Abra Ca Dabra
Gottlieb, 1975
Big Brave
Gottlieb, 1974
Card Whiz
Gottlieb, 1976
Outer Space
Gottlieb, 1972
Surfer
Gottlieb, 1976Looks like I am going to add a 1970's Gottlieb 3" Flipper Multiplayer again after all to my collection. Never mind the artwork or price, just looking for the best one that is both challenging and fun. 
Here are the Choices:
1) Surfer
2) Outer Space
3) Card Whiz
4) Big Brave
Please post your comments about the pros and cons of all these machines and make sure to vote in the Poll as well. You get ONE vote: 
TIA,
Ken
Surfer to me.
The best and fun of 4 games you selected.
2X and 3X bonus, extra ball, reseting targets, eject hole are the best features in a pinball to me.
----------------------------------------------------
Wanted : Dead or Alive - In any condition
Gottlieb SPACE WALK
You find, you win : REWARD USD 500
The question really is, "Do you have room for another pin!" Also the dreaded, "Does the significant other approve of a new purchase?"
Looks like you could benefit by getting a Solar City or Target Alpha. T.A. Is good to go for 4 players.
Quoted from EM-PINMAN:3) Card Whiz
Had the four person version of Card Whiz (Royal Flush) and while it is a beautiful game with a great theme, I did not think it had a great flow to the play. I like Surfer a fair amount - limited play on Big Brave and Outer Space
Quoted from Darcy:Looks like you could benefit by getting a Solar City or Target Alpha. T.A. Is good to go for 4 players.
Quoted from Aurich:No love for Solar City?
Sorry guys, I had a beautiful TA and hated it and could not get rid of it fast enough. 
Played El Dorado at TPF thinking it's the best of those titles so maybe..............nope......hated it. Played a Gottlieb King Pin at TPF and loved it so much I bought one, so now I'm covered on a 4 Flipper Drop Target game that has Kickout Holes which is a feature I really like about the game. 
Ken
Ken,
Get yourself a pitch and bat... 
It'll go great in the new room with the gun and sub arcade plus the bowler you're getting down the road. Your pin collection is already nice.
Pat
I vote for Surfer if the pitch and bats out 
Quoted from tuffano:Get yourself a pitch and bat... It'll go great in the new room with the gun and sub arcade plus the bowler you're getting down the road. Your pin collection is already nice.
Pat
I vote for Surfer if the pitch and bats out
Hey Pat, great to hear from you! 
Alas things have changed due to economic strife. The new and bigger Arcade for 2016 has been postponed indefinitely due to the house needing new siding in the back due to the Rain storms we had, so I will be sticking with my current arcade for quite a few years which is fine. I was looking forward to the Ball Bowler the most but oh well, looks like that may never happen which is OK, as the wife and house come first.
So here is the new lineup:
Pins: Gottlieb Atlantis, Abra Ca Dabra, King Pin, and a 2 Player Machine - (TBD) 4 Total
Arcade: Williams Phantom Gun and Midway Sea Raider Submarine Game - 2 Total
That pretty much maxes out my room were I can still get to servicing things without crawling under machines to get to the back of them which has to happen due to my health.
Still a very fun lineup IMHO, just limited.
Ken
Quoted from Frax:I'm refusing to vote based on the fact that Crescendo is not on the list.
Quoted from pinballholder:No love for Quick Draw? Love me some smart drops...
Quick Draw is OK but would have been a great game IMO if it had direct shots to the Kickout holes rather than luck. With such a small collection I am really trying to find machines that are very different from one another and ACD already has the 3 bottom lanes like QD, so that is yet another reason it is off the list.
Ken
Quoted from TopMoose:Have you looked at Super Spin? You can't beat the theme - rocket-powered surfboards!
Recently played a Jet Spin that was at a friends house and it was OK. Not sure how I feel about Vari -Targets as they do not get a lot of love and even back in the day I did not see anything special about them. I have to say that the Roto-Target on the game is cool, but the layout in general seems lack luster to me for some reason, maybe the lack of Drop Targets. I think I would rather have a Close Encounters EM as it had the Roto, Drop targets, and a Spinner, but that is a 4 player and I want to stick to a 2 player for maintenance reasons.
