1982 · Stern Electronics
Orbitor 1
Known for Lunar surface, Magnets, Spinning discs and ORBITOR targets. Black outer space starfield, glowing sun with radial rays, rust-orange craggy mountain range along the bottom and space nebula/haze glow at the right.
- Year
- 1982
- Maker
- Stern Electronics
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Known for
- playfield
Lunar surface
- Magnet
Magnets
- Bumper
Spinning discs
- Target
ORBITOR targets
- Target
Lower drop target banks
- Lock
Left ball lock
- Multiball
Two-Ball Multiball
On the playfield
On the backglass
Setting
- Black outer space starfield
- Glowing sun with radial rays
- Rust-orange craggy mountain range along the bottom
- Space nebula/haze glow at the right
Text on it
- ORBITOR I
- STERN
- SHOOT AGAIN
- AT L
- 100 GRAMS A SPECIE
- GAME OVER
- 26,880
- 40
- 034
How it plays
-
Modes 1
- Minimum game time
-
Multiballs 1
- Two-Ball Multiball 2-ball
-
Goals 1
- Lock a Ball
Made by
- Design & Mechanics
- Joe Joos Jr.
Reference
Linked terms
- Lunar surface also called three-dimensional playfield
- Spinning discs also called spinning rubber discs
- ORBITOR targets also called Upper drop targets also called Seven top letter targets
- Standup targets behind upper drops also called top standup targets
- Lower drop target banks also called Left Bonus X bank also called Lower-right Bonus X bank
- Left ball lock also called left-side lock also called upper left saucer
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- orange
- black
- yellow
- rust brown
Fingerprint: Erupting volcano at centre-left with mushroom plume against black sky; green cratered moon; bright yellow flippers; black wedge plastics marked TILT PENALTY and FLASH BALL; orange soot-black landscape with pitted lava rock; round orange crater insert lamps scattered across surface; airbrushed volcanic art in orange, rust and black on dark ground
The centrepiece is a glowing erupting volcano painted in hot orange and yellow, its mushroom-cloud plume rising against a soot-black sky, with a green cratered moon hanging beside it. A second strong memory cue is the pair of long black wedge plastics slung low on each side, each printed in yellow with TILT PENALTY and FLASH BALL. Bright yellow flipper rubber against the rust-orange ground makes the lower centre pop, and a black target on the right carries a large white 5.
Setting
- Erupting volcano on a pitted lava plain
- Mushroom-shaped ash plume
- Green cratered moon or planet
- Ruined stone colonnade and crumbling wall
- Soot-black sky
Symbols
- Mushroom-shaped eruption cloud
- Green cratered sphere
- Round crater holes
- Collapsing colonnade
- Curved white arrow outlines around the flipper captions
Notable shapes
- Twin elongated triangular wedge plastics low left and low right
- Arched header cut-out window row at the top
- Round crater motifs scattered across the surface
- Large dome of glowing lava at centre-left
Art motifs
- Airbrushed soot and glowing lava glow
- Molten orange highlights against matte black
- Scattered rubble texture
Themes
- Volcano
- Eruption
- Lava
- Moon
- Natural disaster
- Ruins
Text on it
- TILT PENALTY
- FLASH BALL
- EXTRA BALL
- SHOOT AGAIN
- SPECIAL
- 5
- OPERATION
- QUARTERS
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | No human or character figures; the scene is landscape only - a volcano, ash cloud, moon and ruins |
Photograph of a volcano-themed electro-mechanical playfield seen through the glass, angled so the whole board and part of the coin door are visible. The art is an airbrushed orange, rust and soot-black landscape of pitted lava rock: a cone erupting at centre-left with a mushroom-shaped plume and three or four straight orange lava streaks running down its flank, a green-and-yellow cratered globe or moon floating just left of the cone, and a ruined stone colonnade and wall tumbling across the middle ground. Scattered craters and round orange insert lamps dot the surface. Two chunky black wedge plastics with yellow lettering flank the lower left and lower right; the left one reads TILT PENALTY and FLASH BALL, the right TILT PENALTY and FLASH BALL. Two red flippers with bright yellow rubber faces sit at the bottom centre, with curved white-outlined captions EXTRA BALL and SHOOT AGAIN just above them. Black plastics across the upper playfield carry extra yellow text, and a black target on the right shows a white 5. A pale instruction card headed OPERATION lies at the right, and the cabinet front below shows two red-lit QUARTERS windows.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- black
- orange
- yellow
- green
Fingerprint: Enormous sunburst with white-hot core and broad triangular orange-yellow rays filling upper half, "ORBITOR I" in gigantic bevelled 3D orange-gradient block capitals, mottled lime-green cratered planet with neon-green orbital ribbon sweeping in long loop, five rectangular seven-segment score windows scattered across rust-colored mountain band
The dominant feature is an enormous blazing sunburst — a white core with long yellow-orange rays — over which the title ORBITOR I sits in gigantic bevelled 3D block capitals filling nearly the whole top third. Below it a neon-green looping orbital ribbon wraps around a lime-and-yellow cratered planet, with a second small green globe beneath. Five separate rectangular seven-segment score windows are scattered across a rust-coloured craggy mountain range rather than lined up in a row. Magenta neon captions (SHOOT AGAIN, 100 GRAMS A SPECIE) glow against the black starfield.
