- credit
- Don Hooker — Design
- gameplay_feature
- Trap Holes ×25
- ipdb.corporate_entity_name
- Bally Manufacturing Corporation
- ipdb_id
- 3403
- ipdb.image_urls
- ["https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-1.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-2.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-3.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-4.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-5.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-A5.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-6.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-7.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-8.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-9.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-A9.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3403/image-10.png"]
- ipdb.manufacturer_trade_name
- Bally
- ipdb.model_number
- 1159
- ipdb.notable_features
- Trap holes (25), Two Cards, Red-letter game
Player can press buttons to rearrange numbers on card in backglass if these features are purchased:
� Press buttons before shooting 4th ball.
� Press buttons before shooting 5th ball.
- ipdb.notes
- We previously showed an incorrect model number of 1151 for this listing. We previously showed a date of 1979 for this listing.
The general knowledge of the production run of Miss America Deluxe that has survived the years seems rife with errors or confusion. The understanding had been that there were two production runs of this game, one identified as "1977" and one initially identified as "1979, Model 1151", the latter being likely because Bally had issued a manual for this game with "GAME 1551" printed on its cover and with copyright 1979. As a result, historical bingo machine resources, including our website, may currently carry two dates for this game, reflecting two production runs of approximately two years apart.
However, neither a 1977 or 1979 production start date are supported by credible Bally documentation available to us. Bally's "Numerical List of Machines" supports only one Miss America Deluxe, model number 1159 issued 7-19-78. This List indicates model number 1151 was assigned to a 4-reel progressive slot machine "M.G.W. (Vegas)" released 4-13-78. Why Bally printed model "GAME 1151" on their Miss American Deluxe bingo manual appears to be a mystery if not just a mistake. The only schematic diagram we have found for Miss America Deluxe is marked "#1159" with a schematic part number of "W-826-69d" and is typically undated. Online searches for New Game Announcements in Cash Box and Billboard during 1977-1979 produce only one ad (Cash Box, Nov-24-1979 page 44) in the For Sale classifieds from an operator.
The understanding of two production runs was supported by a belief that only games from a second run each had a hyphenated calendar date stamped on the cabinet, directly below the stamped serial number, and that games from a first 1977 run had no stamped dates under their serial numbers. However, we have not yet encountered any verifiable cabinet images for Miss America Deluxe showing a dateless serial number, which could help support the belief of an earlier run prior to 7-19-78, while the cabinet photographs that we did find always have dates and, when they can be clearly read, were always dated in 1979. Nicely, we have since located a photograph associating serial number 'MAD 1521' with a date 12-11-78 which corroborates the pre-1979 date from Bally's List.
One unexplained difference we have noticed across the many backglass images is the color of the plastic frame surrounding the 4-digit replay display. Some are white and some are black. We don't yet have enough reported examples to associate the color of this frame with a dated (or dateless) cabinet to investigate if the color was random throughout the run or could be indicative of a production change. The two game pictures in Bally's 1979 manual each show a black frame.
Bingo documentarian Danny Leach reports the existence of an apparent backglass variation. The image, unfortunately, is low resolution and the only difference that we think we can visually confirm is that the rectangular box near the lady in the blue dress and which contains the words 'Red Letter Game' does not have dark borders separating those words from the rest of the text inside that box.
We recognize that mistakes in documentation can be anywhere such that surprises may still be in store. Additionally, there very well could be a schematic for this game with a different model number than the one we already have. We invite anyone who has access to a Miss America Deluxe to send us high-resolution photographs of the game so that we can collect empirical data to see where it brings us in this research. We request the following high-resolution pictures from you:
1) Full backglass picture avoiding camera flash or other reflections.
2) Focused close-up of the backglass replay window to show if the plastic frame around the reels is white or black, if this is not unambiguously apparent in your full backglass picture.
3) Focused close-up of the backbox serial number to include enough surrounding area to verify the presence or absence of a stamped date.
4) Focused close-up of the lower cabinet serial number to include enough surrounding area to verify the presence or absence of a stamped date.
5) A scan or photo of your manual's cover page.
6) A scan or photo of your schematic diagram's model number.
7) Indicate whether or not your manual and/or schematic accompanied your game when you first got it. We recognize that copies may have been procured from third-party sources at any time since date of manufacture.
8) The geographic location of the game when you photographed it. Bally's List indicates this Model 1159 was exported to Belgium.
Our earlier "1977" listing is Bally's 1977 'Miss America Deluxe'. We leave game images in each listing for now.
- month
- 7
- player_count
- 1
- technology_generation
- electromechanical
- year
- 1978