Pinball Glossary (original) (raw)

AAB —

See Add-A-Ball.

AC —

Alternating Current

Action Ring —

This is a playfield feature comprised of a series of rebound rubbers stretched between posts and arranged in a circle or ring. In most instances, the center of this circle has a pop bumper. The ring of rubbers does not fully enclose this bumper, having one or more openings through which the ball in play can enter and exit the ring. While the ball is inside the ring, the close proximity of the rebound rubbers to the pop bumper allows for fast interaction with the ball for repetitive switch hits and quick scoring.

Chicago Coin used this feature on several of their games. In one instance, Chicago Coin's 1967 'Beatniks', the ring had two slingshots instead of a pop bumper.

Gottlieb used this feature on a few of their games and referred to it in their flyers as a "semi-enclosed pop bumper".

Williams used this feature on Williams' 1968 'Lady Luck' and referred to it in the flyer as a "trap bumper".

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Active Bumper —

See Bumper.

Actual Measured Weight: —

This is the weight measured for us by an operator who has a commercial scale. The games are weighed without packaging. Legs are included, where noted. These games are used, not new, and so we cannot know if they were missing items that typically get separated from used games such as a coin box or one or more coin acceptance mechanisms. This would only slightly affect the measured weight.

Add-A-Ball —

A feature designed to provide a reward to the player in regions where replays (free games) were outlawed as a thing of value, making pinball into gambling. Add-A-Ball games allow the player to be awarded multiple additional balls, and usually include a counter showing balls remaining to play ("Balls to Play" rather than the usual "Ball in Play") that is incremented as each ball is awarded. Note that this is different from the feature of awarding an extra ball (common to many games) because those games do not change the ball counter when the extra ball is played, and often can only award a single outstanding extra ball at any given time. Therefore, a machine is a true Add-a-ball machine only if you can earn more than one extra ball per ball in play. Most machines are a replay type where a special scores a free credit and only one extra ball can be awarded per ball in play.

Add-a-ball games start a ball counter at the original number of balls given to a player at the start of the game and then award the player additional balls as objectives are met, incrementing the "current ball" count for each one.

Early add-a-ball games had individually lighted numbers on the backglass indicating the current ball count. These were usually completely separate models from the non-Add-a-ball games (even of the same name), but in later years an Add-A-Ball "Option" was instead built into a single model, allowing use as either an Add-A-Ball game, a replay game, or a novelty play game, depending of what the government rules in effect at the location.

Because some locations even disallowed the display of the replay or add-a-ball totals wheel, some games came with a sticker to cover the replay counter. Some games would even "hide" the extra ball count in backglass graphics that could not be seen until an additional ball was added.

Gottlieb games can usually award up to 5 additional balls at any one time. If one or more of these additional balls are awarded, they are all played before the main ball counter decrements. So you could win up to 5 balls during the play of 5 regular balls, or a total of up to 25 extra balls. Gottlieb called this the "WOW" feature. For Williams games, the ball counter started at 5 balls and awarded balls could raise the total to as 10 balls at one time.

Alvin Gottlieb created the concept which was then designed by Wayne Neyens.

Aerial Spinning Posts —

See Spinning Post.

Alphanumeric Display —

Segmented plasma displays (not LEDs which are much dimmer) that can display letters as well as numbers. They work by energizing various segments of the display to form the correct character shape. These displays usually use Neon gas, which glows orange when ionized by a high voltage electric current passed through the segment.

Gottlieb also used cathodic tubes, (which are distinctive with their blue glow, or green if translucent green plastic has been placed over the display such as on Gottlieb's 1982 'Haunted House'), in which the high voltage current flow causes a flourescent material on the inside of the segments to glow, much like in a tube television. These were available in 4, 6, 7, and 20 character tubes.

Note that some LED displays were used by a very few exotic manufacturers, mostly in Europe.

This type of display has been replaced by the more modern dot matrix display (DMD) which can also display graphics.

Alphanumeric display from WMS's 1990 'Funhouse'

Alvin G. & Co. —

Pinball manufacturer whose first machine (A.G. Soccer-Ball) was released in 1992. Other games include USA Football and Al's Garage Band Goes on World Tour.

Animation —

On dot matrix displays, any animated graphics sequence. Animations are commonly used as introductions to modes, multiball, and at the start of the game.

Backgl​ass light animation involves lighting up various images or symbols on the backglass outside of the score displays. Playing cards light up when earned during play on Williams' 1964 'River Boat'. Ice skaters light up when earned during play and also flash during Game Over on Gottlieb's 1965 'Ice-Revue'. Other games have lights that illuminated different colored masks to produce the illusion of movement.

See also Mechanical Backbox Animation.

Apron —

The large attachment at the very bottom of the playfield, which usually holds a score and/or instruction card and which covers the ball trough. The front edges of the apron lead the ball to the drain.

Also called a Card Holder.

Auto-percentaging —

In solid-state games, an operator adjustment that controls the frequency of awarded replays as compared to total games played. On these games, the replay score thresholds are not printed on cards displayed on the playfield apron but appear on the backbox score displays at Game Over. If the auto-percentaging option is turned OFF, the replay award thresholds are the same values from game to game, as previously set by the operator. If the option is turned ON, the operator sets a percentage, usually 5% to 50%, by which the game will periodically recalculate the replay award thresholds, up or down, based on how well players have been earning replays up to that point, in order to mathematically maintain the desired ratio of free plays to total plays. The game will display the recalculated replay score thresholds at Game Over.

The first solid-state pin game to have this feature was Williams' 1986 'High Speed'.

An earlier electro-mechanical pin game to have this feature was Williams' 1949 'St. Louis' where only the first of four replay thresholds was automatically adjusted up or down by the machine, based on game play.

See also Reflexing Feature.

Automatic Flipper —

For electro-mechanical games, this is a flipper that is controlled exclusively by the game, the player cannot activate this flipper, and the sensor that detects the proximity of the ball to this flipper is actually a switch in front of the flipper, often in a recessed well.

A list of games identified with this feature can be foundhere.

Rally-Play, a French manufacturer, advertised 'automatic flippers' or 'flippers automatiques" but they were referring to slingshots.

For solid-state games, see game-controlled flipper.

Automatic Replay Percentaging —

See Auto-percentaging.

Autoplunger —

Many newer games feature an automatic plunger that launches the ball at the touch of a button, or which the game uses to launch additional balls into play for various reasons — for example, to launch additional balls onto the playfield for multiball.

Back Rack —

An older term for the backbox.

Backbox —

Also called a lightbox. The upright part of a pinball machine that holds the backglass and any displays and scoring mechanisms (score reels, lighting, etc.) In modern games, it also contains the circuit boards which control the machine. The backbox is also known as the head as compared to the cabinet which is also known as the body. An older term for the backbox is back rack.

Backbox of Hayburners II

Backbox Insert —

The board inside the backbox upon which the score displays and illumination lamps are mounted. On EM games, relays and stepper switches are also mounted on this board.

In many games, this insert hinges outward from the front after the backglass has been lifted up and out of the game, allowing access to both sides of it. An example with an illustrative picture is Williams' 1986 'PIN·BOT'.

In other games, the backglass hinges outward within its own frame while the insert itself does not hinge and remains fixed. An example with an illustrative picture is Williams' 1965 'Alpine Club'.

In yet other games, the backglass remains fixed while the insert hinges outward from the back after the backbox back door has been lifted up and out of the game. An example with an illustrative picture is Gottlieb's 1965 'Pleasure Isle'.

And, in yet other games, the backglass slides out sideways, or upwards, after a piece of wood trim is removed. The insert remains fixed to the cabinet. An example of this is Williams' 1954 'Big Ben'. An example with an illustrative picture is Keeney's 1962 'Hacienda'.

Backbox Spinner —

In most cases, a large, round scoring device mounted into the backbox visible to the player through a clear, unpainted area of the backglass. An arrow is attached to a center fulcrum inside the unit. Point values, extra balls, and/or Specials are identified on the backglass at equidistant positions around the perimeter of this unit. Typically, a ball landing in a playfield kick-out hole will lock in that hole, the arrow will spin around and stop at a value, the value is scored to the player, and the ball is ejected from the hole. The spinner may also be activated by a ball draining via an outlane. An example of this is found on Williams' 1970 'Jive Time'.

Also called a Backglass Spinner.

See also Spinning Lights.

Backglass —

The glass within the front of the backbox, with ink artwork silk-screened onto the back of it. Since it is the most visible part of the game and has to attract players, the artwork is often spectacular. (In modern games, the artwork may actually be a translite.)

Being glass, backglasses are fragile and subject to peeling over time. They are also more restricted than translites in the type of artwork which can be produced, although their color is generally more brilliant than that of a translite.

Backglass of Toledo

Backglass Marquee —

An area of the backglass not silkscreened, allowing the location to display their name or other customized information from behind the backglass and visible to the player. This feature is found on many Williams games of the 1960's, in the lower edge of the backglass. An example with illustrative pictures is Williams' 1965 'Pot 'O' Gold'. When the game is turned on, this marquee will illuminate from behind.

Backglass Spinner —

See Backbox Spinner.

Bagatelle —

A bagatelle resembles a light, flat board with nails (pins!) in it and short raised sides to keep the ball on the playfield during play. Each ball is launched from some sort of shooter or pusher to the top of the playfield, where it then rolls towards the player, bouncing off the pins or landing in any of several scoring pockets. These scoring pockets can be depressions in the playfield, nails arranged in a U-shape, or both. They are marked with various score values, with the higher values usually protected by more pins or tougher paths to reach them. By "shooting" the ball harder or softer, the player can try to control where the ball drops.

The earliest relative of the modern pinball machines, bagatelles consist of a basic construction of a frame around a playfield. They have no flippers, bumpers, ramps or other mechanical items normally found on a pinball machine, nor do they contain lights, sounds, or power sources. They have no playfield glass and, with rare exception, are not coin-operated.

Bagatelles are still being manufactured today, although most modern versions are made from plastic and can be found primarily in toy stores.

Ball Eater Target —

A cube-shaped target with a hollow interior allowing the ball to fully enter it from the front, causing it to drop below the playfield with the ball trapped inside, making the cube's top surface flush with the playfield to allow another ball to easily roll over it. The ball remains there until other playfield events reset this target to pop up and release the locked ball back into play.

Only three pinball machines have been found to use this unique device so far:

Bally Midway's 1987 'Dungeon and Dragons' manual called it a Teleport Drop Target Assembly.

Data East's 1988 'Secret Service' flyer called it a resetable ball eating target while the manuals called it a Ball Eater or Target Eater.

Bally Midway's 1989 'Mousin' Around' manual referred to them as Trap (Ball Eater) Assemblies.

Ball Popper —

Another name for a Vertical Up-Kicker.

Ball Return Feature —

See Hold Feature.

Ball Saver —

This term describes either of two different ways to extend game play.

1. A physical device that rises up between the flip​pers during game play to prevent the ball from draining, found on many EM games and some SS games. During 1950-1951, Gottlieb and Chicago Coin used a V-shaped metal wall between the flippers for this purpose and referred to it as a Blocking Gate or Safety Gate. The first known example of a round version of this gate is found on Rally's 1967 'Play boy' and this shape is commonly known as an Up-post. Chicago Coin used the term "Ball Saver" to introduce this round Up-post to their games, starting with Chicago Coin's 1968 'Gun Smoke'. See also Up-post.

2. A software-programmed time limit found on SS games only, not requiring a physical device between the flippers. The game is programmed to return a drained ball to the plunger within the first few seconds of play, until the set time expires. If the game has an autoplunger, it will often shoot the ball back into play automatically along with an audio cue and an animation. Many games also activate this feature at the start of multiball, when players may not be expecting additional balls on the playfield. Programmed ball savers are a recent feature, introduced around 1990. Most games with this feature will return the drained ball once, although some games can be configured to return it more than once if it is lost again within the ball saver time window. On most games, the time limit for this feature can be adjusted by the operator or turned off altogether. Sometimes this feature takes the form of a minimum game time, as in Stern's 1982 'Orbitor 1', where the last ball in play can get returned to the plunger repeatedly until the set time expires.

Ball Search —

When a machine has not seen any scoring in a few seconds and thinks the ball may be stuck, it will quickly activate each solenoid in the machine in turn, to help a ball become unstuck if it happens to be mechanically hung up, or in case the ball has been captured by a playfield mechanism with a faulty indicator switch. This procedure is called a 'ball search', and may happen several times before the game either shuts down or ejects a replacement pinball.

Bally/Williams —

One of the most successful manufacturers of pinball machines, Bally/Williams is the result of a Williams buying Bally.

Bang Back —

A Bang Back is a method of saving a ball that has rolled down an outlane. By holding up the flipper on the side the ball is coming down, and hitting the front of the cabinet when the ball reaches the base of the flipper, the ball can be made to bounce off the playfield arch and back onto the opposite flipper. See Skills for the Pinball Wiz​ard for an ani​mation of this technique.

Bar Target —

A type of standup target that uses a long rectangular piece of plastic as its target surface instead of the familiar smaller round or square plastic. The length of this plastic replaces what might otherwise have been three or four individual conventional standup targets. This plastic is supported by a switch attached at each end. Because it's one target, closing either switch scores this target to light up (or turn off) the next of several playfield inserts in front of it.

Because two switches are used, Stern's game manuals may refer to it as a dual target even though it may be responsible for three or more playfield inserts.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Bash Toy —

A toy or figurine with a target switch built inside its base. A ball hitting the figurine scores the target. The figurine typically is of a person or object specific to the theme of the game.

One example is the Genie Toy on Williams' 1996 'Tales of the Arabian Nights'.

Another example is the Wolverine Toy on Stern's 2012 'X-Men Wolverine LE'.

Bat Game —

Pitch & Bat games are characterized by a game design similar to baseball, in which a bat is used instead of flippers to hit the pinball towards targets and holes at the far end of the playfield. Instead of a plunger, these games usually have a pitching mechanism which shoots the pinball towards the bat at a speed and direction often controlled by a second player.

The playfields are usually quite bare compared to pinball machines, having no bumpers, ball guides or lights like pinball machines, but because they share many of the same mechanical elements as pinball machines, they are included in the database.

The playfield usually contains only the targets and holes, labeled with possible pitch results such as single, double, out, etc., and sometimes some small jumps and a second level of targets/holes at the back. Some games even mimic the players running around the bases, often with mechanical figures in the backbox running around a baseball diamond.

Bell Timer —

A Time Clock that has a clapper to ring a bell when the time is up.

Beta Test —

Before a game is produced for the open market, a small number of prototypes are produced, and these are sent to selected sites for testing so that the manufacturer can find out how well the game rules and playfield layout performs in real play. The beta test usually leads to minor changes in the playfield and changes to the software.

Bigliardino Elettrico —

Literally, "electric billiard". Also seen as "biliardino elettrico" and ""nuovo bigliardino elettrico".

These words appeared on backglasses for games made for Italy, not necessarily games made in Italy, as a direct result of Law 507 passed in Italy on May 12, 1965 which prohibited flipper pinball machines as gambling because the replays were deemed a thing of value. As a result of this law, pinball machines were still seen in Italy but the word "flipper" had been banished from appearing anywhere on the game and players could only earn added balls to extend game play. Even then, the backglass would surreptitiously indicate the presence of earned added balls by lighting unnumbered and innocent-looking art elements on the backglass, such as round balls or stars, that blended into the art around it.

Federico Croci, a collector and historian in Italy, provides us the following information:

Before that law, there was no need to have a new name for the flipper game, let alone written in italian on the backglass; everyone was calling him 'flipper' (actually, this one remained the unofficial name even after the law, amongst players and operators), but now, being the 'flipper' a forbidden game, there was the need to show that these new machines were totally new games, actually a "bigliardino elettrico" (="electric billiard"). On some games there is written 'biliardino' instead of 'bigliardino', that's the same. Also note that some other kind of flipper games, for example toys for kids, were still called 'flipper' with no problem. It was a forbidden word only regarding coin-op games.

Actually, history is that the italian importer of Gottlieb's games of the time, as soon as he learned of the new game, called the manufacturer asking for every new game to have the words "nuovo bigliardino elettrico" ('nuovo'='new', after a few games 'nuovo' was dropped), believing it could help in distinguish it from the the 'usual' flipper games, as the police was starting to check bars and arcades for the now forbidden games. It proved successful in at least a dozen of cases, so even some italian manufacturers of the time, and other european manufacturers, sometime used to include in the backglass or in the instructions the same (or similar) words. Bally made italian language instruction cards with the same words, as well as Williams.

10/30/2017

Bingo Machine —

Bingo games are those games that usually have the following characteristics: no flippers, numbered holes on the playfield in which the balls are captured, Bingo cards displayed on the backglass along with the various odds that can usually be changed by depositing more coins, and replay counters that normally count up to 999 replays to count the awards received.

As balls fall into the playfield holes, the corresponding numbers are lit up on the Bingo card(s) on the backglass. The ball will then stay into that hole until the end of the game. Bingo games normally have 5 balls per game -- to make them distinctive from the one-ball machines made illegal in most areas -- and (similar to normal Bingo) awards can usually be won by getting three to five numbers in a row on one of the Bingo cards, with larger awards for more numbers in a row or more coins deposited to raise the odds. Players can either play off the replays earned or have the owner exchange them for cash or prizes.

