1958 · Williams
Turf Champ
Open countryside racecourse - green turf with white running rail in the foreground, a low horizon line with distant trees and hedges, a yellow sun half-set on the horizon, and a flat blue sky with scattered white clouds above.
- Year
- 1958
- Maker
- Williams
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Backglass lights
- Players
- 1
Made by
- Design
- Harry Mabs
- Design
- Harry Williams
- Art
- George Molentin
Vision analysis
On the playfield
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- brown
- red
- cream
- blue
Fingerprint: Advance and Charge Horse playfield towering horseshoe formation of ten red-crowned bumpers encircling six narrow lanes oversized six-column arrow scoring ladder pink yellow green blue marked 1-6 twice side scales reading WIN-PLACE-SHOW-SPECIAL WHEN LIT blue pediment banner with title at top yellow FINISH ribbon yellow-numbered guides six black slingshots at base two-flipper layout cream and blue tones vintage hand-lettered presentation
The most memorable element is the enormous horseshoe of ten red-crowned mushroom pop bumpers wrapped around six narrow vertical lanes, forming a horseshoe shape that fills the entire top two-thirds of the playfield. Second, the giant six-column player ladder of pink, yellow, green and blue arrows marked 1-6 twice, with WIN / PLACE / SHOW / SPECIAL WHEN LIT scales between them. Third, the blue pediment banner at the very top reading ADVANCE AND CHARGE HORSE with a yellow FINISH ribbon beneath it, framed by yellow numbered lane guides.
Setting
- Bare wood-grain playfield background
- Aged yellowed varnish
- Dark brown painted lower apron
Symbols
- Playing-card suits on lane guide inserts (diamond and heart shapes)
- Large numerals 1-6 twice (once at ladder top, once on arrow tails)
- Black round sling targets
- Cream scroll ribbons
- Red rubber bumpers
- Qr code sticker on the lower left apron
- Curved twin-horn horseshoe arrangement
Notable shapes
- A huge horseshoe of ten mushroom pop bumpers around six parallel vertical lanes; six oversized downward-pointing coloured arrows forming a ladder; curved scroll ribbons sweeping between each bumper; a triangular pediment-shaped banner at the top
Art motifs
- Airbrushed chrome-and-cream scroll banners
- Striped yellow-and-black chevron hazard pattern on side guides
- Multi-coloured pennant arrows
- Red/cream/blue/gold palette
- Vintage hand-lettered pinball art
Themes
- Horse racing / thoroughbred theme
- Tournament score chart
- Six-player selection ladder
- Advance and charge
Title on it
- Advance and charge horse
Text on it
- ADVANCE AND CHARGE HORSE
- FINISH
- 3
- 5
- 1
- 6
- 2
- 4
- CHANCE
- ADVANCE
- SELECTION
- WIN
- PLACE
- SHOW
- SPECIAL WHEN LIT
- FLIPPER
- FLIP PER PLAY
- 3 PLAYS 25 CENTS
- Same Play Same Price
- 11 Games
- No Tilt
- For Amusement Only
- TUBE CHAMP
- RUBBERS. MOVING TARGETS INDICATED
- BY LITTED BUMPER CAP.
- FLIPPERS
- MALLET
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | No human or animal figures; the artwork is entirely geometric - bumpers, lane guides, arrows, banners and card-shaped scoring ladders |
| Vehicle | A small horse-and-rider emblem inside the top scroll banner reading advance and charge horse |
| Other | A printed pointing hand/skeleton-hand motif in the centre of the white advance bar |
A vintage wood-rail playfield dominated by a huge horseshoe-shaped arrangement of bumpers and a big six-column scoring ladder. Across the top, a blue-and-white pediment banner reads ADVANCE AND CHARGE HORSE inside a scroll, with FINISH in red block letters on a yellow ribbon below it, flanked by yellow lane guides numbered 3, 5, 1 on the left and 6, 2, 4 on the right. Ten tall red-rimmed mushroom bumpers (pop bumpers) sit in two curved rows of five, each surrounded by curved CHANCE and ADVANCE cream banners; between them run six narrow dark lanes with small white arrow inserts. A white ADVANCE...ADVANCE bar with a pointing hand sits mid-field above the word SELECTION in wide black capitals on a cream panel. Below that, six vertical coloured player columns (pink, yellow, green, salmon, blue, pink) numbered 1-6 at top and again as large numbers at the base of each arrow, with side scales reading WIN, PLACE, SHOW, SPECIAL WHEN LIT. Six red rubber-tipped posts and black sling targets line the bottom, with white FLIPPER ovals at each side. Three rectangular instruction cards and a QR code sit on the lower wood apron.
