Big Top
About This Machine
The Big Top pinball machine, produced by D. Gottlieb & Company in January 1964, is a two-player electro-mechanical add-a-ball game designed by Wayne Neyens with artwork by Roy Parker. A confirmed 750 units were produced, and the game came in Gottlieb's drop-down style cabinet.
The playfield offers four flippers, four pop bumpers, two passive bumpers, two slingshots, and four standup targets. Big Top's signature feature is Continued Play: high scores or playfield objectives award up to five extra balls per ball in play, and a mechanical animation unit in the backbox brings beach balls into view to represent the extra balls earned. This use of non-numeric symbols to count extra balls appears more often in Gottlieb's Italian exports of the period.
Big Top's design and artwork are quintessential examples of 1960s carnival-themed pinball art, with Roy Parker's colorful illustrations and whimsical graphics evoking the joyous atmosphere of a classic circus.
Images (19)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Circus/Carnival - Happiness
- Model Number:
- 209
- Notable Features:
- Flippers (4), Pop bumpers (4), Passive bumpers (2), Slingshots (2), Standup targets (4). Drop-down cabinet. 2-player add-a-ball with Continued Play. Continued Play is achieved with high scores or playfield objectives and allows up to 5 extra balls per ball in play, tracked by a backbox animation unit which causes beach balls to come into view representing extra balls. This method of counting extra balls by using non-numeric symbols is found more often in Gottlieb's Italian exports of this period.
Credits
- Designer:
- Wayne Neyens
- Artist:
- Roy Parker