Bali Hi Pinball Machine
Mr. Bali Hai, who keeps an excellent blog called The Eye of the Goof, has long desired a pinball machine for his in-the-works home tiki bar. Through a tip, he learned of a 1973 Bally pinball machine called “Bali Hi.” The back imagery is perhaps more Thai/Asian than Polynesian, but it has a very exotic look to it, and clearly this was the pinball machine for Mr. Bali Hai. It’s a rare machine — only 80 were produced — but amazingly Mr. Bali Hai was able to track one down in excellent condition. He’ll be making a 1,400 mile round trip journey to Cleveland, Ohio bring this beautiful beast to its new home in Western Wisconsin. A fellow named Wolfgang, from Hamburg, Germany, was inspired by Mr. Bali Hai’s pinball find to create some artwork send him a pic of a piece he’d created a few years ago for a fictional tiki pinball game with a similar graphic design.
- Tiki Pinball Serendipity [Eye of the Goof]
- A present for Mr. Bali Hai [Paintings by Wolf]
September 27th, 2005 at 11:39 am
As it turns out, Wolf created that image a few years ago, not specifically for me. I’m devastated, of course…;-)
Thanks!
September 27th, 2005 at 11:44 am
Nooooo! Well, it’s uncanny how finely his image and the Bali Hi image work together.
September 27th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
That angular backglass artwork is typical of Bally pins from the 60s and 70s. Jerry Kelley and Ted Zale are some of the better-known artists.
September 27th, 2005 at 1:08 pm
Fantastic! Thank you for opening my eyes to a whole new style of art! There’s some great stuff there, I’m going to have a great time going through it.
January 8th, 2006 at 1:04 am
[...] Mr. Bali Hai has also recently finished his home tiki bar (though we all know a home tiki bar is never truly finished, which is part of the fun of it). Balis’ Hai’deaway is a labor of love that includes furnishings and decor from Oceanic Arts, and Mr. Bali Hai’s alcohol ephemera collection was put to good use. It also features, naturally, his Bali Hi pinball machine. [...]