Skill-Shot

Skill-Shot, produced by D. Robbins and Company of Brooklyn, New York, in May 1932, is an early example of pinball-style gaming from the medium's first year of commercial popularity. As a Pure Mechanical (PM) game, it predates the development of electromechanical and electronic pinball technology that would come to dominate the industry in later decades.

Skill-Shot was sold as a table-top/counter game rather than a full-size floor machine — the cabinet was advertised in a walnut finish, measuring 30 inches long by 15 inches wide and weighing 40 pounds, and it used steel balls. Players could pay to shoot 7 balls for a single cent or 10 balls for five cents. A sample unit was advertised in 1932 for $13.50, with an optional collapsible metal floor stand available for an additional $1.50.

Beyond its mechanical specifications, little information survives about Skill-Shot's design, artwork, or theme. Even so, it remains a useful artifact for understanding the wide variety of small, coin-operated amusement games that existed alongside full-size pinball machines in the early 1930s.