Magic Eight

The Magic Eight is not an original pinball design but a solid-state conversion kit produced by Geiger-Automatenbau GmbH of Germany, intended to convert Bally's 1977 electromechanical machine 'Eight Ball' into a solid-state (SS) game. Geiger manufactured 150 confirmed units in 1980. Rather than a new cabinet and playfield, operators would apply the kit -- including new artwork -- to an existing Eight Ball machine.

The backglass artwork was created by Michele "Mike" Martinelli, who according to Geiger did the artwork for all of the company's conversion kits, even though surviving backglasses do not carry a visible artist signature. The kit reimagines Eight Ball's pool-hall theme as a Billiards-themed 4-player game.

Conversion kits like Magic Eight were a cost-effective way for German operators to modernize existing EM pinball machines with SS electronics rather than buying entirely new games, and Magic Eight stands as a documented example of Geiger's kit business during the shift from electromechanical to solid-state pinball in the early 1980s.