Pipe Eye

Pipe Eye, manufactured by Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company in October 1934 (model 3), is an early electro-mechanical (EM) table-top/counter game with a confirmed production run of 939 units. Produced in the depths of the Great Depression, it represents an early example of Chicago Coin's work in the coin-operated amusement business, well before the flipper existed - flippers were not introduced to pinball until 1947, so Pipe Eye's gameplay relied on the plunger, targets, and tilt-based mechanics typical of pre-war games.

As a table-top or counter-mounted unit rather than a full-size floor cabinet, Pipe Eye was designed for compact placement in bars, drugstores, and other small retail locations common at the time.

Specific details about Pipe Eye's rules, artwork, and theme are not well documented, but its confirmed production of 939 units and its place among Chicago Coin's early 1930s output make it an interesting artifact from the earliest days of coin-operated pinball.