Back Classy Bowler (Extended Play Prototype)

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  1. By IPDB
    credit
    Wayne Neyens — Design
    credit
    Roy Parker — Art
    gameplay_feature
    Gobble Holes ×2
    gameplay_feature
    Flippers ×2
    gameplay_feature
    Pop Bumpers ×4
    gameplay_feature
    Slingshots ×2
    gameplay_feature
    Standup Targets ×5
    ipdb.corporate_entity_name
    D. Gottlieb & Company
    ipdb_id
    6401
    ipdb.manufacturer_trade_name
    Gottlieb
    ipdb.notable_features
    1 game for 5 cents. Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (4), Slingshots (2), Standup targets (5), Gobble holes (2), left and right dual outlanes. Awards balls, five at a time, instead of replays. Sound: 3 bells, knocker.
    ipdb.notes
    This is the Extended Play version of Gottlieb's 1956 'Classy Bowler'. The backglass carries Gottlieb's famous phrase: Amusement Pinballs, as American as Baseball and Hot Dogs! This game was an experimental or test game, modified by Gottlieb. The replay wheel in the backbox is numbered in units of five, up to a maximum of 130, and the window that shows this number to the player is silkscreened with the word "Balls". There is no replay button on the front door; the game automatically resets after every 5-ball game unless there are no more "Balls" displayed in the "replay" window. There is an extra stepper unit (possibly the Delay Unit) and an extra relay that are both mounted in the lower cabinet, separate from the motor board components, that make the Extended Play process possible by acting as a ball count unit and triggering reset. The score card reads "1 game for 5 cents" instead of the typical "5 balls for 5 cents". A notice for operators stapled inside the cabinet read, "Notice. Play game with 5 balls only. If 6 balls are used game will tilt and go out of order." A February 2005 GameRoom article from which this listing is based states that ownership of this game could only be traced as far back as its operation in a Wisconsin bar just prior to 1973. We don't know the cabinet serial number of the game in the article. Without a schematic diagram in evidence, we also don't know if it has a model number different than the game upon which it is based.
    player_count
    1
    production_quantity
    1
    technology_generation
    electromechanical
    theme
    Bowling
    theme
    Sports
    year
    1956