Humpty Dumpty (pinball) explained

Humpty Dumpty
Manufacturer:D. Gottlieb & Co.[1]
Players:1
Model:1
Designer:Harry Mabs
Artwork:Roy Parker
Release:October 25, 1947
Production:6,500 units[2]

Humpty Dumpty is a pinball machine released by Gottlieb on October 25, 1947. Named after Humpty Dumpty, the nursery rhyme character, it is the first pinball machine to include flippers - invented by Harry Mabs[3] - distinguishing it from earlier bagatelle game machines.[4]

Description

Humpty Dumpty had six of these flippers, referred to as "flipper bumpers" by the company.[5] However, unlike modern pinball tables, they faced outward instead of inward and were not placed at the bottom of the table near the main outhole.[6]

Like all early pinball tables, Humpty Dumpty was constructed with wood and had backlit scoring in preset units of scoring rather than mechanical reel or electronic LED scoring.

Design team

Digital version

The table was virtually recreated in pinball simulation video game, Microsoft Pinball Arcade, although it was not included in the Game Boy Color version of that game.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Microsoft Pinball Arcade . Microsoft . 5 September 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100821015845/http://www.microsoft.com/games/pinball/tables.htm . 21 August 2010 .
  2. Web site: Gottlieb "Humpty Dumpty. The Internet Pinball Database.
  3. Brack. Ray. Vendors-into-music rated as biggest story of 1967. Billboard. December 30, 1967. 79. 52. 49, 54. 0006-2510.
  4. News: Boland. Ed. F.Y.I - Question. 5 September 2010. The New York Times. 2 June 2002.
  5. Web site: Cumming. Terry. 50th Anniversary of the Flipper - The Modern Game is Born. Pinnovations. 5 September 2010.
  6. Web site: Porges. Seth. Top 8 Most Innovative Pinball Machines of All Time. 5 August 2008 . Popular Mechanics. 5 September 2010.