Hi there folks, I'm trying to identify a game that possibly never existed. I will probably never figure out what I played, and I'm cool with that. But I wonder if anyone knows of a machine with this description?

First, let's tell some stories. Everybody loves tales of the past. This was around 1999 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was only 9 at the time, so the memories are a tad fuzzy. We were on vacation, and one night my father took me downstairs to a game room on the first floor of the hotel. This was quite a small room, but it had a row maybe 10-15 pins from various eras and in varying condition. We played maybe 3-4 of the machines, and the last one was - as I recall - a basketball themed machine. It was quite colorful; mainly consisting of yellow, yellowish orange, and/or gold. I played it for quite some time on one quarter (or 50¢, not quite sure how expensive it was back when - especially since I wasn't paying for it, haha!), to a point that had really surprised my dad. It coughed up 2 or 3 multiballs at one point, and I didn't lose any of them for at least a minute straight. After attaining quite the high score, it seems I activated another multiball, which brought out somewhere between 6-10 balls (total, including the 3 or 4 I already had) on the playfield, which I could surprisingly juggle for a few seconds before draining all of them.

Now, I've looked high and low for a machine that matches that description, and I've came up empty. There are a few pins that are somewhat close to it, but none that match it to the T... That I've seen so far. So, here's the description:
1. Basketball-themed. I'm about 90% certain this machine was a NBA Fastbreak, but it doesn't have some of the other attributes. I've also thought the Space Jam, and Harlem Globetrotters On Tour pins looked very similar to what I recall.
2. Pre-2000 machine, as this was 1999 when I played it.
3. Very yellow, yellow-orange, or gold-centric appearance. Again, very much like NBA Fastbreak.
4. Very high multiball count; at least 6. To my recollection, my father thought it was 9. It may have gone more than that. This is where the Fastbreak hypothosis falls apart, since to my understanding, it only has a 3-ball multiball. Same with Space Jam, and I don't think HGTOT had any multiball function?

Now, this could very well have been a malfunction with the machine. I've never really heard of a machine spitting out copious balls before, but if a machine has a reservoir of several more balls than what the games multiball limit is, I suppose that would be possible? Though I've never head of a machine holding more that 3-4 balls if that's what the multiball is supposed to be.

This could also be a modification. I'm not sure why a modified machine would be in a place of business like that - at a hotel no less - but, I suppose anything's possible. I've seen a few machines get modded to do higher multiballs, but never seen a Fastbreak, Space Jam, or HGTOT ever modified in such a way. The first two I would find unlikely given they would have been newer machines - only 2-3 years old at the time. Doesn't seem plausible to me for someone to buy one privately, modify it, and sell it to someone looking for games for their hotels game room who didn't ask a lot of questions. HGTOT.... Maybe. That's a pretty beloved game, so I've heard. Not sure if anyone would mod it in such a way. But, stranger things have happened, I suppose?

Or I could be totally off my rocker. I could be mixing up a memory of playing a high-multiball game with playing a Fastbreak or something just prior to that. I was 9 at the time, and this was some 17 years ago, so that's quite possible. Or perhaps it was a yellow, yellow-ish, or gold game that wasn't basketball themed at all? All I can tell you is what's in the back of my brain, and it's vivid enough that I'm fairly confident that it was a machine as I described. Again, I probably will never find this machine, but I figured I'd put this out there if any of this sounds familiar to anyone. And if nothing else, perhaps it's an interesting read. Thanks a bunch!

I've thought it could be Shaq Attaq as well, but again, the multiball is only a 3-ball. But it does fit most of the other descriptors - like Fastbreak, Space Jam, and Harlem Globetrotters. And it makes it slightly more plausible as a modified machine, as it was 4 years old at the time. Also, I was just looking into Space Jam and saw that it has the same MPU (a Sega/Stern Whitestar) as Apollo 13. So at least the board could have taken the increase in multiballs; whether or not it would have had the capability to hold 6 or 7 or more balls, I'm not sure.

Nope, sorry. I want to say that it was in the millions, but I really couldn't say for certain.

That does fit quite a few descriptors, yes! Though, I don't recall the crane or Schwarzenegger, and I feel I would probably remember something like that since the former is sort of hard to forget, and I was a major Arnold fan at the time. There's a fair amount of yellow on that field though, so it's possible. Thanks for the suggestion!

It was actually 9 (or at least 6) balls at the same time. That's what's so odd; whatever machine it was spit out a rush of balls all at once - of that I'm certain. But when I look at NBAFB, I could swear that's what I was playing. There's no way it could have done that I think, so I have to be mistaken? But yeah, it was 9 on the field all at once, like a slot machine payout.

It addition to AlexF's suggestion that it might be 1954's Stage Coach, Gottlieb released two other machines with stagecoaches on the playfield: 1960's "Wagon Trail" and 1969's "Western." The one on Western is quite small, whereas the one on Wagon Trail is large.

Indeed it can! Especially when it's with something that you didn't see or do much at the time. When I was a kid, I didn't play pinball all too much because there weren't really many machines in my area. This was probably the 4th or 5th time I'd ever played pinball. Like I said, I could very well have mashed up a memory of playing a NBAFB and some high-multiball game right next to it. On the chance there actually is a yellow-y basketball machine with 9-ball multiball that someone knows about though, it's worth a shot opening the search.

Also, if anyone else has a machine they vaguely remember, feel free to drop it here. I'm sure this is a common conundrum for many!