Speed King
About This Machine
The Speed King pinball machine, produced by King Game Factories of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1932, holds a place in the history of pinball as an early Pure Mechanical (PM) tabletop/countertop game. Its existence is a testament to the early experimentation with ball-in-motion games that would eventually give rise to the modern pinball industry.
As a Pure Mechanical machine, Speed King's operation relied entirely on gravity, pins, and manual manipulation of the cabinet -- it had no electrical components, and, like all pinball machines of this era, predates the invention of the flipper by roughly fifteen years. Specific rules and playfield details have not been documented.
Speed King's production window was brief -- King Game Factories operated only from 1932 to 1933 -- and little information is available about its design, art, or theme. Nevertheless, its rarity and historical position in the earliest years of mechanical pinball make it a notable find for collectors and historians.