1975 · Chicago Coin
Blue Max / Red Baron
Known for Center spinners, Ace drop targets, Left saucer and Ace. Flat colour fields divided into bordered panels by black rules, olive-green biplane panel, dark green panel with a steel truss bridge, blue sky with white clouds and a curving grass verge and olive-drab hangar building with an arched doorway at right.
- Year
- 1975
- Maker
- Chicago Coin
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
Known for
- Spinner
Center spinners
- Drop target
Ace drop targets
- saucer
Left saucer
- Goal
Ace
2 games under this title
-
Blue Max 1975 · 4 players -
Red Baron 1975 · 2 players
On the playfield
Hole 1
- Left saucer saucer
Spinner 1
- Center spinners
Drop target 1
- Ace drop targets
Lanes 2
- Rollover buttons rollover buttons
- Out lanes
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Top right corner, head-and-shoulders painted portrait, laughing broadly with teeth showing, fair-skinned, in a tan leather flying helmet with goggles pushed up on the forehead and a blue scarf, against a pale blue streaked sky
- man Lower centre, large head-and-shoulders painted portrait, fair-skinned, clean-shaven, dark hair, in a tan peaked service cap with dark visor and gold badge, serious unsmiling expression, on a magenta halftone ground
- man Lower left, standing full-length in a brown leather flying suit and flying helmet, beside the tail of a red triplane with white-lined wings
- man Lower centre-right, dark-skinned man in a tan suit and hat standing beside the touring car
- woman Lower centre-right, in a long blue gown with a wide-brimmed red hat, standing at the rear of the touring car
- man Lower centre-right, in a brown jacket, leaning toward the car with one arm raised in greeting
Setting
- Flat colour fields divided into bordered panels by black rules
- Olive-green biplane panel
- Dark green panel with a steel truss bridge
- Blue sky with white clouds and a curving grass verge
- Olive-drab hangar building with an arched doorway at right
Text on it
- CHICAGO COINS
- BLUE MAX
- 1st PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- 3rd PLAYER
- 4th PLAYER
- UP
- PLAYERS
- 1 2 3 4
How it plays
-
Goals 1
- Ace
Made by
- Design
- Jerry Koci
- Design
- Albin Peters
- Design
- Wendell McAdams
- Art
- Lloyd Rognan
Reference
Linked terms
- Center spinners also called Spinners
- Rollover buttons also called Advance rollover buttons
- Ace drop targets also called Ace letters
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass Blue Max
- yellow
- red
- blue
- green
Fingerprint: "BLUE MAX" title on magenta-yellow sunburst, Chicago Coins scroll above, two pilot portraits in leather flying helmet and peaked service cap, aviation vignettes with yellow biplane carrying black cross roundels, red triplane, steel truss bridge, period gathering around dark green touring car outside hangar, four stacked player score windows, flat comic airbrush, bright colors.
Four separate player score windows stacked as two pairs across the glass, each a row of seven mechanical digit reels under a black pennant reading 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th PLAYER. The huge arched BLUE MAX title in white slab serif sits on a magenta-and-yellow sunburst directly beneath a magenta CHICAGO COINS scroll. Two painted portraits of the same pilot dominate: a laughing head in a leather flying helmet and goggles at the top right corner, and a stern head in a peaked service cap on a magenta panel in the lower centre. A period fancy-dress scene at bottom right - a dark green open touring car, a woman in a blue gown and wide red hat, men in suits and a brown greatcoat outside a hangar - contrasts with the aviation panels above.
Setting
- Flat colour fields divided into bordered panels by black rules
- Olive-green biplane panel
- Dark green panel with a steel truss bridge
- Blue sky with white clouds and a curving grass verge
- Olive-drab hangar building with an arched doorway at right
Symbols
- Yellow biplane with black cross roundels on fuselage and wings
- Red triplane with white-lined wings
- Small red biplane banked in the sky
- Hot-air balloon with a striped envelope
- Steel truss bridge
- Olive-drab hangar with an arched doorway
- Dark green open touring car with spoked wheels
- Black cross military roundels
- Red up arrow plaques
Lettering
- Chunky white slab-serif capitals with dark blue inline shading for the title on a magenta scroll; player labels in plain white condensed capitals on black pennants; players in small yellow capitals on the red footer strip
Themes
- Aviational combat
- First world war biplanes
- Four-player score reels
- Period fancy dress
- Vintage touring car
Title on it
- Blue max
Text on it
- CHICAGO COINS
- BLUE MAX
- 1st PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- 3rd PLAYER
- 4th PLAYER
- UP
- PLAYERS
- 1 2 3 4
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Top right corner, head-and-shoulders painted portrait, laughing broadly with teeth showing, fair-skinned, in a tan leather flying helmet with goggles pushed up on the forehead and a blue scarf, against a pale blue streaked sky |
| Man | Lower centre, large head-and-shoulders painted portrait, fair-skinned, clean-shaven, dark hair, in a tan peaked service cap with dark visor and gold badge, serious unsmiling expression, on a magenta halftone ground |
| Man | Lower left, standing full-length in a brown leather flying suit and flying helmet, beside the tail of a red triplane with white-lined wings |
| Man | Lower centre-right, dark-skinned man in a tan suit and hat standing beside the touring car |
| Woman | Lower centre-right, in a long blue gown with a wide-brimmed red hat, standing at the rear of the touring car |
| Man | Lower centre-right, in a brown jacket, leaning toward the car with one arm raised in greeting |
| Man | Lower right, in a brown greatcoat and hat, arm raised, standing beside a woman in a tan coat and cloche hat at the hangar doorway |
A landscape backglass painted in flat, brightly coloured comic airbrush style inside a red-and-yellow border. Across the top a magenta scroll banner reads CHICAGO COINS in white capitals, above a large arched BLUE MAX logo in chunky white slab-serif letters with dark blue inline shading, on a magenta-and-yellow sunburst. Four score windows are arranged two by two, each a white-framed strip of seven black-and-white digit reels under a black pennant reading 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th PLAYER; small red arrow plaques reading UP sit between them. The mid-band is split into panels: an olive-green panel with a yellow single-seat biplane carrying black cross roundels, and a dark green panel with a green steel truss bridge. The bottom third is a blue-sky scene with a maroon-suited pilot standing beside a red triplane, a large head-and-shoulders portrait of a pilot in a peaked service cap on magenta, a hot-air balloon, a small red biplane in flight, and well-dressed figures in period dress gathered around a dark green open touring car outside a hangar, two of them at the far right with an arm raised. A red footer strip carries the yellow word PLAYERS above white numerals 1 2 3 4.
