The Amazing Spider-Man (pinball)
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| Manufacturer | Gottlieb |
|---|---|
| Release date | May 1980 |
| System | System 80 |
| Design | Ed Krynski |
| Artwork | Gordon Morison |
| Production run | 7,625 |
The Amazing Spider-Man is a pinball game released in 1980 by Gottlieb. It is based on the comic book character Spider-Man released by Marvel Comics.
Description
The machine was designed by Ed Krinski with art by Gordon Morison and produced by D. Gottlieb & Co. as part of their Star Series 80 line. The first came off the assembly line in May 1980.[1]
The Amazing Spider-Man was the first of Gottlieb's System 80 series of pinball machines and was the second Marvel character licensed by Gottlieb to produce a pinball machine (the first being The Hulk).
The pinball machine featured character poses taken directly from Marvel comics and style guides including Aunt May, Kingpin, Lizard, Scorpion, Vulture, Black Widow, Kraven the Hunter and the Green Goblin.
Features
The features;
- Special 24" (60 cm) wide-bodied cabinet
- 4-Player game
- 4 6-Digit Vacuum fluorescent displays[2]
- 4 Flippers (No Center Post)
- 1 Lane (with Spinner)
- 4 Exit Lanes
- 2 Slingshot Bumpers
- 3 Kick-Out Holes
- 2 Pop Bumpers
- 2 Spot Targets
- 2 Drop Target Banks (3 and 5 targets)
Production
A total of 7,625 machines were produced and are currently sought-after collectors items.
It was the first of Gottlieb's System 80 design pinball machine. It also was the first Gottlieb pinball, with an "attract mode" lighting. In which various playfield lights, alternate between off an on, to make the game more attractive to passerbye, thus encouraging play. It was also the first solid state pinball, with the speaker in the backbox(head) instead of the bottom cabinet.
Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man and public face of Marvel Comics, claimed ownership of one of the first machines of the assembly line and kept it in his Marvel office until he auctioned it as part of his Stan Lee collection at Heritage Comics Auctions (HCA) of Dallas, Texas, USA.
- "Over the years, I have spent countless frustrating yet perversely enjoyable hours attempting to play on it, as have numerous colleagues, friends and business associates (some quite famous, though a combination of modesty, shame and my legendary bad memory prevents me from divulging their names here) during their unrelenting pilgrimages to my office. In fact, I think many of these scions of arts and industry came over JUST to beat me up at pinball. I hope its new owner will be a better player than I am."[3]
References
External links
- The Amazing Spider-Man at the Internet Pinball Database (IPDb).
