1975 · Bally
Hokus Pokus
Known for ABCD top lanes, Center spinner and Opens Gate target. Stage-like dark navy backdrop with red curtains and yellow-gold swag valances across the top, wooden pinball backbox frame visible around all four edges and row of dark silhouetted audience heads along the bottom foreground.
- Year
- 1975
- Maker
- Bally
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 2
Known for
- Lane
ABCD top lanes
- Spinner
Center spinner
- Target
Opens Gate target
On the playfield
Spinner 1
- Center spinner
Targets 2
- Opens Gate target
- A and D standup targets
Lanes 2
- ABCD top lanes
- Star rollovers rollovers
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Magician, adult, dark slicked-back hair, clean-shaven, wide open-mouthed grin, white tailcoat with pink lining, pink bow tie, pink pocket square, white trousers, leaning forward and holding a long black wand tipped with a yellow star
- woman Adult, red/auburn shoulder-length hair, arched brows, teal sleeveless dress with an orange sash across the hip, yellow high-heeled shoes, seated side-on on a teal box and holding a tilted pink-red placard
- skeleton Small white skull with black eye sockets and grinning teeth, wearing a small green top hat, mounted on a green pedestal
- other Large orange pumpkin with a glowing yellow jack-o'-lantern face, set behind and right of the magician
- animal Small yellow snake with a red forked tongue curving out from beside the pumpkin
- other Five dark silhouetted adult male heads and shoulders, seen from behind, in a row along the bottom watching the stage
Setting
- Stage-like dark navy backdrop with red curtains and yellow-gold swag valances across the top
- Wooden pinball backbox frame visible around all four edges
- Row of dark silhouetted audience heads along the bottom foreground
Text on it
- 1 UP
- 2 UP
- Bally
- Hokus
- Pokus
- 1 2 CAN PLAY
- BALL IN PLAY
How it plays
-
Awards 1
- Double Bonus
Made by
- Design
- Greg Kmiec
- Art
- Christian Marche
Reference
Linked terms
- ABCD top lanes also called ABCD letters
- Opens Gate target also called Upper center target
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- green
- red
- yellow
- blue
Fingerprint: Huge green Medusa head with snakes for hair forming centerpiece lower playfield, crowd of smaller myth heads stacked above, four fat red pop-bumper caps in tight 2x2 square dominating middle, golden-armoured archer beside rearing winged horse painted across top arch, cream apron with 1980 copyright and Bally script
The single most memorable feature is the enormous red starburst in the middle of the playfield, ringed by ten white score inserts and bisected by a row of four yellow A-B-C-D letter discs, with the slogan MAKING SCORES SPECIAL printed across its yellow core. Second, the pair of white pop-bumper caps, each stamped with a big red 10, sitting side by side just above the starburst like two eyes. Third, the blue lower apron carrying an oversized flowing cursive logo in a lighter blue outline. Fourth, the two triangular advance-bonus ramps, each painted with a flat cartoon businessman in a suit slumped at a desk heaped with gold coins.
Setting
- Flat pale mint green playfield
- Painted wooden side rails
- Black studio void around the cabinet
- Chrome wire ball guide arcing over the upper playfield
Symbols
- Many-pointed starburst
- Yellow round letter discs
- White circular score inserts
- Playing-card-like suit marks
- Arrows
- Gold coin stacks
- Red numerals 10
Notable shapes
- Central many-pointed starburst
- Two triangular advance-bonus ramps
- Green downward arrow at lower centre
- Yellow u-shaped lane guides
- Two rectangular lower-apron windows
Art motifs
- Comic-book star bursts
- Flame and wedge shapes
- Radial score rings
- Banner slogans
Themes
- Score and bonus
- Sports arena
- Big top
- Showmanship
Text on it
- MAKING SCORES SPECIAL
- A-B-C-D
- WHEN LIT
- DOUBLE BONUS
- SAME PLAYER
- SHOOTS AGAIN
- COLLECT BONUS
- ADVANCE BONUS
- GATE OPEN BONUS
- SPECIAL BONUS
- HIT 'N RUN
- 1000 SPECIAL WHEN LIT
- 10
- 100
- 250
- 300
- 500
- 200
- 1000
- 2000
- 3000
- 4000
- 5000
- 6000
- 8000
- 9000
- 10000
- 10090
- A
- B
- C
- D
- CHICAGO, ILL.