Ken
Ken, personal opinion, but I really doubt that Jet Spin/Super Spin would last long in your collection. I had one that was fun, but it's a REALLY easy game IMO. Once you dial in that shot to the lane on the left, it's over.
The only one of the games on your list that I have played is Surfer....which I like a lot for competitive play, but comparing against the others uh.....hell if I know!
Looks like Surfer is in the lead stretch so far, followed by Card Whiz. 
Keep those votes and comments coming...............
Ken
Card Whiz is my first, and currently only, EM. I like it a lot. Unfortunately, I have not played any of the others for comparison. If it ends up being this game and you cannot find one, PM me. I even sell the games I love!
And, I WAS going to vote to remove my brain but I was scared fellow Pinsiders would shame me in to following through
Quoted from Darcy:The question really is, "Do you have room for another pin!" Also the dreaded, "Does the significant other approve of a new purchase?"
Looks like you could benefit by getting a Solar City or Target Alpha. T.A. Is good to go for 4 players.
Love my Target Alpha. Can't beat the artwork and who doesn't love 15 drop targets? (That's a rhetorical question.)
Didn't you have a Sure Shot? At least I think it was a Sure Shot?
Worse case, do a temp trade with someone locally.
Temp trades are a great way to experience other games without having to sell one that you love.
My vote is for Surfer. I owned a Card Whiz, and it is a great game. I just think Surfer has a better chance of lasting longer in a collection.
Marcus
Quoted from goldenboy232:Can't beat the artwork
I will say I have always loved the artwork on Target Alpha and it has a special place dear to my heart as it was in our High School Cafeteria freshman and sophomore year and I played the crap out of it back in the day, but as BB king has said, 'The Thrill Is Gone".
Ken
Surfer is a game I cannot get into. Have owned three exceptional examples and never kept one. I can't get over the fact that you have to drain to get the Special or Extra Ball. I want more direct free game opportunities. Don't get me wrong it is a very good game, only I prefer others ahead of it.
I own the rest on your list. Of those three Card Whiz is the favorite.
Big Brave holds sentimental value for me which is why it is still around. I haven't played it in a long time though so don't have a current opinion of it.
Outer Space is an anomaly. It is the one with no drop targets. Mine has limp pop bumpers and makes it a slow player so I haven't really developed a strong opinion of it yet. I need to set it back up and take windings off the pops to bring them in line with the play of the rest of the game and then make my opinion. It has three primary shots: the vari target, the spinner, and the right lane next to the spinner. All you are trying to do is get points/bonus or pound the vari target when the special lights up, but it seems to be enough to justify giving it more of a chance.
What I remember from the mid 70's is at least two or three Outer Space/Orbit and Jumping Jack/Jack in the Box games at the local arcades in Ann Arbor into 1977 or so.
Quoted from Xerico:My vote is for Surfer.
Looking into a local source you know to see if that game is feasible.
Quoted from MikeO:Surfer is a game I cannot get into. Have owned three exceptional examples and never kept one. I can't get over the fact that you have to drain to get the Special or Extra Ball.
That is a concern for me as well, no On Playfield Special or Extra Ball, must drain to gain. Surprised it is not set up like Atlantis where you can drop the targets to get a special or other Gottlieb games. The way I am looking at it though is that a 2 player game will be for competition so score is king and specials are not as necessary as a single player. I do love the fact it has 3X bonus which for competition is key to me.
Ken
"Making these kind of decisions hurt my brain, so I am just going to remove it"
Just in case you are thinking of voting this way, or not, Please see the following video for the proper procedure.
Ken
Quoted from MikeO:I can't get over the fact that you have to drain to get the Special or Extra Ball.
It is the same on North Star. You have to drain balls on either side of the flippers to light the specials to get the kick out scores higher value.
Surfer.
I'm not a big fan of vari-targets so while the other two can be fun to play they're just not my thing. I also have Card Whiz and while it's definitely a great strategy game, for an EM, I need at least 2 pop bumpers. Surfer has a bunch of stuff to do and the only thing that would have made it an even better game is making the spinner actually worth going for, but it's still fun to have on the playfield. Not to mention the artwork is pretty good too.
