In an effort to keep with the traditional high scores attained with the painted backglass games, the first pinball machines to use mechanical wheels for scoring, such as Army Navy, allowed the …

During the summer of 1931, Chicago handyman Nate Robin and a business partner, Al Rest designed a coin operated pin game and began manufacturing it in a abandoned factory …

Aug 27, 2025 · Generally considered one of the first pinball machines, Baffle Ball was released by Gottlieb in 1931. It had a small cabinet, spring-loaded plunger, scoring holes, and a metal ball, …

Mar 11, 2025 · It wasn’t until the 1930s that the first modern-looking, coin-operated pinball machine was invented. It was created by the company Automatic Industries, which named it a …

Apr 30, 2025 · Pinball started as a coin-operated game called Bagatelle in the late 18th century. The tilt mechanism was invented in 1934 to stop players from shaking the machines.

That is, until Jersey Jack Pinball was founded in Lakewood, NJ and launched its first pinball machine in 2013, themed after The Wizard of Oz. The company’s attention to detail and …

The history of pinball machines goes all the way back to the 18th century, where it began in the form of games like croquet and Bagatelle. The 1900s saw the introduction of what looked …

1987 - The first pinball machine with digital stereo sound ("Laser War") is introduced by Data- East, and the first automatic ball-save feature is seen in "F-14 Tomcat" by Williams.

The first pinball machine to feature flippers was “Humpty Dumpty”, which was released by the Gottlieb company in 1947. Prior to the introduction of flippers, pinball machines relied on …

Pinball originated in its modern form in about 1930. Earlier machines had been purely mechanical. The earliest machines with coin slots used marbles and cost a penny to play. Steel balls …