Panthera

The Panthera, manufactured by Gottlieb (a Columbia Pictures Industries company) in June 1980, is a solid-state electronic widebody pinball machine with a fantasy theme, one of 5,220 confirmed units produced. It's generally credited to designer Ed Krynski, with art by Doug Watson, though Gottlieb's own records disagree — the game was originally misattributed to Allen Edwall, and staff recollections since have pointed to Krynski, with John Buras possibly involved in prototype software.

The Panthera's feature set includes two flippers, two pop bumpers, three slingshots, three four-bank drop targets, a standup target, a kick-out hole, and a rollunder spinner, creating a fast-paced, skill-demanding layout typical of Gottlieb's early System 80 solid-state releases.

The Panthera arrived during the early years of the solid-state era rather than pinball's earlier EM 'golden age,' as Gottlieb and its competitors were experimenting with new electronic scoring and widebody cabinets. Specific artwork details beyond its general fantasy theme are not well documented, but its combination of a fantasy motif and unusual attribution history make it a machine of interest to collectors and historians.