Love my Hot Line - fast and furious gameplay and (arguably) the first dot matrix display in pinball - rollovers galore. It’s the hardest game in my collection.

As for Gottlieb wedgeheads, it’s hard to beat Jacks Open, Centigrade 37 and Abra Ca Dabra. To be honest, Gottlieb’s don’t utilize spinners well, so if that’s a must-have, you might want to look at some Ballys and Williams.

I’m biased but I love playing my 1974 Gottlieb Top Card. I think it’s underrated because of it’s no frills simplicity but it’s just a pleasure to play.

The 2 sets of slings, the 3 pop bumpers and the lovely chimes on the way to getting all 13 standup targets and lighting the playfield specials are really cool.

Captain Card. Great art, lots of drops, dangerous angles.

I had an Abra Ca Dabra and miss it.

I love the drop targets in 2001.

That game can humble you!

El Dorado, Gold Strike. Love the backglass and the drop targets.

After getting a Specials lit 13 cards down tonight on my 1970 Gottlieb Flip a Card, I had to include it. I don’t get that done very often and the Spin Unit is also a really cool feature.

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Jacks Open.
Hands down the best card themed machine of the era.
Jim

Check out Kings and Queens. Arguably the most played pinball machine played by family and friends

I have a Lucky Hand. I agree that it is a “smart” EM rule set

Both great choices. K&Q has a lot of bell action and saucer movement which is pretty cool. Jacks open rules are for sure awesome as well.

el dorado

Ill 2nd Flip a Card. Completing the 2 to ace sequence takes skill. This game has more shots and requires more strategy than most em pins. Mine is a bit beat up, but plays well and would be one of the last games id sell.

So hard to pick a favorite. I love "King of Diamonds" and "Diamond Jack".
There are many overlooked or underrated ones though.
"Ice-Revue" is one of them. Such a great looking and great playing game!

That's a great looking "Flip a Card". Definitely a sleeper. Love the asymmetrical playfield.
"Top Card" is great too!

Agree here. Love my Kings and Queens. It just keeps me coming back time after time.

Volley and 2001 are two of the greats. Sky Jump is great and very under-rated.

If it doesn't have to be Gottlieb... Spanish Eyes and Teacher's Pet are great single player EMs.

I got to play “Big Hit” at Dory Hill 2021. It is amazing. Keeps track of runs in a really great way. LOVED IT.

I like my Egg Head. Really difficult. Basically playing tic tac toe with the bumpers.

Kings and Queens and Buccaneer are my two most popular wedgeheads at parties.

One of my friends is really partial to my Dimension. Another friend likes Target Pool

I’m excited to see how Skyline and Super Soccer play. leckmeck sold me his 4 square and also hear that’s a good game. Lots of winter projects.

"Dimension" is great!

Here is my Gottlieb Buccaneer. This game doesn’t seem to get much wedgehead love but every example I have seen shows a lot of wear and tear. This one is in great original condition, having been in the previous owner’s home almost since new.

Sure, other games with multiple strategies to win are fun, but this game challenges the consistency of the player game to game. There is nothing quite like slamming that spinner. Sort of like hitting a “nothing but net” basketball shot. And it’s the easiest game in the collection to explain to a new player.

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One of a rough bunch I’ve gone to get from sellers that I was nervous pulling cash out in a remote area.

I spent a ton of time getting that playfield respectable again but of course not perfect.

How do you like your bank a ball? Mine is in line for summertime…

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So many AWESOME wedgehead titles:
Lucky Hand (3" Flippers)
Cow-Poke (2" Flippers)

I bought a Fast Draw and it came with a Pro-Football as a package deal. The Pro Football has had way more use and is so much fun to play. Extra score reels, high set kickers, satisfying spinner and vari-targets.

Spin Out and Golden Arrow were always favourites in my EM line up

I've only ever had one, and that was Gottilieb's El Dorado. 15 drop targets I think and a very replayable game. I think sure shot is a close second as far as fun. While not a E.M., the original 8 ball sounds like one and is a great game.

I'm not far from you and have seen the best deals on wedgeheads at... the York and Allentown shows. When I sold my El Dorado, I had it marked down to $1200 at the York show and it didn't sell, whereas it sold for 1500 the next day on pinside. https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive/118229 Those are 2017 prices on this top 10 wedgehead. People with games for sale may be more flexible on the last day near closing time if they have a price sticker on it, but don't be a butt nugget and go too low. I'm pretty sure I had someone stalking me to see if I could actually fit 3 pins in my minivan on the way home.

If you brought $1,000 cash with you to Allentown in May, there would probably be 15 E.M.s in working condition to pick from, and if you broght Argosy someone would likely buy it or trade with you for another pin. With that said I've had better luck with trades/sales on pinside.

At the York show, I saw a Sure Shot in fully working and cosmetically decent condition sell for $400. I'm not fully schooled up on E.M. pricing, but as a general rule the prices were equal to or lower than what I've seen on pinside.

