1980 · Gottlieb
Asteroid Annie and the Aliens
Known for Left drop bank, Right drop bank, Lower right saucer and Royal Flush. Deep purple-black void and yellow horizontal band across the lower middle behind the figures.
- Year
- 1980
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 1
Known for
- Target
Left drop bank
- Target
Right drop bank
- Hole
Lower right saucer
- Goal
Royal Flush
On the playfield
On the backglass
Who and what
- woman Central young adult blonde woman, bare shoulders, sleeveless low-cut red dress, red round earrings, thin necklace, smiling, holding a fan of red-backed playing cards in one hand and one upright white card with a red spade in the other
- alien Top left, green-haired fanged screaming head with metal forehead band and strings of blue beads
- alien Large glossy green muscular torso on the left with one huge red eye and smaller side eyes
- creature Black-eyed orange alien head on a stalk with red crest spikes, fanged open mouth, upper centre-left
- alien Green skull with orange eye socket on a green ribbed spine, right of centre
- alien Green beaked insect-like head with a dark eye and a segmented green limb curving over the top right
Setting
- Deep purple-black void
- Yellow horizontal band across the lower middle behind the figures
Text on it
- Gottlieb's
- ASTEROID ANNIE
- and the
- ALIENS
- NUMBERS TO MATCH
- BALL
How it plays
-
Goals 1
- Royal Flush
Made by
- Design & Software
- John Buras
- Art
- Gordon Morison
Reference
Linked terms
- Lower right saucer also called saucer
- Upper left standup target also called Extra Ball target
- Left semi-orbit lane also called side lane also called left orbit
- Royal Flush also called Royal Flush hands
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- black
- red
- yellow
- green
Fingerprint: Two enormous green-haired women painted on lower half: one in red uniform pointing both index fingers outward, other in yellow costume with green cap aiming sci-fi ray gun. Two yellow-green aliens with bulging bloodshot eyes and sharp teeth lurk nearby, green tentacles visible. Wire ramp looping top over star-bumper bank, card-suit drop-target grid. Space aliens, black field sprinkled stars.
The most memorable element is the pair of enormous green-haired, heavy-lashed women painted on the lower half of the playfield - one in a red uniform pointing both index fingers outward at the flippers, the other in a yellow costume with a green cap aiming a sci-fi ray gun. Close behind them lurk two yellow-green aliens with bulging bloodshot eyes and rows of sharp teeth, plus a tangle of bright green tentacles. A wire ramp loops across the top of the playfield over a bank of star-capped bumpers, and the name ASTEROID ANNIE is spelled out in big red capitals down the right edge. The whole centre is a grid of card-suit drop targets - hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades - which is unusual on a space-themed game. The bottom apron is unusually text-heavy, with a large cream instruction card, a hand-signed D. Gottlieb & Co. logo and a printed copyright line.
Setting
- Outer space with star field
- Abstract comic-strip panels flanking the centre
Symbols
- Playing-card suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades) on drop targets
- Starburst decals on pop bumper caps
- Sci-fi ray guns
- Tentacles
- Planets and small moons
- Arrows
- Numbers and score values
Notable shapes
- Prominent arc of the chrome wire ramp over the top playfield; two big star-capped circular pop bumpers stacked in the centre; a 15-target card-suit grid; triangular orange-and-yellow side art panels with slanted score numbers 10,000 and 5000; reflections of the room and a reddish reflection streak across the right side of the glass.
Art motifs
- Comic-book panel borders
- Airbrushed sci-fi pin-up women
- Glowing star field
- Chrome wire ramps
Themes
- Space
- Aliens
- Science fiction
- Card suits
- Pinball hardware
Title on it
- Asteroid annie and the aliens
Text on it
- ASTEROID ANNIE and the ALIENS
- INSTRUCTIONS
- 3 BALLS PER GAME
- LIT TOP FOLLOWERS SPOT CORRESPONDING BITS IN ROYAL FLUSH HANDS.
- DROP TARGETS LIGHT CORRESPONDING CARDS IN EACH LIT HAND.
- DROP TARGET VALUE IS 5000 POINTS.
- COMPLETING BOTH TARGET BANKS WITH SAME BALL LIGHTS EXTRA BALL TARGET ALTERNATELY
- HOLE LIGHTS FOR SPECIAL WHEN ALL FOUR HANGS ARE COMPLETED.
- MATCHING LAST TWO NUMBERS IN SCORE WITH MATCH NUMBER SCORES ONE REPLAY
- 1 REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 225,000 POINTS
- 1 REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 450,000 POINTS
- FLIPPER BUTTONS ON SIDE OF CABINET
- SHOOT AGAIN
- SPECIAL WHEN LIT
- WHEN LIT
- EXTRA BALL
- 5000
- 10,000
- 1000
- 3X
- 5X
- 10X
- 13,000
- D. Gottlieb & Co.
