The 10 Coolest Pinball Machines Of The Ages

Image via Complex Original

Where would we be without pinball? From its inception in the 1930s to its decline toward the end of the century, it's been an important part of culture, for everyone from greasers in malt shops to nerds in arcades. Something about the feel of the spring-loaded plunger in our sweaty palms and the sounds of the table's guts—so important that they were artificially recreated once solid state electronics made the games much quieter—just gets our blood hot.

There are hundreds of pinball machines. They range from rare to common, big to small, innovative to derivative—you name it. These are simply some of our favorites.

Whiffle Board

1931, Automatic Industries

The original coin-op pinball machine, this is the one that started it all. There were ball and pin games before it, but the Whiffle Board was the first with a spring-loaded plunger. A nickel got you nine white balls and one red, the red being worth double points.

It was so popular that Automatic Industries—the company founded by inventor Arthur Paulin—actually grew during the Great Depression. Read more about its fascinating history here. Of course, the innovations that would eventually touch the pinball machine make this look like a bunch of nails in a board, which is essentially what it is.

Humpty Dumpty

1947, D. Gottlieb & Co.

Humpty Dumpty was the first pinball machine with flippers, though unlike later models, its flippers faced outward, making it much more difficult to play. On the other hand, it did have six of them.

This was especially important at the time because of the bans many cities (including New York, LA and Chicago) had placed on pinball, as it was believed to be a form of gambling. The flippers added a layer of skill and helped contribute to the game's eventual unbanning.

Wizard

1974, Bally

This is the last history lesson we're going to regale you with, but rest assured it's an important one. The Wizard machine, based off the movie of the same name, was the first licensed pinball machine. It started a trend that would steer the pinball industry for the rest of its days, and ultimately help bring about its demise—licensing fees aren't cheap, after all.

Ironically, the film Wizard was based off of The Who's album Tommy, which contained a song—"Pinball Wizard"—that would go on to more directly inspire another famous pinball machine in the '90s. You know, "that deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball." Check that one out further down the list.

The Who's Tommy: Pinball Wizard

1994, Data East

While undoubtedly the most obvious choice in existence for a music-to-pinball adaptation (and possibly the only obvious one), The Who's Tommy still made a great machine. It even included songs from the classic album.

And though Bally was the first pinball manufacturer to design a machine based on an entertainment property, their licensed pinball throne was shared by Data East. Too bad all that expensive licensing probably helped contribute to its declaring bankruptcy in 2003.

Tales from the Crypt

1993, Data East

Another classic machine from Data East was the Tales from the Crypt model. If you're old enough to drink right now you just might remember this campy show and comics series from way back when, and chances are you'll remember playing the pinball version as well. It never failed to scare us into spending more quarters on it. Beyond that, it was pretty tame.

The Addams Family

1992, Bally

If you've only played one pinball machine in your life, chances are it was The Addams Family. Most reports place it as the best-selling pinball game of all time, with around 20,000 units sold. That's huge for the industry, and these machines can still be found in pizza parlors and arcades around the country.

The exact reason for its massive success is hard to nail down, but for the most part it seems it was just that well-designed—the man in charge, Pat Lawlor, went on to design the Twilight Zone table, which was also massively successful.

The Twilight Zone

1993, Bally

Pat Lawlor went on to design The Twilight Zone pinball after the success of his Addams Family design, and it was definitley the most ambitious pinball machine ever made at the time. It had to be built as a wide-body machine to accomodate all the toys he included, like a working gumball machine and another, second-tier playing field with invisible, magnetic flippers. It was so complex that finding one today that actually still works right is one of the holy grails of pinball collection.

Revenge from Mars

1999, Williams Electronics

Revenge from Mars was one of only two tables created using the "Pinball 2000" model, which was itself created in a futile attempt to redefine pinball for a video game-obsessed populace. In it and its counterpart, which was based on Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (Do we have to say it? No wonder it failed..), players aimed the ball at holographic targets.

Unfortunately, that same populace didn't bite, and pinball largely went the way of the dodo—taking Williams Electronics, which had already absorbed other pinball manufacturers Midway and Bally, with it.

Batman Forever

1995, SEGA Pinball

We admit there's nothing of particular historical significance when it comes to the Batman Forever machine; we just happen to like it a lot. Interestingly, it's by most accounts one of the few SEGA pinball machines that didn't suck.

Call it nostalgia if you want, but what else is this about?