- gameplay_feature
- Ball Kickers ×2
- ipdb.corporate_entity_name
- Automatenbau Paul Bohlmann
- ipdb_id
- 5973
- ipdb.image_urls
- ["https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-6.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-7.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-1.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-2.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-3.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-4.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-5.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-18.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-8.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-9.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-10.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-11.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-12.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-13.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-14.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-15.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-16.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5973/image-17.jpg"]
- ipdb.manufacturer_trade_name
- Paul Bohlmann
- ipdb.notable_features
- 10 balls for 5 pfennige. Ball kickers (2). Pushing on handle under coin slots drops balls to reset playfield. Balls entering center feature are diverted alternately to one of two cannons. Ball landing in top Schuss hole fires cannons and make two red lamps in lower playfield flicker. Free play hole (Freikugel, or free ball) at bottom of playfield returns ball to player to shoot again. Coin mechanism accepts 5 pfg for 1 play or 10 pfg for 2 plays. The second play is started by again pushing the handle on the coin mechanism, without having to insert another coin.
- ipdb.notes
- The 5 and 10 Pfg coins referenced on the coin mechanism and playfield of this 1937 pin table indicate use of the pfennig coin (plural: pfennige). Starting in 1936, Germany began striking coins with the longer term Reichspfennig marked on their faces, and the 5 and 10 denominations used a composition of aluminum and bronze until 1940, when the composition was changed entirely to zinc. In 1948, both coins were redesigned to use brass-clad steel, the term 'Reichs' was removed, and from this point forward they were again marked only as pfennig.
We suspect the pinball manufacturers (and also the public) continued to use the abbreviation "Pfg" in spite of the changing nomenclatures for these coins (including Rentenpfennig). If Blink-Feuer is evidence of this, then we should not use that abbreviation to attempt to identify a game as post-war.
However, the changing metallic compositions of these coins suggested fluctuations in weight that might exceed whatever sophistication the coin mechanism may possess to handle all of these coin types while on location, and this may allow us to date a coin mechanism to the range of coins it can handle, therefore helping to narrow the date for which an undocumented game was manufactured. Our research on the two coins found their respective thicknesses and diameters seem to be near constant across the years. The only weight change of probable note was an 18% lighter weight in the 10 Reichspfennig of 1940-1948 than the years before or after.
Perhaps 18% is a clue, as it was reported to us that the coin mechanism on this game can be adjusted for the various coins, including today's Euro, which, if true, means it does need to be adjusted. We do not know how flexible the adjustments would be, beyond a possible change of the coin entrance plate. We invite specific education on this point to ultimately find out if this German coin mechanism can be used to date a game.
- player_count
- 1
- reward_type
- Free Play
- technology_generation
- electromechanical
- year
- 1937