The Best Celebrity Themed Pinball Machines Of All Time

By Ross Everett

Pinball has always been big on celebrity tie ins. As a result, weve got plenty of good machines to choose. For our best evaluation the quality of the game a factor well only be part of the criteria.

Well also consider the collectability of the machine, or more specifically consider if the theme enhances or detracts from the machines value to the pinball enthusiast aftermarket. Another way to look at this component is to consider the machines floor appeal in your den or rec room.

5) Eight Ball by Bally Manufacturing (1977):

This is a somewhat controversial machine in pinball circles, and some would question if it belongs on the list at all. Well get to the controversy in a moment. If you didnt live through it, you have no idea of what a big deal Fonzie from the TV series Happy Days was during the mid to late 1970s. You could even make a case that hes the most popular and influential TV sitcom character ever.

Eight Ball features Fonzie and a comely female companion in a pool hall. Or does it? The intent is certainly to suggest its the iconic Happy Days character but theres no reference made to his name. Nor is there any other Happy Days iconography present on the machine. Debate rages to this day about whether or not it was a licensed image of Fonzie, or a lookalike doppelganger changed just enough to skirt copyright laws.

4) KISS by Bally Manufacturing (1979):

You could make a case that this was a poorly timed release as by 1979 KISS was considered to be running on fumes, having just released their disco inspired album Dynasty. Fortunately, the machine depicted the band in all of their earlier glory and featured polyphonic renditions of classic songs like Rock n Roll All Night and Shout It Out Loud. The machine was fun to play, and was very popular with a production run of 17,000 units.

3) Wizard! by Bally Manufacturing (1974)

Inspired by the film version of Tommy,Wizard is often incorrectly named as the first licensed celebrity theme machine, but it definitely set off the flood of tie-in machines in the latter half of the 20th century. There were some pre-release rumors that it was based on the machine played by Tommy Walkers nemesis The Pinball Wizard in the film, but those are also incorrect. The machines artwork was created by Dave Christiansen and its long on stylish symbolism and short of specific references to the film. Thats helped the machine age well and remain a sought after collectable up through the present day. Who lead singer Roger Daltry and Ann-Margret are depicted on the backglass. Perhaps due to the films disappointing performance, the Wizard machine wasnt considered a blockbuster with a production run of 10,000 units.

2) Playboy by Bally Manufacturing (1978)

A pipe smoking Hugh Hefner and a bevy of bikini clad Playmates grace this homage to the magazine. With the Chicago roots of the magazine, a pinball machine tribute would have been a natural notwithstanding its significant cultural influence. This was the first of three Playboy licensed machine (subsequent releases were a 1989 35th Anniversary machine by Data East and a 2002 Stern Pinball release that offered both clothed and nude Playmate options) and in my opinion the best. The machine art is by Paul Faris, whos considered one of the best ever by pinball geeks. The machine is a blast to play and captures all of the cool of Playboys early days including Leroy Neimans Femlin cartoon and digitized music based on the theme to the Playboy After Dark TV show composed by Cy Coleman. And, of course, Playboys legendary bunny head is everywhere. A perfect union of a great theme, amazing artwork and fun gameplay made this a very popular machine upon release (18,250 unit production run) and is prized by collectors even today.

1) Evel Kneivel by Bally Manufacturing (1976)

The Last of the Gladiators on a great pinball machine. The fact that I could end the description with that sentence should convey why this is #1 on my list and completes a Bally Manufacturing sweep of the top 5. A simple, but fun to play design with all sorts of officially licensed Evel Knievel imagery. Fun gameplay combined with a theme that is off the charts in terms of cool makes this my choice for the best celebrity themed pinball machine ever.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is is a well known expert on amusement and gambling technology, including pinball, slot machines and sports betting. He has also written extensively on pinball and casino game history, as well as strategies to successfully bet on NFL football. He is currently writing a multi-volume history of the pinball industry worldwide.

Bad Celebrity Themed Pinball Machines

By Ross Everett

Although celebrity tie-ins with pinball machines have been a part of the industry since the outset, the heyday of the genre was during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The release of the film version of The Whos rock opera Tommy launched the era of the licensed celebrity tie-in and itself spawned two high influential machines (Ballys Wizard featuring film stars Ann-Margret and Roger Daltry, and Captain Fantastic based on Elton Johns role as the pinball wizard).

For the next twenty years, pinball machines offered a tangible proof of having arrived for the celebrities they featured. As the 20th century drew to a close, this measure was somewhat diluted by the purchase of pinball manufacturers by large entertainment conglomerates, most notably Columbia Pictures who owned D. Gottlieb and Company for a time. This resulted in pinball machines rushed to market featuring the current would-be box office hit, particularly in the sci-fi/adventure genres.

