(Topic ID: 329055)

Newbs 1st ? EM with midfield drop targets

By Spinnerbait70

1 year ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    Topic Gallery

    View topic image gallery

    pasted_image (resized).png
    pasted_image (resized).png
    image-13 (resized).jpg
    44B821A2-265D-44CF-AE8C-E5386A9C36DE (resized).jpeg

    #1 1 year ago

    Hello to all,
    Just joined after perusing for a few weeks. I plan on putting together an EM lineup in the next few yrs (never owned a pin before). Didn’t think I could handle it until reading this forum. The amount of selfless help here is off the charts. At some point would like to gather enough experience to help others. Would love to start with Drop a card, Top Card and Abra ca Dabra. Played DAC and TC as young teen and love the playfield art on Abra.

    Question: played a game in the mid 70’s that had a triangular shape drop target set up in the middle of the playfield. Set of drops on both sides and special target on the point of the triangle facing the flippers. Nobody at the pinball museum in idaho has any idea of what it could be. So long ago, I’m questioning myself. Any ideas on what game this could be?

    Just want want everyone to know I’m not a flipper and will help anyone trying to locate a title in my area.

    #2 1 year ago

    We often see people mis-remembering playfield layouts. Here are some candidates:
    Abra-Ca-Dabra: https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2
    Fast Draw: https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=828
    Far Out: https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=823
    Maybe that will help you remember more about it.
    .................David Marston

    #3 1 year ago

    Thanks David, I have done some research on those titles and many more and still can’t come up with any answers. Those midfield targets are on the sides and I remember the game had the drop target triangle in the center of the playfield.

    #4 1 year ago

    Around what time were you playing this game?

    #5 1 year ago

    Pretty certain it was mid 70’s. The game replaced Drop A Card which was in service for a couple yrs at the local bowling alley

    #6 1 year ago

    Triangle drops, must be an Interflip Dragon
    https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3887&picno=54019

    #7 1 year ago

    Drop target set looked like this. Forgive my poor drawing.44B821A2-265D-44CF-AE8C-E5386A9C36DE (resized).jpeg44B821A2-265D-44CF-AE8C-E5386A9C36DE (resized).jpeg

    #8 1 year ago

    I remember the tough angle to pick off the targets closest to the flippers and the risk of the rebound drain

    #9 1 year ago

    was it gottlieb #big shot?

    it has triangle shapes on the drops, special in the center and the drops are inline but on different angles.

    image-13 (resized).jpgimage-13 (resized).jpg
    #10 1 year ago

    Cleopatra EM?

    #11 1 year ago

    Cleo drop targets are across the playfield. Specials are on the left and right side of the PF.

    #12 1 year ago

    I just scanned the Pinball Compendium 1970-1981. there are no playfields listed there that have this configuration of drops. There are however very many insert configurations that look like that. Night Rider, Blue Chip, Grand Prix...several others.
    It likely won't be before 1971 since Dimension was the first machine that had inline drops.

    #13 1 year ago

    Thanks to all for the suggestions. Have never seen that configuration in any other game. Gonna do some research on early 80’s pins. Maybe my timeline is off.

    #14 1 year ago

    I scanned all the usual suspects but didn’t find anything. I wonder if it was an oddball import. I searched for years to find a game I played as a kid at my neighbor’s house and it ended up being a Pasini Old Gold. How it ended up in that basement I’ll never know.

    #15 1 year ago

    At first I was just curious, now I can’t let it go. The odd ball import idea makes sense and I’ll try to up the urgency on my research. If I do find the answer I’ll be pretty committed to acquire it regardless of price.

    #16 1 year ago

    Its also very possible your memory is wrong. Happens all the time with these type of questions, and just with humans in general. Hopefully you find it or find something else that can spark your memory!

    #17 1 year ago

    For sure on the memory… I can’t remember what I went into the garage for sometimes, let alone go back 45 yrs. Still, I can picture myself playing that game.
    Thanks to all who have chimed in. The effort is greatly appreciated.

