Back On Beam (Italy)

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  1. By IPDB
    gameplay_feature
    Kick-Out Holes
    gameplay_feature
    Standup Targets ×4
    gameplay_feature
    Pop Bumpers ×4
    gameplay_feature
    Flippers ×2
    ipdb.corporate_entity_name
    Bally Manufacturing Corporation
    ipdb_id
    6753
    ipdb.image_urls
    ["https://www.ipdb.org/images/6753/image-1.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/6753/image-2.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/6753/image-3.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/6753/image-4.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/6753/image-5.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/6753/image-1.png"]
    ipdb.manufacturer_trade_name
    Bally
    ipdb.notable_features
    Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (4), Standup targets (4), Outlane detour gates (2), Kick-out hole (1). Backglass light animation shows space station and space ship traveling on any of 4 Beams. Getting space ship to dock with space station on same Beam awards points and lights center target for Special. The playfield Beam-O-Meter allows player to track this progress without watching backglass. Extra balls are kicked up into play from the outhole. The left and right outlanes each have a unique gate to block the ball from draining by diverting it towards the inlane.
    ipdb.notes
    The replay version of this game is Bally's 1969 'On Beam'. Federico Croci, a collector in Italy, owns the game pictured here but it is in storage so we are unable to show backglass and backbox pictures, or show close-up pictures of these gate mechanisms to clarify if/that they were factory-installed. He reports the game has no credit unit or credit window in the backglass. This game, serial number 2012, is one of only two 'On Beam' games that Federico had ever found in Italy. The other game (not pictured here and unseen by him) is reported to also have the outlane gates. Pictured here is an ad from an Automat magazine. Federico tell us about it:Looking at some old "Automat" magazines, I found the June/July 1970 issue with a back cover ad of "On Beam" different from the usual Bally flyer. This one has a photo of the original (credit) game, but also italian text. And it mention some interesting things. I circled with yellow the italian text different from the flyer (the other text it's the same as on the original flyer). From the top: "Attention - an important message for the route operators" "Finally, BALLY mfg Corp. from Chicago approved the second series of their Bally "ON BEAM", operating without the free replays in compliance with the new law, but without reducing the attraction and fun of the game" The two bottom notes are especially interesting: "NEW: all mushroom bumpers replaced by standing targets" "BRAND NEW: special now closes the gates" Unfortunately, I never found an italian schematic for "On Beam", It would be interesting to check it... This Automat ad could suggest that Bally's switch from mushroom targets to standup targets was possibly a non-contiguous second production run. However, the "Later Production" serial numbers that we have for the "standup targets" version are numerically in line with the "mushroom bumpers" version to indicate a continuous production run. We know that the majority of 'On Beam' games identified to us as having standup targets were made as replay games and, as far as we know, did not have the outlane gates. It appears that these add-a-ball games found in Italy and with the outlane gates came exclusively from this "second series".
    month
    8
    player_count
    1
    technology_generation
    electromechanical
    theme
    Outer Space
    year
    1969