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- deep blue
- cream
- red
- green
Fingerprint: "TURF CHAMP Williams": six horse portraits in fan tote board arrangement with numbered rails, four galloping horses and jockeys, white rail fence over green turf, low sun horizon
The layout is unusually divided: a fan of six horse portraits arranged across the top half like a tote board, and a full painted flat race scene running along the bottom. Each horse head wears a distinct mask or blinker - a red-rimmed blinker on the leftmost, a white-and-black spotted hood on number three, a pink noseband on number five. Clouds float across the blue sky, including a large isolated cloud floating directly above the title. Two small yellow indicator lamps or inserts are lit just below the centre racehorse's belly. Condition is fair: the backglass is worn and slightly faded overall, with white plaster-like scuffs and losses around the top edge and corners where the painted surface is chipped.
Setting
- Open countryside racecourse - green turf with white running rail in the foreground, a low horizon line with distant trees and hedges, a yellow sun half-set on the horizon, and a flat blue sky with scattered white clouds above
Symbols
- Six ball-knobbed rails forming a fan; a stacked rainbow of horizontal colour bands; a small rectangular opening between the two halves of the title; a painted yellow sun at the horizon; two small lit indicator lamps below the centre racehorse; two yellow oval windows with fine script in the lower apron
Lettering
- Mixed: a yellow cursive script name above the title, huge red block capitals with cream inline shading for the title, oversized white outlined numerals for the lane numbers, and small white or dark sans-serif capitals for the horse names
Themes
- Horse racing
- Tote board
- Thoroughbred
- Jockey
- Racecourse
- Six player
Title on it
- Turf champ
Text on it
- Williams
- TURF CHAMP
- 1
- Tan Tam
- 2
- NEEDLES
- 3
- BOLD RULER
- 4
- HEAD MAN
- 5
- GALLANT MAN
- 6
- GA
- OV
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Six horse heads in the upper tote area: number 1 a bay horse with a white blaze and red-rimmed blinker; number 2 a bay horse with a white blaze, head lowered left; number 3 a horse in a white-and-black spotted hood with a red eye patch; number 4 a bay horse with a dark eye mask, facing left; number 5 a dark bay horse with a pink and white noseband and a white star on its forehead; number 6 a brown horse in a white hood with dark eye cups. lower race scene: four running horses with jockeys - far left a chestnut with a jockey in red silks and white cap; second a dark bay with a jockey in white and yellow; third a chestnut in full stride with a jockey in pink and white; far right a dark bay with a jockey in white and orange. |
Painted pinball backglass showing a horse-race theme, framed by a wooden cabinet edge. The upper half carries a curved six-lane tote board: six white rails topped with yellow ball-knobs, six numbered panels 1-6, each holding a horse head with a printed name. Beneath, a fan of horizontal bands in red, orange, yellow, green and blue sweeps across. The title 'TURF CHAMP' appears in large red block capitals with cream shading across a blue sky with white clouds. The lower third shows a painted race: four galloping horses and jockeys in silks crossing a white rail fence over green turf, with a low sun on the horizon. A bottom strip carries two yellow ovals with fine script, a glowing digit '5' at centre and yellow lettered inserts at the right.