Backglass Red Baron
- blue
- yellow
- red
- white
Fingerprint: RED BARON in chunky red capitals on blue field below CHICAGO COIN'S, flying-hero bust in brown leather helmet and goggles inside blue spiral swirl, blue crosshatched hot-air balloon with black Iron Cross on envelope, scarlet WWI biplane with black crosses parked beside HANGAR, mechanical score windows top
A grinning flying-hero bust in a brown leather helmet and goggles, painted inside a blue spiral swirl in the lower left corner, next to the word PUSH with two yellow buttons. A blue crosshatched hot-air balloon carrying a black Iron Cross on its envelope, standing on a yellow panel with BALL IN PLAY printed beneath it. A scarlet First World War biplane with black crosses on its wings parked on grass next to a hut labelled HANGAR. The title RED BARON in chunky red capitals with a white and black drop outline, under small yellow CHICAGO COIN'S lettering on a blue field.
Setting
- Patchwork of flat coloured panels (red, yellow, blue, pink, white)
- Sky with first world war biplanes and iron cross markings
- Grass field with a hangar hut
- White painted outer border with black inner frame
Symbols
- German iron cross roundels on wings and balloon
- Iron cross in the red map panel
- Biplane propeller
- Aeroplane silhouettes
- Yellow numbered inserts 11 and 12
- Two yellow push buttons
- Propeller blade as spinner motif between the score windows
Lettering
- Bold white sans-serif capitals on black arrow banners for the player labels; large fat red block capitals with white and black drop outline for the title; small yellow sans-serif capitals for the maker line and the ball-in-play caption
Themes
- First world war aviation
- Fighter ace
- Biplanes
- Aviation battle scenes
- Hot-air balloon
Title on it
- Red baron
Text on it
- 1ST PLAYER
- 2ND PLAYER
- 4 7 1 7 0
- 0 0 0 0 0
- HANGAR
- 11
- 12
- CHICAGO COIN'S
- RED BARON
- PUSH
- BALL IN PLAY
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Painted bust portrait of a smiling male aviator in a brown leather flying helmet with goggles pushed up and a white scarf, in the lower left blue swirl panel |
| Man | Small standing pilot figure in brown uniform beside the red biplane in the pink panel, near the hangar hut |
| Vehicle | Scarlet first world war biplane with black iron cross roundels on the upper and lower wings, propeller at the nose, resting on a grass field |
| Vehicle | Black line-drawn biplane in the pale blue upper right panel, shown in side profile |
| Vehicle | Blue crosshatched hot-air balloon with a black iron cross on its envelope and a small brown wicker basket, on the yellow bottom centre panel |
| Other | Small grey and white biplane silhouette in the red upper left map panel |
A rectangular painted backglass divided into a patchwork of brightly coloured panels framed by a white outer border and a black inner edge. Across the top sit two mechanical score windows on white cards: a black arrow banner reading 1ST PLAYER above five reels reading 4 7 1 7 0, and a matching 2ND PLAYER banner above reels reading 0 0 0 0 0. Upper left is a red panel showing a white line-drawn map with small black aeroplane silhouettes and Iron Cross roundels; upper right is a pale blue panel with a fine line drawing of a biplane. Middle left is a pink panel showing a scarlet biplane with black Iron Crosses on its wings, an aviator figure beside a corrugated-roof building labelled HANGAR, and two round yellow inserts numbered 11 and 12. Middle right, on blue, small yellow capitals read CHICAGO COIN'S above the large title RED BARON in fat red letters with a white and black outline. Bottom left is a blue swirl panel with a painted bust of a smiling pilot in a brown leather flying helmet, goggles and a white scarf, above PUSH and two yellow buttons. Bottom centre, on yellow, a blue check-patterned hot-air balloon with an Iron Cross on its envelope and a small wicker basket; BALL IN PLAY is printed in yellow along the base.