Best Pinball Machines

 

When I consider classic pinball machines, I think of the early 1960s and earlier production of wood rail devices. They were known as wood rail pinballs because the game's back glass and side rails were enclosed in a wooden frame. My father spent $200 on an antique wood rail pinball game for me to play named "Gusher" back in the late 1960s. You wouldn't be able to buy one like that today for that price, I assure you!

Machines released in the 1960s and 1970s will be regarded as best pinball machines by those a little younger than me. Before the introduction of coin-operated video games, this was the era when pinball ruled. "King Kool" was the name of one of my favorite old pinball machines from this era. Compared to the modern machines from the past 10 or 15 years, the machine appears basic when I look back at old images.

Any pinball machines produced before 1977 will likely be considered vintage if you're seeking them. All pinball machines were called Electromechanical, or EM machines, in the 1960s and the early 1970s. They had lights that shone through the backglass or reels that rotated to reveal the score. The entire industry was irrevocably altered when the Solid State, or SS, pinball machine appeared in 1977. Digital screens and circuit boards have since taken over.