Challenger

A photographed pinball playfield seen from above through the glass, with a large pale-green central field, a red-and-cream striped upper third, and a cream/olive apron across the bottom. The most striking element is a big red arrow pointing down the middle of the lower half, carrying the reversed white block lettering RED GOAL inside a cream-outlined rectangle, with a small cream diamond below reading LIT WHEN. Immediately above it a cream banner with black outline reads NOW SCORING, flanked by a yellow circle labelled YELLOW PLAYER and a red circle labelled RED PLAYER, joined by black arrows. The upper playfield is a fan of radiating maroon and black rays spreading upward from a cream centre lane, studded with white starburst rosettes and coloured triangle targets. Four large round pop-bumper caps with scalloped coloured rims sit two either side, showing 100 and a partially legible 200/100, and four red oblong bumper bodies read BAT in blue-and-white. Lower left and right hold painted yellow-and-black hazard-striped triangular wings with two yellow bat-shaped paddles, clusters of blue and cream pegs, cream discs reading SPELL, and red pennants reading 10 POINTS. The cabinet sides read BAT BUTTON with a black arrow. Condition: glass reflections, minor wear, some grime in the upper corners.

A single-level wood-rail pinball playfield photographed upside down (the whole layout is rotated 180 degrees, so the title lettering reads inverted). Art style is flat 1960s-70s screen-printed illustration in saturated primaries: a lime/apple green field as the main background, with large maroon, mustard yellow, red and black geometric wedges radiating from a central spine. Dominant colours are green, red, mustard yellow and black, with white and silver metalwork. Down the middle runs a narrow cream-coloured centre lane strip carrying a row of round starburst insert targets and red/yellow diamond targets, finishing in a black star medallion with the text 100 POINTS WHEN LIT. Four large pop bumper caps sit two on each side, decorated as concentric green, black and cream rings reading 100 and 100 WHEN LIT, mounted on orange cone bases over pink, green and black concentric-circle art. Two banks of small rectangular drop targets flank the centre lane, red ones on top reading YELLOW and yellow ones below reading GOAL. Lower down, a white banner reads NOW SCORING above a red arrow and two circles, RED PLAYER and YELLOW PLAYER, with a small block of fine print reading U.S. & FOREIGN PATENTS PENDING. The biggest element is a mustard yellow rectangular title panel with a lightning-bolt tail, carrying heavy black block capitals YELLOW GOAL, with a small yellow circle below reading LIT WHEN. Flanking it are two angled bats printed in blue and white labelled BAT, striped red-and-black triangular ramp art, and circular target areas. The lower deck is red and tan wood-grain with white arrowed chevron graphics and BAT BUTTON labels at both outer corners. A BALLS PLAYED card and a white instruction card with black scoring text occupy the bottom edge.

A rectangular backglass set in a bare, scuffed white plywood cabinet frame with visible corner blocks and chipped edges. The artwork is a strongly symmetrical optical-illusion design: a central wedge of radiating black-and-magenta chevrons on a lime-green field, flanked left by a red panel and right by a yellow-green panel, each containing a vertical window of four illuminated score reels showing 2-5-4-9 on the left and 5-9-0-0 on the right. Across the top a huge block word 'CHALLENGER' in cream/salmon letters with dark inline striping sits on radiating green and purple concentric arcs, with a small blue script 'Gottlieb's' above the centre. Upper left is a black disc in a red ring reading RED PLAYER SCORE; upper right a matching black disc in a yellow ring reading YELLOW PLAYER SCORE, each above a black shadow ellipse. The lower left and right thirds are filled with bold diagonal sky-blue stripes over purple. Glossy reflections from room lights streak across the centre, and a crack is visible in the frame at the right side.

A wide, landscape-format painted backglass set in a plain white wooden frame, photographed on a workbench. Across the whole top runs the title CHALLENGER in huge block capital letters, cream-white with a dark brown outline, on a purple-to-olive background crossed by broad magenta and green diagonal stripes. A small teal cursive script word sits centred above the title, illegible at this resolution. The layout is bilaterally split into three vertical bands. Left band: an olive-green field with radiating purple-and-green sunburst stripes, containing a green circle outlined in magenta with a black inner disc reading YELLOW PLAYER SCORE in white block caps; beside it a tall white-bordered window holds four cream number reels reading 1, 3, 5, 4. Centre band: a lime-green field with a stylised grey-and-white mountain peak, from whose summit a dark triangular pine-tree or rocket shape rises, overlaid with three red circles and two yellow oval discs. Right band mirrors the left with a red circle reading RED PLAYER SCORE over a black disc, and a cream reel window reading 1, 1, 0, 1. No human or animal figures appear anywhere. Style is flat, hard-edged, mid-century graphic poster art.