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For nostalgia fans everywhere this 1961 Bally Marksman provides a fabulous opportunity to re-live all the excitement of a shooting gallery in an old time fairground.
The Marksman shoots hard plastic balls using a ‘blower’ system, targeting motorised animal cutouts that move back and forth and fold back when hit. The power behind the gun is generated by a vacuum pump, which sucks the balls from the back of the game before bringing them into the loading mechanism at the front. In an ingenious twist the same pump then expels them using its ‘blow’ function when the gun’s trigger is pulled.
For those of us who grew up playing video games there is something pleasingly analogue about games like this. Perhaps it’s the sheer physicality of using a real gun with with real balls and targets but you just can’t beat that satisfying ‘ping’ when you connect with those pesky critters!
Fully restored at our state of the art new workshop in Weybridge and adapted to run smoothly and reliably on a UK power supply, the Marksman is a classic piece of vintage Americana that looks as good as it plays.
