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  • This four-player machine is almost always considered to be in the top five best solid-state games of its genre. Brian Eddy designed this machine with art by Doug Watson. 3,450 examples of it were made. This fast-paced game is not based on the “Mars Attacks” movie but ironically came out the same time as the movie’s release. A sequel to this game is also in the museum by the name “Revenge From Mars.” The main theme of this amusing game is to complete the five attack waves activated by hitting the three drop targets in front of the saucer. Doing so drops the targets and allows shots to the saucer. After so many saucer hits, the saucer explodes into a flurry of strobe lights (first time used on a pinball machine) and sounds. If you make it to Mars Attacks, the game goes into hyper mode with a flurry of options and actions. Total annihilation of Mars is the ultimate goal. Many more feats and multi-balls are also present.
  • John Popodiuk designed this magical game with artwork penned by Linda Deal. 6,600 units were manufactured. This game is always in the top 10 machines in collectibility. The magic trunk is the centerpiece of the playfield. Its multifunctional sides rotate according to the storyline of the machine at the time. Eight illusions are to be collected in a typical game. This is one of four requirements needed to complete the grand finale stage of the game. Advancing the clock to midnight by shooting the right-side lane 12 times or hitting the captive ball completes this feature. Multiball must be made at the trunk to complete the third part of the puzzle. The last issue is completing the word “theater” by certain ramp shots. Grand finale is tough to achieve but a neat show awaits you. Vanish is another feature that makes a ball disappear when shot up the left-side ramp; the ball reappears when the right ramp is made.
  • Playfield Layout There are two standard flippers and standard return lanes in the usual positions. The inlanes can be lit to start Crane Hurry-up. The outlanes have quite large openings, and each outlane can be lit separately for a “Ball Recycle”. Above the left out/inlanes there is a popper which returns the ball to the left inlane. Most of the shots that take balls under the playfield return the ball here. On the playfield beside this device is a bank of three standup targets with blue lights in the playfield in front of them, which, when completed, lights the left outlane Recycle. Above this there are two ramps with entrance side-by-side. The far left ramp leads to a toilet, which counts the spins the ball takes inside it before falling under the playfield. The inner ramp carries the ball around the back of the playfield toward a VW bus in the back right corner; a diverter can cause the ball to be temporarily held here or to return directly on a habitrail to the right inlane. This ramp also has an open side which allows slow shots to fall through to an area not otherwise accessible, which dribbles down into the hole in front of the dog. Lights in front of these ramps indicate various available shots. In the center of the top of the playfield is this game’s main feature. The “Crane” is a pinball hanging from a chain. The chain hangs from a bar (which is decorated to look like a crane) that goes into the back wall of the game. This ball can be raised or lowered, to allow the pinball to pass under it, or block its path. The bar itself can move side-to-side and up-and-down slightly, in addition to the wild motion the ball has. Around this, arranged in a semicircle, are 2 banks of 3 standup targets with an opening for another shot (which goes around a corner and under the playfield) between them. Above these there is a row of 5 larger “car” standup targets, with no gap. The crane ball can be hit into these higher targets. Several lights in front of the crane ball indicate shots available on the crane ball (by hitting it into the car standups) or in the opening behind it. There doesn’t seem to be a name for this opening (in some mode, I forget which, the game calls it the alley, but the playfield calls the DOG scoop the alley), so I will call it the center shot. Below the right side crane standups there is an up-scoop which usually drops the ball onto the bus ramp’s habitrail to the right inlane, but a diverter can send it to the dog instead. The dog is a decoration just in front of the bus; when the ball goes to him, it falls into a hole in the playfield in front of him, and if the ball was supposed to be there, a video mode starts. Lights in front of the scoop spell out D-O-G. Just to the left of it there is a small standup target, the Toaster Gun target. Below and slightly to the right of the scoop entrance, there is a sinkhole called the Sewer that can be entered from almost any direction. Lights in front of it indicate a variety of awards which can be available here, including Extra Ball and Adventures. The adventures themselves are indicated by a separate row of lights across the playfield, below the lights for the ramps, crane, and scoop. Below the Sewer there is a bank of 3 blue standups; these