Hot Spot
About This Machine
The Hot Spot pinball machine, manufactured by Peo Manufacturing Corporation of Rochester, New York between 1932 and 1936, is a fascinating artifact of early pinball history. As a pure mechanical (PM) machine from the era before electromechanical components became standard, it showcases the inventive gameplay mechanisms designers relied on prior to the widespread adoption of electricity in the game.
The machine's unique gameplay centers on its 'trapped' ball feature: a ball can become lodged at the top of the vertical Bull Pen area, requiring another ball to fall into one of three Hot Spot holes to release it. This clever mechanism uses a red ramp that acts as a teeter-totter, tilting under the weight of a rolling ball and lowering a pin to free the trapped ball into the higher-scoring Bull Pen. Balls that fall into the Hot Spot holes themselves are simply returned to the player. With its cabinet measuring roughly 30 11/16 inches long and 16 1/4 inches wide, the Hot Spot was a compact machine suited to any location of its time.
Details about its designer, art, or theme are unknown, but the Hot Spot's inventive ball-trapping mechanism makes it a notable example of Peo Manufacturing's output from the early 1930s.
Images (33)
Technical Details
- Notable Features:
- 10 balls for 5 cents. Free play holes (3). A ball that lands at the top end of the vertical Bull Pen area will be trapped there, unable to drop into the Bull Pen until another ball falls into any of three Hot Spot holes. These holes route the ball below the playfield across a red ramp which acts like a teeter-totter and ti lts under the weight of this rolling ball long enough to lower a pin to release the trapped ball into the higher-scoring Bull Pen area. Once this rolling ball exits the ramp, the weighted top end of the ramp returns it to its normal position and raises the pin to trap a next ball. Balls that fall into Hot Spot holes are returned to the player. Cabinet measured 30 11/16 inches long, 16 1/4 inches wide, 6 3/4 inches high in the front, and 8 1/4 inches high in the back.