I'll do the opposite:

Subway. Last game with manual ball lift into the shooter lane. I know we will never see that incorporated into a future game.

May be wrong but I was told ST:TNG was the fist to use opto as switches . Also My ST:TNG has prototype coils only used In 200 ST:TNG released two months before production. FL 17636 used on all three flippers.

Did not read the focus of this thread carefully . EM is what is to be discussed .

Me too. 1960 Serenade. Last Williams full production wood rail.

I have a Magic Clock, the first game with a motorized moving target.
And Fireball, the first with a motorized spinning disc.

I like motors!

My 1956 Derby Day = the first Gottlieb 1 player with an integral metal lower ball arch and shooter gauge.

Have a Slick Chick - was it the last Gottlieb game (or any manufacturer for that reason) to have a gobble hole - anyone?

Also have a Bank a Ball with the first inlanes like John.

Have a 2P Snow Derby which besides 4P Snow Queen was the first Gottlieb game produced which had a bonus ladder (edited) (which counted down a certain points value) at the end of a ball. Chicago Coins 1939 Nippy was the 1st game..

Have an Atlantis - was this the first game with the open elbow design - anyone?

1964 Williams San Francisco was the last EM with a gobble hole. Slick Chick may have been the last Gottlieb with one.

Last Gottlieb to have a gobble hole was Sweet Hearts.
Cover girl has a type of bonus count on the gobble holes. 50, 100 or 150 are counted down in lots of fifty.

Sweet Hearts was the last Gottlieb with a gobble hole.

But Slick Chick was the first Gottlieb single-player wedgehead with the new style metal front door (Gaucho was the first with the door).

Wizard! First licensed pin.

Some good historical information here:

http://www.pinrepair.com/gtb/

Lawman/Sherriff have that same layout (and came before Atlantis). Don't know if they were the first though.

I was referring to Snow Queen/Snow Derby being the first Gottlieb to have the bonus ladder (which counted down a certain points value at the end of each ball). These were common on multi-player games.

A friend has a Williams "Metro" which has a motorized pop bumper. It can hide flush with the playfield or it can raise into playing position by going into a kickout hole.

That is a neat feature. Metro I think is the last to use it. Gusher would be the first. Sea Wolf is another that had it. I'm not sure if there are any others.

For EMs maybe, but didn't Circus Voltaire use it again on the 1990's?

I confirmed these on IPDB.

Paradise - first pinball designed with flipper return lanes, although Bank-A-Ball was produced first
Capersville - first machine to feature 3-ball multiball play (per IPDB though I disagree)
Star-Jet - first machine (in my opinion) to feature 3-ball multiball play, except they called it the extra ball "Blast Off" feature
Hot-Line - electromechanical dot-matrix display
Flipper - first add-a-ball
Wizard - first licensed game ( as noted above)
Fireball - first spinning disc
Hayburners II - first production pin with 3" flippers
*edit*
Dancing Lady - first Gottlieb with auto ball lift, first decagon reels, score card holder with ball in play and game over lights
Baseball - first American game with star rollover button

That's true. Didn't think about that one.

Used to own a lovely Gigi.

First game to give a bonus - never got old!!!!

Gigi, first end of game bonus.
Wizard!, first license game, and first with flip-flags?

D'oh! I was gonna say Baseball for the star rollover.

Have a '60 Williams Nags, I think it was the first (and only) game to have a rotating platter with pop-bumpers. It's a pretty cool bit of engineering.

Incorrect - well maybe not technically!

WNBJM - Whoa Nellie - Big Juicy Melons (2011) has one:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tyFtL9mD4Hc/Tv9XSTgU7NI/AAAAAAAABHE/aHI_ArsQ-4o/s1600/WN_Expo_Neyens_2011.jpg

I played one at a show a couple years ago and Dennis Nordman had to point out to me that there was a manual lifter - that was embarrassing!

