T.K.O.

The T.K.O. pinball machine, designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison, was manufactured by Gottlieb in March 1979. This single-player electro-mechanical title is notable as the last wedge head game the company produced, and it embodies the spirit of competitive sports pinball with its Sports - Boxing theme.

The gameplay features that make T.K.O. stand out include its array of two flippers, three pop bumpers, two slingshots, five star rollovers, and three standup targets, along with two kick-out holes, which offer players a high degree of control and interaction with the machine. The wedge head design and a maximum displayed point score of 199,990 points round out its scoring system.

T.K.O. is remarkably scarce: only 125 units were confirmed produced, and PinGame Journal articles have noted that for a production run that small, it's questioned whether many of them ever left the factory. Surviving examples have been documented in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in southwest France. As one of the rarest Gottlieb titles from this era, the T.K.O. offers pinball enthusiasts a unique opportunity to explore an underappreciated and hard-to-find chapter in the history of sports-themed pinball.