Lancers

Lancers, designed by Wayne Neyens and manufactured by D. Gottlieb & Company in August 1961, is a solid example of Gottlieb's electro-mechanical craftsmanship at the start of the 1960s. A two-player game with a confirmed production run of 1,700 units, it pairs Neyens' playfield design with backglass and playfield art by Roy Parker, the artist behind so many classic Gottlieb games of the era, here working a cavalry and military theme.

The playfield offers two flippers, four pop bumpers, two slingshots, and four kick-out holes. The kick-out holes are the game's signature: the two center holes propel balls back toward the top of the playfield, while the two side holes kick balls toward the flippers, keeping the ball in motion and the player guessing. Operators could set the game for 3- or 5-ball play.

Lancers comes from the heart of Wayne Neyens' long and celebrated run as Gottlieb's chief designer, during which he laid out a remarkable share of the company's wedgehead-era classics. While Lancers is not among his most famous titles, it remains a characteristic piece of early-1960s Gottlieb design and a worthy find for collectors of the period.