Back Dancing Dolls (Extended Play Prototype)

Edit History

  1. By IPDB
    credit
    Wayne Neyens — Design
    credit
    Roy Parker — Art
    gameplay_feature
    Gobble Holes
    gameplay_feature
    Flippers ×2
    gameplay_feature
    Pop Bumpers ×6
    gameplay_feature
    Passive Bumpers
    gameplay_feature
    Slingshots ×2
    gameplay_feature
    Standup Targets ×2
    gameplay_feature
    Kick-Out Holes ×2
    ipdb.corporate_entity_name
    D. Gottlieb & Company
    ipdb_id
    5902
    ipdb.image_urls
    ["https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-1.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-2.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-3.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-4.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-5.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-6.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-7.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-8.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-9.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-10.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-11.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-12.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-13.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-14.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/5902/image-15.jpg"]
    ipdb.manufacturer_trade_name
    Gottlieb
    ipdb.model_number
    168B
    ipdb.notable_features
    Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (6), Passive bumper (1), Slingshots (2), Standup targets (2), Kick-out holes (2), Gobble hole (1). Backglass animation (silhouettes dance). Awards balls, five at a time, instead of replays.
    ipdb.notes
    This is the Extended Play version of Gottlieb's 1960 'Dancing Dolls'. This game was an experimental or test game, modified by Gottlieb. It was assigned a different Model Number than the regular game Dancing Dolls production run, even though its cabinet serial number of F20428 falls within the numerical range of that run. The coin door has no coin mechanisms and is wired for free play. The replay wheel in the backbox is numbered in units of five, and the window that shows this number to the player is labeled "Balls". The replay unit still steps only one step per point threshold achieved, adding 5 balls to the total ball count for each step, a seeming equivalent of a replay. The lower cabinet has a Delay Unit and an extra relay laced into the cabling, and this unit is equipped with both step-up and reset coils. The schematic diagram identifies the relay as "Add Delay" and lists the Delay Unit and its coil numbers. This schematic was not doctored after-factory and shows the model number as 168B with the date 6-7-60 (June 7, 1960). Two original copies of it were included with the game. The owner provided us the following information in 2010: I picked up the Dancing Dolls over a year ago from a man in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He bought the pin over 30 years ago for his kids, now grown and gone. The backglass was manufactured with Balls instead of credits. The backglass is glass [not Plexiglas] and the word "Balls" is not a decal or sticker. The Credit Reel is numbered in units of 5 and, when a free game is won, it credits 5 Balls on the backglass. So instead of getting 1 credit for a free game you get 5 Balls, basically the same thing. What's odd is that the machine can be adjusted for 3 balls per game! The extra relay and a Delay Unit in the bottom of the case, credit reel, backglass and coin door are all original to the Dancing Dolls and are Gottlieb parts as far as anyone can tell. I painted the coin door and legs similar to the original color. A sticker above the coin slot was either 5 Cents or 10 Cents, I can't remember. I was told the triangle plates on the front of the coin door should have the denomination stamped in them, mine are blank. The game seems to play well and score correctly when the Balls window is blank. When the Balls window shows any units of 5, the motor in the bottom of the case runs continually until the button on the coin door is pressed and a new game starts. I don't know if the button is original to the game or was added later for Free Play, I'm guessing it was original. I have all of the paper work for the Dancing Dolls and everything is in good condition. The pricing cards and instruction cards look to be the same as a regular production game. The Delay Unit, like other Gottlieb mechanisms, was assigned no part number. The white tag that identified it as the Delay Unit in the pictures shown here displays its own part number of A-4501. We wondered if this unique game was tied to the development of the add-a-ball feature, an idea conceived by Alvin Gottlieb and which appeared soon afterward on their game Flipper. We contacted Alvin for comment. He advised us that it was not part of the "Add-A-Ball" concept but was an attempt to create an "Extended Play" mode until David Gottlieb scuttled the idea with the remark, "Nothing will replace the Free Play as a game attraction".
    player_count
    1
    production_quantity
    1
    technology_generation
    electromechanical
    theme
    Music
    theme
    Dancing