Sky·Line

Sky·Line, manufactured by D. Gottlieb & Company in January 1965, is a single-player electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine designed by Wayne Neyens with artwork by Roy Parker, built around a nightclub/nightlife theme and notable for its Mechanical Backbox Animation.

The playfield features two flippers, five pop bumpers, two slingshots, two standup targets, a multi-bumper, and dual outlanes. Its standout feature is the backglass animation: elevator doors that open, paired with an elevator floor arrow that counts up the floors achieved as players hit lit numbers via rollovers or the multi-bumper. Hitting all twelve numbers lights one number randomly for a Special, which then shifts to a new number each time a 1-point feature is hit, allowing for multiple replays to be won over the course of a game.

About 2,000 units of Sky·Line were produced. Early sample units, such as the one bearing serial number "01007 S," featured green elevator doors beneath a top hat, glove, and cane design, along with older daisy-style pop bumper caps — differences from the blue elevator doors and starburst bumper caps used on production units. Sky·Line remains an interesting example of Gottlieb's mid-1960s EM output, blending mechanical animation with straightforward scoring rules.