(Topic ID: 73093)
Linked Games
2 in 1
Bally, 1964-
3 Jokers
Williams, 1970
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Air Aces
Bally, 1975
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Atlas
Gottlieb, 1959
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Bali-Hi
Bally, 1973
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Beatniks (Export)
Chicago Coin, 1967
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Big Flipper
Chicago Coin, 1970
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Big Together
Sega, 1976
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Québec, QC
Edgerton, WI
Quoted from PhilGreg:I have to say Art Stenholm is right up there too...
(Sorry I know this is about ugly backglasses, I'll get back on the subject) after this one...
Art Stenholm is my favorite. And his artwork paired with the fact he did most of the late 60's little flipper games is a great thing. 
Quoted from Electrocute:Didn't give the machine a chance because I didn't like the backglass.
I would have gladly traded a King Rex for it.
Quoted from PhilGreg:Williams has some of the worst...
I'm not sure what's worse- Little Chief... or.... Big Injun.
Quoted from embryonjohn:I love my Atlantis but the (hopefully benign) shoulder growths and child rearing hips keeps my head on the playfield
Quoted from o-din:This only scratches the surface of some of the goofballs I see every day. I'm glad they fit in with the theme.
Those are fabulous!
Quoted from PhilGreg:I have to say Art Stenholm is right up there too...
(Sorry I know this is about ugly backglasses, I'll get back on the subject) after this one...
Road Race, only odd thing with the backglass art, is the American looking cars racing through what appears to be an older European town.
Quoted from AlexF:Morrison is hit and miss for me. I always thought Astro was a killer backglass but then what's with the goofy dude on the playfield?
I do like that goofy dude, but I do find it's pretty common for the artwork on the playfield or plastics not to be up to par with the backglass.
For instance North Star backglass:
And the guitar player and sirens are pretty poorly drawn on the PF:
Quoted from PhilGreg:I do like that goofy dude, but I do find it's pretty common for the artwork on the playfield or plastics not to be up to par with the backglass.
Yeah, not even close to being the worst but definitely disappointing comparatively. It was so close to being a total package. I don't mind the North Star playfield either but yeah it's got such a cool glass one might expect something a bit better.
Quoted from AlexF:Yeah, not even close to being the worst but definitely disappointing comparatively.
No, of course not. It made me think of that with the Gordon Morison goofy people... It seems to me like his playfield art is often not as good as the BG art, and I thought of that example too.
Quoted from o-din:I'm not sure what's worse- Little Chief... or.... Big Injun.
I don't care how cheap or in what condition,thats one Gottlieb I will never buy. There is several more...
That's what's great about this hobby. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Glad we aren't all looking for the same ones.
Quoted from pinkid:Spanish Eyes for worst b/g ever.............
I used to think that as a kid ... But as a Big Kid now .. I like it and proudly own it... GREAT GAME!!!
6 months later
Quoted from o-din:It almost looks like some of those Galahad dudes there, and she looks like she might just be related.
If there's one thing I've learned since JR started this thread is it's probably best not to get set in your ways and keep an open mind or you may run out of games to play. And she's just lovely.
3 weeks later
Bingen Am Rhein
Quoted from PhilGreg:I do like that goofy dude, but I do find it's pretty common for the artwork on the playfield or plastics not to be up to par with the backglass.
For instance North Star backglassThat's because the Backglass was drawn by Art Stenholm and the Playfield by Roy Parker. There still is some dispute going on regarding this but I think it must be this way. Compare the North Star-Backglass to Art Stenholm's Mad World for Bally, it's exactly his style. Roy Parker died shortly after this so he might not have been in a good state when he did it.
And Domino is also by Art Stenholm, he altered his style a bit because he was asked for, the same way Christian Marche has been asked to copy the 'Pointy People Artwork' which was invented by Jerry K Kelley.
I know this almost seems to be a 'Bash Christian Marche' Topic but please think twice - have a look at the ca 170 Machines that Marche did, everyone at Ad-Posters liked him and he was good friends with Gordon Morison. Surely the Artwork for GALAHAD is strange, especially for today's Pinheads, but just have a look at Vinyl-Record-Covers from that time, or watch the Movie 'Gimme Shelter' then maybe you will look at this more open-minded.
Christian Marche was a great Artist and he did what he was asked for.On the other hand I'm quite sure that no one back then would have appreciated the 'Photo-Shop-Quality-Artwork' on some of today's Games. So please do not be too harsh, the Companies knew exactly what they did. Then and now.
Agree
Also I think there are other art packages
(more than commonly acknowledged by pinball books or reference sites)
where some artist did the BG and another did art for PF and/or plastics set.
or where someone (Like Stenholm)
may have help touch up faces and other areas where Parker might have done
the layout or roughs of figures or background.
Quoted from o-din:If there's one thing I've learned since JR started this thread is it's probably best not to get set in your ways and keep an open mind or you may run out of games to play. And she's just lovely.
I think 'she'... looks more like a 'he' with black hair and makeup on... wearing a cheap blonde wig.