Bingo games have their roots in a 16th century Italian lottery game named Beano, later renamed to Bingo. They are a result of the early desire to reward players with money, free games and awards. Early games to accomplish this were single ball games with horse and dog racing themes. The (Federal Government's) Johnson Act of 1950 caused the demise of one-ball horse racing machines because it outlawed and made a federal offense the inter-state shipment of gambling devices, manuals and repair parts except to states where the devices were legal, and many areas had already declared them illegal since they were deemed a game of chance rather than a game of skill. (The addition of flippers on later pinball machines caused them to be considered a game of skill since the player could have much more affect on the resulting score.) Since horse/dog racing games were usually one-ball games, and since most areas declared specifically that "one-ball" games were illegal, the manufacturers could see that further production of those types of games would be impractical and so switched to the five ball Bingo designs.

You may also want to read an article titled PINGAMES AND GAMBLING - An Historical Survey by Russ Jensen for more historical information on Bingo machines and the laws affecting them.

Biri-biri —

A repetitive electronic tune indicating that the player had reached a high score. This is a feature found in some Italian-made pinball machines of the 1970's.

Some Italian manufacturers during the 1970's installed electronic sound devices in their games to replace the standard metal bells. Older games could also be retrofitted with these devices. The electronic sounds they emitted were rudimentary in comparison to today's capabilities and might be described as monophonic. These devices, while acting in place of bells, could also be made to emit a tune at achieving a high score, and this tune was called the "biri-biri sound". No obvious award was necessarily tied to getting a machine to produce this sound, but the location might give a free drink to the player.

To listen to the biri-biri sound, visit Federico Croci's webpage: http://www.tilt.it/biribiri.htm

Blocking Gate —

The metal, V-shaped ball-saving device that would raise and lower between flippers on some Gottlieb and Chicago Coin games during 1950-1951. It's purpose was to close the flipper gap and route balls to either flipper for flipping back into play. It is the precedessor of the round plastic Up-post used in 1960's games and later. Gottlieb also referred to this device as a Safety Gate.

An example of this feature can be found on Chicago Coin's 1951 'Thing'.

Body —

See Cabinet.

BOM —

Bill of Materials. As documented on this site, it's the total cost to the manufacturer of the parts for 1 game, expressed in US dollars.

A more complete definition is coming.

Bonus Ladder —

See End-of-Ball Bonus.

Bullseye target —

A standup target consisting of a broad target surface (the outer ring) with a hole in its center (the bullseye) through which a separate narrow pin protrudes from behind. Both the outer ring and bullseye pin operate their own switch for scoring. A ball can hit the ring and miss the bullseye pin, or hit the bullseye pin without hitting the ring, or with force or angle can hit both bullseye pin and ring for a combined score. Gottlieb used this type of target on games made from the later 1950's to early 1960's, such as Gottlieb's 1960 'Seven Seas', where the outer ring was painted with the familiar target rings. It appeared again on Premier's 1993 'Tee'd Off' but without the target rings.

Some Gottlieb games used these targets but without the center bullseye pin. One game that had this type is Gottlieb's 1962 'Preview'.

Bumper —

Bumpers are round, mushroom-shaped targets set into the playfield of most pinball machines. They fall into two categories: active and passive. Both types register a hit when the ball collides with them.

Active bumpers, the most common, forcefully kick the ball away when struck.

Passive bumpers look similar to active bumpers, but do not kick the ball when hit. See also the passive Tower Bumper.

Mushroom bumpers are passive bumpers, each is a post having a disk on top. When the ball approaches the bumper and strikes the post, it lifts the disk. The disk is attached to a shaft down the middle of the post, and this shaft rises when the disk is lifted, activating a leaf switch which registers the hit. Bally popularized this bumper in the 1960s and 1970s starting with Bally's 1963 'Hootenanny', and European games followed in its use. While Bally is popularly credited with the first use of mushroom bumpers, Stoner used them during 1939-40 on Stoner's 1939 'Ali-Baba' and Stoner's 1940 'Fantasy'.

Active bumpers have been given various names. According to the book All About Pinball, Williams called them thumper bumpers on their 1948 game Saratoga but eventually decided to use the shorter term jet bumpers. Gottlieb first used the term percussion bumpers on their 1949 "Bowling Champ" game but eventually changed to the term pop bumpers. Genco called them power bumpers. Bally called them thumper bumpers.

Disappearing bumpers are active bumpers with flat plastic tops in place of standard bumper caps and that are mechanically lowered to be below the playfield when dictated by game rules. When lowered, the flat top of the bumper is flush with the playfield surface as if the bumper was not there.

A list of games with a disappearing bumper is here.

The invention of the bumper in 1936 replaced the well-known pins and pockets. Balls would now exit the playfield after play, while the score would appear on the backglass. Before, players had to visually add up their score from the balls that had landed in playfield pockets and remained in them until the start of a new game.

A thumper bumper from Bally's 1975 'Freedom'.

Buy-Back —

This term was used as far back as the 1930s by multiple manufacturers to describe a feature allowing the player to in​sert a coin during a game in progress to allow balls that have been played and are sitting in the outhole to return to the ball shooter to be played again but without starting a new game. In this way, the player is extending the length of the game in progress but at an additional cost per "extra" ball. The cost for each extra ball would be the same price as it took to start the game. Depending on the game, this feature might be a standard item equipped from the factory or might be an optional attachment at extra cost to the operator. Also, there may be a limit to the number of extra balls the player can purchase per game, such as three maximum, or the game may allow an unlimited amount.

A list of games identified with this feature can be foundhere.

The Buy-back feature on pin games did not outlast the 1950s. When it reappeared in solid state games, it was known as the Buy-In.

Buy-In —

This term describes an operator option to extend the length of the game being played beyond what was purchased with a coin or credit. Of the games that appear in this database, the first (solid state) game to have it is Bally Midway's 1988 'Blackwater 100'.

Williams/Bally/Midway also used this term and feature in their pinball machines manufactured during 1993 to 1995. For each player, after the last ball has been played, the player can press a specially-marked button on the front of the cabinet to extend the game by buying an extra ball, usually at the cost of 1 credit. If this is done, the game will not go to Game Over but will continue where it left off for that player, typically with extra features or modes that were not previously activated or available to achieve. Some pinball machines with this feature will allow only one buy-in extra ball per game per player. Other machines will provide higher maximums, such as 3, 9, or an unlimited number of buy-in extra balls per player. The button for this feature is located either below the left-side Start button or below the right-side ball shooter knob. On Williams games, this button will be marked EXTRA BALL or SUPER BALL.

Capcom, Data East, and Spinball are examples of other manufacturers that used this feature on one or more of their games.

A list of games identified with this feature can be foundhere.

Buy-in was a term used by manufacturers of solid state machines. When this feature appeared in EM games of the 1930s to 1950s, it was known as Buy-Back.

Cabinet —

The large lower box that holds the playfield, coin box, and flipper buttons. It often has color attention-attracting graphics, especially on later model games with detailed many-color side art. Not to be confused with the backbox. The cabinet is also known as the 'body'.

Cabinet Insert —

A broad, flat wooden board bolted to the inside bottom of the lower cabinet upon which relays and other electromechanical components are mounted. Because an EM game will have its motor attached to this insert, it is also known as a motor board.

Captive Ball —

A ball that is restricted to a small area of the playfield or backbox. It is separate from the ball in play. The captive ball sits at rest until propelled into motion by either the ball in play or by a kicker upon which the captive ball was resting. Then, it moves within its defined area. The simplest version is the messenger ball, a special kind of target that consists of a pinball held captive at the end of a lane or ramp with a switch at the far end, such as shown in the picture below.

Other arrangements include:

A curved captive ball lane, as on Gottlieb's 1974 'Magnotron'.

A bagatelle on the playfield as on Williams' 1954 'Big Ben' or in the backbox as on Williams' 1966 'Casanova'.

A mini-playfield containing both captive ball and dedicated flippers as on Bally's 1981 'Elektra'.

See also captive ball spinner.

**Left:**Diagram of captive ball setup. Right: Captive balls and target from Capcom's 1996 'Breakshot'

Captive Ball Advance —

On this site, it's a playfield arrangement most frequently found on games in the 1930s where a captive ball device releases the ball to another captive ball device. This can either be a series of kick-out holes or a series of ball kickers. On some games, the last hole in the series holds the ball to the end of the game, acting as a trap hole. On other games, it will return the ball to the player to shoot it back into play.

Transfer of balls between these serial captive ball devices are not necessarily immediate and may require the player to first achieve a playfield objective using a separate ball in play. If the game ends before balls are cleared from this series of devices, in most games each stage of capture awards a point score value.

Some games advance captive balls inside an enclosed area of the playfield and these balls are never available as a ball-in-play. In these instances, again, either kick-out holes or ball kickers may be used. Point values may be assigned to intermediate stages of capture.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

See also Captive Ball Walker.

Captive Ball Kick-out Hole —

Most kick-out holes immediately award points and kick the ball back into play. A captive ball kick-out hole does not immediately kick the ball back into play but keeps it captive until the player achieves some other playfield objective, then kicks it out.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Captive Ball Spinner —

A scoring device consisting of a large metal wheel and a small steel ball enclosed in an area not accessible by the ball in play. The wheel has small trap holes all along its outside edge. When activated, the wheel spins around its central axis, causing its captive ball to randomly roll around with it. The wheel generally stops abruptly, and the rolling ball eventually falls into one of the trap holes to award the indicated hole value. This device first appeared on Williams' 1966 'A-Go-Go'. Also referred to as a Roulette Wheel.

Captive Ball Spinner from Williams' 1966 'A-Go-Go'.

Captive Ball Walker —

This term is used on this site to identify a specific style of electro-mechanical playfield device that captures a ball in play and delays its release back into play, holding it in each of three sequential positions on its length, advancing the ball to its next position only when the player achieves a playfield objective using a different ball in play. From its last position, the ball is released back into play, creating multiball. This long device requires a lane of its own on the playfield to show the player the different stages of the ball's capture. On some games, more than one ball can be captured in this device simultaneously. A single solenoid is used to operate this device to walk the balls. Typically, points may be awarded for a ball entering the device but no additional points are awarded for balls being walked through the device.

Bally was first to use this device. In their undated First Edition An Introduction to Bally Flipper Games, Bally referred to it as the Captive Ball Escapement Assembly and stated it was designed and patented by them. Their first game with this patented device was Bally's 1964 'Mad World'. In their 1965 Parts Catalog, they referred to it as a 4 Steps Free Ball Escape Assy. (The four steps are capture-transfer-transfer-release.)

Stern used a similarly-designed device on their Stern's 1980 'Flight 2000' and its manual referred to it as a Ball Launcher Assembly. In their manual for Stern's 1981 'Freefall', it was listed as a Ball Walker Assembly.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Earlier games used Captive Ball Advance where balls may or may not return to play and most often scored points when resting in their intermediate positions. Sometimes referred to as progressive scoring.

Card Holder —

See Apron.

Carom Spinner —

See Spinning Bumper.

Carombolette Table —

A large table game that looks like a billiard table but it has no pockets like a billiard table has. The entire playing surface is covered with felt except for one end which has a built-in bagatelle. The players stand at the felt end of the table and use cue sticks to shoot the balls towards and onto the bagatelle.

An example of this type of game is Unknown Manufacturer's 'Carombolette Table'.

Billiard Boards were sold to allow a regular billiard table to be converted to a carombolette table. An example of this is H. P. Schafer's 'Combination Recreation Board'.

Carousel roto-target —

See longer explanation under Roto-target.

Carry-over —

A sequence during game play that increases towards a goal such as extra points, an extra ball, or a replay, and does not reset to the beginning of the sequence at the start of a new game. Instead, the position in the sequence carries over to the next game as the starting point for the new game. This sequence is often featured prominently on the backglass to entice players to play the machine again.

As described above, this term primarily describes a feature that carries-over from game-to-game, but it can also be used to describe a feature that carries-over from player-to-player during multiple-player games.

Catapult —

Typically, this term describes a kicker that propels the ball airborne, often towards a habitrail or a score hole.

Two examples of this can be found on Williams' 1987 'Big Guns'.

Catch —

When the ball is held in a V formed by an upraised flipper and the lower part of the inlane.

Cellar Hole —

A ramp below the playfield, entered through a hole in the playfield.

Center Post —

A stationary rubbered post or pin set between and inline with the bottom pair of flippers. Gottlieb/Premier used a center post on many of their games. Not to be confused with an Up-post.

Check Separator —

Also called a trade check separator, it's a device used in coin payout machines of some 1930's games to determine whether the coin inserted by the player is a real nickel or a trade check (a token). Trade checks each had a hole in their center, allowing a detecting pin in the separator to recognize them as different from nickels and route them to the payout tube for future payout. Coins were routed to the cashbox.

Check separators were often an operator option at extra cost.

Invented by Charles Fey for his Liberty Bell slot machines which were the first mechanical slot machines, also invented by him.

Chicane Lane —

A lane with several curves to it, and a ball rolling through this lane will exhibit a zig-zag or wiggling motion on its way down. The lane usually has inserts in its path to light what awards or features will be earned by a ball passing through it. The curving aspect of the lane slows the ball down.

A list of games identified with this feature can be foundhere.

Chromium Steel —

This is not steel that has been dipped in chrome to give it that brilliantly shiny veneer finish of which we are all familiar. It is steel that has been alloyed with chromium to make it resistant to corrosion. Stainless steel contains at least 10.5% chromium.

Clear Coated Playfield —

A playfield which has had any of several choices of coatings (such as Varathane) applied to the playing surface for purposes of restoration, protection, or aesthetics. This term generally refers to coatings applied after the playfield left the factory, and is not the same finish that the manufacturer had used. However, Williams, for instance, in around 1990 began producing playfields clearly marked as "diamond-plated" which had a clear coated finish.

This finish almost always produces a strikingly polished and reflective surface, more than the playfield possessed when it came from the factory. Thus the practice goes beyond the protective effect of a good waxing by adding a permanent visual effect. For IPDB purposes, these playfields do not show users how the game looked when first produced.

Cocktail Table —

These machines are smaller versions of the standard pinball machine, usually about the size of a cocktail table, from where they get their name. These machines have no backbox and the playfield top glass is unsloped and horizontal, allowing drinks to be placed on it. These machines were developed for locations that did not have the room for a standard-sized pinball machine. Play is similar to other games, and the score and play information is usually displayed on the cardholder at the "bottom" of the playfield near the player.

Coil —

See Solenoid.

Coil Sleeve —

A plastic or nylon (and sometimes aluminum in older games) sleeve that passes through the center of a solenoid, and in which the metal slug moves when the solenoid is engaged. The coil sleeve must be clean and smooth or the metal slug can hang and bind when the solenoid is activated.

Coining —

Inserting a coin to start a game or to add credits (replays) to the credit meter.

Combo —

A defined sequence of shots that need to made in rapid successions without missing are called combos.

Console Cabinet —

Most often, this term describes a floor-standing machine that has wood panel sides extending down to the floor on all four sides, instead of four individual legs. An early example of this is C. F. Eckhart & Company's 1933 'Wahoo'. Some pinball machines were made in two versions: with individual legs and as a console, such as Keeney's 1947 'Cover Girl'

In some styles, the back portion of the cabinet will extend to the floor as one piece with only the front end supported by two individual legs. Games such as United's 1962 'Bonus Baseball' might be described as having a console cabinet.

Other consoles are too small to have any individual legs, and the cabinets rest on the floor. An example is Genco's 1952 '400'.

Conversion Kit —

Conversion kits were designed to allow an owner/operator to convert one game into another while reusing the most significant portions of the previous game to save on cost. Note that these differ from the Converted Games in that the owner/operator makes the conversion rather than the game being converted at a manufacturer's location.

Conversion kits usually contained a backglass and instruction cards, and sometimes a new wired playfield (that plugged into the old connections) but which reused the electromechanical or solid state controllers, cabinet, cabinet art, coin mechanisms, scoring mechanisms, etc. Some conversion kits included additional items, such as cabinet side decals, new game roms, manuals and miscellaneous other items. Some later kits even contained new solid state electronic boards to upgrade the control system.

In kits where only only a backglass and instruction cards were included, the game play and scoring was not changed in any way and the original manufacturer's name was often still on the game, which can lead to confusion regarding the status of similar games and their manufacturer.

Because the controllers were usually reused, conversion kits were designed to convert one specific game into another.

Converted Game —

Similar to the Conversion Kit games, these were also conversions of one game into another, reusing a significant portion of the previous game, such as the cabinet, score mechanisms, etc.

Unlike conversion kits, which were designed to be installed by the owner/operator in the field, converted games were converted at a manufacturer�€™s facilities (and usually not by the original manufacturer) and then sold as "new" games by the new manufacturer. This process became popular during World War II when a ban — announced March-26-1942 — was placed on the manufacture of new pinball machines beginning May-01-1942 and lasting four years until May-1946, when the ban was finally lifted.

Converted games were remanufactured several ways. Some games were given a new backglass and playfield, while others were given little more than minor playfield changes, such as a retouching of the original playfield art. Some conversion manufacturers, such as Victory Games, would not even remove the original manufacturer�€™s name from the machine. Other conversions would go as far as completely stripping the components from the game and rebuilding it with a new theme, possibly rescreening the playfield, and even including new side art, manuals, score cards, etc. in addition to a new backglass.

