Joker's Wild
About This Machine
The Joker, manufactured by Midway on February 12, 1960, is a novelty coin-operated amusement device -- not a true pinball machine, though it is documented alongside pinball machines for reference. Housed in an upright cabinet resembling a video game, it plays for 10 cents.
Five lightweight, tennis-ball-sized balls rest in a large pop-up array of 33 trap holes at the bottom of the cabinet, visible to the player through an angled plastic window above the horizontal control panel. Each hole ejects its ball vertically via a kicker; the array itself does not move or shake (unlike the similar hole array in Chicago Coin's later 1964 "Criss Cross Pop-Up"). Inserting a dime starts the game and scatters the balls into new hole positions. Each hole corresponds to a playing-card value shown on the backglass marquee. Using individual buttons, the player can "hold" desired cards and then "discard" the rest, kicking only those balls back into play to complete the hand. A qualifying final hand earns replays.
The cabinet measures 66 inches high, 27 inches wide, and 30 inches deep at its widest point. As a card-game-themed novelty device from Midway rather than a conventional flipper pinball machine, the Joker is a curious footnote in the broader history of coin-operated amusements.
Images (4)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Playing Cards
- Notable Features:
- 10 cents per play. Cabinet is in the shape of an upright video game. Five light-weight, tennis-ball-sized balls rest in a large pop-up array of 33 trap holes located at bottom of cabinet. This array is visible to the player through a large plastic window angled above the horizontal player control panel. Each trap hole has a kicker to vertically eject a ball from it. The array itself does not move or shake. Inserting a dime starts the game and dislodges the balls from their current hole positions to land arbitrarily into the same or other vacant holes. Each hole has a playing card value shown on the backglass marquee at top of cabinet above viewing window. The player can 'hold' which cards are desired to keep by operating individualized buttons on the control panel, then can push another button to 'discard' the remaining balls, kicking only those balls back up into play to finish the hand. Replays are earned for a qualifying final hand. Game measures 66 inches high, 27 inches wide, and 30 inches deep at its widest point.