Setting
- Black outer space starfield
- Glowing sun with radial rays
- Rust-orange craggy mountain range along the bottom
- Space nebula/haze glow at the right
Symbols
- Radiant sun with triangular rays
- Cratered green planet
- Small green planet
- Green orbital ribbon/loop
- Four-pointed star sparkle
- Five-segment white score windows
- Red logo plaque
Lettering
- Huge bevelled 3d block capitals with orange-to-yellow gradient faces; small magenta neon-tube style captions; tiny red condensed instruction text
Themes
- Space
- Sunburst
- Planets
- Orbital path
- Score displays
- Mountains
Title on it
- Orbitor i
Text on it
- ORBITOR I
- STERN
- SHOOT AGAIN
- AT L
- 100 GRAMS A SPECIE
- GAME OVER
- 26,880
- 40
- 034
Illuminated rectangular backglass with a huge glowing sunburst filling the upper half: a white-hot core low centre with broad triangular rays of yellow, orange and amber radiating up and outward, over which sits the title ORBITOR I in enormous bevelled block capitals, orange-to-yellow gradient faces with darker orange shading and a bright yellow inner fill on each letter. Below the sunburst, the mid-band shows a mottled lime-green and yellow cratered planet at upper left, a small green sphere lower centre, and a pale green ribbon-like orbital trail sweeping in a long loop from the left edge across and down to the right. Pink/magenta neon-style captions float on the black starfield: SHOOT AGAIN, AT L (AT LEFT, partly cut off) on the left, and 100 GRAMS A SPECIE on the right. The lower third is a band of craggy rust-brown and orange mountains with glowing orange fissures, overlaid by five rectangular seven-segment score windows in white plastic bezels, some digits lit bright orange (26,880; 40; 034). Small red instruction text GAME OVER and BONUS REWARD sits between the centre windows. The whole piece is glossy black with strong reflections and the frame edge is visible.
Backglass
- black
- orange
- yellow
- red
Fingerprint: ORBITER in red-to-yellow gradient block capitals on sunburst fan, single sunburst spike plunging straight down through centre, green-yellow mottled planet with thin white orbital ring, jagged red-black asteroid mountain ridge glowing orange, dark field with no figures depicted, two unlit black rectangular displays
A giant red-to-yellow gradient ORBITER title sitting on top of a fan of sunburst rays, with a single sunburst spike plunging straight down through the middle of the glass. Beneath it a green-and-yellow mottled planet with a single thin white orbital ring line, and no people anywhere on the artwork at all. The lower edge is a jagged red-black asteroid or mountain ridge glowing orange, and the two inset display windows are unlit black rectangles set into the dark field.
Setting
- Outer space
- Black star field
- Orange sunburst rays
- Red-black jagged ridge at the bottom
Symbols
- Ringed planet
- Orbital ellipse line
- Star points
- Four-pointed star flare
- Sunburst rays
- Jagged asteroid or mountain ridge
Lettering
- Very large squared-off sans-serif block capitals for the title, letter tops in dark red grading to bright yellow and orange at the base, with a single narrow spike of the sunburst descending through the letter r; secondary text in smaller condensed red capitals and red boxed panels
Themes
- Space
- Planet
- Orbit
- Sunburst
- Electro-mechanical
- No human figures
Title on it
- Orbiter
Text on it
- ORBITER
- STERN
- ELECTROMECHANICAL
- GAME OVER
- COIN
- 0.0
- 163 1327
Translucent backglass with a black outer border and a space scene. Across the top, the word ORBITER is lettered in huge block capitals with a red-to-orange gradient, the tops of the letters dark red and the lower halves glowing yellow, and the whole word sits on a fan of yellow-and-orange sunburst rays spreading upward from the centre. Below the sunburst, a green-and-yellow mottled planet (Earth-like, with yellow landmasses on dark green) sits left of centre, with a pale grey ringed moon lower right of it. A thin white orbital ellipse sweeps diagonally from the lower left up around the right side of the globe, and small white star points and a four-pointed star flare sparkle around it. In the lower third, dark red and black jagged mountain or asteroid silhouettes are backlit orange, with glowing lava-like cracks. Two dark rectangular windows are inset: an upper score panel carrying orange dot-matrix digits showing 0.0 on the left, and a lower display window lit with orange digits reading 163 1327. No human figures are depicted at all.