Help Identify a couple of tables

Thursty

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I'm hoping somebody can help me identify two tables I used to play a lot, but now I can't remember their names.

In the summer of '75 I used to play a table that had a wheel in the middle, sort of like Fireball, but the wheel didn't spin itself the way Fireball does. It had two posts on opposite edges of the wheel and you would try to hit the posts to spin the wheel which would rack up points. If you completed some other targets the value of each spin of the wheel would go up. Unfortunately having those two movable posts in the middle of the table would cause some unpredictable behavior when the ball hit them, including dropping the ball straight down the drain. Does anybody remember this table?

In the fall of '76 I used to play a table that didn't look particularly state of the art. It had three round bumpers up near the top that were protected from the flippers by a target wall in the shape of an upside-down V. The bumpers didn't score very high, but if you completed a set of targets then the value would go up drastically. The bumpers were hard to get to from the flippers because of the wall in front of them, but if you angled a shot off the side of the table you could drop the ball into them and it would bounce around in there for quite a while. If the bumpers were in their high score mode then one or two of these shots would almost guarantee a free game score. In '76 this machine seemed like a fairly old one, but not as old as early '60s. I know that's not much of a description, but I'm hoping someone will know this machine.

I know I'd recognize these tables if I saw them, but I just can't remember their names. I've scoured the table images online and I can't find anything that looks like them. Even if I couldn't get emulations for these tables, it would be nice to know their names, so I would be grateful for any help here.
 
@Thursty. I have two versions of TRIPLE ACTION for Visual Pinball.
Let me know if you need them.
KEG
 
In the summer of '75 I used to play a table that had a wheel in the middle, sort of like Fireball, but the wheel didn't spin itself the way Fireball does. It had two posts on opposite edges of the wheel and you would try to hit the posts to spin the wheel which would rack up points. If you completed some other targets the value of each spin of the wheel would go up. Unfortunately having those two movable posts in the middle of the table would cause some unpredictable behavior when the ball hit them, including dropping the ball straight down the drain. Does anybody remember this table?
I vote with the rest, Triple Action / Star Action seem like the obvious choices here.

In the fall of '76 I used to play a table that didn't look particularly state of the art. It had three round bumpers up near the top that were protected from the flippers by a target wall in the shape of an upside-down V. The bumpers didn't score very high, but if you completed a set of targets then the value would go up drastically. The bumpers were hard to get to from the flippers because of the wall in front of them, but if you angled a shot off the side of the table you could drop the ball into them and it would bounce around in there for quite a while. If the bumpers were in their high score mode then one or two of these shots would almost guarantee a free game score. In '76 this machine seemed like a fairly old one, but not as old as early '60s. I know that's not much of a description, but I'm hoping someone will know this machine.
Definitely not enough info, but a few that come to mind are Gulfstream / Tropic Fun and OXO. Am I on the right track?
 
I think you may be thinking of TRIPLE ACTION Williams 1974

http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2648&picno=13858


Sorry, can't help you with the second one

That table certainly has the device I was referring to, but the playfield doesn't jog my memory. You know how sometimes they made the exact same table, but with different themes? I think that may be the case here. Of course it could be that my memory is a lot worse than I thought.

Thanks for the reply.
 
I vote with the rest, Triple Action / Star Action seem like the obvious choices here.

Yes that goes along with what I replied to Mudfinger. The device and the playfield match my memory, but the theme doesn't.


Definitely not enough info, but a few that come to mind are Gulfstream / Tropic Fun and OXO. Am I on the right track?

Yes, I knew that was a lousy description, but it was the best my memory could come up with. Gulfstream and Tropic Fun are definite possibilities. Again the playfield seems similar, but the theme doesn't ring a bell. OXO is definitely not it.

Thanks.
 
The table with the rotating posts could also be Star Pool by Williams.
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2352&picno=8927

It sure looks like the same table as triple action, but with a pool theme doesn't it? One thing about the theme is that I remember a table that had a theme of (now) old fashioned record albums, maybe 45s, sort of a hit music theme, but I don't remember the spinning device being meant to look like a 45. Again my memory is really bad on this and that's why I came here for help.

It might help if you can remember whether the machine used EM Reels or electronic L.E.D.s for the score display and what the themes of the machines were.
The second machine could be Gottlieb's Volley, but it wasn't so much old in '76 as it was more conventional in design.
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2743

I'm about 90% certain it was EM Reels. There were still a lot of EM Reels around back then even though they were certainly being phased out at the time. I know it wasn't Volley because I remember the round bumpers being in the upside-down V formation.

Thanks
 
@Thursty. I have two versions of TRIPLE ACTION for Visual Pinball.
Let me know if you need them.
KEG

I'd be glad to get them. How would we work that? Now that VPForum is down, where's the best place to download tables? Here?

Thanks.
 
Probably the combined sites of VPForums.org, PinballNirvana and IRPinball. Put those three together and you've got a lot of tables. There are probably some more I missed, though.

The McD
 
So were the drop target banks in the upside-down V formation, or were the bumpers in the upside-down V formation, or were both in the V formation? How many drop targets were there if any, and when you say "bumpers", do you mean walls with slingshots or do you mean round mushroom-shaped bumpers?

Did the machine have more than three mushroom bumpers?
 