The many celebrity tie-in machines have resulted in some downright bizarre choices. Below, a list of the worst of the celebrity themed pinball genre:

5) Phantom of the Opera by Data East (1990):

The Andrew Lloyd Weber Broadway adaptation of Phantom was red hot and what goes together better than Broadway shows and pinball? Just about anything, actually. Since the 1910 Gaston Leroux novel is in the public domain, they based it on that hoping to capitalize on the Broadway versions popularity without having to work out a deal with them. The result is a bizarre mish-mash of generic Phantom imagery, including a Christine Dae likeness for which the backglass artists daughter served as the model. Making this otherwise fun machine even more bizarre was the recurring sound effect of a whip hitting flesh followed by an anguished scream. Unless theres a pinball playing segment among the Broadway show fan and/or sadist demographic Im not aware of this is a real head scratcher.

4) Rescue: 911 by Premier Technology (1994):

Rescue: 911 was a big hit TV series at the time of the games release. Think a less exploitative version of Cops, but featuring real life footage of firemen and paramedics performing rescues. As a bonus, it was hosted by the venerable William Shatner. The game was fairly entertaining, featuring a helicopter that would rescue the ball with a magnetic lifeline and fly it to safety on the other side of the playfield. At the root of the theme, however, was the creepy reality that they were equating a pinball game with real life disasters and human tragedy.

3) Mike Bossy, The Scoring Machine by Gameplan, Inc. (1982):

Only the fact that this game never officially got released due to Gameplans financial struggles keeps it from finishing at #1 or #2. During the early 1980s there wasnt a more dominant hockey team than the New York Islanders, who won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1984. Despite having talent at every position, the Isles offensive weapon was undoubtedly Mike Bossy who scored 50 goals or more in 9 straight seasons. Even so, the Islanders may have been the quietest dynasty in sports history. Making matters worse was the backglass, which was little more than a big image of Bossys face with no other identifying characteristics like his name or team logo. Id speculate that at least half of the teams season ticket holders during that era wouldnt have been able to identify it was him on the backglass.

2) Dolly Parton by Bally Manufacturing (1978):

This game can be partially explained away due to Partons enormous popularity at the time. It also has the mitigating factor of being a pretty good game and was relatively popular for Bally, as it enjoyed a production run of nearly 7,500 units. It still begs the question Were they unable to reach an agreement to get Chers rights? Maybe Bally was trying to expand its demographic reach out of the male teenagers and 20 somethings who overwhelmingly supported pinball?

1) Roy Clark The Entertainer by Fascination, Inc (1977):

The only way to account for this machine is to understand the prevalence of drug use during the 1970s. The pitch meeting for this machine probably went like this:

Here we go gentlemen: a Roy Clark pinball machine. (sniff sniff) Do you smell what I smell? I dont know about you but Im smelling money.

Clark is by all accounts a good guy and is held in very high respect by his fellow musicians. But even in 1977, he wasnt anything of a draw to the pinball audience which skewed heavily toward males in their 20s.

Even Clarks long running TV series Hee Haw had its own machine, although it was an unlicensed 1973 game with some very poor likenesses of Grandpa Jones and Buck Owens on the backglass. Ive spent a lot of time researching the history of pinball and havent been able to uncover a country music subculture within the industry. From these machines, you'd think there was a big demographic of country music fans playing pinball in the 1970's.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is is a well known expert on amusement and gambling technology, including pinball, slot machines and sports betting. He has also written extensively on pinball and slot machine history, as well as strategies to successfully bet on NFL football. He is currently writing a multi-volume history of the pinball industry worldwide.

Ben Wallace Pictures On The Internet

By Terry Bolton

The Internet has a wealth of information on the world famous basketball player, Ben Wallace. In fact, there are certain is no shortage of websites dedicated to him. If you are looking for Ben Wallace pictures then you are in luck. Even just a quick search in Google images will reveal a considerable quantity of results.

You will be able to find pictures of him, the teams he has played in an the match is he has taken part in. Some are these are particularly impressive, right in line with the amazing achievements that Ben Wallace is made in the world of basketball.

Although more recently he has been playing in the Phoenix Suns, Ben Wallace has a rich and interesting history and the world of basketball, having played in many teams over his career. You will be able to find more details about them on the various fan pages.

Ben Wallace began his career back in 1996 when he joined the team the Washington Bullets. With his professional attitude and extreme competence in the sport of basketball, his career steadily rose as he started to win more and more rewards.

You will be able to find pictures of Ben Wallace and his games on the official website of the various teams that he is played in. There are also various other teams that he has played for and more recently, he has joined the Phoenix Suns.