Owners would often send in their games to be converted, but manufacturers also purchased games on their own to convert and, using additional parts available from stock, resell to a different owner.

A number of new companies were created solely for the purpose of offering pinball machine conversions. According to the Pinball Collectors Resource (by Robert Hawkins & Donald Mueting), there were only four manufacturers of pinball machines from before the ban that were still producing them when the ban was lifted!

See also Re-themed Game.

Counter Game —

See Table Top Game.

Credit Dot —

A small, visual indicator that appears on the alphanumeric and dot matrix score displays of many solid state games to alert the operator upon arrival at the location that there is a problem with the game that needs servicing. It is in the form of a decimal point (a period, or dot) that immediately follows the displayed number of credits on the game. It is not expected to be noticed by the pinball-playing customer.

The dot initially indicated only that switch errors were present, but in later games it represented additional error conditions, such as if one of the balls in a multi-ball game was missing from the trough.

The first pinball machine that had defective switch detection was Williams' 1986 'High Speed' but it could not show a credit dot because it still had the traditional 4-digit display for credits and match numbers. These displays did not provide for dots or commas. To alert the operator, when this game was powered-up the switch numbers were shown on the score displays (up to a maximum of three switches according to the manual). Also, as an operator option, an audio alarm at power up would cause the knocker to rapidly strike several times. See Switch Alarm Knocker.

The first pinball machine to have a credit dot was Williams' 1987 'F-14 Tomcat' as it was their first game to have 7-digit alphanumeric score displays, replacing the traditional 4-digit display, and these new displays allowed for dots and commas.

Reportedly, these additional manufacturers used credit dots:

�€� Premier Technology (games using the Gottlieb System 3 MPU)
�€� Data East (example: Time Machine from 1988)
�€� Capcom (used stars instead of dots)

Credit Dot, seen to the right of 'Credits 0' (click to enlarge)

Crossover Return Lane —

A flipper return lane that by design has swapped places with the outlane, and is separated from the flipper by this outlane. A ball entering the top of the return lane has to cross the outlane in order to reach the flipper. The speed of the ball usually allows it to jump the outlane and not drain, although success of this is not guaranteed.

A list of games identified with this feature can be foundhere.

Cue Game —

Games that use cue sticks to shoot the ball rather than a plunger.

Data East —

One of the major pinball manufacturers of recent time, now out of business. Data East was known for only making games based on a licensed theme, such as a TV show or movie, but had used unlicensed themes in the past. Data East became Sega Pinball, Inc., which is also no longer in business.

DC —

Direct Current

Death Save —

A method of saving a ball that has rolled down an outlane. By moving the cabinet forward and to the right as the ball hits a plate near the drain, tha ball can be made to bounce back into play.

Designer —

The person who designs the playfield and/or game rules.

Dip Target —

This is Gottlieb�€™s name for a wide, thin target face that is positioned behind a bank of drop targets on certain games, almost always in groups of three behind a 9-bank of drop targets. This plastic target has a protruding nub at the top of each side that allows it to pivot in its metal mounting bracket when hit by the ball in play, causing the surface to angle downward, or dip, pushing the lower back part of the target to close a weighted switch behind it for scoring. The target surface is thin enough and wide enough that a light bulb mounted behind it illuminates it to the player.

Thanks to former Gottlieb designer John Osborne for providing us the derivation of this term.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Disappearing Bumper —

Disappearing bum​pers are a type of active bumper. See Bumper for a description.

Disc roto-target —

See longer explanation under Roto-target.

Diverter —

A playfield object that can swing (usually controlled by a solenoid) to divert the ball onto one of several paths. Diverters are commonly used on ramps and on lanes to allow the ball to divert to a special target or lock during certain phases of the game. For instance, Williams' 1994 'Demolition Man' uses a diverter on the ramp that can lead to the cryo-claw to divert the ball onto a habitrail when the cryo-claw is not activated.

Not be be confused with Diverter Magnet.

Mechanical (non-electric) pivoting diverters are found on Genco's 1933 '42nd Street'.

For static (non-moving) diverters, see Horseshoe Diverter.

Diverter Magnet —

A magnet that does not stop the ball but influences its path when the ball pas​ses over it or near it, causing the ball to change its speed, direction, or trajectory. Dive​rter magnets may or may not be under player control, and may be permanent or electric. The div​erter magnets on Midway's 1992 'The Addams Family' (aka "The Power") are not under player control. The Magnasave feature found on several games is under player control.

Not to be confused with a Diverter.

See Playfield Magnets.

Diverter Ramp —

A ramp with one entrance and more than one exit. A diverting mechanism is used to determine which of the exits the ball with pas​s through.

A single pivoting device is used to divert the ball on Midway's 1994 'The Shadow'.

Multiple dive​rters are used to direct the ball on Williams' 1988 'Swords of Fury'.

See Diverter.

Dot Matrix Display —

Plasma displays (not usually LEDs which are much dimmer) in an individually addressable dot grid rectangular array, capable of displaying graphics and text by energizing selected dots of the display. These displays usually use Neon gas, which glows orange when ionized by a high voltage electric current passed through the segment.

This type of display replaced the earlier Alphanumeric displays.

A dot matrix display from Capcom's 1996 'Breakshot'.

Drain —

Where lost balls exit the playfield (noun), as well as the actual act of losing a ball (verb). Also known as the outhole.

Drain-o-Matic —

A pinball game where balls drain too easily. Derogatory.

Drop lane —

A vertical lane directly above an outlane that causes the ball entering it to drop straight down into the outlane. In this way, it makes the outlane have more than one entrance.

An example of this feature is found on Bally's 1967 'The Wiggler'.

A game having two of these lanes is Bally's 1968 'Dixieland' where the left one is very long and has a detour gate in its path, if earned by the player.

In the example of Williams' 1970 'Gay 90's' the drop lane also serves as an extended kickback lane.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Some games were designed by the factory to have a mini-post in the path of the dropping ball to deflect the ball away from the outlane and towards the flipper. In these instances, we do not identify this feature as a drop lane, even if an operator removed the mini-post after the game left the factory.

Drop Target —

A type of standup target that is dropped onto or into/below the playfield when hit. A row of them placed side-by-side is a Drop Target Bank.

The earliest type of drop target that we have encountered is on Exhibit's 1936 'Trapper' where the metal target tips over onto the playfield, not into it. The ball-in-play does not actually make contact with the target but instead hits a spring which in turn pushes the target over.

A subsequent version of drop target dropped into the playfield but the surface that the ball hit did not drop. What dropped is a piece of decorative plastic behind the target that the ball never touched. An example of this is found on Gottlieb's 1951 'Minstrel Man'.

Starting with Williams' 1962 'Vagabond', the surface struck by the ball is what dropped into the playfield, and the flat top of the target became part of the playfield surface while in the down position. This type of target is often found in a row of several, referred to as a drop target bank.

Unlike a Dropping Bank of standup targets where all targets move in unison under motor power, each drop target operates individually, dropping suddenly when hit, pulled by spring tension. They reset in unison, however, when they are in a bank controlled by a common reset coil. This reset action is also sudden.

One unusual type of drop target does not require the ball to hit it to make it drop because its up/down action is under timed control from the CPU. See Sega Enterprises' 1976 'Rodeo'.

See also Memory Drop Target.

In the Notable Features section of the game listings on this site, drop targets are grouped by the number of them that share a common reset coil. For instance, if ten drop targets are in a row and share one reset coil, we will display this fact as 10-bank drop targets (1). If half of that row used one reset coil and the other half used a different reset coil, we will display this fact as 5-bank drop targets (2).

In addition, targets that share a reset coil may not all appear next to each other on the playfield. For instance, Bally's 1981 'Centaur' has two sets of two drop targets in its center playfield that share a reset coil and we would show this as 4-bank drop targets (1).

In-line drop targets also are grouped by common reset coil. Centaur also has 4-in-line drop targets which means all four targets share a reset coil.

Grouping drop targets in this manner can help explain game operation to users unfamiliar with a game. Games for which we do not yet know how many reset coils are involved will list their drop targets as a sum total, such as Drop targets (10).

Bank of 5 drop targets from Bally's 1975 'Freedom'

Drop Target Trip Coil —

This is an extra coil mounted to the drop target bank chassis of some games that causes some of the drop targets in the bank to drop down immediately after the entire bank has reset. The coil when energized actuates a long trip arm which has trip arm wireforms attached to it, one for each drop target to be tripped.

This feature trips the same drop targets every time and should not be confused with the memory drop targets typical of solid-state games where trip arm wireforms are not used and the same drop targets are not always tripped each time.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Drop-down cabinet —

This is a term used to describe a type of wood cabinet that is extended downward in the front (or "dropped down") to accommodate a large coin door.

Gottlieb used this style of cabinet from January 1963 to February 1964 on their multi-player games to accommodate their new larger chrome door and their new and large combination lockdown bar and ball-shooter used during this period.

Williams used this style of cabinet for games made from February 1965 through mid-1966. They had instituted a new coin door designed to accommodate nickels, dimes, and quarters in a single slot. Prior to this, each denomination required its own coin slot. This new design required a larger coin acceptor and a larger coin door than before. To accommodate the larger door, the front end of the wood cabinet was extended downward. Their first game to use this cabinet style was 1965 'Alpine Club'. Their last game to use this cabinet was 1966 'A-Go-Go' where, during its production run, the coin door was changed back to a multiple slot design and the cabinet extension was eliminated.

Other manufacturers also used this style of cabinet. Sega Enterprises of Japan used it on their solid state games from 1976 to 1979. An example is 1977 'Mikoshi'.

An example from Spain is Automaticos' 1970 '7-Up'.

Dropping Bank —

Not to be confused with a Drop Target Bank, this is a row of standup targets enclosed in a frame that can move up and down during game play. In the up position, all of the targets can be hit by the ball in play. For the down position, the frame will lower all of the targets simultaneously into the playfield, and the flat top of the frame becomes part of the playfield surface where the targets had been.

The up and down motion is controlled by a motor, therefore is not a instant action like in the case of Drop Targets.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Dual Outlanes —

Two outlanes on each side of lower playfield, as in the examples of Gottlieb's 1962 'Sunset' and Williams' 1964 'Zig Zag'. The design feature was prevalent prior to the introduction of flipper return lanes in 1965.

Dual Target —

See Bar Target.

E.F.O. —

This is the abbreviation used by the Spanish company Electrónica Funcional Operativa, S.A. of Barcelona, Spain. This was the company who designed the entire electronics of most (if not all) Playmatic machines. We do not know how many other pinball manufacturers for which they provided boards other than manufacturers we occasionally happen upon in our research, such as Maibesa. We know they also designed boards for Cidelsa, an arcade division of Playmatic.

Their circuit boards will indicate E.F.O. BARCELONA SPAIN.

Their schematic pages may indicate EFO S.A..

Their name roughly translates to "Functional Operative Electronic".

A list of games identified to have boards provided by this company (or probably provided by them) can be found here.

Eddy Sensor —

See Proximity Sensor.

Eject Hole —

A hole which holds the ball visible to the player until a scoring objective is achieved then kicks it back into play. Also called Kick-out Hole.

Electro-Mechanical Game —

Early games, mostly pre-1978, that rely on electromechanical components, such as relays, stepping units, motors and scoring wheels rather that solid-state electronics. Also called EMs. Compare to Solid-State games.

Electromagnet —

A coil that acts like a magnet only when electricity is applied. When electricity is removed, the magnetism stops. Most often used as a solenoid, but sometimes used under the playfield to affect ball travel. Electromagnets may or may not be under player control.

See Playfield Magnets.

Electronic Upright —

Also called an "upright" or a "flasher type" slot machine, this is not a pinball machine. It is a gambling device. The player deposits coins to increment the credit counter, usually a 3 or 4-digit counter. The player presses a button to increase the potential payout amounts as shown on the silkscreened display glass, decrementing the counter one step for each press of the button. Then the machine motor is activated by the player by moving a large handle on the front of the cabinet, and certain artistic symbols on the glass light up momentarily until finally some symbols remain lit when the motor stops, presenting a final combination to the player, to compare to the payout combinations awarded by the game. If a winning combination is achieved, the counter increments according to the level of payout that the player had first selected.

Later models did not light symbols on the glass but instead had three small windows built in the top of the cabinet, simulating the look of a slot machine as symbols flashed by.

It is important to note that these devices do not have a side handle to pull like a traditional slot machine nor are any coins or tokens dispensed as payout. Payout takes the form of added credits to the counter, allowing the player to continue to play without inserting more coins or, if permissible by the location (and if no law enforcement is present in areas where gambling is illegal), the player can exchange credits for cash. The location will then remove all credits, usually by quickly turning the machine off, then on, which activates the knock-off mechanism, quickly decrementing the counter to zero.

The J.H. Keeney company was a well-known manufacturer of these games in the 1950s and 60s, having made many models, although other manufacturers such as Bally made them, too.

Sometimes these games show up on pinball lists in old Billboard and Cash Box magazines. We include some of them on this site, for clarification purposes.

An example of this device where lighted symbols flash on the glass is Keeney's 1959 'Big Round-Up'.

An example where symbols flash like a slot-machine is Keeney's 1960 'Black Dragon'.

Electropak —

Brand name for a power supply manufactured by Electrical Products Company of Detroit Michigan. It is a combination transformer and rectifier. Rectifiers convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC).

Power supplies such as this were used in pinball machines as the evolutionary step after batteries to allow a game designed for DC operation to be powered by an AC wall outlet.

Electrical Products Company was owned by Avery B. Chereton.

See Patent 2,028,191. For additional info, see this article from The Billboard, Feb-20-1937, page 88.

A Billboard article dated Mar-16-1946 page 93 stated that Chereton was also a coin machine manufacturer before WWII. However, we have not yet found his name associated with any pinball machines outside of that article.

EM —

Acronym for an Electro-mechanical game.

End-of-Ball Bonus —

Points added to the score when the ball leaves the playfield.

This bonus can be a fixed amount of points for each ball, not tied to player performance. Gottlieb's 1961 'Oklahoma' awards 30 points per ball. Gottlieb's 1964 'World Fair' awards 30 points per ball plus a spin of the spin-disc to spot a number on the playfield.

Other games can increase the bonus based on player performance. The player would need to hit a sequence of rollovers or targets, complete modes, and/or earn multipliers. Gottlieb's 1962 'Tropic Isle' awards 20 points per ball, or player skill can change it to be 200 points per ball.

Games that allow player skill to increase the bonus amount to any of several values will display these amounts in a row or cluster of inserts on the playfield. This arrangement is known as a bonus ladder. As the player achieves playfield objectives tied to this bonus, the lit value on this ladder will increase.

An early example of a bonus ladder is found on Chicago Coin's 1939 'Nippy'. Starting in 1970, bonus ladders were conspicuously displayed as a vertical row of inserts near the flippers. Because of this, it has been incorrectly believed by modern players that Gottlieb�€™s 1970 Snow Queen and Snow Derby were the first games to have an end-of-ball bonus.

It is important to note that the end-of-ball bonus is not something that is only awarded at the outhole at the bottom of the playfield. For example, Gottlieb's 1960 'Seven Seas' has two bonus ladders, one for each of its gobble holes, and the manufacturer clearly marks this gobble hole award as "Bonus". The gobble hole on Gottlieb's 1960 'Spot-A-Card' awards a fixed 200 points.

On some games, this bonus is such a large portion of the score that tilting the game results in a major loss of points.

The end-of-ball bonus is almost a standard feature on SS games but less so on EM games. A list of EM games identified with this feature can be found here.

End-of-Stroke Switch —

A switch that is activated by a mechanical device when the device reaches the end of its stroke. On Bally/Williams flippers, the switch is used when the flipper reaches the end of its movement to switch to a lower current feeding the flipper coil to prevent it from burning out. This allows high current to initially move the flipper quickly, but low current to hold it in the up position. Abbreviated EOSS.

In EMs, end-of-stroke switches are used in several places. For instance, a slingshot score is not activated by the standup switches, but the standup switches activate the kicking coil which, when fully engaged, hits the end-of-stroke switch which pulses the score relay. They are also used on pop bumpers and some stepping units.

EOSS —

See End-of-stroke switch.

Escalator —

A device for passing inserted coins from a first location to a second location across a flat horizontal path inside the game. Each inserted coin lays flat on this path, pushed along by the next coin that follows it, until it falls into the coin box. The length of this horizontal path determines how many coins are laid flat side-by-side to be viewed from above through an elongated hole in the playfield. This device allowed the location to determine if slugs were being used in place of actual money.

This device was commonly used in payout games of the 1930s.

An example of a short escalator can be seen in our listing of Exhibit's 1937 'Bazaar'.

An example of a long escalator can be seen in our listing of Bally's 1937 'Carom'.

Extra Ball Buy-in —

See Buy-In.

Flex-save Lanes —

On games with this feature, each outlane has a flexible and movable metal wall. When a ball enters an outlane, the player can quickly press a corresponding button, located underneath each flipper button, to move this metal wall to detour the ball to the inlane, thus saving the ball from draining.

Used on a few Bally games during 1987, these lanes appeared on Bally Midway's 1987 'Dungeons & Dragons' where they were also called Magic-Save lanes. They also appeared on Bally's 1983 'BMX'.

