Win the blue ribbon — Bally’s Blue Ribbon is an electromechanical four-player wrapped in a pageantry theme, celebrating the thrill of taking first prize, designed by the prolific Ted Zale. With reel scoring and a confirmed run of 875, it’s a scarce and characterful woodrail-era piece with a genuinely distinctive, bumper-heavy layout.
The layout’s calling card is an extraordinary complement of bumpers: two flippers, three pop bumpers, and a remarkable eight mushroom bumpers. That’s a sea of bumpers, and it defines the whole character of the game — all those mushroom and pop bumpers promise a wildly bouncy, unpredictable ball that ricochets and caroms across the playfield like a pinball in a pinball machine’s fever dream, demanding sharp reflexes and active nudging to keep in play. It’s the kind of gloriously kinetic, bumper-driven design that gives EM machines their signature bounce, cranked all the way up. There are no drop banks or spinners to distract — just the pure, chaotic joy of the bumpers.
Blue Ribbon is a fun example of Ted Zale’s electromechanical craft and Bally’s knack for a lively, energetic layout. That field of eight mushroom bumpers makes it a genuinely distinctive play, all bounce and chaos and vintage energy, and with a modest run of 875 it’s a scarce find for the collector who loves the bumper-bouncing heart of EM pinball. The pageantry theme adds a cheerful, prize-winning charm. For anyone who loves the joyful chaos of a bumper-heavy playfield, it’s a worthy find. Ride that wild field of bumpers, keep the ball alive, and take home the blue ribbon. Some machines are all about the joyful energy of the bounce, and this Zale classic wins first prize. Step up and drop a coin.