How BIG was it!

Fish Tales is one of the most popular and most successful sports themed pinball machines ever created by Williams.  Fish Tales is loaded with features and really fun to play!  In the center of the playfield is a ramp that is shaped like a boat. To the left is a big blue fishing reel that collects the balls. And on top of the game is a plastic 22″ fish. The game has multi-ball modes and a video mode.

To start, the ball plunger is shaped like the handle of fishing rod with a button on the top to shoot the ball. The game has three jet bumpers, a roll-under spinner, a captive ball, and two flippers.

Ramps on either side of the boat crisscross at to the top of the boat and slope back down to the flippers. Shooting the ball up either side of the boat puts the ball on the opposite flipper. In the center of the boat is a captive ball that needs to be hit HARD to reach the target at the top of the boat. After catching each fish, shoot the spinner to stretch the truth about the size of the fish.

The fishing reel is used to lock ball for multi-ball.  Shoot a ball into the reel, it spins around, and is ready to load another!  Once it’s fully loaded you begin a great three-ball multi-ball.

The video mode is truly unique. You’re a fisherman with a spear gun, and you get to shoot water skiers and speed boats! Shoot the Extra Ball symbol to earn an extra ball.

The artwork in Fish Tales is simply fantastic and tastefully done. The game has great music, and is loaded with fun sound effects!  Fish Tales is a great four-player game for everyone, and works well in the home environment.  Fun for kids and adults alike with its nice balance of short range shots and long shots! The game is set on free play. Please call or e-mail with questions or for more photos.

A WIDE and Beautiful Body

Genie is Gottlieb’s first wide-body game and throughout the 80’s Gottlieb followed up with many more, such as Black Hole, Haunted House, and Mars God of War.

Genie’s wide-body playfield provides room for many features, including FIVE flippers, two sets of drop targets, two sets of rollover lanes, a ball return, a spinner, one kick-out hole, and a jet bumper. Despite the large playfield, the layout contains enough features that the ball flow does not seem slow.

In the upper left corner, Genie features a sectioned off area similar to a mini-playfield with its own flippers and alternating red and white drop targets. Completing the red drop targets lights the Special, while completing the white drop targets lights the Extra Ball target on the right.

Two sets of rollover lanes, one set in the upper right and one set on the lower left, are linked together. Completing the A-B-C-D rollover lanes lights the Extra Ball target on the left.

In addition to the upper two flippers, players have three more standard length flippers, two on the right and one on the left to use for shooting at various targets.

Genie is a wide-body, four-player game with multiple shots, various types of targets, and bonus multipliers. A new Ni-Wumpf MPU has been installed in the game. Please contact us with questions or for more photos.

Midwest Pinball recently acquired a large collection of Gottlieb pinball machines from the early to mid-1960’s.  These games have been in storage for several years and need to be tuned up and restored, but the playfields and glasses are in great shape.

Many of these games feature the artwork of Roy Parker with vibrant colors and classic themes from the 1960’s.  The collection includes the following games:

• Cowpoke (1965)
• Cross Town (1966)
• Flipper Clown (1962)
• Flipper Cowboy (1962)
• Flipper Fair (1961)
• Flipper Parade (1961)
• Flipper Pool (1965)
• Hurdy Gurdy (1966)
• Ice Show (1966)
• Rack a ball (1962)
• Royal Guard (1968)
• Sittin Pretty (1958)
• Skyline (1965)
• Slick Chick (1963)
• Square Head (1963)
• Subway (1966)

If you are interested in any of these titles, please contact us for more information at richhuff@mwpinball.com or (312) 925-1386.

Framed Pinball Backglass

Midwest Pinball offers a selection of framedpinball glass from various manufacturers. Most of these items are new-old-stock (NOS), which means that the item was produced at the same time as the original pinball machine but was put into parts inventory and has not been used in a game. Some items may have small scratches from handling over the years, but would not have serious flaking or burns.

The following framed glass is available:

 - Bally Kings of Steel ($450)

- Bally Medusa ($500)

- Williams Barracora ($450)

- Game Plan Andromeda ($350)

- Game Plan Pinball Lizard ($350)

- Game Plan Cyclops ($350)

- Game Plan Supernova ($350)

A few unframed NOS glasses are also available.

Any of these items can be picked up or shipped. We ship these in U-Line Deluxe Artwork Shippers, which provide foam padding on both surfaces and around the sides and are plastic-lined to prevent punctures. Please call or e-mail with questions.

Casino Pachinko

Sankyo is the leader in modern pachinko games. Like older pachinko machines, player shoots small steel balls onto the playfield to bounce through the pins and score in one of the numerous pockets. The game contains a small video screen that runs animation of various roulette table sceens and outside scenes of a flashy casino.

The game uses an electrical connection between the wheel and the frame to trigger the ball launch. Balls can be shuffled from the upper tray to lower tray using a small sliding door and balls can be retrieved from inside the unit.

The game is fairly heavy, but is designed to work on a table top or as a wall-mounted unit. The game is set on free-play and does not require coins to operate.

Enter the Twilight Zone!

