1965 · Bally
Magic Circle
Known for Blue mushroom bumpers, Free ball gate, Mini flippers and Horseshoes. Night carnival sideshow clearing, grey-blue wooden booth or tent-flap wall with numbered target rings, dark green foliage and ivy border and mustard-yellow sky behind the title.
- Year
- 1965
- Maker
- Bally
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 1
Known for
- Bumper
Blue mushroom bumpers
- gate
Free ball gate
- extra flippers
Mini flippers
- backglass toy
Horseshoes
On the playfield
- magenta
- gold
- purple
- cream
- 2 flippers
- 4 pop bumpers
- 1 spinner
Bumpers 4
- Blue mushroom bumpers
- Green mushroom bumper
- Red mushroom bumper
- White mushroom bumper
Lane 1
- Left out lane
Flipper 1
- Mini flippers extra flippers
Posts and gates 2
- Free ball gate gate
- Gate between the flippers gate
Backbox 1
- Horseshoes backglass toy
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Native american with red headband and long black hair, cream fringed buckskin tunic, seated and playing a wooden flute across his chest
- man Grinning black man in orange-and-white ruffled elizabethan costume with a beaded collar, holding a small stringed instrument
- woman Red-haired woman in a low-cut red dress with puffed sleeves, white ruffled cuffs and a green beaded necklace, seated lower left
- woman Large blonde head in the bottom right corner, hoop earring and beaded necklace, red polka-dot scarf, smiling at the viewer
- woman Blonde woman in a pink ball gown with white puffed sleeves, green collar and layered floral overskirt, arms raised dancing centre-right
- man Native american in a blue shirt, yellow sash and red bandanna, holding a wooden spoon, at the right edge
Setting
- Night carnival sideshow clearing
- Grey-blue wooden booth or tent-flap wall with numbered target rings
- Dark green foliage and ivy border
- Mustard-yellow sky behind the title
Text on it
- Bally
- MAGIC
- CIRCLE
- TILT
- PLAY SKILL GAMES FOR FUN AND RECREATION
- BALL IN PLAY
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 0
Made by
- Design
- Ted Zale
Reference
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- magenta
- gold
- purple
- cream
Fingerprint: Large cream disc with five numbered blue roundels over black-haired woman's face and arm, four red bumpers above, diagonal 100-50-30-10 bonus ladder, gold target well, 1960s comic-style magenta-purple-gold, Egyptian theme aesthetic
A giant cream-coloured circular disc with five blue roundels numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 sits at the centre of the playfield, overlapping a black-haired woman's painted face and raised arm. A diagonal run of four ovals reading 100, 50, 30, 10 BONUS climbs the left side. Four lit round bumpers each carry a red 10 WHEN LIT cap above a gold target. The lower apron is crowded with fine-print instructions, a blue cursive signature and a red arrow banner reading FLIPPER BUTTONS ON SIDES OF CABINET.
Setting
- Starfield
- Purple geometric lattice panels
- Gold sunburst rays radiating from centre
- Cabinet interior of a wooden electro-mechanical game
Symbols
- Playing-card numerals in circles
- Five numbered roundels 1-5
- Stars
- Balance scales
- Radiating sunburst lines
- Flame and lightning motifs in corner panels
- Red arrows
- Spiral scrollwork on apron
Notable shapes
- Large central numbered disc with five blue pips
- Diagonal 100/50/30/10 bonus ladder lane
- Arched upper starfield section
- Cutout hole at the lower right of the apron area
Art motifs
- Sunburst rays
- Starfield
- Scrolls
- Arabesque corner filigree
- Speech/label discs
Themes
- Egyptian queen
- Science fiction
- Space
- Electromech scoring
Text on it
- Bally
- MANUFACTURING COMPANY
- CHICAGO ILLINOIS
- 10 WHEN LIT
- BATTERY POWERED WHEN LIT
- 50 AWARD
- 50 WHEN LIT
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 50 BONUS
- 100
- 50
- 30
- 10
- BONUS
- SPECIAL WHEN LIT
- WHEN LIT TOP GATE OPENS TARGET 4 LITES
- WHEN LIT BOTTOM GATE OPENS WHEN LIT
- 10 WIZARD
- 10 TIMES WHEN LIT
- FLIPPER
- FLIPPER BUTTONS ON SIDES OF CABINET
- 5 BALLS
- 2 PLAYS - 1 QUARTER
- TILT
- ENDS GAME
- 1 SPECIAL BALL WHEN LIT
- 1 REPLAY WHEN LIT
- SPECIAL
- REPLAY
- BALL
- WHEN LIT
- GATE
- OPENS
- 10 LITES
- 50 SPECIAL
- REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 13300 POINTS
- INTERMITTENT BALL
- DESTROYER
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Large painted bust of a woman at centre: long black hair, gold beaded headdress or crown, heavy gold necklace/collar, arched brows, bright red lips, one arm raised with hand near the central disc; partly hidden behind the numbered disc |
| Creature | Small blue-and-white crowned animal head or mask printed just above the woman's hair, near the 1 50 when lit target |
