Random Thoughts & Pictures
There are several reasons why I was interested in owning a Dolly Parton. Drop targets are my favorite playfield feature and I long wanted to add an in-line drop target bank to my collection. But there were other competing factors. I wasn't necessarily interested in having a wide-body or in-line flippers. That left out games like Paragon, Globetrotters, Future Spa and Hotdoggin'. Frontier or Viking would have been cool, but those games aren't always easy to come by. On the other hand, Dolly Parton is a mediocre game that had a moderately high production run. The title isn't too hard to find or expensive to buy. Moreover, the in-line targets on Dolly Parton are favorably positioned. Many of the other games position the targets high and far off center, which is a bit much for my meager skills.
The idea of owning a Dolly Parton took on a new level of excitement in early 2009 when Classic Playfield Reproductions began talk of their "Lost Vegas" conversion kit. I love these old Bally games. Owning one with a brand new theme including shiny new parts with modern rules and sound... that just kicks too much ass to ignore.
Around August of 2009 I saw an ad on RGP for the Dolly Parton that I eventually ended up buying. I waffled over the game for about a month because its condition was in something of a gray area. On one hand the playfield looked like it might be too nice to sacrifice for a Lost Vegas. On the other hand, the cabinet was pretty beat-up and wasn't going to make a very attractive gameroom addition.
Then I got the idea that maybe I'd like to own a beater game that I could drag around with me to pinball shows. I've enjoyed pinball shows for years, but they wouldn't be much fun if no one brought games to play. Maybe it was time for me to step-up and bring a game too. This Dolly Parton seemed like a good choice since the game was solid and attractive except for the ugly cabinet. Dolly Parton is also pretty simple and should hold up well on the show floor.
What will become of this Dolly Parton? Will I keep it as my show game? Will I restore the cabinet? Will I convert it to a Lost Vegas? Stay tuned...
As noted above, the playfield is in pretty nice shape and protected by Mylar from top to bottom. The only wear is around the drop targets where the Mylar does not extend. There's also a slight dimple in front of the left slingshot where some knucklehead used the wrong length screw from underneath. The plastics all look good except for a little warping in the top corners. The plastics on either side of the spinner appear chipped. But having looked at some other games, these plastics were factory trimmed for better spinner clearance. The mirrored backglass looks pretty good too. There are a few marks around the edges. And there's a hint of lifting near the bottom of Dolly's gown, but nothing readily noticeable. The boards and wiring look all original and un-hacked. The CPU battery is missing, which is probably good. The cabinet is solid, but a cosmetic disaster. The paint is all around worn, faded, scratched and poorly touched up. The front features a pair of empty lockdown holes and a homebrew credit button. Credit buttons piss me off. How hard is it to add credits the right way? Also, there's a sort of bronze colored splatter effect between the base white and stenciling. But to me it looks more like dirt. In fact, when I first saw this game I assumed it had been hit by an exploding can of beer. Ehh... Maybe it looked better when it was new.
It's always fun to discover some bit of back story about a particular game. The second to last owner of this game found my web page and sent me an email. He told me the original backglass was flaking and the head had been painted white. But he found a much better glass including a better empty head. These are the parts you see here. Neat! The serial number of the head is EDP 5284. Most of the rest of the game is EDP 4707.
The front features lockdown holes and a homebrew credit button. Grrrr!
The apron had a B&B Amusement Co. decal. Was this an operator or a retailer? An Internet search reveals no such company.
Decal removed. This game spent some time in the sun.
As for playability, most of the fun is had with the in-line drop target bank. The spinner is also a satisfying shot and makes a cool sound effect when given a good whack. Landing in the kickout saucer plays a tune. If you use your imagination, you'll hear the first few notes of Dolly's hit "Here You Come Again". Most of the stationary targets are blocked by the bumpers so this game has a higher than usual luck to skill ratio.
I'm indifferent to the game's theme, but it does enjoy a Dave Christensen art package. Apparently Dolly Parton or Dolly Parton's management approved the country-themed playfield, but then insisted on a more contemporary theme for the backglass. So the game has kind of a haphazard appearance about it.
Here's how the backglass might have appeared. This version would have looked better with the production playfield.
Shown above is the four page promotional flyer for Dolly Parton (I hope she fired her wardrobe people). Click for larger picture.
Shown below is an image of what appears to be a Dolly Parton promo plastic key fob. I don't recall ever seeing a color image. I don't recall ever seeing one for sale. There was also a promotional 45 rpm record for this game. Again, I've never had an up-close look at this record. One might think that the record would play "Here You Come Again" since that's the tune used on the game. But apparently the record plays "Great Balls of Fire" and "Sweet Summer Lovin'". The RCA catalog number is PB-11705. Both the record and promo plastic are quite rare.
Dolly Parton promo plastic.
45 record sleeve (same picture used in the game flyer).
Going to Shows
As noted above, I bought this game with the idea of taking it to pinball shows...
First up was the 2009 White Rose Gameroom Show in York, PA. The game was there all day Friday and racked up 201 plays with no breakdowns or mishaps.
Dolly at the first annual Allentown Pinfest show in November 2009. The game received 277 plays over Friday and Saturday with a 3 ball high score of 943,290 - Wow!
2010 Pinball Wizards Convention, Allentown, PA The game received 328 plays over Friday and Saturday with a 3 ball high score of 890,520.
2010 Allentown Pinfest, November 13th. I was only there Friday night and turnout seemed a bit thin. Dolly received a measly 45 plays. 3-ball high score was 598,090.
2011 White Rose Gameroom Show in York, PA. 278 plays over Friday and Saturday. 633,840 high score.