Collector Value Est.

$5,900–$10,500

USD · Market estimate

Near-mint / restored. Worn or stored examples sell for 30–60% less.

Notable Features

Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (4), Slingshots (2), Rollover buttons (3), Gobble holes (2). Mechanical backbox animation (Roto-disk spells name to award replays). Completing the three colored contacts (blue, yellow, and green) by hitting rollover buttons and/or rebound rubbers, advances one letter of name on backbox roto-disk. Up to four letters can be spotted to the player at start of game (operator option). The three rebound contacts are positioned to allow a skillful flip of the ball to travel in a diamond-shaped trajectory to score all three colors. Scoring rollovers 1 to 6 awards a replay and lights gobble holes for additional replays. Maximum displayed point score is 7,990,000 points. Replay wheel maximum: 26 Sound: 3 bells, knocker.

Historical Notes

The backglass carries Gottlieb's famous phrase: Amusement Pinballs, as American as Baseball and Hot Dogs! Designer Wayne Neyens told us that he originally drew a red line (maybe 3/4 inch or 7/8 inch wide) on his playfield design to represent the diamond-shaped trajectory a flipped ball would travel to score all three bumpers. During the design phase, this line helped him become very proficient at this skillful shot. He felt that this path for the player should be very pronounced, even if the line ended up being unpainted wood in production. Wayne told us he had "quite an argument" with the artist and the front office staff who did not want this line to be there. The artist won out, placing lightning bolts on the playfield instead. We had read a report that his original name for this game was 'Hularama'. Wayne told us (in April 2017) that he does not recall that name at all and that 'Lightning Ball' was his original name for this game. We previously showed a date for this game of October 27, 1959. An article in Billboard, Dec-14-1959 page 160 stated this game was shipped to distributors the previous week. An article in Cash Box, Dec-19-1959 page 53 announced "in the past week" that this game was currently being shipped to distributors throughout the world. The Cash Box announcement on page 53 also stated this game had "the new coin box with locking cover and twin chutes for 10 cents, and 3 for 25¢ play." All examples of this game in this listing were provided with only a single left-side coin chute along with metal dummy plates blocking the holes where a second coin chute and its coin return would be.

Where to Play It

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Current addresses, hours, and condition reports from the Pinball Map community.

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