There were lots of games at Allentown, but to be honest I mostly played E.Ms and ealry Solid States because I had never seen most titles.

Edit: And another vote for Bucaneer! There is one in NOVA that pops up on craigslist every few months for $600 that has a great backglass and playfield... but the sides have been painted black.

Edit2: Got alot of great advice on this site in this thread https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/first-em-recommendations-tell-me-what-you-like

Lots of fun games and I have owned many Wedgheads. All have something to offer. Centergrade 37, Atlantis and Strang World are probably my top three as far as gameplay. Big hit and Jack Open are right up there too. Out of all my games Sure Shot does not get played as much. Golden Arrow has amazing art work but is probably my least favorite game playing Wedghead.

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I had a Ship Ahoy, only way to get to the upper playfield is slamming that spinner.

Nice collection! Agree about "Golden Arrow". It's a gorgeous game, but a bit boring as a player.
I had a super nice one once, but didn't keep it long. I guess you've never played "Road Race". That's at, or near the bottom of the deck for me.

I once rescued one ("Flip a Card") that was on a guy's back porch. He wasn't home, and I had to leave the cash in his truck. I photographed everything just in case. Had a great backglass, but a poorly painted cabinet, and a fairly rough playfield. I got it looking and playing great. Ended up selling it to the Silverball Museum. It's not there anymore. I'd love to get it back from them!

Had a super nice Lucky Hand. So far my favorite. I let a local collector talk me out of it. It was his grail pin and a super nice guy. I miss it.

Surprisingly Atlantis and C37 where not as much fun for me . Beautiful games tho

Volley is a great game. I like it almost as much as Lucky Hand.

Welcome to swing by and play my Jacks Open.

Atlantis is certainly my favorite, though I also love El Dorado.

Strange world hands down followed by el dorado

300 Is a cheap wedgehead with a neat animated backbox with a strong center spinner shot that takes the ball to the top of the playfield. There is one local at Mom's and There was one on craigslist in Annapolis in great shape for $600 a few months back so they do pop up from time to time. Really like the sounds on it too.

Don't fear the 2" flippers. They're great!

I will also jump on the El Dorado bandwagon as a great wedgehead game for its 4 flippers and large host of drop targets, and also for its interesting proximal placement of the pop bumper and upper right lanes. The layout is great as evidenced by games that continued with that playfield layout (solar city, seven up, and even onto the SS game "El Dorado city of gold" and possibly others, I'm sure someone will chime in.)
I will also second Atlantis, and much like the Centigrade 37, they both have a very interesting bagatelle lane there on the right which is a lot of fun.

Team One - set to NOVELTY Mode!!!!!!

Purists don't like it, but I LOVE it! In Novelty mode the game disables WOWs, and instead awards 50,000 points for each WOW. The knocker knocks for each 10,000 points, so it bangs 5 times for each WOW. You also get the WOW for knocking down a full bank and hitting the center target. So if you have knocked down both banks, and hit the center, that is a 100k shot. You only get 3 balls, and no whining allowed.

You will need to make sure all your lights in the backbox are working, because Team One will count up to 2 million points with lights in the backbox.

I'm not a huge fan of Novelty on most games, but Team One implemented it perfectly. The big thing that changes is you don't end up in those insanely long WOW games where you keep earning balls. And set the game up correctly and it is difficult to get the WOW without being unfair.

If it was my only EM, or I only had a couple of games, I probably would not have done it. But in a larger collection, on Novelty, Team One is so much fun it holds its own.

Thanks for the kind words.

I started out with a good number of 2” flippers and after playing and collecting games I realized for the most part I only like the 70’s 3” flipper games. They just have more to offer in my opinion. On a side note I do have a beautiful Royal Guard and I absolutely love the way the game plays. It’s the only 2” game In my collection.

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Yeah I understand. I really like mine. There was a guy on FB Marketplace that had one for sale in decent shape for $900 I think. Not sure if it’s still on there. I believe he was in Tennessee.

If you like spinners my outer space has been fun. Also has that great vari target gamble as well.

"300" is actually not a wedgehead, although that game and others like it have a tapered light box (head) when viewed from the side. All Gottlieb wedgeheads are single player games.

Two inch flippers get no love!
When they are properly rebuilt, they can propel the ball with just as much power as three inch flippers (no hot coils needed either!). Of course the games were designed with a normal gap between the flippers, just as those with three inchers.
There are many super playing two inch flipper games. Don't be unnecessarily biased until you try some of them.

That game definitely has that "just one more game" appeal!

Def over-rated to me

Never thought I would want to own a 2" flipper game. Then I saw Target Pool. Game is a lot of fun to play

The way I describe the playfield is that it’s deceivingly tight. This makes for great game play with 2” flippers. Lots of ricochet action and one of the best nudgers I have that’s not a woodrail. Many times the best shot is a backhand.

It’s one that wouldn’t leave anytime soon.

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Tell us how the backbox interacts with the gameplay please.