Flip Flag —

A domino-sized and shaped device that is hinged on one end and which flips on this hinge to show one of its sides or the other, to indicate whether or not a related feature has been earned by the player. Only three machines have this feature, all of them manufactured by Bally. The first game with this feature is Bally's 1975 'Wizard!'.

Flip-tronics —

The term used by Rally of France to describe their technology package used on several of their EM games in the 1960s, starting with Rally's 1966 'Rally Girl'. The features included nixie tube electronic scoring and design for easier service and repair.

Not to be confused with Williams' Fliptronics.

Flipper —

Those thingies that move when you hit the flipper buttons. Some people use these to propel the pinball. The first game credited to have used them is Gottlieb's 1947 'Humpty Dumpty'. See also Impulse flipper.

Actually, flippers were already used on many games prior to 1947, but they were non-electrical, entirely mechanical. Some games had eight mechanical flippers, such as Ad-Lee Company's 1932 'Double-Shuffle'. Most were "manually-operated" bats used on baseball games, one to a playfield. 'Humpty Dumpty' is the first pinball machine manufactured with flippers that were electromechanical. According to the book Pinball 1, David Gottlieb wanted to name this game 'Flipper' but a legal check found a patented countertop game that had a manual bat, Smith Manufacturing Company's 1932 'Flipper'.

From an interview with Harry Williams on March 18, 1978, pinball historian Russ Jensen later wrote that "at the time when Harry Mabs at Gottlieb came out with the first flipper, Williams [Manufacturing Company] had also been working on a similar device. Theirs, [Harry] said, used a shallow hole into which a ball would drop, which would then be kicked out by a "bat" behind the hole. This was an "automatic" action, however, and not controlled by buttons on the cabinet." See Game-controlled Flipper.

Flipper Return Lane —

A wireform that allows the ball to roll behind the slingshot and towards a waiting flipper.

According to the book All About Pinball, Gottlieb's 1965 'Pleasure Isle' and its replay version Gottlieb's 1965 'Paradise' were the first playfields designed to have flipper return lanes. However, Gottlieb rescheduled the production of a subsequent game designed with these lanes, Gottlieb's 1965 'Bank-A-Ball', so that it could be produced first.

See also Crossover Return Lane.

Flipper-Zipper —

This is the correct term that Bally gave the feature that is popularly called Zipper Flippers. Their first game to have it is Bally's 1966 'Bazaar'.

It is a trademarked feature found on some of their games that (temporarily) closed (or "zipped" up) the gap between the flippers once certain game goals were accomplished, such as lighting up a series of targets, thereby preventing the ball in play from draining between these flippers. Bally parts catalogs referred to this feature as the Flipper-Zipper Assembly.

Bally used the term on its flyers, starting with their second game to have this feature, Bally's 1966 'Capersville', and they almost always hyphenated it. Bally finally referred to it as 'Zipper Flippers' on the flyer for their last game to have this feature, Bally's 1981 'Medusa', which is also their only Solid State game to have this feature, and their only game where these flippers were not placed at the bottom of the playfield.

Used on four Williams EM games, where it was known as "Closing Flipper Action".

Also used on a few games made in Europe.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Flipperless —

These machines have no flippers. When used as a specialty designator in this database, it is used for games manufactured after the invention of the EM flipper (in 1947, see Gottlieb's 'Humpty Dumpty') that don�€™t have flippers.

It is also used for games made before the invention of the EM flipper but after the invention of the passive bumper (in 1936, see Pacent's 'Bolo') because playfields in this time frame (1936-1947) can often look similar to flippered playfields simply because they have these round bumpers, so we identify them as flipperless to clarify this fact for those users who may not be familiar with when the flipper was invented.

Mechanical games and other games made prior to the invention of the passive bumper are obvious to the eye that they would not or cannot have flippers, therefore we do not bother to mark those games as flipperless.

This specialty designator is occasionally used to identify other games, usually those for which not having flippers is an interesting notation.

Many games manufactured just prior to 1947 may have had EM flippers retrofitted into them by their operators in an attempt to keep these games profitable on location after new games were released with flippers. These games will still be designated as flipperless, because they were manufactured without flippers, even if a particular instance of the game is pictured in the listing with the retrofit. These retrofit flippers can be found in various locations on the playfields, as operators fit them in wherever there was room and wherever they did not interfere with existing wiring.

Fliptronics —

A name that Williams gave two of its seven versions of its WPC operating system. See Advanced Search on this site for a pulldown list of all MPU operating systems.

Not to be confused with Rally's Flip-tronics.

Flyaway Target —

A type of Hanging Target that, once hit by the ball, swings up and stays up, unable to be hit again, until reset.

Bally advertised this feature as "All New" on their Bally's 1982 'Speakeasy' but, in fact, targets that performed like this appeared on earlier games whether the term "Flyaway" was used or not. Midway had used the term "Fly Away Skill Target" on their advertising flyers for Midway's 1964 'Top Hit' and Midway's 1965 'Mystery Score'.

Free Ball Return Lane —

A lane that delivers the ball to the shooter alley. Typically, this lane has no gate and therefore is always "open". An example of this is found on Gottlieb's 1970 'Scuba' where it is referred to as a "mid-field ball back feature".

Free Play —

This term has shades of meaning:

1. A game won by the player. Also called a replay. Allows a future game to be started without having to insert a coin (coining). A running count of such awarded games are most often displayed on the backglass.

2. Back in the 1930�€™s and 40�€™s, games were advertised by the manufacturer to have optionable modes for Free Play or for Novelty Play, often pointed out to differentiate the game from Payout Machines of the day. To option the game for Free Play was to allow it to award replays for achieving game objectives. Modern games refer to this setting as the Replay Mode. To collect on the earned free plays (replays), the game has a Start button on the front of the cabinet used to bypass the need for coining or, if the game has a coin slide, the slide may be pushed in all the way without a coin in it. This type of coin slide that allowed free play first appeared on Keeney's 1935 'Quick Silver' and was invented and patented by Bill Bellah.

3. An operator option on Solid State games to allow the Start button to initiate a game without a coin, and regardless if there are replays registered on the credit meter.

4. For games that were not equipped by the manufacturer with an option to bypass coining, which includes the EM games, this term refers to an after-factory modification to bypass the need for coining. To do this, the replay unit zero-count switch (on EM games) can be made to not open, rendering the Start button as always "hot", or a separate button can be wired to appear somewhere on the coin door, to simulate the insertion of a coin. Alternately, the game can be set to award a replay at a very low point threshold, ensuring that a replay will always be won for each game played, eliminating the need for coining.

Free Play Hole —

A hole in the playing field that delivers the ball back to the ball lift mechanism, to allow the player to shoot it again, without subtracting from the count of balls played. These are seen most often on pre-flipper games.

Frenzy —

A special mode earned in some games where everything on the playfield scores a lot of points.

Game-controlled Flipper —

For solid-state games, this is a flipper that is sometimes operated by the activities of game play and not exclusively by the player pressing a flipper button. In this way, it can be said the flipper is under semi-automatic control of the CPU. Typically, the ball in play has to achieve an objective to enable the CPU to take control of the flipper, timing its flip with the proximity of the ball as detected by nearby sensors. We know of four examples of this solid-state version:

"Thing Flips" is found on Midway's 1992 'The Addams Family'.

"Shark Flips" is found on Sega's 1995 'Baywatch'.

"Autodrop Probe" is found on SLEIC's 1996 'Io Moon'.

"Phantom Flips" is found on Williams' 1998 'Monster Bash'.

For electro-mechanical games, see Automatic Flipper.

Game-controlled Mini-flipper —

See game-controlled flipper.

Gate —

A thing the pinball can go through in one direction but not the other. You can often find gates at the end of the plunger lane. There are several styles of gates.

A type of gate from Bally's 1976 'Freedom'. The ball can pass through from the left, but not from the right.

Gimmick —

A feature of the game that is put in there to attract attention and make the game unique in some way. A gimmick can also be a decoration on the cabinet or backbox.

Gobble Hole —

A hole in the playfield through which the ball in play may fall, ending that ball. Falling into this hole usually scores a large value or a special. This was a common feature in the woodrail era, and rarely seen after that.

See also Sinkhole.

Gottlieb Made In Brazil —

Gottlieb shipped unassembled game components to Manaus, Brazil because it was a Tax Free Zone and assembly was finished there by Fipermatic, a Brazilian import and export firm.

We asked Wayne Neyens for more information. He told us that, in the 1970�€™s, Gottlieb shipped the following components to Australia and Brazil:

Backglass
Playfield
Lightbox insert
Lower cabinet insert (aka motor board)

Gottlieb did not ship the playfield glass or the cabinet. Those components would have to be procured (locally) by the recipient.

See also Knock-Down Game.

10/18/2011

Gottlieb Made In Italy —

Some Italian backglasses and playfields repeat the Game Name as the manufacturer. For instance, a backglass for the Italian version of Gottlieb's "Golden Arrow" has a logo printed on it indicating "MFD by Golden Arrow, Italy" instead of indicating Giuliano Lodola, the acknowledged manufacturer of this version. This information appears in a rectangular box resembling the Gottlieb logo of the period. This raises questions of who really manufactured those backglasses and playfields. Federico Croci, a collector in Italy, offers this explanation:

"I talked about an old operator about the fact that sometimes there are games with the words "manufactured by" (or "mfd by") and the name of the game itself, which makes little sense. He told me that, as far as he remembers, when that copy of a Gottlieb game was built by, for example, RMG, it has the logo RMG in both the backglass and the playfield. It could be a game entirely made of new parts, or a reconstructed old game, but if RMG ordered playfields and backglasses, they usually were marked RMG.

"But, you could go directly to the printing facility, which was external to the many pinball manufacturers, not connected to them in any way, and ask to buy one of the playfields and backglasses they were manufacturing for someone else. The printing guy always produced some more playfields and backglasses than requested by, for example, RMG, just to sell these for himself. And he modified the name of the manufacturer, if present; so, he removed "Giuliano Lodola", if present, and substituted it with the same exact name of the game. Or he added "The Best", before the same exact name of the game. Or he added something else...things like that. He made this in order to not be accused of selling designs made by someone else, but also, if you have a playfield and a backglass, to have the name of the game printed on it somewhere, it helps to recognize the parts.

"So, if we have a Golden Arrow made by Giuliano Lodola, usually we have a pinball which was assembled in the Giuliano Lodola's factory. If we have the same exact game, but the only difference is in the logo, it means that the kit was assembled by the operator, buying somewhere the playfield and the backglass. In this case, it's also possible they also buyed a new cabinet, or had it sprayed new."

01/10/2008

Gottlieb/Premier —

One of the major pinball manufacturers. Gottlieb was bought by Columbia Pictures in 1976 but kept their name. In 1983 when Coca-Cola Company bought Columbia Pictures, Gottlieb was renamed Mylstar Electronics. In September 1984, Columbia closed Mylstar, ending three generations of the Gottlieb family in the business. In October 1984, Gil Pollock bought Mylstar's pinball assets and started Premier Technology, prominently and respectfully featuring the honored Gottlieb name on their pinball games and advertising. Premier went out of business in 1996.

Gunching —

Jolting the machine during play to change the way the ball travels or bounces.

Habitrail —

A ball path made from pieces of steel wire and set above the normal playfield ball level. In games of the 1930s, they were called "ball elevators". See also wireform.

Half-Moon Credit Window —

This term is probably the most common of the informal references given to a type of replay unit used by Gottlieb on several of their EM games during 1975-1976. The term is derived from its appearance on the backglass as an arc, or half-circle, where no silkscreening appears, allowing the unit to display the number of replays available to the player. The unit itself is commonly called the half-moon credit unit even though Gottlieb identified the device in their catalogs and labeled the device inside the backbox as "Replay Unit". This device can display a maximum of nine replays.

A previous type of replay unit required only a small square of unpainted backglass through which was displayed the number of replays. This style of device was used by many manufacturers throughout the EM era and replaced the older style known as replay projection. An example of this previous device can be seen here.

Whether half-moon or square, these displays on the backglass of EM games are collectively called replay windows or credit windows.

The Gottlieb patent #3,793,510 for the half-moon device explains that it was recognized that the previous Gottlieb replay unit could be cheated by players to increment replays without coining and this half-moon device was designed to eliminate such cheating.

This device was introduced during the production run of Atlantis in January 1975. Therefore, some games in that run have the square replay window and some have the half-moon replay window. The last game to have this device was Sure Shot of March 1976. Subsequent Gottlieb games once again had the square replay window device until their transition to solid state credit windows in 1979.

A list of games identified with this feature can be foundhere.

Hanging Target —

A target that hangs above the playfield with its top edge attached to a supporting frame. When the ball hits the target, a switch is closed and the target value is awarded.

On Bat Games, these targets appear along the back edge of the playfield and often do not move much when hit, except to allow the ball to hit it and pas​s behind it. If the target stays up in the air once hit, it can be referred to as a Flyaway Target.

Head —

See Backbox.

Head-to-Head Play —

These machines allow two players to play against each other at the same time using the same ball.

High Score Game —

See Novelty Play.

High-Tap —

The typical EM transformer has two output lugs, normal-tap and high-tap, of which only one is used at a time. Normal-tap is typically selected at the factory. For games operating in low voltage environments, the transformer may be optionally rewired by the owner/operator to its high-tap lug to slightly increase the voltage going to the game coils. This allows the game to play well in that environment. Some games are placed in high-tap even when the game is not in a low voltage environment, which can make the game run differently by giving its components more power.

Hold Feature —

A purchased feature on a bingo machine that, during a game in play, allows the player a choice of returning all or a portion of the played balls to the shooter for replay, retaining ("holding") the other balls on the playfield. This is accomplished by a motorized baffle that can be moved in three directions, not just one direction as is typical of most bingo games, to drop some of the played balls but not others.

This feature was named the Ball Return Feature on Bally's 1978 'Tahiti'.

A list of games identified with this feature can be foundhere.

Home Model —

The popularity of commercial pinball machines created a desire in players to own one in their home and the home models were the result of this. These machines are similar to the coin operated models they�€™re based on, but they do not accept coins and are usually smaller, often designed with shorter legs and younger art for children.

These home models are usually not valued as highly as their commercial models because of their simpler design. The electronics (used in later models) are hard to find.

Horserace Game —

Common features of horserace games are: no flippers; one ball game; selection of horses 1 through 7; has 3 or 4 areas on the playfield, consisting of 7 holes (win, place, show, purse); usually has multiple coin play for progressive odds.

Horserace games are were an attempt to capitalize on the popular sport of horse racing by using a game that could be claimed to not be gambling because of the interaction of the user in shooting the ball. These games used a horse racing theme and they allowed a player to shoot a single ball for each game. The player would try to shoot the ball and cause it to fall into a scoring hole, which caused the player to win that payoff. These games usually allowed players to enter more than one coin at a time to increase the payoff odds. The playfields were often divided into the areas of Win, Place and Show with appropriate odds on the holes in that playfield area.

In old trade magazines such as The Billboard, these large games are sometimes euphemistically called 'jumbo pin games' or 'jumbo pinball games'.

A note about the 'one ball' designation listed above: Some 'one ball' horserace games manufactured after World War II actually contained 5 balls, even though still only 1 ball was used to score. The additional four balls were first shot by the player into the "Skill Lane". This was done to allow operators to continue using the games in the areas where "one ball games" were increasingly being classified as gambling devices.

For these 5 ball horserace games, the first four balls shot by the player were stored in a pocket positioned just to the left of the rebound spring at the left edge of the rebound arch at the top of the playfield. The only skill required to reach this "Skill Lane" was the ability to shoot a ball hard enough to reach the left side of the playfield. Making all four balls into the "Skill Lane" had no effect on the game play or the payout. After four balls were in the "Skill Lane", the rebound spring was reset to the normal position to allow the 5th (scoring) ball to properly rebound when shot. If more than one ball made it onto the playfield and dropped into a scoring hole, the payout was disabled for the extra balls.

A list of games identified with this Skill Lane feature can be found here.

Horseshoe Diverter —

A stationary (non-pivoting) diverter, shaped like a horseshoe, used to change the direction of a ball shot into play (to "spin it around"). A ball with sufficient velocity will travel the full length of the inside curve of the horseshoe to exit in a new direction. A slower ball might not reach the horseshoe at all, or may not make it all the way around the horseshoe and will either slowly roll out or fall into a desired high-scoring hole in the horseshoe's center area.

This device is found on the mechanical games of the 1930�€™s and often is designed to look like an actual equine horseshoe, implying good luck. It is different from the horseshoe lanes found in EM and SS games because it is not actually an enclosed lane, but probably a bigger difference is that, while the horseshoe lanes face towards the flippers that drive the balls into them, the horseshoe diverters of flipperless games are aligned to the trajectory of the upper ball arch that directs the launched ball into play.

An example of a game which uses two of these devices in tandem is Chicago Coin's 1933 'Baby Leland'.

Horseshoe Lane —

A lane shaped like a semi-circle, curving around a playfield component such as a post, standup target, or kick-out hole. A typical example is found on Bally's 1980 'Silverball Mania'.

These lanes can be as small as the one on the left side of Williams' 1988 'Swords of Fury' or as wide and sweeping as the one in the upper playfield of Williams' 1982 'Thunderball'.

See also Horseshoe Diverter.

