Fox Hunt
About This Machine
The Fox Hunt pinball machine, manufactured by Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company beginning September 17, 1940, is a flipperless electro-mechanical game with one of the more elaborate backglass animations of its era. Produced in a confirmed run of 1,503 units, it offers 5 balls for 5 cents and carries a fox hunting theme brought to life on both the playfield and backglass.
The game's standout feature is its animated backglass, where five horses advance toward five foxes. Hitting any numbered bumper (1 to 5) advances the corresponding horse, while the red bumper advances all horses 1, 2, or 3 steps on a mystery basis and scores from 200 to 1,000 points. Each horse that reaches its fox lights that fox for the rest of the game. A clever Selection feature ties into the score: the lit Selection number changes with the hundreds digit of the score, and whenever the lit Selection matches a lit fox, the word WINNER lights on the backglass and the outlane rollover lights for Special, awarding one replay for each lit fox — up to 5 replays at once. Replays are displayed on the backglass and can count into the seventies.
Fourteen passive bumpers populate the playfield, and the game's sound is a single bell. Operators could configure the game for Free Play operation, where replays shown on the backglass could be played off without a coin, or Regular operation, where every game required a coin and replays could only be knocked off for payout using a button under the cabinet. A time clock shuts the game off entirely, requiring a fresh coin to start the next game. With its horse-race-style animation, mystery scoring, and stackable Special awards, Fox Hunt is an engaging window into pre-flipper pinball design.
Images (31)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Sports - Fox Hunting
- Model Number:
- 84
- Notable Features:
- 5 balls for 5 cents. Passive bumpers (14). Backglass light animation (horses advance). At start of game, the five horses light up at top of backglass. Hitting any numbered bumper 1 to 5 advances the correspondingly numbered horse downward on the backglass towards its correspondingly numbered fox at bottom left corner of backglass. Hitting the red bumper simultaneously advances all horses either 1, 2, or 3 steps, on a mystery basis. Each horse reaching its fox lights that fox on the backglass for the remainder of the game. Lighting any fox does not end the game and more than one fox can be made to light, up to having all five lit. Backglass scoring advances in 200-point increments only. Hitting a yellow bumper scores 200 points. The red bumper scores from 200 to 1000 points on a mystery basis in addition to advancing all horses 1, 2, or 3 times on a mystery basis. Each of two rebound rubbers at the entrance of the sole outlane has a visible thin wire switch in front of it to score 200 points. The Selection feature is tied to the backglass hundreds point value as follows: Selection 1 lights only when 00 points is lit. Selection 2 lights only when 200 points is lit. Selection 3 lights only when 400 points is lit. Selection 4 lights only when 600 points is lit. Selection 5 lights only when 800 points is lit. In this way, the Selection changes as the score changes. Each time the lit Selection is the same as any lit fox, the word WINNER lights up on the backglass and the two green posts at playfield bottom also light up, all to signify to the player that the outlane rollover has lit for Special. The WINNER light and the Special rollover both stay lit only as long as the Selection mat ches a lit fox. When lit, the Special rollover awards one replay for each lit fox, up to 5 replays (for five foxes). Replays are displayed on the backglass and can count into the seventies. All bumpers remain lit throughout game play except whenever WINNER and Special are lit, then the five numbered bumpers go dark even though they still score points and still advance backglass horses. When the WINNER and Special lights turn off, the numbered bumpers relight. A knock-off button located on bottom of cabinet decrements the backglass replay counter one credit per each push of the button. A time clock shuts game off, disabling both the knock-off button and the ability to start a game without insertion of a coin even if replays are on the backglass. Once the time clock shuts game off, a coin must be inserted to start the next game. Operator option selects mode for either Free Play or Regular operation: Ģ Free Play - Coin slide can be pushed in without a coin to start a game only if there are replays shown on the backglass. The backglass decrements the replay count when this is done. This game is wired for only one coin meter. The coin meter records only games played. That is, the meter records the coined games plus the free games played off. Knocked-off replays are not recorded. Ģ Regular - Coin slide cannot be pushed in without a coin to start a game even if there are replays shown on the backglass. All games must be started by coining. Replays on backglass can never be played off. They can only be knocked-off for payout by the location. The coin meter records the games played and the knocked-off replays. Sound: 1 bell