Gottlieb Rack-A-Ball (12/1962)
Production Run: 2700
Designed by: Wayne Neyens
Art by: Roy Parker
IPDB Link
Rack-A-Ball is the first pin I remember playing. I was only about 8 years old, but I vividly remember 5 balls for a dime, the pool theme, the backglass animation, and the playfield layout. I also remember being able to get the ball stuck between the upper left pop-bumper and the playfield rubber immediately left. If the pop-bumper was lit, you could pop games pretty quickly.
I had been looking for a decent Rack-A-Ball for quite some time when I stopped into the local pin dealers showroom, and there it sat. We settled on a price and I brought this baby home. Once I fired her up, so many great memories came rushing back.
The game was located in a country bar in Beaufort, MO called "The Mill". The bar was run by a good old guy named Hugo. The bar featured pickled hard-boiled eggs and pigs feet in jars at the bar, Sundrop soda, a big-ball bowler, and a pool table. It had a giant (5 feet long) stuffed fish mounted near the front door and grist mill wheels at the sidewalk entrance. I was about 8 years old. What a great place!
