Back Skateball

Sources

IPDB and Flipcommons Catalog contributed to this record.

Conflicts resolved (1 field)

credit
IPDB Margaret Hudson — Art IPDB Greg Freres — Art IPDB Greg Kmiec — Design Flipcommons Catalog Greg Kmiec — Design used Flipcommons Catalog Margaret Hudson — Art used Flipcommons Catalog Greg Freres — Art used

Sources agree (4 fields)

technology_generation
solid-state IPDB, Flipcommons Catalog
production_quantity
1 IPDB, Flipcommons Catalog
player_count
4 IPDB, Flipcommons Catalog
ipdb_id
3237 IPDB, Flipcommons Catalog

Single source (9 fields)

ipdb.manufacturer_trade_name
IPDB Bally used
ipdb.corporate_entity_name
IPDB Bally Manufacturing Corporation used
ipdb.image_urls
IPDB ["https://www.ipdb.org/images/3237/image-1.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3237/image-3.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/3237/image-4.png"] used
ipdb.model_number
IPDB 1150-E used
ipdb.notes
IPDB Bally's Numerical List of Machines shows that Model 1150-E had a release (to production) date of 2-7-78 as a "4 player novelty", a designation used on this list for many of their pinball games. There is no wiring part number listed. It does indicate this list entry is "Void" and refers to a "new game #1210" which is solid state Model 1210, Bally's 1980 'Skateball'. Designer Greg Kmiec tells us about this Model 1150-E game and the 1980 game designed by Claude Fernandez:Skateball Whitewood had a motorized appearing/disappearing target and the motor caught fire in life test. Since I had success with my previous games, the backglass artwork had already been completed. Claude Fernandez had just come over from Williams and management was eager to get a game of his on the market with the Bally name. So, they gave "Skateball" to Claude. I scrapped the whitewood. I believe there was only 1 backglass with "KMIEC" on the van's door ever screened. Kmiec confirmed the unused playfield pictured here as his design for this Model 1150-E although he cannot account for the number 1128 printed on it:Yes, that was my original Skateball design that made it all of the way to the artwork stage on the playfield and backglass. It was meant to be an economy game very similar to HOCUS POKUS. This was the timeline: 1) WIZARD (1975) & CAPT. FANTASTIC (1976) gave Bally a large market share. 2) HOKUS POKUS was designed to be an economy game. (1976) 3) HP became the Bally "Capt. Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" Home Pin. (1977) 4) SKATEBALL (1st version) was designed to be another economy game. (1978) 5) Bally hired Fernandez (he came in with a game already designed) and gave him the SKATEBALL title and backglass artwork. The playfield artwork obviously had to be redrawn. Fernandez's game turned out to be the production SKATEBALL (2nd version). SKATEBALL (1st version): The middle spinner on HP was replaced by an alternating (right/left appearing/disappearing) target assembly in the middle of the playfield on my original SKATEBALL (OG). (Original Game) Bally's documentation shows a quantity of 1 game "released to production". We asked Greg if he was aware of any games made. He replies:I could be wrong, but that may be the only one of two original SKATEBALL playfields (OG) in existence. Bally used to receive only one or two playfields with artwork on them for each game in order to check the artwork registration. One playfield would go to the art department and one playfield would be built up as the prototype game to check out the engineered parts. I do not remember building a single prototype original SKATEBALL (OG) game because the alternating appearing/disappearing target assembly was never approved for production. (FYI: I probably would have put a red post behind the center target area.) Released for 1 game means that a prototype game was probably made and is floating around somewhere, like the STAR SHIP prototype game was floating around for years until found. used
corporate_entity
Flipcommons Catalog bally-manufacturing-corporation used
title
Flipcommons Catalog skateball-2 used
name
Flipcommons Catalog Skateball used
slug
Flipcommons Catalog skateball-2 used