Masterpiece

The Masterpiece, manufactured by Pacific Amusement Manufacturing Company (PAMCO) of Chicago in May 1933, is an early pure-mechanical pinball machine designed by Fred McClellan. It comes from the very beginning of the commercial pinball industry, just two years after PAMCO's founding in 1932.

Detailed gameplay instructions have not survived, but as a Pure Mechanical (PM) widebody machine -- advertised at 60 inches long and 30 inches wide -- it offered a large, premium playing surface for its time. The playfield is finished in dark walnut and the cabinet is built from solid gumwood, and it used a 1-inch china ball, materials that reflect the era's craftsmanship. Its playfield could also be interchanged with that of PAMCO's other 1933 release, Metropolitan.

According to the Encyclopedia of Pinball, the earliest production units of Masterpiece played roughly, a problem PAMCO addressed in November 1933 with the release of an updated 'New Masterpiece.' As an early PAMCO title, Masterpiece offers a window into the fast-moving, trial-and-error design process of pinball's earliest years.