Ballyround

The Ballyround, manufactured by Bally Manufacturing Corporation in April 1932, holds a special place in pinball history as one of Bally's earliest games. This Pure Mechanical (PM) countertop machine was designed by Bally founder Raymond T. Moloney. Players could choose to play 5 or 7 balls for just 1 cent, or 10 balls for 5 cents. Advertised as 24 1/2 inches square and 8 1/4 inches high with a solid walnut frame, the game could be purchased with a metal stand or wooden legs.

The Ballyround's most distinctive feature was its saucer-shaped playfield, paired with a matching saucer-shaped shutter panel underneath that rotated on a central axis to release trapped balls when a new coin was deposited. Unfortunately, the mechanism proved troublesome: Bally Vice President Herb Jones later recalled that the rotating shutter's alignment was erratic and balls would get stuck. As a result, almost the entire run was returned to the factory for refund or credit, and thousands of the games were scrapped - their cabinets salvaged to build Bally's 1933 'Mike & Ike'.

One more piece of trivia: according to the Encyclopedia of Pinball, Bally originally wanted to name the game 'Scram', until they discovered another manufacturer was already marketing a game under that name. Between its founder-designed pedigree and its famously flawed mechanism, the Ballyround is a fascinating artifact from pinball's very first years.