All-Star Basketball

All-Star Basketball, produced by D. Gottlieb & Company in January 1952, is a single-player electro-mechanical game designed by Wayne Neyens with artwork by Roy Parker, two of the most celebrated figures of Gottlieb's golden age. Model number 61, it had a confirmed production run of 1,000 units.

The machine offers a well-equipped playfield for its era: two flippers, three pop bumpers, five passive bumpers, two slingshots, and a kick-out hole. Its standout feature is the backglass light animation, in which players move across a basketball court, with each bumper hit advancing the animation until a point is scored. Hitting bumpers 1 through 5 and rebounds 6 and 7 all in sequence lights the kick-out hole to score a replay, and making the 'A' and 'B' rollovers lights the top rollover Special to score a replay each time it is made.

With its sequential scoring objectives, animated backglass, and pedigree from the Neyens/Parker team, All-Star Basketball is a solid example of early-1950s Gottlieb design and an appealing piece of postwar pinball history for collectors.