The History of Pinball

1. The History of Pinball

2. Early Games • Baffle Ball - D Gottlieb & Co. (Nov 1931 - $17.50) Designed by David Gottlieb • Ballyhoo – Bally Mfg Corp (Jan, 1932 – 75,000 units) Designed by Ray Moloney. • Pinball started in Chicago, and stayed in Chicago

3. Pinball “eras” • Tabletop games – 1931-1933 • Electric pre-flipper games – 1933-1947 • Flipper “woodrail” games – 1947-1960 • Steel-rail “electromechanical” games – 1960-1979 • Early electronic games – 1979-1991 • Modern dot-matrix games – 1991-present

4. Pinball “eras” - tabletop

5. Pinball “eras” – pre-flipper (to 1947) • Bumper – 1936 – first game to have bumpers on the playfield. • Scoring was “bulb scoring” – player adds up the illuminated score in the backbox

6. Pinball “eras” – woodrail (1947-1960) • Games similar to pre-flipper. • Most of these games had “bulb scoring”

7. Pinball “eras” – EM (1960-1977) • Steel replaced wood to prevent tampering. • Score reels were new around this time. • Automatic ball lift added mid-60’s • Flippers changed from 2” to 3” in the early 70’s (more power, faster game)

8. Pinball “eras” – early electronic • Backglass, cabinet art still largely the same as in the past. • Playfield layout simple, with addition of some ramps. • A few games introduced multiple-level playfields. • At first, electronics replaces relay banks, score motor, and score reels - most else the same. • Some radical new game designs in the mid-late 80’s from Williams

9. Pinball “eras” – modern (1991-) • New: Cabinet art, backglass, dot-matrix, complexity

10. Important Innovations • Electricity – Autocount, Nov, ’33, ABT Mfg co • Flipper – Humpty Dumpty, Oct ’47, Harry Mabs • Pop Bumper – Saratoga, Oct ’48, Harry Williams • Ramps – Skyway, Feb ’54, Harry Williams • Drop Target – Vagabond, Oct ’62, Steve Kordek • Electronics – Spirit of 76, ’75 Micro Games, Inc. • Dot Matrix – Checkpoint, Feb ’91, Joe Kaminkow

11. First with Electricity • Autocount, Nov, ’33, ABT Mfg co. Contact, Nov ’33, Pacific Amusement Mfg co. • first known electric scorekeeper (Autocount) • first known score reel • first known tilt mechanism • First games used batteries, not AC

12. First Flipper • Humpty Dumpty, Oct ’47 • Designed by Harry Mabs

13. First Pop Bumper • Saratoga,Oct ’48 • Designed by Harry Williams

14. First Ramps • Skyway,Feb ’54 • Designed by Harry Williams • Some pre-flipper games of the 30’s had ramps

15. First Drop Target • Vagabond – Williams, 1962 • Designed by Steve Kordek • First bank drop target was Gottlieb Crescendo in 1970

16. First Electronic Game • Spirit of 76, released 1975 • Micro Games, Inc. • First non-relay based pinball– 2 years before Gottlieb released Cleopatra

17. First Dot Matrix • Checkpoint, Feb ‘91 • Data East Pinball, Inc. • Designed by Joe Kaminkow

18. Pinball Designers • Harry Williams – invented the modern “tilt” mechanism, started Williams Manufacturing • Harry Mabs – inventor of the flipper(Gottlieb) • Wayne Neyens, Ed Krynsky – Gottlieb designers (1950’s-1980) • Norm Clark, Ted Zale - Bally • Steve Kordek – Williams – first to put the flippers in their current position. Still at WMS in 1999. • Steve Ritchie, Pat Lawlor – modern games

19. Pinball Designers Alvin Gottlieb Ed Krynsky Wayne Neyens (Pinball Expo 2002)

20. With Ed Krynsky and Wayne Neyens (Pinball Expo 2002) With Steve Kordek (pinball expo Oct 1998) Pinball Designers

21. Pinball Art • Roy Parker – “Classic” Gottlieb art (40’s through 60’s)

22. Pinball Art • George Molentin – Williams art (40’s through 60’s)

23. Pinball Art • Christian Marche – Williams, Bally (60’s and 70’s)

24. Pinball Art • Dave Christensen – Bally (70’s and 80’s)

25. Pinball Art • Art Stenholm – Gottlieb (60’s and 70’s)

26. Pinball Art • Gordon Morison – Gottlieb (70’s and 80’s)

27. Pinball Art • John Youssi – Williams, Stern (’88-current)

28. The Last Week at Williams • Williams last series of games was called “Pinball 2000” • Ironically, Williams shut down production of pinball in October, 1999 (announced Oct 25) • This is the production line on Thursday, Oct 21, 1999 (producing Star Wars)

29. Further Reading • The Pinball Compendium, 1930’s-1960’s Michael Shalhoub (Schiffer) • The Pinball Compendium, 1970-1981, Michael Shalhoub (Schiffer) • These first 2 books are highly recommended. They have many beautiful color photos as well as year-by-year descriptions of games produced. Don’t place too much faith in the game values, however. I believe Michael will do another volume if you like the more modern games. The 2nd volume came out in 2004, 1st in 2002. • Pinball Memories, Forty Years of Fun 1958-1998 Marco Rossignoli (Schiffer) • This book is a smaller volume and more of an overview – much less detailed. IF you want one book to cover the whole timeframe, this is probably a good choice, although I like the first two much better. • Encyclopedia of Pinball, Volume 1 by Richard M Bueschel • This book covers coin-op machines in excruciating detail. Volume 1 covers the time period 1930-1933 only! Unfortunately, Dick passed away before he completed the complete set. For the hardcore collector. • You might find these books on amazon.com eventually, but I know you can get the first two from Bay Area Amusements: http://www.bayareaamusements.com or from the Pingame Journal: http://www.pingamejournal.com/cool/

30. Simpsons (Stern 2004) Breakshot (Capcom 1996) Attack From Mars (Bally 1995) Cue Ball Wizard (GTB 1992) Bride of Pinbot (WMS 1991) F-14 Tomcat (WMS 1987) Touchdown (GTB 1984) Spirit (GTB 1982) Haunted House (GTB 1982) 8 Ball deluxe (Bally 1982) Solar Ride (GTB 1979) Totem (GTB 1979) Count-Down (GTB 1979) Joker Poker (GTB 1978) Space Odyssey (WMS 1976) Paul Bunyan (GTB 1968) Sing Along (GTB 1967) Central Park (GTB 1966) Kings&Queens (GTB 1965) Beat the Clock (WMS 1963) Seven Seas (GTB 1959) NEW! Hit N Run (GTB 1952) MC Collection (Saratoga)