Impulse flipper —

A design of flipper mechanism used on some woodrails where the flipper does not stay energized for the entire length of time that the flipper button is depressed. Pressing the flipper button causes the flipper to quickly energize then de-energize, as if the player had only tapped the flipper button. The flipper cannot be held in the "up" position and the player must release and press the button to pulse the flipper again. Sometimes referred to as a Pulse flipper. Used by Williams prior to 1956.

Inlane —

The path feeding a falling ball from the playfield to the flippers, usually behind a slingshot. See also outlane.

Insert —

See Backbox Insert.

See Cabinet Insert.

See Playfield Insert.

Jet bumper —

The name used by Williams Electronics to describe active bumpers. See Bumper for a description.

Jobber —

An older term for a non-franchised distributor. A jobber usually dealt mainly in used equipment.

Jumper Bumper —

An active bumper where the entire upper half of the assembly (not just the metal ring that comes in contact with the ball but the bumper cap and light bulb, too) moves up and down with the action of the solenoid. Invented by Dennis Nordman and first appearing on Midway's 1989 'Elvira and the Party Monsters'.

Kick-out Hole —

A hole which holds the ball visible to the player until a scoring objective is achieved then kicks it back into play. Also called Eject Hole.

With few exceptions, kick-out holes propel the ball in one direction only. A list of games having 2-way kick-out holes is here.

See also Kick-out Saucer.

Kick-out Saucer —

A kick-out hole in the center of a round inclined recess in the playfield. This saucer-shaped recess is wide enough to help a nearby ball roll into the kick-out hole. Most kick-out holes do not have a saucer and the ball has to travel directly to the hole to fall into it.

An example is found on the upper playfield of Bally's 1978 'Mata Hari'.

Kickback —

Usually located at the left outlane, the kickback, when activated, kicks the ball back into play instead of allowing the ball to pass to the drain.

Stern used this term to describe the upper playfield slot kicker on their 2015 Game of Thrones game.

Kicker —

In general, an interchangeable term for Slingshot. But there are also "slot kickers", which kick the ball out of a slot/trough/channel.

Kicking Rubber —

Also called a rebound kicker, this is a rubber ring stretched between two or more posts with a paddle in the middle that kicks when the ball comes in contact with the rubber, propelling the ball away. This device is more commonly known as a slingshot.

Knock-Down Game —

This term was used by USA manufacturers to mean a kit that was exported and that typically consisted of everything for a game except the cabinet and playfield glass. The receiving company would procure these unshipped items locally. We don't know if manufacturers outside of the USA used this term.

Knock-down target —

A ball hitting the front face of this type of target knocks it backwards, smoothly and quickly.

An example of a game with this feature is Midway's 1965 'Play Ball'.

On European games such as Bensa's 1974 'Big Brave' and Interflip's 1977 'Dragon', the face of the target, once hit, remains flush with the playfield surface until reset.

Knocker —

The solenoid that bangs the inside of the cabinet or backbox to produce a loud cracking noise that in almost all instances is used to signal a free game. Also see Match.

Sometimes, a knocker is used for other purposes such as notifying the operator of a condition. See Switch Alarm Knocker.

A knocker can be used during game play to highlight a game feature. Three sequential knocks are used to highlight the theme of Chicago Coin's 1951 'Thing'. On Rock-ola's 1935 'Big Game', a knocker bangs the inside of the cabinet bottom to augment backglass light animation if earned by the player.

Lane Change —

Games featuring lane change allow the player to shift the lit lights in a set of lights on the playfield, such as a set of lights on the outlanes and inlanes showing which lane has an award.

Leaf Switch —

A type of switch which consists of two tounges of metal, separated by an insulator, which come into contact when pressed together, such as via a lever or mechanical device. Leaf switches are used to detect a ball coming through a gate or going up a ramp. In older games leaf switches are used throughout most of the game, while newer games also rely on microswitches, magnetic proximity sensors, and optos (opto-electronic sensors).

A basic, single-pole leaf switch

Light Shields —

See Playfield Plastics.

Linear Target —

A scoring device consisting of a target affixed to a long horizontal metal rod visible to the player. The harder the ball hits the target, the further the target and rod are pushed into the rest of the device and the more points are awarded.

This device was Williams' version of the Gottlieb vari-target. It's first (and possibly only) appearance was on Williams' 1989 'Bad Cats'.

Lockdown Bar —

The common name of the metal piece (or wood on woodrail games) at the bottom of the playfield, which keeps the playfield cover glass from sliding out. Often labeled "Front Molding" in the manual. Usually removed via a latch inside the coin door, allowing the playfield glass to be slid out and the playfield then removed.

Loterie —

When used for pinball machines, this is the French word for the match feature. It can be seen on some French pinball games or their advertising flyers.

M-Ball —

The name Data East used for multiball before they licensed the word multiball from Williams.

Magic-Pockets —

A purchased feature on certain Bally bingo machines that, during a game in play, and after playing the third ball and before shooting the fourth ball, allows the player to physically reposition any balls in the top row of seven holes to other holes in that row, using two buttons on the lockdown bar marked Left and Right. Each press of the button moves the balls one hole, left or right, while this feature is active. The player can reposition these balls as many times as desired along this row until the 4th ball is shot into play. However, a ball in Hole 1 cannot move further to the left, and a ball in Hole 7 cannot move further to the right, and a ball in either of these two holes can be used to force other top row balls back into play when these other balls are kicked to hit them.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Magic-save Lanes —

See Flex-save Lanes.

Magna-Save —

A player-activated magnet above an inlane that will try to catch a ball headed for the outlane. Magna-Save has appeared on some Williams games and is a trademark of Williams Electronics.

Magnet —

See Playfield Magnets.

Manufacturers —

There have been many pinball manufacturers through the years. Of the more commonly known USA manufacturers:

Keeney ended pinball production in 1963.

In 1977, Chicago Coin became Stern Electronics, Inc. which lasted until 1985. (In 1999, Stern Pinball, Inc. began operation.)

Gottlieb became Mylstar in 1983 which then became Premier in 1984 and went out of business in 1996.

Williams merged with Bally before closing its pinball division in 1999.

The companies that are still making pinball machines today can be found here.

Marquee —

On older games that have no backbox, this is often a thin vertical board or sign of short height at the rear of the cabinet, displaying the game name and other pertinent information.

See also Backglass Marquee.

Match —

A free game given away by the machine to one of the players for no apparent reason at the end of the game. When the game is over, one of ten different numbers randomly lights up in the silkscreened area of the backglass of EM games or, in the case of early solid state games, lights in a segmented digital display specific for this purpose or, in later SS games, in the DMD or LCD. This number is known as the "match number". Depending on the era of the game, the match number is either one, two, or three digits. For each player whose last digit(s) of their final score is the same as the match number, a free game is awarded because the score "matched". The match feature, unless turned off by the operator, always occurs at the end of the game. There is around a 10% chance of receiving a match on older games, but newer solid-state machines allow this to be set as low as 1%, with the factory setting at 7%. When a match occurs, the knocker is usually used to inform the player.

In some two-player games of the 1950s, the operator can set the machine to provide 10 replays if both player's scores match the number (five for each player). In four-player games of that period, 10 replays could be awarded if first and second player both matched, or if third and fourth player both matched.

Some 1-player games of the 1950s and early 1960s used bulb scoring instead of score reels and these games did not use a match number but instead lit a star on the backglass. If the lit star was adjacent to the last two digits of the player�€™s score, a replay was awarded. For example, the backglass of Gottlieb's 1957 'Straight Flush' illustrates where the star would randomly light next to any of the ten possible combinations of the player�€™s last two digits.

The use of a star in the match feature is not to be confused with the ones used by Williams for their short-lived Star Feature.

See also Your Number Match.

Mechanical Backbox Animation —

When used as a specialty in this database, this term is used to indicate games that contain mechanical action anim​ation in the backbox. This specialty is not used for games that use light-based anim​ations, attract mode lights, dot matrix displays, or flashers.

This mechanical anim​ation is often referred to as backg​lass anim​ation when not considering backg​lass light anim​ation.

See Animation.

Mechanical Animation on Gottlieb's 1966 'Central Park'

MEL —

Tom Kopera, former Williams project engineer and designer, provided us this explanation:

"MEL" was a Bally/Williams created term for pre-production games built on the test production line. MEL was an acronym for Manufacturing Excellence LAB. This is what many companies call the Test Production Line, or Pilot Production Line, or Sample Production Line.

It was a small production line separated from the main line. It had all the same stations/tools/equipment as the actual production line but only held 15 games. Its intention was to build games from a completed BOM with sourced parts and production tools to get the production process set and look for assembly issues. Normally the first 15 games were built on this line, 7 of these games went to the European customers, one game to the programmer, one to UL testing, one to ship testing, one to the game designer for testing, one for manufacturing. Sometimes all 15 were never completed. We called these MEL games. Some games were very close to the actual production games, some games had many issues and the MEL games are considerably different from the production games.

Memory Drop Target —

A drop target feature found on many solid state games and most evident when two or more players are in play. Unlike multiplayer EM games where all dropped targets reset for the next ball regardless if it was for the same player or for the next player, the CPU of a SS game will "remember" which drop targets were hit by each player at the end of their previous ball in play. So, when a player's turn comes up again, typically causing the drop target bank to reset, the specific targets that were hit previously by that player and thus stored in memory as dropped will immediately drop again before the new ball is shot into play. In this way, each player does not lose the advantage of the hit targets at the end of his/her last ball in play. On some games, this memory feature can be disabled by the operator, making all drop targets reset at the start of a new ball, just like multiplayer EM games.

See also Drop Target.

Messenger Ball —

See Captive Ball.

Microswitch —

A type of small switch used under rollovers and other parts of a game. Microswitches are much smaller than leaf switches, are self contained and enclosed to protect their mechanism, and have a button that when pressed activates the switch. Many microswitches are fit with a lever that will press the button when something depresses the lever, which gives the switch a larger range of motion than pressing the button directly.

A microswitch with a lever and formable wire attached.

Mini-Post —

A smaller version of the Up-post, made of wood or other hard material, used to block exit to the outlanes. Sometimes used elsewhere on the playfield as a way to open and close a gate entrance, for instance. Also called Mini-Up-Post.

Mini-Post Screw —

A small, stationary metal post screwed into the playfield. A rubber ring (23/64 or 27/64 inch diameter) is affixed at its top. A typical placement of this device is between and below the flippers at the bottom of the playfield to bounce an otherwise drained ball back into play.

Mode —

Two different meanings:

1. Mode of Play. Replay, Add-a-ball, or Novelty. Many games are manufactured to allow the operator to select which mode of play the game will have for purposes of awarding the player for high scores or for achieving certain play objectives.

2. Periods of game play where the rules change and sometimes special shots are made available. Most modern games (that is, solid state) contain these modes. Common types of modes are where one target scores a value that counts down from its highest value to nothing or when repeated ramp shots score an increasing number of millions. Some games have a certain number of modes you must complete to get a reward or enter a wizard mode.

Motor Board —

See Cabinet Insert.

Multi-Level Machine —

A multi-level machine has at least two distinct playfields at different elevations, each of which contains at least one player controlled device.

Multiball —

When several balls are in play at one time. Not all games allowing this capability are tagged as 'multiball' in our listings:

Player-created multiball:

Many mechanical and electro-mechanical pinball machines are equipped with more than one pinball resting in their ball troughs and the player is allowed to shoot more than one of them into play at the same time, using the ball lift knob to elevate each one to the shooter alley, without waiting for any ball-in-play to drain. These games were not designed to offer special advantages or features for multiball play and, typically, players don't bother with creating multiball on these games, instead playing the balls serially. Unlike solid state games, simultaneous switch hits by multiple balls may not be recognized by EM mechanisms, creating a scoring disadvantage for EM multiball as well as shortening game time in the process. For these games on our site, multiball is NOT identified as a Notable Feature in their listings.

Game-designed multiball:

These are games having multiple-ball play as a designed feature of game play. The additional balls are shot into play according to game rules. During multiball, there is often some sort of objective, most commonly in solid state games a jackpot target that scores an obscene amount of points. For these games on our site, multiball is identified as a Notable Feature in their listings.

A small number of EM games were designed to acknowledge multiple balls on the playfield. A list of these games can be found here.

Bally's 1964 'Mad World' is an example of an EM game designed for multiball but at the option of the player.

Multiball was re-introduced in solid state games starting with Williams' 1980 'Firepower'.

'Multiball' is trademarked by Williams Electronics.

Multiplier —

A feature found on many games that allows you to multiply the end-of-ball bonus or a mode bonus by some factor, such as x2, x3, etc., if certain targets are hit enough times. Some games will allow multiplers of x10 or more.

Mushroom Bumper —

Mushroom bum​pers are a type of passive bumper. See Bumper for a description.

New Old Stock —

A term used to describe parts, generally accepted to mean original manufacturer new parts (and not reproductions or later new production) that were manufactured a while ago and have never been used in a machine. It is an item that is old but has never been used, and since it was never used and has been sitting on a shelf for years, it is considered technically to be a "new" part from "old" stock. Abbreviated as NOS.

Note that since it is a part that has been around for several years, it may not be in pristine condition depending on how it was stored, and in some cases the term has been inappropriately used to describe parts that are used but are claimed to still be in pristine "new" condition, a usage of the term which is generally frowned upon.

Newton Ball —

This is a round, standard-sized pinball used in a captive ball assembly as an immobile intermediary between the ball-in-play and a movable captive ball that rests against it. This pinball is not attached to the playfield in any way but is kept immobile by a thick wireform tightly encircling its upper section. The ball-in-play strikes this immobile pinball and momentum is transferred through it, to propel the captive ball towards its target objective.

The first pinball machine to use this device as described above was Capcom's 1996 'Breakshot'.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

The name for this pinball is taken from Sir Isaac Newton for his law of the conservation of energy, as seen in the device known as Newton's Cradle where several silver balls are suspended in a frame, all in a row and touching each other, and where the intermediary balls in the row remain motionless while balls at each end exchange momentum.

On some games, the intermediary pinball in a captive ball assembly is attached to the playfield using a support pin. This type of intermediary is really a fancy post, not a Newton Ball. Because these games' manuals may still label this post as a Newton Ball, we identify it on this site as a Newton Ball Post.

On other games, a pinball is attached to the playfield as part of a standup target with no connection to a captive ball assembly. This device is really a fancy target, not a Newton Ball. Because these games' manuals may still label this target as a Newton Ball, we identify it on this site as a Newton Ball Target.

Newton Ball Post —

This is not a moving ball in play. This is actually a stationary, immobile metal post mounted into the playfield with its visible portion shaped to simulate a silver pinball of 1 1/16" diameter and to appear as if resting on the playfield surface. This post does not move, spin, or rotate, even when hit. It does not score points when hit. It is a fat, round metal post.

It is seen as part of a captive ball assembly as an intermediary between the ball in play and the captive ball. The captive ball rests against this post due to gravity. The ball in play strikes the post and momentum is transferred through the post to propel the captive ball.

Some earlier games used a thick metal rod or rail as a captive ball intermediary instead of a post. The captive balls on Recel's 1978 'Mr. Evil' use these rails.

Rubber rings are used as captive ball intermediaries in Atari's 1978 'Space Riders'.

Many games use no intermediary at all, allowing the ball in play to directly strike and propel the captive ball. When such games have more than one movable ball in the captive ball chamber, the Newton effect does not rely on any balls being anchored to the playfield. Examples can be seen on Williams' 1978 'Pokerino' and Gottlieb's 1961 'Flying Circus'.

The use of posts on pinball playfields is hardly notable as a feature but the unusual design of this post intends it to be noticed and distinguished. We identify the presence of this unique post on a game to clarify that it is not to be mistaken for a captive ball or for any other potentially mobile ball on the playfield.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

See also Newton Ball Target.

Newton Ball Target —

This playfield device is not the immobile, non-scoring Newton Ball post that it resembles but is a spherical, omnidirectional standup target connected by a rod to a spoon switch below the playfield. When hit, the sphere moves slightly to close the spoon switch, allowing for the scoring of points and/or advancing playfield objectives. The spherical shape and the spoon switch allow the target to score if hit from any direction.

This scoring device first appeared on Stern's 2018 'Iron Maiden Legacy Of The Beast (Premium)' and Stern's 2018 'Iron Maiden Legacy Of The Beast (Limited Edition)'.

On those Stern games, it was used in the Mummy feature as an intermediary for a captive ball (hence the name 'Newton Ball') and also used in the Clairvoyant feature as a stand-alone device (no adjacent captive ball).

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

See also Newton Ball Post.

Nixie tube —

A type of digital display used in some pinball machines in the 1960s. It uses discrete, true-form digits, each in a neon gas-filled tube. They require a high voltage (approximately 170 volts DC) power supply for operation.

The term 'Nixie' was trademarked by the Burroughs Corporation and was derived from 'NIX I' which stood for 'Numeric Indicator eXperimental No. 1.'

An example of a pinball game using Nixie tubes is Rally's 1966 'Rally Girl'.

Compare Numitron tube.

Each digit in a Numitron tube is a seven-segment digit (like an led display). Nixie tubes use discrete elements for each digit.

Numitron tubes are powered by logic level 5v whereas Nixie tubes require high voltage.

NOS —

See New Old Stock.

