Stern · 2015
Light the four colored pop bumpers, then shoot the target whose 200-point lamp is on. The unusually short flippers make ball control difficult.
Learn the controls →What you are trying to do
At the upper left are four narrow red and green lanes. Roll the ball through a lane whose light is off. That turns on the round pop bumper and the flat star-shaped buttons of the same color. Those parts then score 10 whenever the ball touches them.
Three separate shots can be worth 200: the left bullseye target, the turkey saucer, and the right bullseye target. Look for the one glowing 200 lamp, then shoot the part next to that lamp.
The unusual part of this machine
Whoa Nellie’s short flippers work with the two rubber-covered posts below their inner tips. Players specifically recommend using those posts for saves. Watch where a returning ball will meet the lower playfield: a ball outside a tip may still rebound from a post.
Based on Whoa Nellie player advice and the VPX 2.1.4 discussion.
Hellen
“Another sunny day on the farm!”
Do not confuse the bumpers and targets
Each lane turns on the pop bumper and flat star buttons of the same color. The ball completes a lane by rolling over the flat button inside it.
How to reach them: A launch can fall through them. During play, shoot an open outside path from the opposite flipper to send the ball around the edge and back to the top.
These are the four large round red and green objects. You do not aim for their centers. Each bumper fires automatically when the ball touches its surrounding ring. A bumper scores 10 after you complete the upper lane of the same color.
How to reach them: Shoot an outside lane to send the ball to the top, or make the turkey saucer and let it kick the ball into this area.
The broad outer area scores 5. The small center section scores 50, or 200 when the nearby 200 lamp is on.
How to try it: Use the right flipper. Strike the ball near the middle or outer half of the bat so it travels diagonally toward the small horizontal target under the “OURS ARE BIG!” plastic.
The saucer scores 50, or 200 when its 200 lamp is on. It also adds the current values of the colored bumpers you have turned on. It then kicks the ball into the bumper area, so the same ball continues.
How to try it: Use the left flipper and aim toward the black opening below the turkey. Be ready for the ball to return from the pop bumpers after the kickout.
The broad outer area scores 5. The small center section scores 50, or 200 when the nearby 200 lamp is on.
How to try it: Use the left flipper. Strike the ball near the middle or outer half of the bat so it travels diagonally toward the small horizontal target below the “T AND JUICY” plastic.
These are flat buttons in the surface. The ball triggers one by rolling across it. Each scores 10 after its matching color has been turned on at the upper lanes.
How to reach them: They sit in return paths and open areas, so rebounds usually send the ball across them. They are not standing targets that you shoot directly.
The first scoring chance
The parachute skill shot is the single flat button in the upper-right lane. Pull and release the launcher so the ball reaches that button. It scores 50, or 200 while its lamp is flashing.
If the launch falls into the four colored lanes instead, you want it to enter a lane whose light is off. Completing a new color turns on that color’s pop bumper and star buttons for the rest of the ball. The flipper buttons do not move these lane lights.
Melony
“Sweet!”
A plan for every ball
This electromechanical-style game has no multiball or wizard mode. The whole strategy is to light colors, follow the moving 200-point lamp, and keep the single ball alive.
Ellen
“Nice action!”
Why the 200 lamp changes
The 200-point award can be on the left bullseye target, the turkey saucer, or the right bullseye target. Only one of those three lamps is on at a time. Whenever the game awards exactly 5 or 50 points, the 200 lamp advances to another one of those three shots. The playfield marks the 5- and 50-point switches with printed arrows and numbers.
After any 5- or 50-point score, look at all three 200 lamps again. If the glowing lamp is beside a shot you can reach from the ball’s current flipper, shoot it. If you do not have a clear shot, first return path up an outside path or keep it alive. A low-value target hit is not useful if its rebound immediately drains the ball.
Complete the four upper colored lanes and keep returning the ball to the pop bumpers. Each contact with a turned-on bumper or matching star button scores 10.
Press the small center section of the bullseye target whose 200 lamp is on, or make the turkey saucer when its 200 lamp is on.
The machine saves one High Score to Date. It has no separate mode records. Finish the game with a higher total than the saved score to replace it.
Keep the ball above the drain
Watch the return, not the score. After a bullseye hit, follow the ball toward the lower playfield. Decide whether it is coming to a flipper, a rubber-covered post, or an outlane. The recovery matters as much as the shot.
The two lower posts can turn an apparent loss into another chance. Use the short-flipper practice cues above: make any corrective nudge while contact is still possible, then react to the rebound.
When a particular shot repeatedly sends the ball toward an outlane, change your next shot choice or timing. Some players build points by feeding the lit upper bumpers; others favor accurate 200-point shots. Use the route you can make and recover from on this machine.
Reference edition
This guide follows Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons, Stern 2015, using the VPX 2.1.4 recreation installed on the cabinet. Cabinet playtesting has not been verified. Operator settings can change the number of balls, replay score, and difficulty.
Rules checked against the Stern instruction card, Pinball News’s production-machine report, and a player rules discussion. The production report confirms that Stern replaced the original draining gobble hole with a kickout saucer.
