Also known as SW
1978 · Gottlieb
Strange World
Known for Green targets, Green 4 disk rollover, Yellow targets and Yellow 2 side lane. Surreal outer-space carnival landscape, green cratered planet, central swirling brown vortex and star-spangled sky.
- Year
- 1978
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 1
Known for
- Target
Green targets
- rollover
Green 4 disk rollover
- Target
Yellow targets
- Lane
Yellow 2 side lane
- saucer
Left saucer
On the playfield
- cream
- orange
- red
- black
- 2 flippers
- 2 pop bumpers
- 2 slingshots
Hole 1
- Left saucer saucer
Targets 3
- Green targets
- Yellow targets
- Yellow 3 target
Lanes 4
- Green 4 disk rollover rollover
- Yellow 2 side lane
- Number 4 lane
- Number 2 rollover rollover
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Red-haired man in a pale teal jumpsuit and orange boots, tumbling head-first at upper centre-left beside the title disc
- woman Blonde woman at mid-left in a flowing pale green-and-white gown, both arms raised
- woman Dark-haired woman at lower left in a bright pink dress with a large bow, reclining on her side
- woman Blonde woman at bottom centre in a pink dress, sprawled belly-down across a golden winged mechanical contraption in a magenta circle
- creature Small green horned monster head at bottom centre beneath the golden contraption
- creature Small pink frog-like figure with a wide toothy grin at right below ball in play
Setting
- Surreal outer-space carnival landscape
- Green cratered planet
- Central swirling brown vortex
- Star-spangled sky
Text on it
- Gottlieb's
- STRANGE
- WORLD
- SAME PLAYER
- BALL
- IN
- PLAY
- 2
- 2,280
- 100,000
- D. Gottlieb & Co.
- 10
- 20
- 30
- 40
- 70
- 90
- 100
How it plays
-
Goals 2
- Number sets
- 5,000 number lanes
Made by
- Design
- John Osborne
- Art
- Gordon Morison
Reference
Linked terms
- Green targets also called Green 1-2-3
- Green 4 disk rollover also called Star rollover also called upper disk rollover
- Yellow targets also called Yellow 1 also called Yellow 3
- Yellow 2 side lane also called right-side lane
- Left saucer also called 5,000 saucer
- Yellow 3 target also called lower-right #3 target
- Number 4 lane also called #4 lane
- Number 2 rollover also called #2 rollover
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- cream
- orange
- red
- black
Fingerprint: Strange World, pair of oversized white pop-bumper caps printed with red compass-star medallions, painted blonde pin-up in red leotard standing in shallow blue water beside red-roofed cottage, giant disembodied white eyeball with red pupil at left middle, cluster of colourful stacked tubes, cream instruction cards
The most memorable feature is the pair of oversized white pop-bumper caps printed with red compass-star medallions, set above a painted blonde pin-up in a red leotard who stands in shallow blue water beside a red-roofed cottage. A giant disembodied white eyeball with a red pupil and a cluster of colourful stacked tubes (lookout slides) fill the left middle. The lower apron carries a rare near-complete set of cream instruction cards with red-bordered frames and fine black print. Two red 'TILT ENDS BALL' flipper-button buttons protrude from the chrome cabinet below the playfield.
Setting
- Painted seaside scene: blue water, green hillside, red-roofed cottage, distant sky
- Cream and gold ornamental scrollwork covering the rest of the wood
- White apron panel at the lower end with red-bordered instruction cards
- Chrome side rails and legs of the cabinet visible
- Cream ball trough with two ball-return aprons at the very bottom
Symbols
- Compass-star medallions on the white pop-bumper caps
- Yellow spinner disc upper left
- Numbered teal circles 1 2 3 4
- Orange '5000' score ovals
- Five cream rollover lanes numbered 1 2 3 4 5
- Tall triangular painted sail/prow in pink, teal and yellow on the right
- Curved wooden-looking rails and scrollwork framing both lower corners
- Red-and-blue arrow pointing left and right to the flipper buttons
- Red-bordered white 'flipper tilt ends ball' badge
- Two chrome/red flipper buttons below the apron
- Coin slot and red-lit coin door lamps on the cabinet front
Notable shapes
- Large fan of five cream rollovers arcing across the top
- Tall narrow triangular painted sail/prow on the right middle
- Colourful stacked face tubes forming a stepped tower at mid-left
- Giant painted eyeball
- Curved hook-shaped rails in the two lower corners printed in orange and teal
Art motifs
- Hand-painted cartoon ornament and scroll filigree
- Gold and orange pinstriping over cream
- Colourful stacked lookout tubes
- Stylised water and grass horizon line
- Ornate floral roundels on the upper left
Themes
- Strange world
- Seaside
- Carnival
- Surreal cartoon
- Pin-up
Title on it
- Strange world
Text on it
- 500 or 5000
- STRANGE WORLD
- INSTRUCTIONS
- 1 BALL PER PLAY
- FLIPPER BUTTONS
- ON SIDE OF CABINET
- INSERT COIN ONLY WHEN
- COIN ENTRANCE IS LIT
- LIGHTS
- CORRESPONDING
- SOUND VALUE
- SPECIAL WHEN LIT
- 5000
- FLIPPER
- TILT
- ENDS BALL
- 1 QUARTER
- 1 REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 100,000 POINTS
- 1 REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 125,000 POINTS
- 1 REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 150,000 POINTS
- D.Gottlieb Co.
- 115 W. LAKE ST.