    #18 1 year ago

    What theme did the game have? cowboy? indian? space theme?, clowns? gambling or cards?
    Was it a single player or multi player?
    EM or solid state?

    #19 1 year ago
    pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png
    #21 1 year ago

    Hi Pinwiztom, if you take the 2 bank targets and squeeze them together, then turn it upside down and put the targets on the sides- that’s it. Special stand up target would be on the triangle tip closest to the flippers. Pretty sure there were drop target banks on both sides of upper playfield also.

    #22 1 year ago

    Regarding the theme: I wanna say card theme but the game wasn’t around long and I played it just a handful of times.

    #23 1 year ago
    Quoted from Spinnerbait70:

    Special stand up target

    IS the special target on the tip
    a spot target or drop target?

    #24 1 year ago

    Spot target

    #25 1 year ago

    I remember the special knocker was loud.

    #26 1 year ago

    Sounds like one of those oddball playfield layouts like on a zaccaria or sonic

    #27 1 year ago

    If you enter “drop targets” into the notable features search on IPDB, it should bring up all the games that have them.

    Here’s a link to that search sorted by date:

    https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?ft=Drop+targets&sortby=date&searchtype=advanced

    Grab a beer and start clicking. Let us know what you find!

    #28 1 year ago

    Thanks Gotemwill

    #29 1 year ago
    Quoted from Gotemwill:

    If you enter “drop targets” into the notable features search on IPDB, it should bring up all the games that have them.

    To refine search, you can also search only games that have a 5 drop target bank:

    https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?ft=5-bank+drop+targets&sortby=date&searchtype=advanced

    I did not find the game in question though.

    #30 1 year ago

    Not quite what you're describing but kind of close. Zaccaria Lucky fruit?
    https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/lucky-fruit/gallery

    red show?
    https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3720&picno=66165

    Certainly what you're describing does sound very Zaccish. They have quite a few games with triangular setups in the middle and special front and center but I just don't see anything thats all drop targets

    #31 1 year ago

    Haymaker, Red Show similarities: If you turn the midfield triangle 180 degrees add spot target special on tip and drops on the sides, then straighten the side drops so they are parallel to the side rails then we are close. Thanks!

    #32 1 year ago

    I appreciate everyone’s help. I’ll keep researching but at this point it seems I’m not likely to find it. Can’t imagine that in the 70’s somebody modified a game and it landed in a bowling alley in Ca.

    #33 1 year ago

    Me thinks it is more likely that your memory just needs some
    turning 180 degrees and some side shifting
    to truly remember what you played back in the 70s.

    #34 1 year ago

    Pinwiztom, Maybe so

    #35 1 year ago

    Heck
    I can not remember what i had for lunch today,
    let alone remember some obscure pinball machine
    that i would have played a few times some 50 yrs ago.

    Hope some synapses connect and click in
    to finally make you or others to remember and find the game of your memories,

    #36 1 year ago

    For sure. Thanks again for the help and encouragement.

    #37 1 year ago
    Quoted from pinwiztom:

    Heck
    I can not remember what i had for lunch today,
    let alone remember some obscure pinball machine
    that i would have played a few times some 50 yrs ago.
    Hope some synapses connect and click in
    to finally make you or others to remember and find the game of your memories,

    Its just very common for humans to remember things wrong. You can have very vivid memories about something and be so sure of what you remember but actually its just incorrect. For a somewhat recent example of this on pinside, there was a guy asking about a game where the ball was luminous and changed colors and you played the game with that ball. Turns out the game was pinball magic and there is just a stationary plastic crystal ball toward the side of the game that changes color. I've seen it a bunch of times though just with people trying to remember pinball machines. Of course, this phenomenon happens with everything, not just remembering pinball machines.

