Milestones in Pinball

All information given is derived from IPDB searches as on 2012/1/22.

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Milestone Game Release Date Players Co. Design Production
First pinball Old Jenny (Whiffle) January, 1931 1 Yohio Arthur L. Paulin 10
First Gottlieb Stop and Sock January, 1931 1 Gottlieb David Gottlieb ?
First Bally (And Biggest 30's hit) Ballyhoo January, 1932 1 Bally Raymond T. Moloney 50,000
Biggest 30's hit other than Ballyhoo Beam-Lite March 28, 1935 1 Chicago Coin Sam Gensburg 5,703
Biggest 40's hit Stage Door Canteen November, 1945 1 Gottlieb Harry Mabs 7,500
First EM pinball with flippers Humpty Dumpty October 25, 1947 1 Gottlieb Harry Mabs 6,500
First pinball with only two flippers at the bottom. Triple Action January, 1948 1 Genco Steve Kordek ?
First pinball with flippers pointing inwards Select-A-Card April, 1950 1 Gottlieb Harry Mabs 1,500
First flipper game with multi ball Balls-A-Poppin August 29, 1956 2 Bally   750
Biggest 50's hit Royal Flush March 11, 1957 1 Gottlieb Wayne Neyens 3,400
Biggest 60's hit Gaucho January, 1963 2 Gottlieb Wayne Neyens 5,350
First solid state Bow and Arrow* 1974 4 Bally Greg Kmiec 17
First solid state hit (over 10000) Evel Knievel July 06, 1976 4 Bally Gary Gayton 14,000
Biggest 70's hit Eight Ball January 17, 1977 4 Bally George Christian 20,230
First ramp (as a flipper shot) Xenon November 26, 1979 4 Bally Greg Kmiec 11,000
First split level Black Knight November, 1980 4 Williams Steve Ritchie 13,075
First mode based rule set Centaur February 03, 1981 4 Bally Jim Patla 3,700
First ramp feeding back to flippers High Speed January, 1986 4 Williams Steve Ritchie 17,080
Biggest 80's hit Firepower February, 1980 4 Williams Steve Ritchie 17,410
Biggest 90's hit The Addams Family March, 1992 4 Williams Larry DeMar, Pat Lawlor 20,270

Best Sellers

Machines listed on IPDB as having shipped more than 15,000 units. Excluding Ballyhoo of course

Units Game Release Date Manufacturer Design Art
20,270 The Addams Family March, 1992 Williams Larry DeMar, Pat Lawlor John Youssi
20,230 Eight Ball January 17, 1977 Bally George Christian Paul Faris
19,505 Flash January, 1979 Williams Steve Ritchie Constantino Mitchell
18,250 Playboy December 09, 1978 Bally Jim Patla Paul Faris
17.410 Firepower February, 1980 Williams Steve Ritchie Constantino Mitchell
17,080 High Speed January, 1986 Williams Steve Ritchie Mark Sprenger, Python Anghelo
17,000 Kiss April 25, 1978 Bally Jim Patla Kevin O'Connor
16,842 Star Trek January 24, 1978 Bally Gary Gayton Kevin O'Connor
16,260 Mata Hari September 26, 1977 Bally Jim Patla Dave Christensen
16,155 Captain Fantastic September 04, 1975 Bally Greg Kmiec Dave Christensen
15,235 Twilight Zone April 05, 1993 Bally/Midway Pat Lawlor, Larry DeMar, Ted Estes John Youssi
15,202 T2: Judgement Day July, 1991 Williams Steve Ritchie Doug Watson

Honourable Mentions

Christian Marche Art

Ed Krynski Design

Don Hooker Design

Roy Parker Art

Ted Zale Design

George Gomez Design

Lyman F. Sheats Jr. Software, PAPA Winner (more than once)