Worst EM flyer backglass (and playfield) shot of all time. And yes, that is it. Nothing on the backside.
Quoted from Pinballprowess:I think 'she'... looks more like a 'he'
If I was the guy holding the 9, I would date him..
Quoted from o-din:And she's just lovely.
Quoted from Pinballprowess:I think 'she'... looks more like a 'he' with black hair and makeup on... wearing a cheap blonde wig.
I never noticed that before, but she does have a Herman Munster / Frankenstein forehead.
We have assembled a great list of candidates for worst e-m backglass of all time.
Looking through the list of Linked Games, it would be great if we could narrow down the list to the top 8 worst, then make a poll listing those worst 8.
There are some really, really ugly foreign backglasses. So, if we do a poll, I think we should limit it to domestic backglasses. Bally "Galahad" is just about as bad as it gets IMHO.
1 week later
Quoted from DennisDodel:Worst EM flyer backglass (and playfield) shot of all time. And yes, that is it. Nothing on the backside.
http://mirror2.ipdb.org/images/2840/2840f1.jpg
Maybe this is why they don't show the front of the machine:
IMG_2510 (resized).JPG
I mean, WT actual F is going on in this artwork?
Quoted from Phat_Jay:Spanish eyes or Granada. I don’t mind most of the other ones listed. Just those two creep me out.
I ordered parts for a Spanish Eyes from PBR last week. Steve Young said he always wanted someone to make him a stained glass backglass for it. Ugly or not, it's one of my EM favorites.
Quoted from girloveswaffles:Maybe this is why they don't show the front of the machine:
I mean, WT actual F is going on in this artwork?
I don't know. I really like some of the shapes on that one!
Since this Topic seems to be used almost exclusively to bash Christian Marche and Gordon Morison I think IMHO that some work of Roy Parker could be named as well. Of course I know Roy Parker is a God to many of us but on the other hand he surely didn't always hit it.
So please make your own conclusions about these artworks from the 50ies.
And especially for the great Fan-Base of GALAHEAD - if you love Galahad you'll get crazy over FALSTAFF, I'm sure 
Atlas (resized).jpg
Sea-Belles (resized).jpg
Sir Rossi (resized).jpg
SS (resized).jpg
Nic (resized).jpg
Easy Aces (resized).jpg
Quartette (resized).jpg
Mermaid (resized).jpg
Lucy in the Sky (resized).jpg
CC (resized).jpg
I know it's not an EM but, Ready Aim Fire is hands down the worst Pinball "art" ever. Some kindergarteners could do better.
It's a strange artwork, but please keep in mind that Gottlieb (and all Pinball) had a rough time back then, so they had to save costs where ever it was possible. And compared to junk live 'Raven' or 'Rock' I think Ready-Aim-Fire is a masterpiece
Quoted from jrpinball:I don't know. I really like some of the shapes on that one!
For the record: I LIKE the pointy people!
E
Quoted from electricsquirrel:I always liked North Star, but this bothers me.
Why is the skewered fish looking up at the girl and smiling?
E
Because the fish thinks she's hot!
Quoted from Grayman_EM:JR would you say worse than a bag of cheeseburgers with pickles?
I've been in Plainfield a couple of times before. Did I meet you somewhere and tell you this story over a mug of ale?
Quoted from Mardi-Gras-Man:Since this Topic seems to be used almost exclusively to bash Christian Marche and Gordon Morison I think IMHO that some work of Roy Parker could be named as well. Of course I know Roy Parker is a God to many of us but on the other hand he surely didn't always hit it.
So please make your own conclusions about these artworks from the 50ies.
And especially for the great Fan-Base of GALAHEAD - if you love Galahad you'll get crazy over FALSTAFF, I'm sure
Admittedly, Parker drew some funky looking characters, but all those backglasses look great to me. Seems to me, Mr. Morison just about copied Parker's Atlas on his "Vulcan" backglass.
I think wrong Plainfield JR there are about 20 and Indiana has two of them an incorporated town which I live in (population about the size of NJ one) and an unincorporated town up north near Gary In. Read it in the Road Trip thread and don't forget the coffee. I feel sorry for you as there is nothing worse than being sick and having to drive. 
Quoted from Grayman_EM:I think wrong Plainfield JR there are about 20 and Indiana has two of them an incorporated town which I live in (population about the size of NJ one) and an unincorporated town up north near Gary In. Read it in the Road Trip thread and don't forget the coffee. I feel sorry for you as there is nothing worse than being sick and having to drive.
The Plainfield I was in is just west of the Indy airport.
Now I recall sharing that story here. Yeah, that was bad, but I did come home with a "Diamond Jack". I think that was my second of the seven I have owned. To this day, I still tell them to hold the pickles when I get a fast food burger!
Quoted from jrpinball:The Plainfield I was in is just west of the Indy airport.
Now I recall sharing that story here. Yeah, that was bad, but I did come home with a "Diamond Jack". I think that was my second of the seven I have owned. To this day, I still tell them to hold the pickles when I get a fast food burger!
So you were here in Indiana, sorry I didn't run into you. But I am the one without any pins. 
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