Not A Pinball —

When used as a specialty indicator in this database, this term is used to indicate that a game is not a pinball game, but some other type of arcade game. This indication is used for some games that have been added to the database because they are often confused with a pinball machine or are added to clarify an issue about it or its manufacturer.

Novelty Play —

Novelty play games offer no rewards or payouts, and are played for no other purpose than to try and achieve a high score. These machines are sometimes also referred to as High Score games. Novelty play games were especially significant during the eras when pinball machines with payouts were being attacked as gambling devices, and the literature for these games often noted their novelty play status. Even offering a free game (a thing of value) to the player could cause a pinball machine to be classified a gambling device in some areas, so novelty play games did not even offer that simple reward.

When used as a specialty indicator in this database, this denotes games that were manufacured as a novelty play only model and which had a separate model number given to it by the manufacturer. If the game merely had novelty play available as an option, but did not have a separate model designation, then it will instead be marked in the notes.

NRA —

National Recovery Administration. A "blue eagle" symbol was placed on products and in shop windows from 1933 to 1935 by businesses that supported the National Recovery Administration's "codes of fair competition". These codes were intended to set minimum wages and maximum working hours for workers and promote fair business practices.

The NRA was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 16, 1933.

Initially, there was one "blanket code" in 1933 but during the following year and a half, this blanket code was replaced by over 500 codes that were negotiated for individual industries.

The NRA code specific for coin machine manufacturers became effective February 2, 1934, ten days after its approval by President Roosevelt.

The NRA subsequently was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on May 27, 1935.

We can expect to find an NRA stamp, decal, or metal plate on pinball machines made after February 2, 1934 and until probably a little beyond May 27, 1935, allowing for a probable response time by the pinball industry to discontinue its use.

Nudge —

A method of controlling the ball by moving the machine itself. See Shaking/Nudging in Skills for the Pinball Player for a full description.

Numitron tube —

An RCA tradename for a type of digital display first made available in 1970. It uses segmented digits in a vacuum tube. The individual incandescent segment filaments are driven directly by Transistor-Transistor Logic (TTL) circuits at 3 to 5 volts.

An example of an arcade game using Numitron tubes is Chicago Coin's 1975 'Super Flipper'.

Compare Nixie tube.

Each digit in a Numitron tube is a seven-segment digit (like an led display). Nixie tubes use discrete elements for each digit.

Numitron tubes are powered by logic level 5v whereas Nixie tubes require high voltage.

One Ball Game —

These machines allow the player to shoot only one ball during a game. The user tries to shoot the ball so that it falls into a hole on the playfield and they will then be given an award based on the odds for that hole. These games often allowed more than one coin to be played for a game, raising the payoff odds for that game. These machines either made a cash payout or rewarded replays (usually up to 999) which could be used to play additional games instead of adding coins, or which could be cashed out by the proprietor.

Opaque —

This adjective describes something through which light cannot pas​s therefore a person cannot see through it.

Sometimes, this word is incorrectly used to describe inserts that are actually trans​lucent.

See also Translucent and Transparent.

Operator —

A person who owns or runs a pinball game, often at multiple locations (restaurants, bars, etc.).

Opto —

A type of switch that detects the ball using light.

Opto-Electronic Sensor —

See 'Opto'.

Outhole —

See Drain.

Outlane —

The lanes that usually are placed to the far sides at the bottom of the playfield and lead to a drain.

Over The Top —

Generally, this term refers to any instance of achieving a score higher than a particular machine's ability to count it. The player's score went "over the top".

On EM games with bulb scoring, this would mean reaching the maximum sweep of the Score Advance Unit, and the backglass score would be maxed out as visible to the player. The machine is unable to record any additional points for the remainder of that game in progress.

On EM games with score reels, this would mean the score reels all turn from 9 back to 0 and continue to score normally from that point. A player can say s/he "flipped over" the score.

On pre-DMD SS games having 6- or 7-digit scoring, the score will "flip over" to all zeroes and continue scoring from there. On some of these games, the High Score To Date shown in Game Over mode cannot record that this occurred, therefore no credits are awarded for High Score. On other games, the High Score To Date in Game Over mode will show the player's score as all 9's flashing, and any credits earned for that achievement will be awarded.

Bally EM games in the 1970's specifically used the words "Over The Top" in the production runs of several different multi-player games as a feature displayed on the backglass. On these games, five score reels were used per player, allowing a maximum score reel display of 99,990 points each. On Early Production games in these runs, if a player achieved a score exceeding 99,990 points, the reels would flip over to zeroes and a buzzer would sound for a second or two while the silkscreened words "Over The Top" would briefly appear on the backglass. This was a temporary display, not retained by the game during game play or at Game Over. This system was changed during the production runs of Old Chicago and Capt. Fantastic to add 100k relays, one for each player, allowing each player to light a silkscreened "100,000" upon achievement of that score. This type of score display was retained during game play and at Game Over. The words "Over The Top" were removed from the backglass on these modified games. The designer of those two games, Greg Kmiec, theorizes that the change was made at the request of the German distributor because the German players were very good at flipping the scores over on these games and the 'Over The Top' method was likely confusing and not helpful when comparing final scores during multi-player games.

Williams used "Over The Top" in at least one EM game, Williams' 1971 'Doodle Bug'.

Pass —

Moving the pinball from one flipper to another. See the skills guide.

Passive bumper —

See Bumper.

Payout Machine —

These machines have the ability to dispense an award to players who achieved a goal. Giving players awards was an early method used to attract players to games and to encourage them to spend more money on the game. The awards have taken many forms (free games, tickets, candy, merchandise, etc.), but the most popular was probably coins.

Coin payout machines were eventually labeled gambling machines and outlawed in most states. At that time, manufacturers converted to awarding and accepting tokens instead of coins in an attempt to circumvent the gambling laws for several years.

PCB —

Printed Circuit Board.

Permanent Magnet —

A magnet having a constant magnetic field (not dependent on a flow of electricity) even when the game is off. Example is Soc. Elettrogiochi's 1967 'Calcio "Italia" (2nd series)'. Permanent magnets are not under player control.

See Playfield Magnets.

Pin Game —

Another term for a pinball machine.

Pin Table —

This is an older term and refers to a game that was manufactured with legs to allow it to stand on the floor. Games that did not come with legs were often smaller in size and were referred to as Table Top Games (aka Counter Games ). Many games made in the 1930's and early 1940's were made in both a table top version and a pin table version.

Pitch & Bat —

See Bat Games.

Playboard —

Another word for the Playfield, sometimes used in Europe.

Playfield —

The part of the pinball machine where you actually move the ball around. When referring to playfield positions, the "lower" playfield area is considered nearest the player while the "upper" playfield area is nearest the backbox.

Some games may have multiple playfields, with various methods for the ball to travel between them. The additional playfields are usually smaller and located either above the main playfield, or below the main playfield and visible through a window of some sort. (Habitrails under the playfield do not count as additional playfields.)

Some games have a 'split-level' playfield where a portion of the playfield is raised above the main playfield. This is distinguished from 'multiple' playfields because in a split-level playfield there are no real play areas under the raised portion.

A example of a split-level playfield is Williams' 1980 'Black Knight'. An example of a multi-level playfield is Stern's 2003 'The Simpsons Pinball Party', which has a small second playfield in the upper left corner of the main playfield.

Playfield Insert —

A translucent or transparent plastic piece sunk into the playfield with a light beneath. These are lit to show the bonus count, indicate a target to hit or area to shoot for, or a current mode status (for example).

Several playfield inserts from 'Cirqus Voltaire'

Playfield Magnets —

Magnets set under the playfield. Very few machines have magn​ets, and when they do, the magn​ets are either under player control (magna-save, magna-flip) or are an integral part of game play. Contrary to popular belief, pinball machines simply do not contain covertly placed magn​ets used to cheat the player.

The two types of magn​ets used in pinball play are the Permanent Magnet and the Electromagnet.

These magnets perform different actions on the ball in play. We have categorized three main types of actions below.

Diverter Magnet

Stop Magnet

Thrust Magnet

Some magnets might perform more than one of the above actions. Magnasave can either divert a ball or stop-and-drop it, depending on when the player activates it.

The magnet in Midway's 1994 'The Shadow' stops the ball then thrusts it. The magnets in Williams' 1992 'The Getaway: High Speed II' do not stop the ball but increase its speed.

Playfield Plastics —

Plastic parts on the playfield, such as plastic covers, light shields, dinosaurs, spaceships and palm trees. Usually refers to the flat plastic colored pieces that cover the light bulbs on the playfield, and which are usually mounted to the top of several posts on the playfield.

Playfield Spinner —

A large, round scoring device mounted into the playfield having a clear plastic top that forms part of the playfield surface. This plastic surface acts as a window and does not move. In most examples of this device, an arrow is attached to a center fulcrum inside the unit and is visible to the player through this round window. Point values, extra balls, and/or Specials are identified on the playfield at equidistant positions around the window's perimeter. Typically, a ball landing in a playfield kick-out hole is locked in that hole, the arrow spins around and stops at a value, the value is scored to the player, and the ball then ejects from the hole. The spinner may also be activated by a ball draining via an outlane.

An example of this device appears on Williams' 1970 'Straight Flush'.

A similar device on Williams' 1989 'Bad Cats' uses a spinning disc instead of an arrow.

Another type has the entire spinning mechanism out of view to the player except for a circle of playfield inserts. The spinning mechanism rotates a light from insert to insert until it stops. An example of this is found on Gottlieb's 1970 'Snow Derby'. Arrows are used in the example of Gottlieb's 1968 'Fun Land'. In each case, the spinning of this unit is tied directly to the revolutions of one or more spinning targets.

Plunger —

The object used to launch a ball onto the playfield. While the plunger is usually a mechanical, spring loaded handle, some modern games (such as Williams' 1993 'Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure') have electrically activated autoplungers and plungers in the shape of gun handles, fishing pole handles, or other items.

Left: A common standard plunger. Right: Gun handle plunger from Indiana Jones. (click to enlarge)

Plunger Lane —

The ball lane, usually on the right side, that leads from the plunger to the playfield.

Pop Bumper —

The name used by Gottlieb to describe active bumpers. See Bumper for a description.

Pot —

See potentiometer.

Potentiometer —

An adjustable resistor used to adjust electronic circuits.

Power target —

A target that looks more like a long metal paddle pivoting on one end, like a flipper. The harder it is hit by the ball, the further back the paddle is pushed and the more points it awards. This device was Chicago Coin's response to the Gottlieb vari-target.

This feature first appeared on Chicago Coin's 1969 'Action'.

Prototype —

Before a game or its software is released, it goes through a number of prototype stages. Each prototype is tested and it is determined which changes are necessary for the next prototype or release version.

Proximity Sensor —

A magnetic sensor that can be mounted under the playfield, but can detect a metal ball rolling above it by noticing how the metal of the ball causes a change in the inductance of the sensor. (These sensors do not contain magnets themselves.)

Proximity sensors have a small circuit board to convert the change in inductance of the sensor to an on/off switch signal. The original proximity sensor circuit boards have a small potentiometer on them to adjust the sensitivity, while newer games have automatic circuit boards that are self-adjusting. The sensor itself can be as simple as a small circuit board with a circular trace pattern.

Pulse flipper —

See Impulse flipper.

There are currently no glossary terms beginning with 'Q'

Ramp —

An inclined surface, set at an angle steeper than the playfield that usually leads either to a habitrail or to a raised playfield. They can be made from various materials, including metal or a clear plastic (PETG - Polyethylene Terephthalate, Glycol Modified, 1.5 Millimeters thick).

Re-themed Game —

A game for which the artwork was completely changed into another game with no intended connection to the first game, usually by completely stripping and then repainting the cabinet, playfield, and backglass, turning it into a custom one-of-a-kind game and given a new name. Typically, the mechanisms and game operation are not altered.

While re-themed games are converted games, the Specialty designator of Re-themed Game is reserved on this site for those conversions which were not done by pinball manufacturers or other pinball companies of the historical past for commercial profit, but were done for personal pleasure by contemporary pinball collectors, private individuals, hobbyists, and others.

The mission of this website is to feature pinball machines as they were made by the manufacturers. These repainted games done by individuals fall outside of our mission. However, we know our users may see these repainted games in public and search our site for them, whether or not they know who made the game. We also know the quality of artwork of these repainted games has improved over time to rival or even exceed the quality provided by contemporary commercial manufacturers. This may cause our users to assume these games are commercial effort such that they would expect to see them on our site. Therefore, we will show re-themed games, usually with minimal text and with three basic pictures: full backglass, full playfield, and full cabinet view. In this way, our users will find at least some information on it, instead of finding nothing and then concluding the site was missing a manufacturer's game.

Rebound Kicker —

A kicker behind a rubber ring. This device is more commonly known as a slingshot.

Red Fade —

This term is used to describe a backglass with areas of red silkscreening that have faded over time. This pigment deterioration is found in older backglasses, such as those in the electro-mechanical era, and affected the color red more than any other color. Red areas would fade to become a lighter red or pink, or a light gold, or a pale yellow, or even white.

Red Post —

On the IPDB, this is a reference to Bally designer Greg Kmiec's inclusion of a single red post on the games he designed at a time when the posts on Bally's pinball playfields were all white in color. It was something he did as a private signature and was not meant to be well-known. Later, when Bally switched to using all translucent red posts, Greg included one red post of a different style.

A list of his games pictorially showing the location of this red post on each one can be found here.

Redemption Game —

These games are primarily designed to award tickets (from a dispenser) that can be "redeemed" for prizes, or in some cases, small prizes themselves such as baseball cards. These games are often designed for younger audiences and can be set up at a shorter height for children.

Reflex Unit —

A device found in almost all bingo games. Some bingo games have two of them. This unit controls the availability of the various features when the player is initially coining the machine. The unit steps up when the replay meter steps up, opening circuits to various features, making these features harder to get for the next game. This has a direct effect on the player�€™s ability to win more replays. As the player plays off the credits or deposits coins, the reflex unit steps down, closing circuits to make the features easier to get, thus making replays easier to get.

An example of a regular pinball machine that has this device is Bally's 1958 'U.S.A.' used to power down the pop bumpers during a game.

Reflexing Feature —

A feature that in some way changes depending on how the game is being played over time. For instance, the number of ramp shots needed for an extra ball may increase if the game is played extremely well for several games. The most common reflexing feature is the replay score, which increases a little each time a replay is won, and decreases if no replays have been awarded for a while.

Relay Kick-out Hole —

One of a sequence of kick-out holes on a playfield where a ball landing in one kick-out hole is designed to be immediately kicked directly towards and into the next kick-out hole. The ball is relayed to the next hole. The last kick-out hole in the sequence kicks the ball back onto the playfield. Games usually have three or four holes in this relay-action sequence.

An example of this is found on Gottlieb's 1967 'Sing Along'.

These holes do not have to be adjacent to each other on the playfield to operate as relay-action. An example of this is Gottlieb's 1960 'Texan'.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Not all games with kick-out holes arranged in a line are designed to operate as relay-action. An example is Williams' 1959 'Rocket'.

Replay —

A free game won by scoring more than the current replay score.

Replay Score —

The number of points required to win a replay.

Return Lane —

Generally, any lane that returns the ball to a previous area of play.

See also:

1. Flipper Return Lane.

2. Crossover Return Lane.

3. Free Ball Return Lane.

Reverse Wedge Head —

See Wedge Head.

RFG —

Roman F. "Doc" Garbark, he​ad of mechanical engineering at Gottlieb, whose initials appeared on many schematics.

RoHS —

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances is a directive that originated in the European Union and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. The banned substances include lead, an element that was traditionally used in the solder used for pinball machines and later in the solid-state score displays. All products in the EU market after July 1, 2006 have to pass RoHS compliance. Pinball machines manufactured in the USA and intended for export to Europe have to be RoHS complaint.

Rolldown Game —

There are two types of rolldown games:

The first type are those designed as a rolldown game using an oversized ball which the player rolls down the playfield (which is itself protected by a cover glass) aiming to land in score holes in the playfield. Examples of this are Genco's 1945 'Total Roll' and Genco's 1946 'Advance Roll'. These were designed by Harvey Heiss of Genco and produced right after World War II.

(According to Harvey Heiss and Steve Kordek, due to the wood shortage after the war, the wood used in these games was left over from the manufacture of Howard Hughes Spruce Goose airplanes and was flown from California to Chicago for use by Genco in these and possibly other games, although that was not advertised.)

The other type of rolldown games are pinball games with designs modified to comply with local laws. Instead of the current ball being delivered to a plunger, it is dispensed into a cup on the front of the game. This is claimed to increase the skill of playing, thereby making it a game of skill instead of a game of chance which would be illegal in many anti-gambling regions. These games have a playfield glass which is open on the upper end and the player rolls the ball over the glass and it drops onto the upper end of the playfield where it then rolls back towards the player and into score holes in the playfield. Another glass is placed above so the player cannot cheat. There were relatively few of these games produced.

Rollover —

Also called a rollover switch, this is typically a thin wireform protruding through a slit on the playfield and scores when the ball rolls over it, pressing it downward to close a leaf switch under the playfield. After the ball passes over it, the spring tension in the leaf switch raises it up again.

These rollovers are typically found in inlanes, outlanes, and other lanes on the playfield where a narrow passage is defined by ball guides so that the ball can roll dead center over the wireform.

Rollover button —

A round target, usually plastic, scored by rolling over it.

