What am I missing?

[sharmoni]

Hi all! I've been getting a lot of good info from the archived threads, but I thought it might be quicker to just ask this question.

I'm a new pachinko owner and due to lack of space I'm buying only one from each major developmental stage in pachinko design evolution. I've got an antique early pre-Masamura Gauge 40s single shot, a 50s Nishijin single shot, a 60s Sankyo semiautomatic, a 90s Maruhon hanemono, and 2006 Julie deji-pachi.

It seems to me that other than a kenrimono "rights" machine (which seem to be rare—please let me know if anyone hears of one for sale) the only other major stage in pachinko design was the hikoki which I think is what my hanemono machine has. From what I've read hikoki is the innovation of a large center jackpot area with wings that flip open (and maybe also the addition of the 1-2-1 pockets at the bottom).

Is there some major developmental stage I'm missing? I read about Eddie's ArePachi, but I'm looking for mainstream developments not sidestream like MahJong pachinkos.

Any information would be appreciated. And thanks to all of you who have already answered some of my private messages.

[Rik1138]

It seems to me that other than a kenrimono "rights" machine (which seem to be rare—please let me know if anyone hears of one for sale)

How can you tell if a machine is a kenrimono or not? Can any modern machine be one with the right software, or are there specific models that are always kenrimono?

Or is this one of the secrets only a true Japanese pachinko master can tell you?

[sharmoni]

Here's what I read about kenrimono pachinkos on: Pachinko in Japan - Kenrimono Pachinko

The kenrimono pachinko machines are for heavy players that want to win bigger prizes than offered by Deji Pachi Pachinko or Hanemono Pachinko machines. In a normal pachinko hall you would always find many Kenrimono pachinko devices and sometimes you would even have to wait to play one of them since they are so popular.

Kenrimono machines are for heavy Japanese gamblers. The name is a position to assured "rights" which build up during the session of playing the game. Victory on a kenrimono machine demands a detailed knowledge of "rights" from pachinko players and how to take use of these rights.

In a kenrimono machine the player has 1/300 chance to win; on the other hand, a single win will boost a pachinko player's chance to win by ten times to 1/30. A kenrimono machines can earn between 700 and 7,000 pachinko balls. After the first win all balls are to be targeted to a certain slot in the board. If a player succeeds to insert a ball to it he gains more "rights" and his final jackpot increases.

And Diddy has an example of one of his kenri pachinkos (with close-up photos) here: Newgin Festival.
In his description he writes: "...balls must be shot in several pockets in different areas of the playfield for bonus rounds to continue."

Diddy also has a good description of hanemono machines on this web page: Diddy's Hanemono Room. I bought one of his that he was selling. If you like hanemonos, this one he has for sale is the coolest (though he overpriced it because he's reluctant to let it go): Amazing Heaven Hell Nishijin Pachinko Pinball Machine - eBay (item 220136731153 end time Feb-28-08 21:38:43 PST). There are also more pictures of it here: Nishijin Heaven Bridge

[compirate]

Actually, I wrote that, he just gave me the pics and wanted a place on the web to put them so I gave him some space.

[sharmoni]

Oh, good to know. I got pretty confused over who was who on your site, and Diddy didn't really clear that up when we talked. I love your introduction page.