1958 · Gottlieb
Contest
Pale blue-grey stippled flat background, curved red-and-white and blue-and-white checkered bands above each score window, yellow triangular burst behind the central title, scalloped band of multicoloured half-circles along the bottom border and two yellow-bordered slanted caption plates at the lower corners.
- Year
- 1958
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 4
Made by
- Design
- Wayne Neyens
- Art
- Roy Parker
Vision analysis
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- blue
- yellow
- red
- white
Fingerprint: 4 Player Contest, four individually framed player reel windows each captioned 1st through 4th PLAYER, tall yellow BALL IN PLAY oval with black ball graphic runs down center between them, jumble of jester and playing-card clown figures packed into top center, yellow starburst at lower center reading 1 2 3 4 PLAYERS above huge slab-serif CONTEST
The four individually framed player reel windows each captioned 1st through 4th PLAYER, with a ,000 readout and a matching coloured number badge. A tall yellow BALL IN PLAY oval with a small black ball graphic runs down the centre line between them. A jumble of jester and playing-card clown figures packed into the top centre above the oval. A yellow starburst at lower centre reading 1 2 3 4 PLAYERS sitting directly above a huge slab-serif three-dimensional CONTEST in white, yellow and red with black outline. A diagonal yellow-bordered instruction plate at the lower right claiming three times the score of a skill game.
Setting
- Pale blue-grey stippled flat background
- Curved red-and-white and blue-and-white checkered bands above each score window
- Yellow triangular burst behind the central title
- Scalloped band of multicoloured half-circles along the bottom border
- Two yellow-bordered slanted caption plates at the lower corners
Symbols
- Playing card
- Checkered flag banding
- Jester figures
- Coloured number badges 1 to 4
- Slanted caption panels
- Scalloped circle border
Lettering
- Mixed: cursive black script in the top left corner, small black capitals for ball in play, block banner capitals on coloured ribbons for the player captions, and a very large slab-serif three-dimensional contest in cream with yellow, red and black shadowing
Themes
- Four-player multiplayer
- Score reels
- Card and joker imagery
- Game contest
- Score multipliers
Title on it
- 4 player contest
Text on it
- BALL
- IN PLAY
- 1st PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- 3rd PLAYER
- 4th PLAYER
- 000
- 1 2 3 4 PLAYERS
- CONTEST
- 1-2-3 or 4 CAN PLAY
- AT THE SAME TIME!
- Same Controls For All Players
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Creature | A crowded group of jester and playing-card clown characters in the top centre, packed shoulder to shoulder; one in red and white with a pointed hat, one in green, one in white and purple with a ruff, one bare-armed figure at the right edge of the group, all leaning and tumbling over each other in front of a small playing card |
| Other | A small black ball graphic inside the central yellow ball in play oval |
A wide, symmetrically laid-out score panel in a hand-painted comic cartoon style. Four large rounded rectangular reel windows fill the left and right halves, two above and two below, each with a coloured number badge (1, 2, 3, 4) sitting in a curved checkered band and each reading ,000 across three reels; beneath each window is a coloured ribbon banner reading 1st PLAYER, 2nd PLAYER, 3rd PLAYER and 4th PLAYER. Player 1 is framed in green, player 2 in red, player 3 in orange, player 4 in blue. In the centre column a tall yellow oval cartouche reads BALL IN PLAY above a small black ball graphic, with a stack of colourful jester and playing-card clown figures crowded into the top centre between the two upper score windows. The lower centre carries a yellow triangular burst holding 1 2 3 4 PLAYERS, then a large blocky three-dimensional drop-shadow title CONTEST beneath smaller words. Two slanted caption panels with yellow borders flank the title at the lower corners. The background is pale blue-grey stipple, and a scalloped band of red, yellow, orange, green and purple half-circles runs along the very bottom edge.