Bally Playboy

Playboy was one of the first games Bally Gaming made in the seventies with a licensed theme. Everyone knows Playboy, the adult magazine for men. This Playboy pinball machine was released at the end of 1978, and Bally sold 18.250 of them. This makes Playboy pinball one of the most popular and best selling pinball machines ever.
Sondra Theodore and Patti McGuire are featured on the backglass and playfield in bikini and lingeree, that probably also helped the popularity.


Playboy pinball
Playboy pinball playfield

Everything Playboy is known for can be seen on the pinball machine. In the center of the backglass there's Hugh Hefner with two playmates. There's the Playboy bunny logo. A variation on Playboys marketing slogan 'Entertainment for men' at the top of the backglass above the Playboy logo. The Playboy femlin that is featured in Playboy magazine (usually near the jokes - not that I would know or have ever read the magazine) is shown in several places and different poses on the pinball machine.
Finally there is also Little Annie Fannie, famous from the adult comic books, the grotto and the Playboy mansion itself.

Playboy playmate
It takes steel balls to play pinball.

Gameplay of Playboy

Pinball machines of this era have quite simple rules compared to todays games. There are no special modes, even no multiball. The only goal is to score as much points as possible, earn extra balls, and especially increase the bonus multiplier.

Playboy femlin

There's a row of drop targets with the Playboy rabbit head logo on them, and a row of standup targets.
When the five playmates are lit, the game lights the rollover button above them when the player can collect an extra ball. The second time you light all targets a special is lit.
The five keys advance bonus multiplier and the grotto. Do you want to collect the keys for the Playboy mansion and party together with Heff ?

Playboy grotto
The game layout is not very special. At the top there are four rollover lanes. Below that are three bumpers, with playmate and bunny (drop) targets at both sides. A bit special is the lane at the right and the grotto at the left. A hard shot from the left flipper into the right lane will be bent at the top, cross the playfield above the bumpers and if it has power enough the pinball will enter the grotto at the left side of the playfield. From there it will be kicked back to the top of the playfield into the rollovers.


Things to look for when buying

There aren't a lot of special assemblies on this game. So look for the normal things you would on a game of this age: condition of the backglass and playfield, broken plastics, faded cabinet, burnt connectors, .. Bumper caps and drop targets are specific for this game and feature the Playboy bunny logo.

Playboy bunny
The cabinet of this game should be bright pink, but most games are faded a lot. The Playboy femlin is also featured on the side of the game.

Trivia

Playboy bunny

Patti McGuire is the brunette playmate on the backglass and playfield. Patti was centerfold of November, 1976 Playboy and 1977 Playmate of the Year.
The blonde Playboy centerfold model is Sondra Theodore, she was featured in the July 1977 issue.

Note the backglass says on top 'Entertainment for all'. This is different from the marketing slogan used by Playboy which was 'Entertainment for men'.

Playboy On the left side of the backglass we have an old granny in the pool, next to popular Playboy comic books character Little Annie Fannie. At the right side there's the Playboy femlin sitting in a bucket with a bottle of champagne between her legs.

Click here to see the IPDB entry of this game.