Rollover button from center playfield of 'Cirqus Voltaire'

Rollunder —

Essentially, this is an aerial rollover switch. It's a wireform, generally U-shaped, hanging inside a metal frame. A ball passing through this frame will push the wireform to make it swing and close a switch under the playfield. Rollunders can be used in places too wide for a narrow rollover channel, or at one end of a ramp, or in any place where a rollover switch is desired but would not fit.

Rollunder Spinner —

See Spinning target.

ROM —

Read Only Memory. Pinball software is stored in ROMs.

Rotating targets —

This is the Williams' term for their version of roto-targets. They also referred to it as Four Position Targets. Zaccaria also used a four-position set of targets on Zaccaria's 1975 'Lucky Fruit'.

Roto-target —

A spinning group of playfield targets, 'rotating' in the sense that each spin action changes which targets in the group face the player once the spinning has stopped. The spin action can be initiated a number of different ways, depending on the game design, such as the ball in play hitting a designated rollover or target, or landing in a kick-out hole or outhole, or hitting one of the roto-targets, or even being served to the shooter alley. Although these targets spin, scoring their values are intended only when the targets are at rest. Compare Swinging Target.

On a given playfield, this group of targets will appear in one of these two configurations, never both:

Disc roto-targets �€“ A circle of targets arranged flat like a disk, vertically mounted through a slit in the playfield to allow the targets to travel in an arc trajectory as the disk spins. A game designer will place stationary posts in front of the disk to choose for that game the number of targets to be exposed to the ball in play. Only one target is visible in the example of Gottlieb's 1957 'Falstaff'. Two non-adjacent targets are visible in Gottlieb's 1965 'Buckaroo'. Three adjacent targets are visible in Gottlieb's 1977 'Super Spin'.

Carousel roto-targets �€“ For Gottlieb games, a ring of rectangular targets tightly spaced and mounted horizontally on the playfield, in the shape of a tambourine. In this configuration, never are all targets available at the same time to be hit by the ball in play. Typically, five adjacent targets are visible and facing the player, allowing the player to flip the ball to hit any of them. An example of this is Gottlieb's 1966 'Dancing Lady'. For Williams games, the carousel is four round targets positioned 90 degrees apart around a central axis. Only one target is ever visible to the player, to be hit by a flipped ball. An example of this is Williams' 1962 '4 Roses'. Zaccaria did the same thing on Zaccaria's 1975 'Lucky Fruit'.

A carousel roto-target from Gottlieb's 1967 'King of Diamonds' (click to enlarge)

Roulette Wheel —

See Captive Ball Spinner.

Rubber —

Rubber loops and pads fitted along the edge of playfield parts.

Safety Gate —

The metal, V-shaped ball-saving device that would raise and lower between flippers on some Gottlieb games during 1950-1951. It's purpose was to close the flipper gap and route balls to either flipper for flipping back into play. It is the precedessor of the round plastic Up-post used in 1960's games and later. Gottlieb also referred to this device as a Blocking Gate.

Saucer —

A round inclined recess in the playfield. This saucer-shaped recess is wide enough to help a nearby ball roll into its center, where there is a gobble hole or, more often, a kick-out hole.

See also Kick-out saucer.

Save —

The act of preventing a ball from draining.

Scoop —

A curved piece of metal, usually mounted above a sinkhole, that catches and directs the ball to a specific location.

Three scoops on Capcom's 1996 'Breakshot'

SDTM —

Acronym for "Straight Down The Middle", a description of the path some balls take before they unceremoniously drain between the bottom two flippers.

Sega Pinball Inc. —

See Data East.

Service Credit —

A credit gained by pressing a credit button inside the cabinet, used by the service technician and not included in audit totals.

Shaker Ball Machine —

Shaker ball machines were a concept used in only two pinball machines, both produced by Allied Leisure. These games have a much shorter cabinet length, about half that of a regular pinball machine, and shorter playfields. The flipper buttons are on top of two handles that stick up from the front of the cabinet. These handles are connected to the playfield within the cabinet. The playfields were suspended on tracks, and these handles were designed to be used to "shake" the playfield to try to affect the ball; tilting would occur only with the most energetic shaking.

The games display the playfield on an upright mirror although the playfield is really on the bottom of the cabinet. Balls are released from the top of the playfield; there is a track that the ball can roll back and forth on when launched. Pressing a flipper button causes the ball to be released from the rail, allowing the player their attempt at hitting strategic locations.

Bally made one bingo machine, Bally's 1954 'Hi-Fi', that used buttons on the side of the cabinet to jolt the playfield upwards, up to ten times per game. They referred to this feature as the Bump-feature.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Shaker Motor —

Motors that are purposely designed to vibrate or shake when activated. Pinball machines use them to activate at certain times during play. Their only purpose is to shake the pinball cabinet so that the player can feel this movement during play.

Sinkhole —

A hole in the playfield used as a target. See also Gobble hole and Cellar Hole.

Skill Lane —

See Horserace Game.

Skill Shot —

At the beginning of a ball, a designated shot that can be made for a unique award not available at other times during the game. Usually involves launching the ball directly at a lit target or a certain rollover lane.

Skirt —

See apron.

Slam Tilt —

Tilting the game so violently that it immediately stops all games in progress and reboots (EMs only go into game-over mode).

Easily achieved by kicking the coin box or lifting the machine past horizontal. This type of behavior will also get you thrown out of an arcade and is considered very bad manners.

Slap Save —

A save accomplished by slapping the side of the machine and the flipper button so a ball headed SDTM hits the tip of the flipper and can be flipped back onto the playfield.

Slingshot —

The (roughly) triangular objects above the flippers that kick the ball in the general direction of each other and the outlanes.

Snap Target —

This is a moving target that alternates (pivots) between two stationary positions. It does not swing back and forth in continuous motion. Depending on the game model, the target will pivot in response to the ball hitting any playfield feature that causes the motor to turn (including hitting the target itself) or it will only pivot when hit.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Compare to Swinging Target.

Snap Trap —

A trap hole with a metal lid on it that, to many people, reminds them of a toilet seat lid. These devices were used on games in the mid-1930's. At the start of a game, all lids are in the "up" position, exposing the tr​ap holes to the ball in play. Once a ball falls into a hole, by mechanical action the lid snaps closed on it, covering the ball and making a surface that is flush with the playfield. Subsequent balls will roll over the closed lid as if no hole was ever there.

An example of this feature can be found on Genco's 1934 'Pontiac'.

Snapping Trap —

See Snap Trap.

Solenoid —

A coil, with another coil or magnet inside, used in flippers, kickers, and other mechanical devices. When the coils are energized, the opposing magnetic fields cause the inner piece to move. Solenoids are the principal method that pinball machines use to create movement in mechanical objects on the playfield.

A flipper solenoid. Note the 3 taps, indicating two coil cores.

Solid-State Flipper —

Flipper mechanism used by Data East and as a backup mechanism in newer Bally/Williams games.

Solid-State Game —

A pinball machine that uses solid-state electronics (transistors, integrated circuits, printed circuit boards, microcontrollers etc) rather than the earlier electro-mechanical components. Modern solid-state games are quite sophisticated with generic CPU and audio boards controlled entirely by computer software. Compare to Electro-mechanical games.

Sounder —

An older term for the knocker.

Special Award —

A special award is usually a free game, but can be set to some other award, such as an extra ball or a number of points. The special award usually has it's own playfield insert on the playfield, often near the inlanes or outlanes.

Spinner —

One of many different types of devices used on a pinball machine where either all or part of the device spins. The spinning action might be driven by a motor, or initiated from contact with a ball in play. The different types are, for the most part, easily distinguishable from each other due to their appearance, location, or mechanical operation. In whatever form it appears on a given game, the manufacturers often will refer to it in their documentation for that game by the general term "spinner" because that is sufficient to distinguish it from other components on that game. However, this one-word term is insufficient identification when trying to differentiate between the different types of spinners in a discussion or when using our Advanced Search. On this site, we differentiate using these expanded terms:

Backbox Spinner or Backglass Spinner

Captive Ball Spinner

Playfield Spinner

Spinning Bumper or Carom Spinner

Spinning Posts

Spinning Target

Spinning Disc or Whirlwind Spinner

Spinning Bumper —

A motorized bumper that continuously spins around a vertical axis in one direction only throughout game play. One type consists of a rubber ring stretched around three posts positioned in the shape of a triangle, as in Bally's 1967 'Rocket III'. This type does not score points when hit and functions only to upset ball trajectory. Another type uses a round rubber disk fitted around a center post. It is non-scoring in the example of Chicago Coin's 1948 'Spinball', or scores points in the example of Stern's 1982 'Orbitor 1'.

Spinning Disc —

A circular, motorized turntable inset into the playfield as part of its surface. It spins rapidly during game play. Depending on the game, it will spin continuously throughout game play, or only occasionally. Its surface can either be flat or have a ribbed plastic mat adhered to it. When spinning, it will upset the path of a ball in motion across it, often sending the ball quickly in unexpected directions.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Compare this feature to the Spinning Posts.

Spinning Disk —

See Spinning Disc

Spinning Lights —

Some games have a circle of inserts on the playfield, or a circle of silkscreened arrows on the backglass, or a display of silkscreened playing cards on the backglass, that are lit one-at-a-time in rapid succession by a spinning mechanism that is inside the game and out of view to the player. The spinning mechanism quickly rotates the lights until it stops. The spinning mechanism may be activated by a playfield rollover, spinning target, or kick-out hole. All the player sees is a rapid succession of these lights.

An example of this feature on the backglass is found on Gottlieb's 1968 'Spin Wheel'.

An example of this feature on the playfield is found on Bally's 1971 'Firecracker'.

See also Spinner for several examples of spinning mechanisms that are visible to the player, including Backbox Spinner.

Spinning Post —

This is a circular, non-motorized plastic turntable that is inset into the playfield as part of its surface. On most games, two rubbered posts are affixed to its outer edge and 180 degrees apart from each other. This device remains static until a ball in play hits one of the posts, causing the turntable to turn on its axis either clockwise or counterclockwise and, in most cases, actuate switches under the playfield to score points and/or advance a bonus. Depending on the angle and force with which the ball hits either post, the turntable may turn only slightly, not at all, or spin several revolutions until it slows down on its own. The spinning surface may affect ball trajectory only slightly, as the ball is more affected by hitting the posts and deflecting away. Compare this feature to the Spinning Disc.

A variation of the above design, aerial spinning posts, uses no turntable. The two posts are attached by their tops, one to each end of an aerial support that spins around its central axis whenever the ball hits either post. Two examples to have this style are Playmatic's 1974 'Joker' and Premier's 1995 'Mario Andretti'.

Two other games came from the factory with only one post on its turntable. They are Williams' 1971 'Zodiac' and Williams' 1971 'Planets'.

A list of all games identified with this feature can be found here.

Spinning Target —

A metal plate, usually about 1" x 1.5", which spins about its center along a horizontal axis. The ball pas​ses underneath, striking the lower half of the spinner, causing it to spin several revolutions.

A spinning target from Bally's 1975 'Freedom'.

Spot Target —

Another name for a Standup Target.

Square Machine —

A pin game with a cabinet of (approximately) equal length and width. Games that commonly carry this designation were built prior to 1934. Their round playfields are fixed and do not rotate.

A list of Square Machines can be foundhere.

SS —

Acronym for a Solid-State game.

Stancor Univerter —

A type of transformer used in many games made by Western Equipment and Supply Company.

According to the book Pinball 1, the Standard Transformer Corporation, a subsidiary of Western, manufactured these transformers at 852 Blackhawk Street, which was Western's former address and the original address of Western Electric Piano Company.

Standup Target —

A target that is in a vertical position, such as a round plastic "spot letter" target, or a color rectangular target.

Also known as a spot target.

A round standup target. The tab on the front is used to mount the target to the underside of the playfield.

Star Feature —

This term was used by Williams to describe a coining feature on four of their pin games made during 1954-1955. After the player deposits a coin to start the 5-ball game, an insert illuminates on the lower apron to alert the player to the availability of this feature. Optionally depositing a second coin before shooting the first ball activates the feature. Then, each time a ball leaves the playfield, one or two numbers from "00" to "90" light up on the backglass. Should either number ma​tch the first two digits in scores of 10,000 to 90,000, the first of five Stars lights on the backglass. Mat​ching numbers a second time lights two Stars for 5 replays. Up to 200 replays can be earned if this occurs five times, lighting all five stars.

If the player does not deposit the second coin, then the play is a conventional 5-ball game that still awards replays for high scores.

The list of games identified with this Williams feature can be foundhere.

Notice that this feature compares the "end-of-ball ma​tch number(s)" to the first digits of the score. This coining feature is not to be confused with the more familiar end-of-game match number that compares to the last digits of the final score and that had begun to appear on Williams games in 1955. Games with the Star feature did not have the end-of-game number match feature.

Stop Magnet —

An electromagnet that cat​ches a moving ball, bringing it to a dead stop, then releases it according to game rules. Two examples are Williams' 1970 '4 Aces' and Williams' 1979 'Gorgar'. Stop magn​ets may or may not be under player control. Magnasave magnets can stop the ball if player timing, ball speed, and trajectory are favorable.

See Playfield Magnets.

Sway Tilt —

See Tilt.

Swinging Target —

A moving target that moves constantly from side to side, due to a motor.

A list of games identified with this feature can be found here.

Compare to Snap Target.

Switch Alarm Knocker —

This is the name given to Operator Adjustment 50 in certain solid-state games made by Williams. If enabled by the operator, it causes several quick strikes of the knocker to sound when the operator powers up the game whenever switch errors are present, to accompany the display of the switch errors on the score displays. This sound notifies the operator in a clear way that issues exist.

Reportedly, if pinball-playing customers discovered the power switch or, typically, were familiar enough with the games to know how to turn the games on, this loud repetitive sound could cause them to suspect something was wrong with the game and then they would not deposit their coins to play it. Thus, this option might be turned off by the operator for this reason.

The first pinball machine to have defective switch detection was Williams' 1986 'High Speed' and was also the first game to have this optional knocking sound.

As best as we can determine from available game manuals, the following Williams games had the Switch Alarm Knocker notifier:

• All System 11 and System 11A games (exception: Grand Lizard used a bell instead of a knocker)
• All System 11B games from Big Guns to Earthshaker, except Jokers! which only displayed the message "Press ADVANCE for Report" at Power Up.

The Credit Dot notifier was already in use by the time Williams discontinued the Switch Alarm Knocker notifier.

Switch Stack —

Several leaf switches, stacked on top of one another, and all activated in unison by the same action.

A switch stack with six switches.

Swivel Target —

Actually, a pair of targets, left and right, mounted together on a common post that swivels underneath a plastic, such that when one target is hit, it recesses out of view to make the other target appear.

Recel and Petaco used this feature. A Recel flyer identifies these two targets as one "alternating target".

For pictures, see Recel's 1978 'Fair Fight'.

Table Top Game —

These machines would normally rest on a counter or tabletop. Generally, the smaller versions are referred to as counter games and the larger are table top machines. The table top variety can often be found with legs attached; they were sold as an optional accessory. These games are generally 36" long or smaller.

Thrust Magnet —

An electromagnet that accelerates the ball in play. In the case of Midway's 1994 'The Shadow', it is in the form of a stop magnet which first cat​ches and holds the ball, but then propels it up-field by quickly de-energizing, energizing, and de-energizing. In the case of Williams' 1992 'The Getaway: High Speed II', three electromagnets operate in succession to propel the ball in the elevated Supercharger loop. Thrust magn​ets are not under player control.

See Playfield Magnets.

Thumper Bumper —

The name used by Bally and Williams to describe active bumpers. See Bumpers for a description.

Thwacker —

See Knocker.

Tilt —

A pinball machine will tilt, ending the current ball and discarding any end-of-ball bonus if the player moves the cabinet too violently or tries to lift it. Also see Slam Tilt.

There are several mechanisms that are used to detect machine abuse. The first is simply a conical pendulum suspended inside a metal ring. This is called a tilt bob or pendulum tilt. As the machine is nudged, the pendulum will swing, and if it ever touches the ring, a TILT occurs. Most new machines can be set to give one or more tilt warnings before actually tilting, and tilting in this fashion causes immediate loss of both the ball in play and your accumulated bonus for that ball.

Another tilt mechanism is the "ball roll" tilt. It's a pinball sitting in a metal track inside the cabinet. The track has a shallow slope in the same direction as the playfield, so the ball usually rests in the bottom of the track; at the top of the track is a sensor. If you physically lift the front of the machine, the ball rolls up the track and contacts the sensor. At the very least, this is an immediate tilt with no warnings. On most machines, it's a slam tilt.

Finally, there are usually one or more impact sensors, placed in places likely to be the subject of player abuse, such as the coin door and cabinet. The sensor is just a pair of switch blades with a round weight affixed to one of them. The switch may be either normally open or normally closed. Banging on the game hard enough to trigger one of these sensors will cause a slam tilt.

One version of the slam tilt is the sway tilt. It looks like an upside-down pendulum tilt. Its ring is at the top. Unlike the pendulum tilt, the thin metal rod is rigidly attached to the frame and thus does not allow for swinging. If the player strikes the cabinet sharply, the adjustable weight on the top end of this thin rod vibrates surprisingly and will tilt the game if it touches the ring. We have seen the sway tilt mounted in backboxes and near the inside of the front coin door. An example of this tilt can be seen on Exhibit's 1941 'Knockout'.

