Special-Jax

Special-Jax is a Pure Mechanical (PM) pinball machine manufactured by A.B.T. Manufacturing Company of Chicago in June 1933. Like other PM-era games, it relies entirely on manual, gravity-driven play with no electrical components.

A notable feature is its pricing: the cabinet offered 10 balls for just 1 cent, an unusually generous ratio for the era. The cabinet itself was advertised as 38 inches long, 17 1/2 inches wide, and 40 inches high, weighing 70 lbs. Interestingly, a period Billboard ad placed by a distributor to promote Special-Jax actually pictured A.B.T.'s related 1933 game 'Marbl-Jax' instead, a mix-up that adds a small mystery to its documented history.

Little is known about the machine's designer or theme, and its design and art are characteristic of the era's simple, utilitarian style. As a rare surviving example of A.B.T.'s early 1930s output, Special-Jax offers collectors a window into the pricing and marketing quirks of pinball's pre-flipper mechanical age.