Q*by

Q*by is an unusual solid-state electronic (SS) prototype designed by John Trudeau while working at Mylstar Electronics, Incorporated (operating under the Gottlieb trade name, 1983-1984). Unlike a standard pinball cabinet, Q*by was built as a large countertop/tabletop unit, and it was never placed into production; the playfield was later stripped and no longer exists.

By Trudeau's own account, he built the large tabletop machine somewhat on his own initiative during downtime at Mylstar. He named it Q*by -- as in a "baby" version of Q*bert -- riffing on the still-popular Q*bert video game property, though Gottlieb never pursued the licensing. It played a two-player game with two flippers, a single pop bumper, five stand-up targets, and a roll-under spinner.

Trudeau noted the machine worked reasonably well, but management showed no interest in taking it further. As a compact, novelty-format design rather than a full-size cabinet, Q*by stands out among his prototypes as an experiment in a different physical format for pinball entirely.