In addition to these rewards, he also won a number of awards for defensive player of the year and the All-stars reward. That is not all however and you will be able to find a full list of all his rewards and achievements on his official website and a large number of sites which are dedicated to him.

About the Author:

Go to sportsnews24h.com for Ben Wallace picture and many more other resources.

Japanese Pro Wrestling Legend Mitsuharu Misawa Remembered

By Ross Everett

Mitsuharu Misawa died in Hiroshima, Japan earlier this year less than a week before his 47th birthday. He was in a tag team match for his Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion with Go Shiozaki against Bison Smith and Akitoshi Saito. Saito hit a back suplex on Misawa, which appeared to knock him unconscious. Medical staff attempted to revive him in the ring, but when CPR failed he was taken to a hospital by ambulance. Initial reports in the Japanese media suggest that he was pronounced dead at the hospital, but a number of eyewitness accounts have speculated that he may have died in the ring.

Thats at least a small bit of solace amid the tragedy of Misawas death"he died in the ring doing what he loved, and what he did better than just about anyone on the planet. Misawa's last moments were spent working the kind of brutally stiff, athletically realistic match that got a generation hooked on Japanese wrestling.

A top level amateur wrestler in high school, his skill gained the attention of All Japan Pro Wrestling president Shohei Giant Baba. Three years after his pro debut, he got his first big break in 1984 when he was chosen as the second Tiger Mask replacing Satoru Sayama. In 1990, he had his longtime friend and rival Toshiaki Kawada unmask him.

Misawa would wrestle as himself from then on, and become an even bigger star in the process. In June, 1990 he became one of the top stars in All Japan Pro Wrestling when he defeated Jumbo Tsuruta. He soon faced Triple Crown Champion Stan Hansen in an unsuccessful challenge for the title, and would become arguably the biggest native star in Japanese pro wrestling for the next decade.

He had legendary battles against Kawada, Hansen, Kenta Kobashi, and Steve Dr. Death Williams in singles competition. Misawa would continue as a mainstay in AJPW until the early part of this decade. After the death of Giant Baba, he left to establish Pro Wrestling NOAH. He would serve as the companys president while wrestling a full time schedule until his untimely death.

Japanese pro wrestling served as an introduction for many American fans into shoot fight sports and MMA. Before the Internet, fans would trade videotapes to stay up on the latest matches from Japan and along with Jushin Thunder Liger and The Great Muta Keiji Mutoh it safe to say that Misawa is one of the wrestlers most responsible for getting a generation of American fans hooked on the product.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a staff handicapper for Sports-1 and an authority on NFL football betting . He's a noted expert on sports handicapping and stock investing theory. He contributes to a number of online media outlets providing insight on how to bet on NFL football, soccer and boxing.

Thank You, Jeremy Roenick

By Luke Dantley

Sure, Roenick polarizes people in hockey circles to a degree few other NHLers have in the league's history. Even the THN offices has its share of J.R.-loathers; when we caught wind of his looming announcement last week, there weren't many tears being shed for a player whose best on-ice years ended when his stint as a Philadelphia Flyer did in 2004.

Roenick was a hothead, there's no doubt about that. But as a player and as an ambassador to the sport, Roenick was wildly successful in both regards. I believe he'll end up a Hall of Famer once eligible.

In his prime, Roenick was amongst the best in the league. Scoring more than 50 goals in a season twice and breaking 100 points three times, 9 all-star appearances, two stints with the US Olympic team, and more. The 39th highest point scorer in the history of the sport. These are all very impressive stats.

Roenick will get some slack for the fact that he could never lead his team to the cup, but think of all of the great players in every sport and the fact that only one team wins each year. Too many great players play the game and never see a title; it's a fact of life, not an indictment.

Think back to some of the memories that come to mind. The Game 7 against the Coyotes despite his broken jaw, or his 2004 game against Toronto, played under similar circumstances. Roenick was always willing to play hurt.

Roenick was still effective later in his career, too. Thinking back to his stint with the Sharks two years ago, the veteran led the team with ten game winning goals, proving that he still had some gas left in the tank.

All of his accomplishments on ice speak volumes about the player that Roenick was, but he was also a great ambassador for the sport, and this should be remembered.

Roenick made so many efforts to increase the popularity of the sport through the course of his career. Even when it meant speaking out against the league's commissioner, Roenick wasn't shy to back down; even if it meant he was hated.

And for these reasons, Jeremy Roenick will always be remembered as one of the more recognizable figures in the history of the sport. Thank you, Mr. Roenick, for a great show.

About the Author:

To read more NHL blogs, converse at a sports forum, and to try your hand at over 55,000 trivia questions, have a look at rootzoo.com, the fan-powered sports community.