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#57 Silverball Mania - The Classic Pinball Podcast

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago43 min listenBy George
From the creator

The guys discuss and play Bally Silverball Mania.

Listen on The Classic Pinball Podcast

Highlights

  • Silverball Mania and Space Invaders are sister games, both from 1980 (Mania first, Space Invaders two months later in April)
  • There is no commercial playfield protector made for Silverball Mania despite it being a high-production-run game (~10,000 units)
  • The game originally shipped with thin metal posts flanking the middle horseshoe loop, which operators later swapped for thicker red plastic posts to increase difficulty and reduce easy specials
  • Keith Elwin scored approximately 500,000 points in a tournament final at Fox Cities Pinball / District 82, while other three players (Raymond Davidson, Andy Bagwell, Colin MacAlpine) scored under 100,000 each
  • Silverball Mania's primary strategy revolves around hitting the horseshoe target, which advances multiplier, adds letters, and activates a kicker between the flippers
  • 1980 was a weak year for Bally releases; 1979 and 1981 were strong years for the company
  • Eric Stone recently became #1 ranked player (IFPA/WPPR), and hosts sometimes reference 'The Weatherman' as his nickname
  • To spell SILVERBALL on the back glass and win progressive jackpot, player must spell 'SILVERBALL MANIA' on the playfield three separate times
  • District 82 (Fox Cities Pinball) operates ~120 games in a mixed classic/modern venue; uses tournament format with tight balls and strong flippers, but does not juice spinners
  • Dave completely rebuilt the Silverball Mania unit with new Bally MPU board, modern bridge rectifiers, 5V upgrades, warm retro LED lighting (except back glass), and new connectors

Notable quotes

“This title is usually worn out... 10,000 units, it's not a, you know, it's a well-represented game, I guess. Yeah, I'm really surprised. So, we're not going to go with that.”
Dave
“I have to be honest with the audience that this is not one of my favorite Bally games... I'm not even convinced it's a cool looking game”
George
“If you take away the horseshoe what else is there... it's a one-trick pony”
George
“They didn't have it turned off for this tournament. So, obviously, it was. So, if they could have, they would have.”
George
“Spinners are meant to spin, damn it.”
George
“Space Invaders with Silverball Mania artwork. That would be a good game.”
George
“We need to get Eric back on. Well, that's your... I'll get him. Mr. Non-Technical, we've got to find somebody who will host Zoom.”
George (then Dave)
“You know what? I actually made a video years ago with Paragon... I said, I made a parody video. It's like, you know, I'm just going to take this ramp and put it into the inline drop target lane...”
Dave
“For 1980 Bally's, for me, for keepers, it would be Rolling Stones, Skateball, and Xenon. That's about it for me out of all those.”
George
“177 to 93, I took George down. Yeah, no surprise. Everybody's used to me not doing well.”
Dave (re George)

Entities

  • Bally· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • The Classic Pinball Podcast· content|organization
  • Fox Cities Pinball· event|venue
  • Rolling Stones· game
  • Silverball Mania· game
  • Skateball· game
  • Space Invaders· game
  • Xenon· game
  • Internet Pinball Database· organization
  • Andy Bagwell· person
  • Colin MacAlpine· person
  • Dave· person
  • Eric Stone· person
  • George· person
  • Jim Patlow· person
  • Keith Elwin· person
  • Kevin O'Connor· person
  • Maureen· person
  • Raymond Davidson· person
  • Tom Graff· person
  • District 82· venue
  • Fun Spot· venue

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