The Pinball Circus
About This Machine
The Pinball Circus, dated June 1994, is one of the most ambitious unreleased designs from Midway/Bally, created by designer Python Anghelo. Only two engineering prototypes were ever built — one, tested briefly in Germany before being returned, later belonged to Steve Kordek and is now on display at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas; the other remains in a private collection.
Its design is extraordinarily complex: seven flippers spread across four separate playfields. The main lower playfield uses three flippers (two offset, one vertical) to catch balls draining from the upper rings via a corkscrew habitrail. From there, balls are flipped up through a Ring 2 playfield to an elephant's trunk, which lifts its head to roll the ball into Ring 3, and finally up to a magnetic ball lifter that raises it to a clown-themed playfield with drop targets and a jackpot. Art was by Pat McMahon, with sound and music by Dan Forden.
Because only two prototypes were ever completed and neither reached production, The Pinball Circus is known today mainly through those two surviving units rather than any commercial release — a legendary "what could have been" among pinball collectors and historians rather than a widely played machine.
Images (44)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Circus - Carnival
- Model Number:
- 60020
- MPU:
- Williams WPC Security (WPC-S)
- Notable Features:
- Flippers (7), Pop bumpers (4), Drop targets (3), Kick-out hole (1). No left outlane. Buy-In feature. The lower playfield has three flippers: two are offset and a third one rests vertically nearby, for flipping balls that drain from the Ring 3 playfield via the corkscrew habitrail. Flipping a ball on the lower playfield up the left center ramp delivers it to the Ring 2 playfield where its one flipper is used to flip the ball up a ramp to the elephant's trunk. The elephant then raises its head to roll the ball along its trunk to the habitrail behind it, routing the ball to the Ring 3 playfield. This playfield has one small flipper and a mini-slingshot kicker in place of a left flipper. A skillful shot up the rear ramp of this playfield delivers the ball to a magnetic ball lifter which elevates it to fall into the clown's playfield. Two small flippers on this final playfield are used to score the three drop targets and to score a jackpot behind them. After jackpot, the ball is returned via habitrail to the right flipper on the lower playfield.
Credits
- Designer:
- Python Anghelo
- Artist:
- Pat McMahon
- Software:
- Dan Lee
- Music:
- Dan Forden
- Sound:
- Dan Forden
- Dots/Animation:
- Scott Slomiany, Eugene Geer