Gottlieb Majorettes
Gottlieb produced this add-a-ball woodrail pinball machine in 1964. Only 425 machines have been built, making this a bit of a rare machine. Especially as it's one of the better playing games, designed by Wayne Neyes and with artwork by Roy Parker, it has become a collectible item.
Gameplay
Playing electro-mechanical pinball machines is quite different from playing modern dot matrix pinball machines.
Usually you have to nudge and push the machine much more, to get the pinball towards a position you want.
On Majorettes nudging the machine is even more required than with other electro-mechanical pinball machines.
To earn an extra ball (the game is add-a-ball: you start with 5 pinballs but can earn more) you need to hit each of the 5 yellow or red popbumpers in sequence.
The 5th bumper on each side however is positioned below the flippers ! So either you lose the pinball when trying to light it, but the 'outlanes' (not really outlanes like on a modern pinball machine as there's no metal divider) are really wide with a large rubber at the bottom. There's a hole between the flippers which will kick the pinball back onto the playfield.
Part of the gameplay is to try and get the pinball below the flippers, have it hit the 5th popbumper, and shake it back into the game by either bouncing the pinball off the rubber bands above the flipper bats, or into the hole. I love it.
Gameplay and rules are pretty simple. I'll describe the whole rules/layout:
at the top of the playfield there are 3 rollovers at each side. The outer lanes score 50 points, the two others
put out a letter (ABCD) and only 10 points. But get all letters and you earn an extra ball. Decisions, decisions..
At the top of the playfield there's a target that scores 100 points, and may be lit for extra balls by each row of popbumpers. Great ! So if you're good you can light both rows of popbumpers, hit this target and not only score 100 points but add 2 extra balls at the same time ! Below this target there's a hole that scores 50 points, and will kickout the ball against the 100 points target above it. Wow !! 150 points in one go - and if you're lucky the pinball will bounce back into the hole and this will repeat one or two times..
If you're unlucky the pinball will miss the hole, come down roll down the playfield with a lot of speed, go between the flippers and jump right over the hole between the flippers and drain.... At the left and right are 5 bumpers in a straight line below each other, you have to light them in sequence.
On the sides is a little lane which scores 30 points, and can be lit for an extra ball when you've lit all popbumpers
of the opposite side.
As said, the 5th bumper is positioned below the flippers, and between the flippers there's another hole that will kick
the pinball back onto the playfield. That's it. No other mechanisms, no bonus to earn, ...
Just a plain add-a-ball pinball machine.
Playing this game does require some strategy - do you go for high points ? Then you're better off trying to get the ball through the outer lanes when it enters the playfield (getting 50 points instead of 10, but not getting a letter for an extra ball). And you try to get the pinball into the hole and hit the target for 100 points. Or do you want to play for extra balls and play a long time ? Then you mainly try to get the popbumpers lit in sequence and earn letters, and concentrate less on the high scoring target.. This strategy can be dangerous however - it happened to me a few times that on my first pinball played I was able to light both yellow and red bumpers up to number 4. But with the next pinball played you have to let it roll down quickly towards the bottom of the playfield trying to light popbumpers number 5.. with a high risk of draining - and either all of the next pinballs drained without lighting the 5th bumper, or I could light it but was not being able to earn the lit extra ball higher on the playfield.. so what looks like a simple and easy playfield layout is actually deceiving.
Our game
We mostly have recent (dmd) games in our collection. A few years ago we had one electro-mechanical pinball machine (a Williams Jackpot, also produced as Gold Rush in the USA) which we had enjoyed a lot. We wanted to have an e-m game again in our collection. Not just any, but if possible a 'special' pinball machine. While woodrails (pinball machines from the 1940ies and early 1950s) are older and more special, they usually aren't much fun to play.
When we were able to acquire this 1 player Gottlieb wedgehead, we were very happy as it really fit the profile of the type of game we were looking for. It's a Gottlieb, made in an era when Gottlieb were king of pinball. Their games were the best. Built quality is excellent, mechanics are strong and heavy, built like a tank. The artwork is also beautiful, special about Majorettes is that it used 8 screens (so 8 colors) while most other machines only use 7 colors.
As you can read on my other pages about Majorettes, when we got it, its condition wasn't too good. Dirty and not working, and lots additional wiring and components had been added which were not original. Therefor I did not start to get it working myself but had it revised by someone with a lot more experience, who made all the wiring original again. Now it works perfect and is restored back into original condition.