- A Columbia Pictures Industries Company
- 166 W. LOUISE STREET, MORTON GROVE, ILLINOIS 60070
- 5000 POUR ROYAL FLUSH BONUS
- SHOOT AGAIN FOR SPECIAL WHEN ... BONUS
- FLING BALL
- A2675
- 442
- B-25957
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Large central lower figure: woman with long emerald-green hair, heavy dark eye make-up, red lipstick, wearing a red uniform jacket; both arms extended forward, index fingers pointing outward in opposite directions, faint smile. |
| Woman | Right side: blonde woman in a yellow/gold costume and green peaked cap, holding a long-barrelled silver sci-fi ray gun aimed up and to the left, determined expression. |
| Woman | Left side: painted face in profile with dark hair, floating as part of a comic-strip style panel above the yellow alien. |
| Alien | Left mid-playfield: large yellow-green creature with bulging bloodshot eyes, gaping mouth full of pointed teeth, wrinkled snout, painted in flat comic airbrush style. |
| Alien | Right of centre: cluster of glossy green tentacled aliens with bulbous heads and large eyes, emerging from black space around the lower right. |
| Alien | Upper left and top edges: partial green-skinned alien faces and eyes peering in from the borders of the playfield art. |
| Other | Bottom centre: a pair of painted red-and-gold spaceships or rocket forms flanking the green-haired woman, angled inward. |
Full-length view of a glass-covered pinball playfield set in deep black space sprinkled with tiny white and yellow stars. At the top, a wire-form ramp arcs across the upper playfield beneath a bank of small round bumpers with plastic star caps; the word ASTEROID ANNIE is spelled out in red block letters along the right side of the upper area. The centre is dominated by two large round pop bumpers with cream bodies and starburst decals, one above the other. Below them sits a 3-by-5 grid of black drop-target banks decorated with heart, diamond, club and spade pips, interspersed with plain round targets. On the left is a broad yellow-and-red art panel showing a snarling yellow-green alien with bulging eyes and a wide toothed mouth, plus a woman's painted face in profile. On the right a second blonde woman in a green cap brandishes a ray gun, flanked by green tentacled aliens and text about scores and a royal flush. The lower centre shows a large green-haired woman in a red uniform pointing both index fingers outward. Two white flipper bats with red rubber rings sit near the bottom, above a small round WHEN LIT / SPECIAL WHEN LIT / SHOOT AGAIN insert. The bottom apron carries a cream instruction card, a FLIPPER BUTTONS badge, a D. Gottlieb & Co. signature and a numbered score reel at the right. Dominant colours are black, red, yellow, green and cream; the art is bright flat comic-book airbrush illustration with heavy black keylines.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- green
- orange
- purple
- red
Fingerprint: ASTEROID ANNIE title in large orange block capitals, wall of snarling green and orange aliens crowding around single calm smiling blonde woman in red dress holding playing cards like gambler, enormous glossy green one-eyed torso on left half, playing cards with visible red heart spade diamond club pips scattered all over, small yellow instruction plaque reads NUMBERS TO MATCH
A wall of snarling green and orange aliens crowding around a single calm, smiling blonde woman in a red dress who holds playing cards like a gambler. Another memorable element is the enormous glossy green one-eyed torso on the left half. Third, playing cards with visible red heart, spade, diamond and club pips are scattered all over the artwork, even held by monsters. Fourth, a small yellow instruction plaque on the right shoulder of a scaly creature reads NUMBERS TO MATCH.
Setting
- Deep purple-black void
- Yellow horizontal band across the lower middle behind the figures
Symbols
- Playing cards
- Red heart pips
- Black spade pips
- Red diamond pips
- Black club pips
- Seven-segment numeral displays
- Tentacles
- Teeth and fangs
- Antennae and eyestalks
Lettering
- Yellow cursive script for the small name, chunky orange capitals with black shadowing for the main title, small yellow lowercase for the connector words
Themes
- Space
- Aliens
- Card game
- Monsters
- Gambling
Title on it
- Gottlieb's asteroid annie and the aliens
Text on it
- Gottlieb's
- ASTEROID ANNIE
- and the
- ALIENS
- NUMBERS TO MATCH
- BALL
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Central young adult blonde woman, bare shoulders, sleeveless low-cut red dress, red round earrings, thin necklace, smiling, holding a fan of red-backed playing cards in one hand and one upright white card with a red spade in the other |
| Alien | Top left, green-haired fanged screaming head with metal forehead band and strings of blue beads |
| Alien | Large glossy green muscular torso on the left with one huge red eye and smaller side eyes |
| Creature | Black-eyed orange alien head on a stalk with red crest spikes, fanged open mouth, upper centre-left |
| Alien | Green skull with orange eye socket on a green ribbed spine, right of centre |
| Alien | Green beaked insect-like head with a dark eye and a segmented green limb curving over the top right |
| Monster | Orange and green striped reptilian head with a red eye, spiky jaw and blue tongue, upper right |
| Monster | Purple skull and a red cap-wearing skeletal face at the top right corner |
| Creature | Bottom centre blue-green blob face with a crown of multiple eyes and a gaping mouth |
| Creature | Bottom right orange lumpy monster with green spots, elongated snout and clawed yellow feet |
| Creature | Bottom left orange tentacled beast with red suction-cup spots and a lion-like mane |
| Creature | Left-centre orange-and-black banded creature with an eyestalk and an open toothed mouth |
| Creature | Orange dinosaur-like reptile with rows of teeth at bottom right, facing left |
Tall portrait-format backglass with a deep purple-black background almost entirely covered by monstrous aliens and orange-tentacled creatures, with a blonde woman in the centre. She is a slim young adult, bare-armed, in a low-cut sleeveless red dress with thin red straps, red round earrings, a delicate necklace, facing forward with a confident half-smile; she holds a fan of red-backed playing cards up in her right hand and a single upright white card with a red spade pip in her left. The top banner reads Gottlieb's in yellow cursive, ASTEROID ANNIE in large orange block capitals with dark outlines and a red chevron accent behind it, then 'and the' in small yellow letters and ALIENS in orange capitals. Top left is a green-haired fanged alien head with a metal headband and dangling blue beads; beside it a black-eyed orange alien head on a stalk and a green bone-ridged arm. The left side is filled by a huge glossy green torso with one large red eye and smaller eyes, blue and orange segmented tentacles curling across the frame, and a red-orange polka-dotted tentacled monster. Bottom centre is a blue-green many-eyed blob face; bottom right a lumpy orange creature with green spots, a yellow clawed foot and a curved dagger-like claw. Right side holds a red-lipped green skull, a beaked green insect head with a segmented limb, and small blue seven-segment style numeral displays.