Gottlieb

We love the fact that there are pinball machines out there that cater for all people to enjoy, no matter their ability.

When we came across RazorV23’s wheelchair accessible Gottlieb (Premier Technology) Super Mario Bros. pinball machine Pinside post, we knew we had to share his story and dilemma (more on the dilemma further below)!

RazorV23 had purchased this machine and had gotten it working again. He had bought a regular pinball cabinet and new decals to convert it back to its traditional format, but he soon realised it was pretty freakin awesome the way it was! RazorV23 painted the cabinet blue (from black) and added the decals to the modified cabinet shape – which was no easy task. The modifications continued, with a Pin2dmd colour display and new buttons on the front panel (start game, left flipper, right flipper and shoot ball). The machine still has its regular functioning flipper buttons on the side.

Now to RazorV23’s dilemma: He wants this machine to go to someone that can use it for its intended purpose, but he doesn’t know who that is or how to reach them. Therefore, if any of you know of someone or somewhere that can use this machine (in the US), please get in touch with RazorV23 via Pinside’s private message (PM) system. RazorV23 has stipulated that he is not in a position to donate or give away the machine, but is willing to work out the details with interested parties.

We reckon this is a great opportunity for someone (perhaps a charity?) that work with people that can enjoy a pinball machine like this one, so if there are interested people/parties out there, please reach out to RazorV23 now.

From our research, there are only a few of these modified pinball machines out there, so please help RazorV23 get this machine to where it can be enjoyed.

Before (Black cab with no decals)

After – blue cabinet with decals

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Pinball Press
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title image: Liberty Games UK

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

When I was a kid, there was a bowling alley near my house that always had the best pinball machines. One day, I walk in with my friends, and there is Gottlieb Premier’s Freddy: A Nightmare on Elm Street, right next to the men’s bathroom entrance.

I’ve always been a Freddy Kruger fan. Some of the films are better than others; the third and the fourth instalments of the franchise are my favourites. What Renny Harlin did with “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” should be studied in film schools on how to jolt new life into a successful franchise. I find the Rialto cinema scene when Alice is getting sucked into the movie screen to be a stunning and haunting visual.

Freddy was everywhere when I was a kid. He even had his own television series “Freddy’s Nightmares.” Most of the episodes were poorly produced, but it was always fun seeing Freddy introduce or close every anthology story. Some of them were really bad. The show had a short run and it had little to do with the films other than Freddy’s short appearances.

The Gottlieb pinball machine was like an extension of my Freddy fandom. When I wasn’t in school, I would watch one of the films and then go to the bowling alley to play the machine. I would save up my allowance and get my dollar bills converted to quarters at the front counter.

The sound effects of the machine were terrific. I liked how the film’s score played when you put your quarters in and throughout play. My favourite part of the machine was the large, plastic Freddy head that the game balls would come rolling out of. A friend, years later, who loved the machine as much as I did, told me that the Freddy head was the first thing to go. He said that the plastic would erode after a few years. The machine at the bowling alley already had some wear and tear, but it didn’t make me enjoy it any less. The Freddy glove artwork along the side of the machine was a nice, scary touch.

If I could ever afford a fully restored pinball machine, Gottlieb’s Freddy: A Nightmare on Elm Street would be the one that I would buy. Perhaps because of simple childhood nostalgia? That, and it’s such a fun interactive pinball machine connected to my favourite horror property.

After a few months, the Freddy machine just vanished. I asked the manager of the bowling alley where the machine went; he told me that it didn’t make any money. He added, “That machine was giving people the creeps when they went to wizz.”

The Freddy pinball machine was a little creepy, but on my play alone, I know it made money.