Excelsior Bomber

Excelsior Bomber is a rare and little-documented electro-mechanical pinball machine whose manufacturer and date remain unconfirmed. One video source dates a surviving example to 1937 and attributes it to Heinrich Schulz Automatenbau of Winsen (Luhe), Germany, though IPDB notes this information has not been independently confirmed -- and the coinage referenced in that video, Rentenpfennige, was reportedly only in circulation from 1923-1925, raising questions about the 1937 date.

The game offers 10 balls per play and uses a pair of kickers along with a diverter to move the ball around the playfield, plus a dedicated free-play hole that lets skilled players earn an extra game. It is known to have two coin slots -- some photos show them on the cabinet's front door, while a video of another example shows them mounted on the upper playfield's left wood rail, suggesting these may represent different production years or variants.

Because so little verified documentation survives for Excelsior Bomber, much about its origin, designer, and original market remains uncertain, making it a genuine mystery for historians studying pre-war German coin-operated games.