Orbitor 1

The Orbitor 1, released by Stern Electronics in February 1982, holds a unique place in pinball history: it was the last pinball machine the company produced before suspending production to focus on video games (the final unit shipped from the factory on August 10, 1982). Designed by Joe Joos Jr. from a concept by Dixie Rinehart and Art Myers, it's a widebody, four-player solid-state machine with an outer-space theme.

The Orbitor 1's most distinctive feature is its clear, contoured plastic playfield with a "moon surface"-like substrate, lit from below and sloped down toward two spinning bumpers that fling the ball away with added spin. The playfield also slopes behind the flippers, letting a ball that gets past them be flipped backward and rescued for a forward shot — an unusual and physically demanding layout for the era. A kick-out hole traps the ball until it's released to start a 2-ball multiball.

The game is also remembered for its speech feature (retrofitted onto early units), most famously announcing "Shoot pinball again" whenever a ball is placed in the shooter lane. With 889 units confirmed produced, the Orbitor 1's rarity, novel playfield geometry, and status as Stern Electronics' swan song make it a notable piece of pinball history for collectors today.