light the right outlane Recycle and are similar to their counterparts on the other side of the playfield. The plunger (which is a combination manual and autoplunger) shoots the ball through a spinner and into a sinkhole, which, like other holes on this game, takes the ball to the left inlane feed. Junk In the middle of the lower section of the playfield, in addition to lights for “shoot again” and autofire, there is a blueprint with 10 different pieces of junk marked with lights. Some of the pieces combine to make various contraptions. The junk consists of: Hair dryer, toaster, cuckoo clock, television, weathervane, fishbowl, propeller, fan, bathtub, and bicycle wheels. The game begins with the toaster already awarded. The combinations are: • Hair dryer + toaster = toaster gun • television + weathervane = radar • bicycle wheels + bathtub + fan = jalopy • fishbowl + jalopy = submerger • propeller + jalopy = flying machine There is an extra ball awarded for collecting a certain amount of junk, which is on a percentage; on the game I play it’s awarded on the third junk item. Collecting all the junk lets you enter your initials as junk champion at the end of the game. The current junk champion’s initials are shown on Spike’s collar when each dog video mode begins. Helpful hints At various times during the game, an angel appears on the left of the DMD or a devil appears on the right, and they make some comment. Whenever you collect junk, one or both of them appears and advises you what to collect next. (If your first junk item is anything other than the hair dryer, both appear, the angel advising you to get the hair dryer and the devil advising you to get a part for the radar.) One of these also announces each time an invention is completed, or when an adventure starts.
  • Safecracker is a pinball machine with a safecracking theme, designed by Pat Lawlor, and distributed by Midway (under the Bally label). It was created in 1996. About 1148 were manufactured. Safecracker differs from a standard pinball game in that the player is playing against the clock as opposed to having a certain number of balls available. If the player loses a ball, as long as there is time left on the clock they can continue playing. The machine is smaller in size than a standard pinball machine. The main objective of the game is to break into the bank’s safe. The game can be broken into 3 areas of play: The pinball playfield has numerous targets, the completion of which will allow entry into the bank via the rooftop, the cellar, or the front door. Once the player has entered the bank, the game changes to a boardgame that takes place on the backglass. Using the flipper buttons to make choices, the player rolls dice and moves their piece around the board while being chased by the security guard. The object of this portion of the game is to advance to the center of the game board (where the safe is located) before being caught by the guard. If the player is successful, the game will eject a “magic token” from the bank vault for the player to catch as it rolls down the playfield glass. After the player is done with the regular game, they can deposit their “magic token” into the token slot of the machine to activate a special game mode called “Assault on the Vault”. In this frenzied 4-ball multiball mode, players have 90 seconds to hit as many drop target and ramp shots as possible to break into the bank vault.
  • This macabre machine was also one of the most risque games ever made. The vocals are very suggestive as well as the theme of the game. The factory installed a family mode version to the game as well as a cover to the large breasts presented by Elvira on the back glass. Designed by Dennis Nordman and Mark Weyna, the art package came out of the mind of Greg Freres. The object of the game is to complete the six modes represented on the bottom of the playfield. Once all six modes are complete, the object then is to shoot the jackpots with two balls in play all the way up the stiff-o-meter. Doing so produces a pinball fireworks show of light as well as the flippers activating by themselves. The hardest feature on the game is represented in the back glass. If you can achieve all lights by stopping the spider on each and every stop displayed, a special spider multiball is activated. Happy Halloween!
  • This game is one of the most colorful machines ever produced and it has a lot of toys to boot. 2704 of them were made and when they came out, demand was low so many sat around for years in their shipping boxes. Today it’s a top 10 collectible machine. John papadiuk designed the game with linda deal penning the artwork. Neon, disappearing pop bumper, managerie ball, magnetized ringmaster, cannon ball backglass animation and a dot matrix display embedded above the playfield are a few of its unique features. The object of the game is to complete all the playfield insert parts by defeating them. This spells out the word circus.. The ringmaster must also be completed. If you’re skillful enough to do this, you become part of the circus which brings you into 6 levels of multiball competition to complete the game. Good luck!!!
  • Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (3), Ramps (2), Autoplunger. A left-side catapult propels ball airborne into a habitrail. Two pop-up trolls in playfield become active during “Trolls!” mode. Tina Fey (of “Saturday Night Live” fame) did the voices of the “Opera Singer” princess and the Cockney-talking princess, and Andrea Farrell did the voices of the Jewish princess and the sexy princess. Greg Freres was the voice of the jousting announcer and one of the trolls while Francois Du Grim was voiced by Vince Pontarelli who also did the other troll. Look no further! This game, in my humble opinion, takes the prize as the most sought-after, inventive game of the ‘90s! Brian Eddy designed this machine with 4,016 units screwed together. The action, endless vocal calls, the exploding castle, the pop-up trolls and the moat and dropping gate make this machine one of a kind. The value of this machine is going through the roof, more than doubling its original price. The six kings from six different castles must be defeated by attacking the castle walls. Defeating a king makes the fort collapse. It’s nearly impossible to complete this feat. The princess must be rescued up the upper right ramp when activated (the princess’s vocals are none other than Tina Fey’s voice). Many multiball challenges await. The trolls must be hit many times to be conquered. The whole package is artistically and musically amazing. Most of these machines are tucked away in home arcades at this point. Enjoy!
  • This is the next-to-last machine Williams made under the Bally moniker and the first game made to “reinvent” pinball in a last-ditch effort to save Williams from ceasing pinball manufacturing. 6,878 machines were made. George Gomez designed the new platform with Greg Freres and John Youssi designing the art package. This is Star Wars; the last games from Williams were the most technologically advanced games pinball has ever known. The incorporation of a reflecting video monitor with interactive playfield video feedback is revolutionary. The top of the playfield is mostly hidden from view except for a few selectively placed spots which light on occasion. This machine consists of nine different modes which must be conquered to proceed to the ultimate mode, that being the destruction of Mars. A very different game that sold well. However, Williams pulled the plug on pinball and thereafter focused on slot machines.
  • This game is the pinball rendition of the HBO TV show, The Sopranos, complete with voices of most of the actors in the series. It was designed by George Gomez with the art package created by Kevin O’Conner. The main object of the machine is to advance through the ranks of the mob by advancing your status through playfield rollovers and cracking the safe. Doing so is difficult to achieve to top capo. A multiball feature is also incorporated into the game behind a solo drop target. Video modes must be achieved to complete the placard of events culminating in the completion of your missions. So many pop bumper hits light up the party at the bing in the upper right, which scores a bunch of points. Mastering this machine is tough, but that’s what brings you back to try again.
  • Wow! What a light show! The machine before you represents the first offering from the fledgling company of Jersey Jack Pinball of Lakewood, N.J. A pinball of any production hasn’t been made in the state for decades. This machine was created as a centerpiece of technology to show the arcade world what a contemporary machine can contain in one package. Stern, the only other U.S. maker of pinball, has always streamlined the process of pinball manufacturing and kept the number of pinball “toys” on a machine to a minimum to make their machines less expensive. Since this machine came out, Stern now offers three models of their newer machines: a stripped basic unit, an average machine contents wise and a tricked-out collectable unit to compete with the likes of Jersey Jack. Look at this machine! Mike Balcer designed the playfield; Jerry Vandersteldt, Greg Freres and Matt Riesterer penned the artwork. 1,000 units are already spoken for and both a special edition (the one here) and a standard edition are planned. Five flippers, five magnets, color changing LEDs, a 26-inch LED monitor, shaker motor, ball lift, spinning house toy, crystal ball projector, rising witch and wide-body package are only some of the innovations seen here.