It sure looks like the same table as triple action, but with a pool theme doesn't it?
yea, the first thing i was going to say is that there were a series of tables with the spinning posts- although i'm not sure if the three mentioned here cover all the permutations. there might be a couple more...

btw, do you know that you can do an advanced search at the IPDB that lets you enter manufacturer and year? then you can click the results to see the pics.

(should be a pretty fast way to find what you're looking for)
 
So were the drop target banks in the upside-down V formation, or were the bumpers in the upside-down V formation, or were both in the V formation? How many drop targets were there if any, and when you say "bumpers", do you mean walls with slingshots or do you mean round mushroom-shaped bumpers?

Did the machine have more than three mushroom bumpers?

Both.
I can't remember how many drop targets, in fact I don't really remember any drop targets at all. I remember rollover and button targets that would light a letter and you had to complete all of them. The letters were the letters in a word or words that were the theme of the table. There wasn't any reset like with drop targets that I can remember.
I think every time I mentioned bumpers, I was referring to round mushroom bumpers. There were three of them. When you lit all the letters, the value of hitting the mushroom bumpers went way up. I think it may have also lit a "wandering" special light.
 
yea, the first thing i was going to say is that there were a series of tables with the spinning posts- although i'm not sure if the three mentioned here cover all the permutations. there might be a couple more...

btw, do you know that you can do an advanced search at the IPDB that lets you enter manufacturer and year? then you can click the results to see the pics.

(should be a pretty fast way to find what you're looking for)

I learned about IPDB on this thread. I wish I could remember the manufacturer and the year. I tried searching with what little I know and I either got nothing or too much.

I was just hoping that some one here would read my post and they might remember. Actually I'm surprised and grateful for the information I got given my sketchy descriptions and memory.
 
Yes that goes along with what I replied to Mudfinger. The device and the playfield match my memory, but the theme doesn't.

Ok then, here's a longshot - Zodiac also had a similar type spinning device, but very different playfield.

Yes, I knew that was a lousy description, but it was the best my memory could come up with. Gulfstream and Tropic Fun are definite possibilities. Again the playfield seems similar, but the theme doesn't ring a bell. OXO is definitely not it.

Ok, then my next guess would be Strato-Flite / Super-Flite if Gulfstream seemed familiar but had the wrong theme. Or, to switch it up a bit, maybe something like Fan-Tas-Tic (though I'd imagine you'd have mentioned the under-playfield captive ball roulette wheel)?
 
I learned about IPDB on this thread. I wish I could remember the manufacturer and the year. I tried searching with what little I know and I either got nothing or too much.
yes, but if you keep searching around the years in question you should be able to find it.
all you really need to do is click through a bunch of pictures...

i mean, cmon, do it over the course of a few days if you need to. :)

I was just hoping that some one here would read my post and they might remember. Actually I'm surprised and grateful for the information I got given my sketchy descriptions and memory.
yea, this community is awesome at answering questions like these.
thank god for stern and the ongoing pinball sim releases, otherwise the 'pinball era' would have ended already and only aging oldtimers would be able to answer a question about the game

props to m4paws, btw.
 
yea, this community is awesome at answering questions like these.
thank god for stern and the ongoing pinball sim releases, otherwise the 'pinball era' would have ended already and only aging oldtimers would be able to answer a question about the game

props to m4paws, btw.
Thanks. :wave:

yes, but if you keep searching around the years in question you should be able to find it.
all you really need to do is click through a bunch of pictures...

i mean, cmon, do it over the course of a few days if you need to. :)
I've had my own demons with trying to find machines, and scouring the IPDB has helped occasionally but not always. That's why I like to try to assist if possible. The most notable one it helped me to find was Gottlieb's Grand Slam from 1972. I think I played that machine enough as a kid to own it, but since I was very young at the time I couldn't remember enough about it to ID it without assistance.
 
@Thursty. I have two versions of TRIPLE ACTION for Visual Pinball.
Let me know if you need them.
KEG

Thanks to Keg, I've played Triple Action quite a bit now and it is definitely the table I was looking for, but the one I played back then had a different theme.

This table was the first table I spent any time on. As such I never learned early on about catching the ball. If you try that on this table it bounces away. I also played Fireball in the early days which has the same anti-catch feature.
 
1972 Gottlieb's Flying Carpet is the second one!

I have played this table for hundreds of hours in real life. Mr Hyde Robair has a decent, but older version, but it plays pretty good for vp. The quadruple burn lanes make nudging IRL essential, unfortunately the vp version as set up tilts easily, tho you could probably adjust the nudge, tho I haven't cheated yet!! ;) You can find it here --->>
http://irpinball.ztnet.com/irptables.htm

Could not find a FP version, that is too bad. I am sure JonPurpleHaze and the other EM entusiasts/fanatics like myself just love the seventies Gottlieb EMs. Lucky Hand is another great machine that could use some full screen loving. in vp.
 

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I have played this table for hundreds of hours in real life. Mr Hyde Robair has a decent, but older version, but it plays pretty good for vp. The quadruple burn lanes make nudging IRL essential, unfortunately the vp version as set up tilts easily, tho you could probably adjust the nudge, tho I haven't cheated yet!! ;) You can find it here --->>
http://irpinball.ztnet.com/irptables.htm

Could not find a FP version, that is too bad. I am sure JonPurpleHaze and the other EM entusiasts/fanatics like myself just love the seventies Gottlieb EMs. Lucky Hand is another great machine that could use some full screen loving. in vp.

That's it!
I thought if I saw it I would recognize it.
 
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