- 7 B79A
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | One painted blonde woman, adult, curvy, wearing a strapless red bodysuit/leotard with bare legs and arms; legs spread apart, one arm raised straight up, smiling with head tilted; stands centre-left on the painted blue water |
| Other | One small thin figure in a yellow outfit with red trim, arms up, posed as if dancing or leaping, immediately right of the woman; facial features indistinct |
| Monster | One cluster of stacked cartoon tube faces at mid-left: a large yellow-eyed open mouth with white teeth, a pink and a turquoise tube beneath it, like colourful lookout tubes ending in grotesque faces |
| Other | One giant disembodied white eyeball with a red iris and black pupil, painted mid-left among green hills |
| Animal | One small green four-legged creature (dog or deer) painted on the grass near the cottage, left of the woman |
Full-length 1960s-style electro-mechanical playfield, photographed in a chrome-railed cabinet with the ball trough, apron and coin door visible at the bottom. Warm cream, gold, orange, red and black dominate. At the top is a fan of five cream plastic rollovers numbered 1 2 3 4 5 in orange circles, beneath the banner '500 or 5000'. Upper left sit two large white pop-bumper caps printed with a red compass-star motif, beside a round yellow spinner. The centre features a painted blonde woman in a tight red outfit, legs apart, arms raised toward a thin yellow-clad figure, standing against blue water with a red-roofed house on a green hillside. A large white eyeball with a red pupil sits mid-left; a tall triangular sailboat prow painted in pink, teal and yellow rises on the right. Curved inlanes carry orange '5000' ovals and numbered teal circles. The lower third is a white apron with two instruction cards, a red-and-blue 'FLIPPER BUTTONS ON SIDE OF CABINET' arrow, a 'FLIPPER TILT ENDS BALL' badge, and a D. Gottlieb Co. signature. Two red rubber flippers at the bottom.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- magenta
- purple
- yellow
- teal
Fingerprint: "STRANGE WORLD": green cratered planet with title, swirling tan vortex cave mouth, red-haired tumbling man in teal, blonde women in flowing gowns, eyeballs on stalks, golden winged contraption
A giant swirling vortex or cave mouth in the centre, framed by a surrealist carnival of tumbling acrobats and floating eyeballs on stalks. The title is stacked chunky yellow-and-red outlined block lettering reading STRANGE WORLD inside a green cratered planet disc. A diagonal amber scoring ramp of orange numbers (10 through 100 and beyond) crosses the upper left corner. Four female acrobats in pastel gowns plus a tumbling man in a teal jumpsuit are scattered across the composition, one sprawled over a golden winged contraption set in a magenta circle. A cream reel-style score window is inset in the upper right with the numerals 2 2,280 visible.
Setting
- Surreal outer-space carnival landscape
- Green cratered planet
- Central swirling brown vortex
- Star-spangled sky
Symbols
- Five-pointed stars on border
- Eyeballs on stalks
- Wings
- Scrollwork flourishes
- Volcano cone at top left
- Green cratered planet
- Numbered ramp track
Lettering
- Cursive script gottlieb's over huge stacked yellow block capitals with thick red and magenta outline and dark drop shadow; small white sans-serif capitals for ball in play; black block capitals on cream for same player
Themes
- Surrealism
- Outer space
- Circus
- Acrobatics
- Fantasy monsters
- Scoring track
Title on it
- Gottlieb's strange world
Text on it
- Gottlieb's
- STRANGE
- WORLD
- SAME PLAYER
- BALL
- IN
- PLAY
- 2
- 2,280
- 100,000
- D. Gottlieb & Co.
- 10
- 20
- 30
- 40
- 70
- 90
- 100
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Red-haired man in a pale teal jumpsuit and orange boots, tumbling head-first at upper centre-left beside the title disc |
| Woman | Blonde woman at mid-left in a flowing pale green-and-white gown, both arms raised |
| Woman | Dark-haired woman at lower left in a bright pink dress with a large bow, reclining on her side |
| Woman | Blonde woman at bottom centre in a pink dress, sprawled belly-down across a golden winged mechanical contraption in a magenta circle |
| Creature | Small green horned monster head at bottom centre beneath the golden contraption |
| Creature | Small pink frog-like figure with a wide toothy grin at right below ball in play |
| Creature | Stack of eyeballs on stalks rising out of the green swirl at centre-right, plus a pair of large eyes on stalks lower right |
| Other | Bearded man's face in profile at the top right corner, framed by a green cloud-like border |
Translucent painted backglass with a cream/tan outer border carrying orange-red scroll flourishes and five-pointed stars (one large star centred at the bottom, single stars at mid-left and mid-right). Inside the border a dense, brightly coloured cartoon scene in magenta, purple, yellow, orange and teal. Upper left, a large round green cratered planet disc carries the title logo: a small cursive Gottlieb's above huge stacked block letters STRANGE WORLD in yellow with heavy red/magenta outline and drop shadow. A diagonal tan band of orange numerals (10, 20, 30, 40, 70, 90, 100 and higher) runs across the top left like a ramp or scoring track. Upper right is a cream mechanical score reel window reading 2 2,280, with a small plate below reading 100,000. Centre is a swirling tan-and-brown vortex or cave mouth opening onto a magenta glow. Figures include a red-haired man in a teal jumpsuit tumbling head-first near the title, a blonde woman in a flowing green-and-white gown with arms raised at mid-left, a dark-haired woman in a pink dress reclining lower left, a blonde woman in pink sprawled across a golden winged machine at bottom centre, and a small green monster head at bottom centre. Right side has stacked eyeballs on stalks, a small pink grinning creature, and BALL IN PLAY in white. Bottom left reads SAME PLAYER.