Williams Twilight Zone is one of the best pinball machines ever produced. While it was not a commercial success due to its complexity, it is a favorite among collectors and families for its ability to stay interesting. The game designers incorporated many elements from classic episodes of the Twilight Zone television show. This early-sample model includes the third magnet, which was removed from production.

Twilight Zone features two ramps, three jet bumpers, four normal flippers and two magnetic flippers. The game includes a gumball machine that players can load with pinballs and a working clock that moves backwards and forwards depending on the game mode. The open wide-body playfield offers a good mix of long and medium-range shots.

Twilight Zone is a very complex and challenging game with deep rule sets.  While most pinball games contain eight or nine modes to reach the end, or “Wizard” mode, Twilight Zone has an incredible 15 different modes including five different multi-ball modes. In addition to the five regular pinballs in the game, Twilight Zone is the ONLY game to also use a special ceramic “Powerball” pinball.  The Powerball is 20% lighter than a steel pinball, so the speed of game play is increased dramatically.

The game has been upgraded with software written by Ted Estes, one of the game designers, to specifically manage the third magnet. In addition, the software features a PAUSE option that allows the player to hold a game in progress.

Twilight Zone is a four-player wide-body game. The game is setup for free play. Please call or e-mail with questions or for more pictures.

We have for the past several weeks been working on a 1948 ESCO (Exhibit Supply Company) Samba. This game features flippers in the middle of the playfield and kickout holes near the bottom of the field, but no flippers to keep the ball in play.

Also, as can be seen in this photo, the back glass does not have score wheels. The lights illuminate various scores on the glass that total up to be the player’s current score.

Oftentimes the painted glass in these games will be held into the frame. The top of the frame can be unscrewed and the glass can be lifted out to access the lights behind the glass.

Galaxy Class Pinball!

Consistently ranked among the best pinball machines ever produced, Williams Star Trek: The Next Generation is a superb game packed with features, toy ships, and designed to challenge all levels of players. The open wide-body playfield offers a good mix of long and medium-range shots.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) features three ramps, two jet bumpers, three flippers, a spinner, and an amazing tunnel system below the playfield to deliver balls to one of two user-operated cannons. The game offers several multi-ball modes including the “Final Frontier” with six balls. The video mode invites players to a poker game with Commander Riker.

There are seven missions to be completed before reaching the Final Frontier as well as four artifacts that need to be collected. Every ball starts at Warp Factor 1 and can be built up to Warp Factor 9 with rewards at each level. The Neutral Zone offers three encounters with different races from the Star Trek universe including the Ferengi, Cardassians, and Romulans.

The game has incredible sound effects and music. It includes the voices of all the bridge characters (Capt. Picard, Conselor Troi, Beverly Crusher, Data, William Riker, etc). Not to mention Q, the Romulans, Cardassians, the Borg, and the Klingons.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is a great game for beginners and skilled players with a sophisticated combo shot. This machine has been upgraded with the shuttle laser cannon kit. The redesigned cannons have the red domes used in the early prototype games and a red laser site that allows players to line up their shots.

ST:TNG is a four-player wide-body game.The game is setup for free play. Please call or e-mail with questions or for more pictures.

 Mario Mania Comes to Pinball!

Gottlieb Premier’s Super Mario Bros. brings the characters and quests from the Super Mario video games to a smooth flowing pinball machine. Destroy seven Castles and save the Princess.

Super Mario Bros. features a mini-playfield with its own flipper, ramps, numerous saucers, three jet bumpers, and a spinning castle. The game offers two- and three-ball multi-ball modes as well as Invincibility, during which time a post pops up between the flippers to keep the ball from draining down the middle.

Super Mario Bros. was the first Gottlieb game with a dot matrix display and the game provides graphics during each of the six combat rounds that Mario must complete. The game also has a video mode where Mario runs and jumps over obstacles.

Super Mario Bros. challenges players to start and complete rounds using a wide range of shots that need to be completed in sequence. Mastering the sequence of shots needed to complete a round or destroy a castle provides the player with the most points.

Super Mario Bros. is a family-friendly, smooth-playing four-player game with multiple shots, modes, and features. The game is setup for free play.

The Ultimate Machine

Williams 1986 PIN-BOT launched a series of fantasy / space travel games which included “The Machine: Bride of Pin-bot” and “Jack-Bot”. The game features an amazing soundtrack and super sci-fi sound effects! 

Pin-bot features three jet bumpers, a three-bank drop target, a conical skill shot ramp, an upper mini-playfield, and a motorized bank of five standup targets that lower into the playfield to reveal two kick out holes. The objective of the game is to reach Earth by cruising through the solar system starting at Pluto. A smoky motorized visor opens and closes along with the motorized targets to reveal two kick out holes. Once both kick out holes are filled, Pin-bot releases both balls for a two-ball multi-ball.

A long ramp shot on the left leads to a clear plastic mini-playfield that uses plastic posts with rubber rings to bounce the ball around. The ramp shot increases the bonus multiplier. The ramp shot also increases the Solar value which is carried over from player to player and game to game until collected.

The three-bank drop targets add points and advance the player from planet to planet. But watch out - all three targets must be collected within a given amount of time or the bank resets.

Pin-bot is a fun four-player game with multiple challenging shots, tons of bonuses, and lots of features. The game is setup for free play.