1962 · Williams
King Pin
Known for Rollover buttons, Gobble holes, Bottom center kicker and Strikes. Bowling alley, bowling lane and pin deck, stylised starburst impact graphic, salmon orange floor band and grey metal outer border.
- Year
- 1962
- Maker
- Williams
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 1
Known for
- rollover buttons
Rollover buttons
- Hole
Gobble holes
- kicker
Bottom center kicker
- Goal
Strikes
- Goal
Spares
On the playfield
Holes 2
- Gobble holes
- Bottom center kicker kicker
Lanes 4
- Rollover buttons rollover buttons
- Top center lane
- Lower rollover buttons rollover buttons
- Out lanes
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Cartoon adult male bowler with swept-back blonde hair and a wide open-mouthed grin, wearing a pink-and-white vertically striped short-sleeved shirt with a pointed collar and pocket, pale blue high-waisted trousers and white lace-up shoes. he is bent forward at the waist in a follow-through, left leg lifted behind, right arm extended flat and open-palmed towards the right-hand starburst, left hand low near the ball.
- vehicle One glossy near-black dark green bowling ball at the bottom left with a bright red highlight reflection, resting on the salmon orange floor.
Setting
- Bowling alley
- Bowling lane and pin deck
- Stylised starburst impact graphic
- Salmon orange floor band
- Grey metal outer border
Text on it
- King Pin
- Williams
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 1
How it plays
-
Goals 2
- Strikes
- Spares
Made by
- Design
- Norm Clark
Reference
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- yellow
- blue
- red
- green
Fingerprint: King Pin title in yellow letters, grinning blonde bowler in pink-white striped shirt lunging left arm outstretched, jagged yellow-red starburst explosion upper right with four score windows, deep purple inverted triangle pin deck with ten white pins, salmon orange floor
The single most memorable feature is the giant yellow-and-red jagged starburst at the top right, which swallows the four score windows and sets off the bowling-ball impact. Second is the grinning blond bowler in a pink striped shirt lunging across the left half with his arm outstretched toward the blast. Third, the deep purple inverted triangle pin deck with ten white pins numbered 1 to 10 laid out in a real bowling-pin formation, framed by the lane stripes. Fourth, the red cursive logo with its white circular emblem tucked into the green top-left corner above the huge yellow King Pin lettering.
Setting
- Bowling alley
- Bowling lane and pin deck
- Stylised starburst impact graphic
- Salmon orange floor band
- Grey metal outer border
Symbols
- Jagged starburst explosion
- Bowling ball
- Ten white bowling pins numbered 1 to 10
- Scorecard on clipboard pad
- White circle emblem with red letter and small crown
- Diagonal lane stripes
- Rectangular score windows
Lettering
- Main title in very large yellow slab-serif letters with red inline shading and heavy black drop shadow, slightly arched; company name in flowing red cursive script on a white-outlined ground; pin numbers in tall red sans-serif digits on white pins.
Themes
- Bowling
- Ten-pin bowling
- Sports
- Leisure and recreation
- Comic action
Title on it
- King pin
Text on it
- King Pin
- Williams
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 1
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Cartoon adult male bowler with swept-back blonde hair and a wide open-mouthed grin, wearing a pink-and-white vertically striped short-sleeved shirt with a pointed collar and pocket, pale blue high-waisted trousers and white lace-up shoes. he is bent forward at the waist in a follow-through, left leg lifted behind, right arm extended flat and open-palmed towards the right-hand starburst, left hand low near the ball. |
| Vehicle | One glossy near-black dark green bowling ball at the bottom left with a bright red highlight reflection, resting on the salmon orange floor. |
A painted pinball backglass dominated by a bowling alley scene rendered in bright flat cartoon colours. Across the top left, a dark green field with pale blue radiating arrow shapes carries the company script logo in red cursive beside a white circle containing a red letter and a small crown, and beneath it the main title in very large yellow slab-serif letters with red inline shading and a black drop shadow, reading King Pin. To the right, a jagged yellow starburst with a red inner starburst explodes outward and contains four small white rectangular score windows in a row. Below, a cheerful cartoon man with swept-back blonde hair, a wide open-mouthed grin, a pink-and-white striped short-sleeved shirt, pale blue trousers and white shoes leans forward in a bowling follow-through, his right arm thrown out flat toward the starburst. A glossy near-black green bowling ball with a red reflection sits at his feet at the bottom left. The centre is filled by a deep purple/magenta inverted triangle pin deck carrying ten white bowling pins marked in red 7 8 9 10 on the top row, 4 5 6 on the second, 2 3 on the third and 1 at the point. The lower band is salmon orange, with a cream scorecard on a green clipboard pad at the lower right and diagonal blue, purple, yellow and pink streaks suggesting a polished lane.