Surfer all the way. Good luck finding one though. I think Surf Champ may have the same size head if that makes a difference--SC head is way smaller than other 4p heads. SC is on my "never sell" list. Game play/features/ who cares about a special being in the drain in a home use free play.
After studying all of your choices. Ken, you have 2 to pick from, 1976 Surfer or 1972 Outer Space. The games on your list have plenty of Drop Targets, so 1976 Card Whiz would be out. Big Brave has a Vari-Target but also 5 Drop Targets.
Surfer- Has a Spinner, one Kick-Out, and Standing Targets
Outer Space- Has a Vari-Target, a Spinner, and 3 Targets.
Analytical at the very least. Next to consider is the Theme or the Year of Manufacture?
Quoted from Darcy:Surfer- Has a Spinner, one Kick-Out, and Standing Targets
AND a cool bonus...with green lights! Getting a rainbow shot that hits all the star rollovers is awesome. Really fun game...and looks great too. Should be a top 5 game. They got everything right on it (except that spinner being 10/100 instead of 100/1000...would love to change that).
Well looks like Surfer is kicking some butts in the Poll. Thanks again for all the votes and comments, especially the comments.
Just so happens I am going to check one out on Saturday. Wish me luck.
Ken 
Quoted from EM-PINMAN:Just so happens I am going to check one out on Saturday.
Nice! If it has the wrong spinner or it's worn I think I have at least 1 set of decals left for it.
Quoted from Wickerman2:They got everything right on it (except that spinner being 10/100 instead of 100/1000).
I agree.
Quoted from Wickerman2:AND a cool bonus...with green lights!
Awesome!
Quoted from ahanson:the only thing that would have made it an even better game is making the spinner actually worth going for, but it's still fun to have on the playfield. Not to mention the artwork is pretty good too.
Quoted from Rat_Tomago:You have to drain balls on either side of the flippers to light the specials
Yep.
Ken
Quoted from Wickerman2:If it has the wrong spinner or it's worn I think I have at least 1 set of decals left for it
That would be way cool as a just in case I buy it deal, thanks for the offer. Looks like Pinball Rescue does not carry the decals.
Surfer would be my choice as love the artwork. I nearly got a nice one local but guy will not sell it.
I agree multiplayers are all about the score and having the double/treble feature on last ball makes for great games.
Big Brave is fun in this respect but not a fan of the art compared to Surfer.
Quick Draw has always appealed but never played it.
The only one I've played on your list of 4 was Card Whiz and I really liked it (TPF 2015). My wife normally HATES the old EM games but even she had a blast playing this one. I'm considering looking for an EM game down the road. Good luck in your search.
Quoted from EM-PINMAN:Not sure how I feel about Vari -Targets as they do not get a lot of love and even back in the day I did not see anything special about them. I have to say that the Roto-Target on the game is cool, but the layout in general seems lack luster to me for some reason, maybe the lack of Drop Targets.
We differ on this - I think vari-targets and roto targets are the two most fun features on EM's and I don't mind the lack of drop targets. I do wish Super/Jet Spin had a spinner, though. Of the four games you picked out, I'd go with Surfer.
Quoted from TopMoose:I don't mind the lack of drop targets.
Especially if you have other games with drops...nice to mix it up. Jet Spin is great...just found a Super Spin that I'm going to rehab and sell my Jet Spin.
Quoted from Rat_Tomago:Get an Air Hockey table and hustle the neighbors at a dollar a game. Soon you would have all 4 games.
Knowing my luck I would be the one losing the dollar a game. Not very good at air hockey. 
Well Thanks again to all that participated and helped me with my decision. Looks like I have locked down a Gottlieb Surfer as of today. It's getting a complete Cabinet paint job thanks to pinhead52, so after that it will get a full Shopout by me. It will be a super nice example when it is done in 5 months and will most likely go to TPF 2016.
Ken
Quoted from Rat_Tomago:Surf's Up Braaaaaaaaaaa!
Cowabunga dude! 
Quoted from Frax:Ouch....guess I am not going to have Crescendo repainted by next year lol...
If you get in line now there is still time for you this year Frax, besides you still have a couple extra months after that anyway.
Ken
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Lyon
Huntington Beach, CA
Leduc, AB
