Hi-Fi

The Hi-Fi, designed by Don Hooker and manufactured by the Bally Manufacturing Corporation as model number 559, is a rare gem among electro-mechanical bingo machines. Carrying a music and singing theme, this single-player game is a bingo-style shaker ball machine rather than a conventional flipper game, and it features one regular bingo card plus two smaller Super Cards on its backglass.

The Hi-Fi's standout innovation is its bump feature: a button on each side of the cabinet, where flipper buttons would normally sit, lets the player physically "bump" the playfield up to ten times per game. The action jolts the playfield away from the player along guide rails inside the cabinet, allowing a playfield post to knock a rolling ball back upfield; hidden springs at the top edge act as rebounds, and a delay in the tilt circuit prevents tilting during a bump. According to IPDB, Hi-Fi is the only bingo machine known to have this feature. The playfield itself offers 25 trap holes and two rollover buttons.

A small production quirk: the game on the manufacturer's flyer lacks the two metal "Bump Button Plates" seen on the lockdown bars of production games, plates evidently added to alert players who would not expect side buttons on a bingo machine. Its one-of-a-kind mechanism makes the Hi-Fi a true treasure for those seeking an unusual piece of coin-op history.