Coin Slot

Issue: 1978 November 046

Coin Slot Magazine - #046 - 1978 - November [International Arcade Museum]
letters spotted on the backglass remain spotted for the entire game.
Next there is a bumper surrounded with different letters. Only
one letter at a time is lit and wifl change as the ball hits other
thumper bumpers located on the playf ield. On the backgalss ther
are four words painted "Two", "three", "Four", and "Twenty".
All four words can be spelled with the letters found surrounding
the bumper.
in the center of the game, there are two drop holes where the
balls can drop out of the playfield and disappear inside the ma
chine.
As a ball enters this drop hole it spots the lit letter sur
rounding the bumper.
That letter than lites up on the backglass.
Example - Letter "T" would light-up in four locations - i3)wo",
'Q>hree", "Four"d^
Now for something truly unique - if you spell any of the above
words, the machine racks up that amount in free games. Yes,
you could win twenty games!
I never have, but it is possible
(And what a sound it makes when accomplished, just like a ma
chine gun!)
The other thing I forgot to mention was as the ball enters the
drop hole it ejects another smaller ball in its left hand side midget
playfield. Again truly unique, it has four separate chutes marked
A, B, C, and D. The most important combination letter is A.
As a ball enters a chute it permanently lights up the letter marked
on it for the rest of the game. Listed below are the different
combinations possible and what happens as a result If the letters
"A B" are lit-up, then two bulls eyes targets located on the play
field light up.
When these bulls eyes are hit and lit, a free game
is scored. If "A BC" are lit-up a total of four special targets light
up. An if the combination of "A, B, C, and D" are lit up, six
special targets are lit and any other ball entering a chute on the
midget playfield awards one replay.
In the days when my machine was built, Williams only had one
flipper located centrally at the base of the machine. However,
just to the right of the flippers, there was a very strong sling shot
type of rubber bumper that could shoot the ball three-fourths of
the way up the playfield everytime it is hit If the ball was to
leave the two exit lanes it would also kick the smaller ball in the
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mdiget playfield into action. Of course the other way to win free
replays was to obtain certain high score levels.
If you ever have a chance to play this game you would under-
why my
father
and I once played
the machine from six
© stand
The International
Arcade
Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Coin Slot Magazine - #046 - 1978 - November [International Arcade Museum]
o'clock in the evening to seven o'clock in the morning. We didn't
even notice the time pass away until it was ready for both of us
to go to work. We ended up leaving for work right out of the
basement only to return anxiously later that day to do it all over
again. They sure don't make them like they used to!
P.S. - If any of you Coin Slot readers are ever in the area, you can
play the machine by contacting me!
COMMENTS FROM JOHN FETTERMAN:
This game is mentioned in the McKeown Pinball Portfolio book,
and at the time I first saw its picture, it was the most radical
flipper game I'd ever seen. The single flipper, midget playfield,
and asymetrical main playfield leave no doubt but that this is a
mid-fifties Williams pintable. Whereas Gottliebs from this era are
unmistakably the forefathers of modem pins, and consequently
easier to accept, playing the fifties Williams game and enjoying it
is an acquired taste. Apparently, Bjig Ben's taste, once acquired,
is addicting.
Big Ben was released by Williams Electronics on May 18, 1954.
Previous to the game were a series of pintables which carried the
industry's first digital score reels - an idea ahead of its time, as
Big Ben is a 'bulb' machine, one which reads out its score by
bicklighting numbers painted on the backglass.
This is one of
the earliest, if not the earliest use of the midget playfield; it is not
unique. Natkin & KirK's All About Pinball (reviewed herein July
1978) shows a picture of Colors, post-dating Big Ben by some
five months, a game possessing two such midget playfields, and
the later-still
till Spitfire
Spitfire has two different midget playfields flanking
the middle of the main
mat playfield.
The numbers spelled out on the backglass which Mr. Balde
describes are the ancestor of the modern match unit.
In later
Williams games, the end-of-ball spot number or letter would be
concealed from the player until he drained, making it more ran
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_____
Northwestern Gumball & Peanut Machine Pamphlet, plus - 4 addi
tional sheets on Gumball Machines — $5.95 plus postage.
Complete Gumball Collection For Sale - 1899-1930 - Call any
Wednesday Evening, 612-473-3871.
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
One Penny Wonder — 805 Terraceview Lane — Wayzata, MN 55391

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