Diagram of a Tilt Bob Assembly

Tilt Rollover —

This rollover appears on a few Williams EM games during 1976-1977 that have an upper left lane that returns a flipped ball to the top of the playfield. The rollover is located at the top of this left return lane, just below the left metal ball gate that is attached to the metal upper ball arch. The rollover is undesignated on the playfield and does not score any points for the player. Its only purpose is to tilt the ball in play from further scoring but only if this rollover is the first switch closure to occur after the ball is shot into play from the plunger. A ball reaching that switch first is impossible to happen under normal game operation because the left ball gate is in the way. In fact, if any other switch closure occurs first, the Ball Index relay renders this rollover inactive for the remainder of the ball in play.

The only way in which this rollover can be the first switch closure for a ball shot into play is if the left ball gate is stuck in an open position, allowing the plunged ball to pas​s under it to reach this rollover first. The playfield then tilts for that ball. This left ball gate could get stuck open if it was unclean or if a cheating player held a mag​net over it, through the playfield glass, or if it retained residual magnetism from such an act.

While any pinball machine with a metal ball gate is subject to such cheating or lack of cleaning, a search of Williams EM games from 1970 up to the advent of SS games in 1977 showed that, of the many games that had an upper left return lane, only the lanes that had a spinning target at its lower end had this tilt rollover. Without this tilt rollover, a stuck left gate could allow the player to flip a ball up through the spinner, rebound the ball off of the closed upper right metal ball gate, and back through the spinner, and repeat this action to accelerate playfield objectives and the score. If the playfield also had an upper right return lane, a stuck left gate would allow a skillful player to repeatedly flip the ball into a counterclockwise orbit, up the right lane and down the left one, keeping the spinner in constant scoring motion.

The designer certainly anticipated the possibility of misplay due to a left ball gate malfunction and deemed the game as unacceptable for play under that condition, making it tilt. An observant player could still defeat this feature, however, by softly plunging the ball to avoid the stuck gate and close some other switch first, thus activating the Ball Index relay and disabling the tilt rollover for the duration of that ball in play.

A list of the Williams games having this tilt rollover is here.

The list includes two games that were on the cusp of the emerging solid state technology, and shows both their EM and SS versions. This feature which may have started out as an idea for EM was soon to be eclipsed by the flexibility of solid-state programming. The two SS playfields do show this tilt rollover but for only one of them do we have documentation to see the rollover being acknowledged and, therefore, probably operative. We searched beyond 1977 for other Williams SS games that had an upper left return lane, stopping the search at 1980 when multi-level playfields began, and none of these games 1977-1980 that had a spinner in a left lane also had an unmarked rollover. It�€™s possible that this rollover was soon discontinued because the gate malfunction was deemed not much of a threat. Perhaps the institutional knowledge of its use at Williams did not carry over to the new group of solid state designers and wouldn't really be needed by software programming at that point anyway.

Tilt Warning —

Many solid-state games will issue one or more tilt warnings before actually tilting, so a player has a chance at one or two powerful shoves before losing the ball.

An example of an electromechanical game with this feature is Como Manufacturing Corp.'s 1951 'Stadium'.

Time Clock —

A device found under the playfields of many flipperless games consisting of a spring-and-gears timing mechanism. This timer was wound up and initiated by the mechanical action of the player pushing the coin chute to start a game. Usually 3 to 5 minutes later, the timer would finish by opening a switch to kill power to the game and all of its illumination whether the player had a game in progress or not. When a player inserts a next coin into the chute and pushes it in to start a new game, it resets the timer, closes the switch, and lights up the game for play.

The timer found standard in many flipperless games is housed inside a metal bell yet it has no clapper and the bell does not ring. The bell serves only as a protective housing for this timer. This timer may be listed in parts catalogs of the day as a time clock or a time clock assembly and will have a picture with it so that the term is not confused to mean some other device.

See also Bell Timer.

TLPFOHW —

The Lost Playfield Drawings Of Harry Williams.

A number of playfields were designed by Harry Williams for Williams Electronics, Inc. in Chicago, reportedly when Harry was living in California. Harry would mail the drawings to Williams in Chicago. These playfields were not produced as games by Williams Electronics and any of them may not have even been acknowledged as received from Harry.

For the fascinating story, click here.

Toilet Seat —

See Snap Trap.

Token —

Some arcades use tokens in place of coins.

See also Trade Check.

Tool Room Copy —

A pencil tracing on vellum of the original playfield drawing of a game used by Williams Manufacturing Company for their Tool Room. The Tool Room would probably be known today as a Prototype Lab or Sample Lab. These tracings of the original drawings would be marked as "Tool Room copy" or "tracing for Tool Room" (or similar) and had information specific to the Tool Room for setting up jigs to drill holes and route slots, for part numbers and colors of things, for rubber ring sizes, etc. Unlike the original drawing, the tracing probably would not carry the designer�€™s initials, just the initials of the draftsman who made the copy and who added the part number notations. The date on the Tool Room copy is generally the date that it was traced and the date for "routing jigs completed", though sometimes there are further revision dates.

The earliest use of the Williams Tool Room copy of which we are aware was seen for Model 174, Williams' 1956 'Perky'.

Prior to introducing these tracings, Williams used the original playfield drawing in the Tool Room, as some drawings have been seen marked up with blue pencil notations on holes and slots, etc.

Starting with Model 201, Williams' 1958 'Casino', Williams began an additional practice with their drawings and copies even though implementation of this practice was spotty until Model 209, Williams' 1959 'Sea Wolf' (with two exceptions, Model 214 Williams' 1958 'Club House' an Model 236 Williams' 1960 'Darts'). This was the practice of rubber-stamping a standard signature/date block onto the drawings, containing either the word ORIGINAL or the word MASTER, into which people would then add the info by hand.

The word "ORIGINAL" was stamped in red ink on the original drawing by the designer. On a drawing that has both "drawn" and "approved" lines initialed, the drawing would have been done by a draftsman, while the designer would have approved the drawing as reflecting what they designed.

The word "MASTER" was stamped in black ink on what had formerly been known as the "Tool room copy."

All the same data was on each, it was just a new stamping/naming standard. The ORIGINAL generally contained the designers�€™ initials or name, and a date and maybe a revised date, while MASTER generally contained the date redrawn by a draftsman, and the date the routing jigs were completed. There's no guarantee the designer's initials would be on the Tool Room or MASTER drawing, while they would almost always be on the ORIGINAL drawing.

The practice eventually evaporated. Steve Kordek�€™s drawings started getting all the tool room work done directly on them again like was done previously, and Norm Clark basically never stamped his copies, he just wrote things in by hand.

Tower Bumper —

A passive playfield device consisting of a round cylindrical plastic housing containing a rebound switch, inside a rubber ring. Chicago Coin first used this device on Chicago Coin's 1948 'Sally'. We make note of this simple device on a playfield because at first glance it may be mistaken for a passive bumper, due to its top surface resembling a round bumper cap.

See also Bumper.

Trade Check —

A token having the words "good for" on it. For pinball machines back in the 1930�€™s, the trade checks had round holes in their centers and, when inserted into the coin chute to start a game, could be differentiated from actual nickels via a trade check separator.

Translite —

A thin piece of translucent white substrate containing artwork, located behind a clear piece of glass in the backbox, used on newer games instead of a painted backglass. It is created via a photographic emulsion that is exposed and then developed like film.

Whereas older games have the art painted directly into the backglass, newer games use a translite held onto a piece of clear glass using plastic trim. Removed from the glass, a translite appears a lot like a poster, and is more resistant to damage than a backglass, although the colors are often less brilliant than those found on a backglass.

Translites are sometimes referred to as backglasses when the distinction is not important.

Also spelled as 'translight'.

Translucent —

This adjective describes something that allows light to pas​s through it but a person cannot see through it.

Playfield inserts are commonly translucent as one cannot look through the insert from above and see the light bulb underneath. An example of this is the insert located between the pop bumpers on Keeney's 1964 'Arrowhead'.

Sometimes, this word is incorrectly used to describe inserts that are actually trans​parent.

Sometimes, the word opa​que is incorrectly used to describe inserts that are actually translucent.

See also Transparent and Opaque.

Transparent —

This adjective describes something that allows light to pas​s through it and a person can see through it as well.

Playfield inserts that are transparent allow one to look through the insert and see the light bulb underneath. An example of this are the string of inserts located between the two side targets on Gottlieb's 1962 'Sunset'.

Sometimes, the word trans​lucent is incorrectly used to describe inserts that are actually transparent.

See also Translucent and Opaque.

Trap —

Catching the ball so it comes to rest in the angle formed by a raised flipper.

Trap Hole —

Unlike a kick-out hole, this type of hole does not kick the ball out but instead keeps the ball in it for the remainder of the game. The trapped ball rests partially above the playfield surface such that other balls in play can bump into it (but not dislodge it). Some playfield designs used trapped balls to guide other balls around them to reach higher scoring tr​ap holes.

Most mechanical pinball machines that have tr​ap holes will have point values painted near them as the necessary way to designate the points that a ball earns by landing in them. Once the electric bumper and progressive scoring appeared on games starting in 1937, balls no longer had to end their play in a tr​ap hole to score points but could continue in play, bouncing off the scoring bumpers and racking up more points on the progressive score totalizer. Then the ball could exit the playfield via an outhole and in some cases be recycled as the next ball in play.

Tr​ap holes did not disappear from use after 1937, however. They were still used in a number of electromechanical flipper machines into the 1950s. One example is Williams' 1953 'Grand Champion'. They are the main component of all bingo machine playfields to this day.

In all instances, the trapped balls actually rest on a baffle board underneath the playfield. This board in its closed position holds the trapped balls in place. In EM games, the board contains a small switch for each tr​ap hole, allowing the weight of the ball to close the switch for scoring. At the beginning of each game, the baffle board moves slightly, allowing all trapped balls to fall through and return to the ball shooter for play. In older games, pushing the coin chute with a coin in it will move the baffle and drop the balls. In later games, the baffle would move under electric motor power.

Tri-Ball —

One name Data East used for multiball before licensing the use of the word multiball from Williams.

Turbo Bumper —

The name used by Sega to describe active bumpers. See Bumpers for a description.

Up-Post —

In its most familiar application, it is a large, round, ball saver device located between the flippers, typically made of translucent plastic. It does not spin, and moves only up or down. In the Down position, it is flush with the playfield, allowing balls to roll over it. It raises up during game play in response to a ball hitting a specified target or rollover. A light bulb inside the device illuminates the post when raised, to be more noticeable to the player. In this Up position, it closes the gap between the flippers and acts as a post, blocking balls from exiting the playfield. Instead, the ball typically hits it, stops, and rolls along its edge to rest against one or the other flipper. This post drops back down at the end of the ball in play or in response to hitting specified targets or rollovers. First used on Rally's 1967 'Play boy'.

Smaller versions that do not illuminate can be found anywhere else on the playfield and might be identified more properly as Mini-posts.

Vari-target —

Gottlieb's term for a playfield target which scores higher and higher values the harder the target is hit by the pinball.

Chicago Coin called their version the Power Target.

Williams called their version the Linear Target.

Stern referred to the target as a "variable push target" on the flyer for their game Stern's 2004 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!®'.

Homepin used what they called a "push target" on their prototype version of Homepin Ltd's 2018 'Thunderbirds' but it was replaced on production games with a captive ball assembly.

A vari-target described on Gottlieb's College Queens Flyer.

Veeder Counter —

A small, metal rectangular counting device found on pinball machines and consisting of only a viewing window for the several numbered wheels that it contains (like an automobile odometer). The counter increments for EM games when an electric pulse is received or increments on non-electric games when the player pushes in the coin slide. For pinball machine applications, and depending on the game, these counters would count total plays, or only actual replays given, or the number of times that payout score thresholds were reached, or other such accounting requirements as provided by the manufacturer.

Veeder-Root Incorporated of Hartford, Connecticut was the first counter manufacturer to have its counters installed in coin operated equipment and is the only counter manufacturer whose name we have seen mentioned in old Billboard ads. However, over the years, other counter manufacturers came into existence and found their way into coin-operated equipment.

Vertical Up-Kicker —

A device that kicks the ball straight up, usually onto a habitrail.

Video Mode —

A mini video game used as a mode on a pinball machine, displayed on a dot-matrix display.

VUK —

See Vertical Up-Kicker.

W/L —

An abbreviation for the words "When Lit" often used on the playfield and elsewhere when space is limited, such as on the surface of playfield inserts.

For example, a target might score 1000 points or "5000 w/l".

Also seen as "w/lit".

Wedge Head —

Refers to the trapezoidal shape of some cabinet backboxes when viewed from the front. This shape resembles a wedge, with the top being wider than the bottom. The term is popularly associated with many Gottlieb single-player games of the 1960's and 1970's because that manufacturer used this design extensively during this period. However, other manufacturers also used this design, including manufacturers outside the USA. This type of backbox was predominant in the electromechanical era and with rare exception was used only for single-player games. This is because the shape and size of the backbox did not conform well with the space requirements of multiple-player EM scoring mechanisms.

An example of this type of backbox is found in Gottlieb's 1965 'Sky·Line'.

When the bottom of the backbox is wider than the top, it is referred to as a Reverse Wedge Head. An example of this is found on several Williams EM games, such as Williams' 1963 'Skill Pool'.

Whirlpool —

A funnel-shaped device where the ball enters at the top and spins to the bottom.

Whirlwind Spinner —

The original term for Spinning Disc. The term first appeared on the flyer for Bally's 1972 'Fireball', one of the first pinball games to have one.

Widebody —

These games have wider playfields and cabinets than "standard" games of the same period. This additional space allows designers to add extra features to the playfields that give them a unique play feel, but also cost more to produce.

As an example, Williams' 1993 'Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure', a popular wide-body game, has a 25" wide cabinet/playfield, while other games of that period have a 22 1/2" wide cabinet/playfield. Backboxes of the wide-body games are usually the same width as the "standard" games.

Wireform —

A length of single-strand hard metal wire used on a playfield to guide or control the path of a ball. In most cases, each end of the wire is embedded into the playfield surface. Flipper inlanes, for instance, use bent wireforms to guide a ball towards a flipper. In many games, a straight piece of a shorter length are mounted just behind each flipper, its entire length touching the playfield surface, acting as a speed bump to dampen a ball rolling over it. Other wireforms may be installed in a game to prevent the ball from accessing off-limit areas of the playfield.

Habitrails are examples of multiple-strand wireforms. Some consist of only two parallel wires, forming a track upon which the ball rides. Others consist of several wires assembled in the shape of a hollow tube. Each end of the track or tube may be anchored to the playfield surface or to another playfield part.

Wizard —

An extremely skilled pinball player.

Wizard Bonus —

A reward that is so difficult to achieve, only pinball wizards ever find it.

Wizard Mode —

A mode of game play which requires a lot of effort and skill to reach, and which only Wizards are likely to reach.

Woodrail —

A term referring to games manufactured prior to around 1961 that used wood to frame the playfield glass rather than the metal siderails used on later games. The lockdown bar was also made of wood on these games.

In the late 1950's, manufacturers began phasing in the use of metal for the siderails and lockdown bars. Gottlieb was the last to manufacture a woodrail pinball game with their 1960 game "Kewpie Doll", after which they converted to metal rails for the production run of their next pinball game "Flipper" (although some test games of that model still had wood rails). Williams was the last company to make a woodrail pitch and bat game with their 1961 "Batting Champ".

Note that in 1962, some games �€” such as Williams' "1962 World Series" �€” had metal side rails with wooden trim around the backglass, but games such as these are not considered woodrails because the "rails" on the cabinet are metal. Backbox wooden trim was still occasionally used until 1965.

Also note that there were conversion kits to convert woodrail games to metal rail cabinets.

WPC Fliptronics —

See Fliptronics.

There are currently no glossary terms beginning with 'X'

YOUR NUMBER match —

This is a type of match feature that is unique to solid-state games made by Sega of Tokyo. It allows the player to select the last digit of his/her backglass score to be the match number.

This last digit in the score is designated as YOUR NUMBER and each player up has one. The player can change this number anytime before shooting the last ball by pressing the yellow button on the coin door. For instance, pressing the button three times will display a '3' on the backglass score.

The playfield has a small LED that displays a single-digit number throughout game play. This number is always visible to the player and changes value each time the ball hits any targets or switches.

When the last ball drains, the player will be awarded 'Special' (1 credit) if 'YOUR NUMBER' and the playfield Match number is the same.

The player can attempt to lose the last ball on purpose if these two numbers are matching.

Zipper Flipper —

See Flipper-Zipper.

Zolatone —

A brand name for a variety of protective coatings that today is spray-painted onto a variety of surfaces such as wood, metal, glass, ceramics, etc. We see this product on some bingo machines, applied by the operator, as a way to refinish the wood cabinet. In the 1950s, games refurbished for export to Asia would have this finish applied, as it was popular with Asiatic buyers (per The Billboard, Aug-11-1956, page 102).

For pictures of what this finish looks like on a bingo machine, see Bally's 1963 'Bounty' (this image).

John C. Zola of California patented his polychromatic paint in 1952. (United States Patent 2,591,904.)

For more information, see this article from The Billboard, Jun-26-1954, page 116.