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Flat cartoon businessman in a white or pale suit, dark hair, seated behind a desk stacked with gold coins, painted on the left triangular advance-bonus ramp |
| Man | Flat cartoon man in dark clothing leaning forward over a desk with gold coins, painted on the right triangular advance-bonus ramp |
| Woman | Small painted female figure in a pink-red dress at the right side rail near the mid-upper playfield, beside a dark-haired man |
| Man | Small painted dark-haired male figure at the left side rail beside a red painted arrow |
| Other | Small painted figures in red and white at both top corners of the upper playfield, details unresolved |
A portrait-format electro-mechanical playfield shot in its cabinet against a black void. The field background is pale mint green, ringed by bright red, yellow and orange painted bursts, with pale wooden ball guides and a chrome wire rail arcing across the top. Dominating the centre is a huge red-and-yellow many-pointed starburst carrying a ring of white circular inserts numbered 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 8000, 9000, 10000 and 10090, with four yellow lettered discs A, B, C, D set in a row across its waist. Two white pop-bumper caps printed with a large red 10 sit above the starburst, flanked by white plastic posts and red-capped pins. Below are a green arrow reading COLLECT BONUS, SAME PLAYER and SHOOTS AGAIN either side of a round insert, and a pair of red-and-white rubber-striped flippers above a blue lower apron with two rectangular windows. Two triangular painted ramps at lower left and right each carry a cartoon man at a desk piled with gold coins. The apron carries a large blue cursive script logo and small print including CHICAGO, ILL. Paint is chipped and scratched at both lower corners.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- navy blue
- red
- yellow
- green
Fingerprint: hokus pokus title in white bubble letters on pink placard held by red-haired woman in teal dress, white-skulled head wearing green top hat on green pedestal beside grinning jack-o'-lantern, dark-haired magician in white tailcoat with pink lining holding black wand tipped with yellow star, black top hats with coloured bands flanking the stage, red stage curtains with yellow swags, colourful ribbon streamers twisting across scene
The central gag is a white-skulled head wearing a green top hat, sitting on a green pedestal beside a grinning jack-o'-lantern pumpkin, with the magician in a white tailcoat poking a star-tipped wand at it. A red-haired woman in a teal dress sits at right holding a big tilted pink placard with the title in white bubble letters dotted with red polka spots. Black top hats, red stage curtains and twisting yellow, green, blue and red ribbon streamers fill the rest of the stage-like scene. Five silhouetted male audience heads in the foreground watch the act from below.
Setting
- Stage-like dark navy backdrop with red curtains and yellow-gold swag valances across the top
- Wooden pinball backbox frame visible around all four edges
- Row of dark silhouetted audience heads along the bottom foreground
Symbols
- Two black top hats with pale blue bands and green brims
- Yellow five-pointed star on the wand tip
- Two yellow spiky starburst shapes around the skull
- Multi-coloured curling ribbon streamers (yellow, green, blue, red, pink)
- Five-pointed yellow star beneath the title placard
- Two cream score reel windows with printed digit wheels
- Round pink and black player medallions
Lettering
- Two-line title in large white rounded bubble letters with red polka-dot fill, slightly slanted, on a tilted pink-red rectangular placard; a smaller cursive script word above it. small condensed white capitals on black for ball in play, and white capitals on pink for can play.
Themes
- Magic show
- Stage curtain theatre
- Pumpkin and skull
- Pinball backglass score reels
Title on it
- Hokus pokus
Text on it
- 1 UP
- 2 UP
- Bally
- Hokus
- Pokus
- 1 2 CAN PLAY
- BALL IN PLAY
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Magician, adult, dark slicked-back hair, clean-shaven, wide open-mouthed grin, white tailcoat with pink lining, pink bow tie, pink pocket square, white trousers, leaning forward and holding a long black wand tipped with a yellow star |
| Woman | Adult, red/auburn shoulder-length hair, arched brows, teal sleeveless dress with an orange sash across the hip, yellow high-heeled shoes, seated side-on on a teal box and holding a tilted pink-red placard |
| Skeleton | Small white skull with black eye sockets and grinning teeth, wearing a small green top hat, mounted on a green pedestal |
| Other | Large orange pumpkin with a glowing yellow jack-o'-lantern face, set behind and right of the magician |
| Animal | Small yellow snake with a red forked tongue curving out from beside the pumpkin |
| Other | Five dark silhouetted adult male heads and shoulders, seen from behind, in a row along the bottom watching the stage |
A photographed, wood-framed backglass in a bright mid-century cartoon style. Red stage curtains with yellow-gold swag valances hang across the top corners, backed by a dark navy-blue field. Two black top hats with pale blue bands and green brims sit high left and high right, each above a cream score reel window; above them sit round pink-and-black player medallions. Centre stage a smiling dark-haired magician in a white tailcoat with pink lining, pink bow tie and pink pocket square leans forward holding a long black wand tipped with a yellow star. Beside him a large orange pumpkin with a grinning yellow-lit jack-o'-lantern face, and a small white skull on a green pedestal wearing a green top hat, surrounded by a yellow snake and two spiky yellow starbursts. A red-haired woman in a teal sleeveless dress, orange sash and yellow shoes sits on a teal box holding a tilted pink-red placard reading the game logo. Multi-coloured ribbon streamers twist across the scene. Along the bottom a row of male audience heads in silhouette watches from below, above a pink band carrying the ball-in-play panel.