All Star Hockey
About This Machine
All Star Hockey, manufactured by Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company and released in December 1941, is not actually a pinball machine, despite appearing on some pinball reference lists; it is a coin-operated hockey console game with an Art Deco backbox, played for two cents per play. About 1,548 units were produced (confirmed).
The game features an open playfield with an outhole at each end serving as a hockey goal, and a 'goalie' manikin with an extended hockey stick mounted in front of each goal. Balls enter the playfield every few seconds from the middle of one side. Using a control stick at the front of the cabinet, the player rotates both goalies simultaneously in opposite directions, attempting to block shots and score.
Trade press coverage from the period was enthusiastic: a Genco official was quoted in Billboard (January 3, 1942) as being 'amazed' at the reception the game received from the coin machine industry, and further Billboard articles through February 1942 reported strong demand. The manufacturer's own documentation referred to the game simply as 'Hockey,' but period advertising and the backglass itself used the fuller name 'All Star Hockey,' which is now used as its listing name.
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Sports - Hockey
- Model Number:
- 95
- Notable Features:
- 2 cents per play. Console cabinet with Art Deco backbox. Two outholes, one at each end of an open playfield serving as the hockey goal. One "goalie" manikin with extended hockey stick is mounted to the playfield in front of each goal. Balls enter the playfield every few seconds from the middle of one side of playfield. The player operates a control stick at front of game to rotate the goalies continuously and simultaneously, one clockwise and the other counter-clockwise, or vice-versa, depending on which way the control stick is moved.