1938 BALLY MFG. BAMBINO
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Extremely rare! Proudly named after the iconic Babe Ruth, AKA "The Bambino." Plays on a nickel and is such a beautiful game, with an awesome painting of Babe Ruth on the playfield. A flipper less electromechanical wood rail pinball, with two captive side kickers and spring bumpers. Perhaps the nicest example in existence.
1939 BALLY MFG. ALLEY
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Rare, entertaining and an art deco bowling themed game. A motor spins the ball at a very high speed and is released by the player using a thumb switch. There are three holes in the ball at the front of the cabinet that you put your fingers into, like a bowling ball. Inside the thumb hole is a button that when pressed starts a motor that spins a steel bowling ball. The 4-way swivel action of this control allows the player to aim and put "English" on the ball. As the ball hits the alley, it is spinning so fast it picks up and shoots down the alley. Pins disappear to the right and left under side curtains.
1940 BALLY MFG. TORPEDO
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This is one of most historically relevant, unparalleled and unique arcade antique in existence. Advanced collectors worldwide swear it does not exist. There are no photos of it on the internet, in a publication or in a collection. The only documentation of its existence is an early 1940s Atlas Novelty Co. advertising flyer with The Bally Torpedo listed for $189.50. The 1940 Bally Torpedo is played like this, you insert a nickel, and the game automatically begins as a WW2 U-Boat surfaces and dives across the back of the game, you fire a machine gun stream of steel balls over WW2 themed glass attempting to hit as many targets as possible before the U-Boat submerges. Here is where the historical element comes into play. The 1940 Bally Torpedo has three targets on the U-Boat, one target is the face of Nazi Germany Dictator Hitler, the second target is Italy's Dictator Mussolini and the third is Japan's Emperor Hirohito.
1941 BALLY MFG. FAIRMONT
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1941 Bally Fairmont with the electric motor-driven Schnabel Coinmaster coin entry. Gorgeous Horse racing art deco themed electromechanical pinball with hidden gambling payout. This machine has two payout cups with a coin dispenser for each. Complete with matching stand.
1946 BALLY MFG. UNDERSEA RAIDER
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Very rare. View the enemy ships through the rotating periscope, then fire the torpedo. Track the target after firing and a direct hit flashes a red light, sinks the enemy ship and rings a bell. 25 torpedoes shots per game. Perhaps the finest example of a 1946 Bally Undersea Raider in existence. Vintage WW2 themed submarine game!
1949 BALLY MFG. HOT RODS
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Awesome hot rod vintage woodrail pinball with original car racing themed painted cabinet. Plays on a nickel. Several coins can be inserted before shooting the first ball. The player turns the knob on front of cabinet to select a car before inserting each coin. Balls landing in any selected lane at bottom of the playfield score the number of free replays shown on back glass. One ball scoring three replays and all five balls landing in the same selection scores forty replays. Fantastic vintage car racing themed pinball, automobilia and Americana piece.
1956 BALLY MFG. DOUBLE HEADER
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Interesting bingo game. 5 balls for 5 cents. 25 trap holes. Two game cards but with different features and payouts. Player can play either game or both simultaneously. Game 1 is one card, and all numbers are fixed. Game 2 is one card with Magic Squares.
1961 BALLY MFG. MARKSMAN
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Beautifully restored by Jon. Another favorite game, everyone loves to play the projectile shooting games. Fantastic 1960's art deco shooting gallery. Insert a dime and the player aims and shoots herd plastic balls. The balls are shot out with a lot of force using a blower system. The goal is to hit different targets (fox, rabbits, and crows) that move back and forth and fold back when hit.
1971 BALLY MFG. ROAD RUNNER
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The Bally Road Runner uses a black light and reflective mirroring to give the illusion of a 3D hologram to place the player in a field of miniature race cars. You change lanes as other cars pass by mounted on belts. If during the race you make contact with another car, you crash and the three-dimensional hologram car flips into the air. The point of the game is to score points by dodging the other cars. The other cars are real miniature hot wheel size cars running on a belt system. Restored by Jon to museum quality.
1972 BALLY MFG. HILL CLIMB
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The Bally Hill Climb has a three-wheeler motorcycle with an actual working motor, complete with chain drive. Twist the handlebar throttle and the motorcycle's motor spins, which in turn cause the drum mounted hill scenery to advance towards the player. Add too much throttle and power the motorcycle pops a wheelie resulting in lost time and points. Jon restored this to museum quality.