Full-length portrait view of an illuminated electro-mechanical playfield in its wooden cabinet, glass reflecting room light. Playfield art is a 1960s-style comic illustration in magenta, purple, gold-yellow, cream and red. A large black-haired woman with red lipstick and a gold collar/headdress stands centre, one arm raised, printed behind a large cream circular disc carrying five blue roundels numbered 1 to 5. Around her sit printed spot targets and captions: red buttons reading 10 WHEN LIT, blue ovals 1, 2 and 3 over 50 WHEN LIT, a diagonal ladder of ovals reading 100, 50, 30, 10 BONUS, red arrow targets, and stacked label discs reading SPECIAL WHEN LIT, WHEN LIT TOP GATE OPENS TARGET 4 LITES, WHEN LIT BOTTOM GATE OPENS WHEN LIT and 50 WHEN LIT. Upper playfield has a purple starfield ramp area, four red-glowing lamps and a triangular BATTERY POWERED WHEN LIT plate. The cream metal apron carries a blue cursive signature, fine-print instruction paragraph, FLIPPER BUTTONS ON SIDES OF CABINET in a red arrow, 5 BALLS 2 PLAYS - 1 QUARTER and a TILT / ENDS GAME plate. Grey worn cabinet with scuffed paint, coin door and lock visible below.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- red
- mustard yellow
- dark green
- grey-blue
Fingerprint: magic circle: MAGIC CIRCLE 3D red letters, grey-blue booth wall with ten numbered gold horseshoes and pink TILT, six showmen and showwomen in Elizabethan ruffs, flute and guitar players, blonde in pink ball gown, chunky carnival sideshow
A carnival big-top tent-flap backdrop: the grey-blue tent wall carries ten gold horseshoe rings numbered 1 through 10 and the pink word TILT, forming a carnival target board behind the cast. The most memorable single element is the troupe of six exaggerated cartoon showmen and showwomen in Elizabethan-style ruffs and satin gowns, packed shoulder to shoulder around a plain white BALL IN PLAY oval, including a grinning Black man in orange ruffles playing a guitar-like instrument and a seated Native American playing a flute. A blonde woman in a voluminous pink ball gown with puffed white sleeves dominates the right half. The title is a chunky red 3D block-letter logo with flame-yellow inner highlights, and a yellow-orange four-window score panel sits at the upper right beneath a white sign.
Setting
- Night carnival sideshow clearing
- Grey-blue wooden booth or tent-flap wall with numbered target rings
- Dark green foliage and ivy border
- Mustard-yellow sky behind the title
Symbols
- Ten gold horseshoe-shaped number rings 1-10
- Playing-card-suit-free number targets
- Horse-drawn wagon wheel
- Large wooden spoon
- Flute
- Small guitar-like stringed instrument
- Four rectangular score digit windows
- Row of small round lamps around the ball-in-play oval
- Ivy and leaf border
Lettering
- Large three-dimensional red slab-serif block capitals with yellow flame highlights and white drop shadow for the title; pink sans-serif capitals for tilt; red sans-serif capitals on a white panel for the instruction text; cursive script maker logo at top left
Themes
- Carnival
- Sideshow
- Circus
- Native american showmen
- Period costume
- Ringside target game
- Flute player
Title on it
- Magic circle
Text on it
- Bally
- MAGIC
- CIRCLE
- TILT
- PLAY SKILL GAMES FOR FUN AND RECREATION
- BALL IN PLAY
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 0
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Native american with red headband and long black hair, cream fringed buckskin tunic, seated and playing a wooden flute across his chest |
| Man | Grinning black man in orange-and-white ruffled elizabethan costume with a beaded collar, holding a small stringed instrument |
| Woman | Red-haired woman in a low-cut red dress with puffed sleeves, white ruffled cuffs and a green beaded necklace, seated lower left |
| Woman | Large blonde head in the bottom right corner, hoop earring and beaded necklace, red polka-dot scarf, smiling at the viewer |
| Woman | Blonde woman in a pink ball gown with white puffed sleeves, green collar and layered floral overskirt, arms raised dancing centre-right |
| Man | Native american in a blue shirt, yellow sash and red bandanna, holding a wooden spoon, at the right edge |
| Animal | Small white-and-brown dog or rabbit standing on a wagon wheel hub near the centre |
A painted, comic-illustrated pinball backglass set in a carnival sideshow scene at night, framed by a gold-brown border with dark green foliage and ivy in the corners. Top left: a cursive script logo over a mustard-yellow sky. Top centre: a large three-dimensional red block-letter title with yellow flame-like interior highlights and a white shadow, stacked in two lines. Top right: a white rounded instruction panel with red text above a yellow-orange score panel holding four rectangular digit windows. Left of centre is a grey-blue wooden booth or shed wall carrying the word TILT in pink letters and ten gold horseshoe-shaped number rings, 1 to 5 across the top row and 6 to 10 beneath. Six cartoon figures crowd the lower two-thirds: a Native American in a red headband playing a flute, a grinning Black man in a ruffled orange-and-white costume, a red-haired woman in a low-cut red dress with a green necklace, a blonde woman in a pink ball gown with puffed white sleeves and a green collar, a Native American man in a blue shirt and yellow sash holding a wooden spoon, and a large blonde woman's head in the bottom right corner. A plain white oval in the middle is ringed by small lights and reads BALL IN PLAY. Dominant colours are red, mustard yellow, dark green and grey-blue.