(Topic ID: 277715)

Seeking more info on these 1987 Sears toy pinball machines

By Agent_Hero

3 years ago



Topic Stats

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider Thermionic.
    Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

    #2 3 years ago

    Made by Wolverine Toy Company in Booneville, AR.

    Wolverine started in the early 1900s in Pittsburgh, making tin toys, dollhouse stuff, etc. They relocated to AR in the early 70s and began using plastics at that time, making tons of toy pinball games of all sizes; they were mostly cheap handheld and tabletop models, but they always made a few floor-standing models which were typically sold through the Sears/Ward’s/Penny’s X-Mas catalogs; as Stern does today, they recycled the playfield layouts for different themes so as to allow each retailer an “exclusive” model to sell.

    The games used a thin steel playfield surface which was connected to one battery pole and had areas of bare metal around the bumpers. The bumpers consisted of springs suspended between the bumper cap and a plastic insulating ring on the playfield surface, and were connected to the other battery pole. When the pinball hits a bumper, it briefly closes the circuit between the bumper spring and metal playfield and signals a “hit”, which sounds a bell, flashes the light, and advances the score disc. The mechanism consists of a single coil which actuates an arm that simultaneously strikes the bell and advances the score disc via a ratcheting mechanism. I believe there were a few late-production games which replaced the buzzer with electronic sounds and LED scoring, but I can’t seem to find any online.

    Some Wolverine toys of all types:
    https://www.antiquetoycollectiblescom1878.info/antique-toy/vintage-wolverine-toy.html

    Old etsy listing with good pinball pics (typical tabletop model, identical to floor models but with short legs):
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/182223310/wolverine-pinball-game-electric-pinball?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider Thermionic.
    Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

    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/seeking-more-info-on-these-1987-sears-toy-pinball-machines?tu=Thermionic 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.