    It is possible we just haven't figured out the game yet, or that it was some very obscure rarity, but theres only so many games to go through and so far we haven't found anything. The modified game scenerio is pretty much impossible. Likely its just an incorrect memory. Hopefully the art or colors or something else can spark more memories and we can track it down. I would like to solve the mystery!

    #38 1 year ago

    FWIW I've looked through pretty much every manufacturer other than bally so far and haven't come up with anything. The shape you've described really doesn't make much sense from a pinball perspective either although I haven't ruled it out. I just think its probably a false memory

    #39 1 year ago

    Haymaker, thanks for taking the time to investigate. I’m starting to think your right about the memory. I only played pins at one location as a teen. Drop a card, pop a card and top card. All 3 were the most played games in their line up. The game in question replaced Top Card. And while the layout doesn’t seem practical, I have vivid memories of certain aspects of the game. I remember using the sides of the triangular drop targets to bank the ball to hit the drops on the sides and also draining down the middle when trying to hit the special. These memories are stronger than any other game I played. Maybe I’ve got multiple game thoughts and co-mingled them. There was a king kool in the line-up also but after one game I never played it again. Thanks again for your thoughts.

    #40 1 year ago

    2001e is a game with drop targets and big triangle in the middle. The specials are stand up targets. the targets are along the sides not on the triangle

    https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2697

    #41 1 year ago
    Quoted from ArgosySK:

    2001e is a game with drop targets and big triangle in the middle. The specials are stand up targets. the targets are along the sides not on the triangle
    https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2697

    Theres a ton of games like that, but in OP's game the triangle is inverted so the point is toward the player.

    #42 1 year ago

    Drop targets at the same angle but on the side. Rack of lights in the middle and a captive ball in the middle of the playfield for an extra ball.

    Assuming your memory is a hair off. 1979 Gottlieb Pinball Pool.

    https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1795&picno=39372

    #43 1 year ago

    my bet is on 2001
    and foggy memory

    #44 1 year ago

    Since the lineup you’ve mentioned are all Gottliebs, 2001 would make sense. Just in case it isn’t, Zaccaria “Universe” comes to mind:

    https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2706&picno=37539

    #45 1 year ago
    Quoted from Spinnerbait70:

    Haymaker, thanks for taking the time to investigate. I’m starting to think your right about the memory. I only played pins at one location as a teen. Drop a card, pop a card and top card. All 3 were the most played games in their line up. The game in question replaced Top Card. And while the layout doesn’t seem practical, I have vivid memories of certain aspects of the game. I remember using the sides of the triangular drop targets to bank the ball to hit the drops on the sides and also draining down the middle when trying to hit the special. These memories are stronger than any other game I played. Maybe I’ve got multiple game thoughts and co-mingled them. There was a king kool in the line-up also but after one game I never played it again. Thanks again for your thoughts.

    Drop a Card was from 1971, Pop a Card from 1972, and Top Card from 1974. If the game in your memory replaced Top Card, it was likely from 1975 or later. Might narrow down the search a bit. Also, the first 3 are all Gottliebs so possibly the distributor only dealt with Gottlieb? Hmmm.

    #46 1 year ago
    Quoted from wolverinetuner:

    Since the lineup you’ve mentioned are all Gottliebs, 2001 would make sense. Just in case it isn’t, Zaccaria “Universe” comes to mind:
    https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2706&picno=37539

    I looked through every gottlieb, theres plenty of them that have very similar layouts to this

    #47 1 year ago

    I know there was a king Kool in the line-up so the Gottlieb connection sounds right. 2001 is similar if the middle target triangle was inverted. Maybe my brain is inverted!
    Abra ca Dabra with the spot target up high is also close. I’ve seen every playfield that Gottlieb made in that era and none fit my memory exactly. It seems like I have to chalk it up to a suspect memory.
    I appreciate everyone’s effort to help.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/newbs-1st-em-with-midfield-drop-targets?hl=bubbak and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.