Bumper Pool

Bumper Pool is a single-player electro-mechanical game produced by D. Gottlieb & Company in June 1969, with a confirmed production run of 2,150 units. Designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Art Stenholm, it is a billiards-themed add-a-ball game - specifically, a version of Gottlieb's 1969 'Mini Pool' made for export to Italy. The words "Punteggio Massimo Raggiunto" under the backglass score reels are Italian for "Maximum High Score."

The playfield offers two flippers, a single pop bumper, and an unusual four slingshots, two of them positioned as kickers in the upper playfield. Its most striking statistic is the target count: 27 standup targets, giving players plenty of ways to score as they knock the ball around a layout that echoes the classic game of pool.

While Bumper Pool may not be as well-known as some other Gottlieb machines, it is a nice example of Ed Krynski's late-1960s work and of the export variants Gottlieb produced for the important Italian add-a-ball market, making it an interesting find for collectors of the era.