Varkon

A photographed pinball playfield dominated by a huge bald, grimacing head rendered as a glowing amber-gold dome in the centre, its scalp ringed by a jagged black rocky crater rim. The face has heavy brow, deep-set eyes glowing red, a broad flattened nose and bared teeth, all lit from within like molten lava. Cool teal-blue sky fills the upper corners. Across the top runs an arc of five green square panels numbered 1 to 5. At upper right a grey stone castle with towers and a bridge sits on a rock spire above a row of three red oval bumpers, with a yellow round disc feature below. At lower right a large male figure seen from behind, bare-armed with orange hair and goggles, leans forward gripping a lever; beside him is a yellow five-pointed star badge with a face in its centre. At lower left a smaller red-haired man in a blue jacket sits amid rocks. Two flippers with red rubber rings sit at the bottom centre below a metal ball drain.

A wide, short backglass header panel. A huge magenta-to-crimson rounded rectangle fills the centre, carrying the single word VARKON in enormous chunky yellow-gold block capitals with a heavy black three-dimensional drop shadow offset down and right; the letters are wide, squared and tightly spaced, with the A drawn as a solid triangle. The red panel is edged by a thin gold pinstripe and ringed by a bright cyan-blue segmented border that reads like a beaded or chain moulding. Above it, centred, is a hot pink cursive signature-style logotype reading Williams, preceded on the left by a pink disc containing a black capital W. Behind the title panel, large flat golden-tan angular slabs radiate outwards like stylised desert cliffs or pyramid faces against a very dark navy blue night sky, with a pale grey-blue band low down. At the extreme left and right ends stand matching vertical gold ornamental panels, each carrying a stylised blue-and-grey coiled serpent or dragon head with a large white eye and open toothed jaw, wrapped around a gold beaded medallion studded with small pink dots, above a pink-and-gold diamond-lattice column. Along the bottom edge a narrow strip of grey, cream and blue mechanical illustration is visible. A few scuffs and reflections show on the glossy surface.

A photographed backglass, seen at a slight angle against a pale grey wall, with strong reflections of sky and trees across the glossy surface. The centre is dominated by a long horizontal red/magenta banner with clipped, angled ends, carrying a five-letter title in heavy gold capitals with a dark drop shadow and a small superscript TM at the upper right. Above the banner, on a teal-blue field, a gold-outlined oval swoosh sweeps left to right enclosing a cursive maker's signature in script; a gold feather- or leaf-shaped flourish lies just to its right. Below the banner a yellow sunburst of radiating gold rays fans across the lower third, overlaid with two large blue-grey triangular geometric wedges pointing inwards from left and right towards a small ornate crest at bottom centre. Each outer edge carries elaborate blue, white and gold baroque ornament work: a narrow decorative column down the far left, and a large medallion at the right containing a skull-like face surrounded by scrollwork. Small copyright text runs along the bottom edge. No people or score windows are visible; the visible artwork is cropped at top and bottom.