Vertical Up-Kickers

A solenoid-powered device that kicks the ball straight up from the playfield surface, typically launching it onto a habitrail, wireform, or elevated playfield feature above. The ball enters a pocket or saucer, and the vertical up-kicker fires it upward with enough force to reach an overhead track, where gravity and the wireform guide it back to the playfield. Often abbreviated as VUK, the mechanism became a staple of Dot Matrix Display era playfield design, appearing on over 50 IPDB-cataloged machines. Vertical up-kickers enabled designers to route the ball through three-dimensional paths that would be impossible with traditional horizontal kicker mechanisms.