The most notable EM's, I have the last game Gottlieb made without flippers, Flying Trapeze. I also have the first coil powered flipper game, Humpty Dumpty.

Steve

CCoin Festival, 1st pin with a carousal, even before GTB Dancing Lady and KIng of Diamonds.

Yes you are wrong. They were used long before STTNG. Possibly the first use of inductive switches. And yes, not an EM.

I know that there was use of "opto" switches,
to determine number of spinner revolutions of the PF post spinner on CCoin Gold Record.
Also thinking that some Rally or European pins might have used that Technology, prior to STTNG?

Not quite the same, but my 1940 Bally "Fleet" had a slowly spinning disc AND moving targets. I also like motors!
http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=fleet&sortby=name&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#877

2001 - First game with 20 drop targets!

I think there's one other; 1960 Williams "Music Man" if I'm not mistaken. I'd love to find a "Metro".

A friend had one, it was a bit rough but I could of had it for a couple hundred. At the time I didn't realize what an interesting game it was.

Please feel free to contact me with corrections.

I corrected the listings for Capersville, Star-Jet, and Fireball.

Fireball lost its status as the first spinning disc.

Thanks,

Jay
IPDB

i played a very very early game at the tacoma show - surprised the pants off me when it went into multi ball!! i think it was a bally wood rail .. i will look up a photo i took of it .. 'circus' or something like that theme!!

Ron

That is indeed Bally Circus. Nine ball multi ball is possible. I love that game!

I have three(!) GTB 1957 Royal Flush woodrails, first machine with the "match" feature. Also, it has EM computer memory - it retains the state of the lit royal flush cards across games.

If human memory serves, the 17 year old with the DA and cigs in the tee sleeve spent all his nickels lighting four of five cards, and 9 year old me came along with my one nickel and lit the last one and thus all the specials. He shoved me out of the way and said "I'm sorry kid but this is a man's work."

My mother was in the other room of the place, and I was tempted to run and tell her, but luckily I too realized that this was indeed "men's work" and I'd best just watch and learn. The guy got a ton of replays, shoving the machine around and using the individual flippers with a skill I had never yet seen, and after the game, presumably feeling a little guilty, he gave all the replays to me to play, so it ended well. I learned a lot about life, my fellow man, and pinball that day.

I gots me a '63 Williams Beat the Clock. Williams' first multiball game. It also has a backglass animation that activates PF features as the game progresses. It's way sweet and is a punishing player. This is the table I take all the collectors to when they stop by. Even some of the most well traveled pinheads around have never seen this deck.

Williams Rancho from 1977 first and last metal cabinet. In preparation for light weight solid state games, Williams was afraid solid state games were going to be so light players would simply lift games off location and take them home. I have a metal cabinet EM Rancho which must weigh in at 400lbs. Way too heavy to steal. (Anybody have a set of plastics for this game?).

Very cool looking game and would love to play one sometime. Enjoy!

Ken

Ken,
you will have a chance. One of the DFW Pinball Club guys has one. Its a heavy beast as ive helped move it.

--Jeff

I have a 1969 Gottlieb Airport, which was the first game to use a Vari-Target.
Also have a 1966 Bally Loop the Loop, which, I believe, had the first spinning bumper and 2001 has 20 drop targets, which are the most of any game

Is there another "pinball firsts" thread for EMs?
-mof

https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?ft=habitrails&sortby=name&searchtype=advanced#1921

WMS Skyway from the mid 50s
had a habtrail like thingy near top of PF
https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2206&picno=2100
pasted_image (resized).png

I'd like to know about a few EM firsts:

1. first inlanes?
2. first 3" flippers?
3. first spinner?
4. first horeshoe?

Till sept 8, when it goes to new owner, I have a 1938 Swing. First with captive ball feature with kicker, I believe.

129F28DA-3C66-4E18-BA69-C6474474438B (resized).jpeg

1950 Spot Bowler. First inward facing and swinging flipper game.