Pinball Playfields Now Open!
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Spring 2016 • Volume 6 • Issue 3 News and Events for Members, Donors, and Friends P L AY Time Rockets, Robots, and Ray Guns 4 The Force at Play 4 Superheroes Weekend 5 Soccer Smash Weekend 6 Pinball Playfields Muppets, Now Open! Fraggles, Page 2 and Beyond 8 NEW Behind the Scenes: The Making of Pinball Playfields E Jeremy Saucier, assistant director of The Strong’s International Center for XHIBIT the History of Electronic Games, offers XHIBIT some insight into the creative process E behind the Pinball Playfields exhibit. Why did The Strong create a permanent pinball exhibit? While pinball traces its roots to the 18th century French game of bagatelle, modern pinball is an American play invention. This exhibit highlights its importance as a plaything and as a fascinating part of American cultural history. Pinball offers a unique combination of electromechanical action and electronic sights and sounds that’s captivated players around the NEW world for decades. How did you choose the pinball machines to showcase in Play your way through more than 80 years of pinball history! Pinball Playfields? We wanted our guests to have the opportunity to play games from the introduction of flippers in the late 1940s and 1950s to the sophisticated electronic machines of today. We also wanted to highlight how the pinball This original permanent exhibit Pull the plunger and try to rack up playfield—the machine’s surface where the ball rolls—evolved from a explores the history of pinball and high scores on a host of other wooden board with metal pins and scoring holes to a game filled with traces the evolution of the pinball playable machines from The Strong’s bumpers, ramps, and interactive toys. We wanted guests to experience playfield—the surface where the ball collections, such as the iconic some of the most widely celebrated and popular games ever produced, ricochets through a maze of lights electromechanical Fireball (1972); the including Fireball (1972), Black Knight (1980), and The Addams Family (1992). and obstacles to rack up points— largest commercial pinball machine from countertop games of the 1930s Hercules (1979); the carnival-like How extensive is The Strong’s pinball collection? to the sophisticated electronic FunHouse (1990); the head-to-head World’s Fair Jigsaw The Strong’s collection of more than 250 arcade games includes dozens versions that remain popular today. USA Football (1992); the Universal (1933) features a mechanical jigsaw of pinball machines from more than 80 years of the game’s history. monsters-themed Monster Bash puzzle on its playfield. A recent donation of original playfield design drawings from pinball pioneer View pioneering pinball machines (1998). Also, play some of Stern Williams Electronics Games, Inc. has added crucial documentation that from The Strong’s comprehensive Pinball’s most exciting recent games helps us better understand how designers created these games. Several collections including Whiffle (1931), including the rock n’ roll-fueled Kiss reproductions of original drawings from that collection, including designer one of the earliest pinball machines; (2015) and the fantasy-filled Game Mark Ritchie’s playfield sketches for Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure World’s Fair Jigsaw (1933), which of Thrones: Limited Edition (2015), (1993), are on display in Pinball Playfields. features a mechanical jigsaw puzzle part of the Stern Pinball cluster. on its playfield; and Humpty Dumpty What’s the most historically significant game on display and why? (1947), the first game with flippers. Stand next to an oversized pinball machine flipper for a unique photo The introduction of flippers on D. Gottlieb & Co.’s 1947 game Humpty opportunity. Discover how pinball Dumpty changed the way people played pinball forever. Before the machines work by viewing addition of flippers, some civic reformers attacked pinball as a game of electromechanical pinball machine chance often adapted for gambling. Flippers provided skilled players with components such as flippers, pop the ability to aim, fire, and control the ball as it moved across the playfield. bumpers, and drop targets. Scroll through a timeline of key moments in What’s your favorite part of the exhibit? pinball history—such as New York City’s The Stern Pinball cluster. Here guests are able ban on pinball that ended in 1976 and to play some of the most exciting games the the introduction of the first pinball company has to offer, including X-Men machines powered by microprocessors Magneto: Limited Edition (2012) Humpty Dumpty (1947) playfield. in 1975—on a touch screen. (one of only 250 produced), Wrestlemania (2015), Kiss (2015), Other unique objects include Pinball Playfields is produced by and the brand-new fantasy-filled reproductions of original playfield The Strong’s International Center Game of Thrones: Limited Edition design drawings from the museum’s for the History of Electronic Games. (2015). The cluster also features Williams Pinball Playfield Design The Addams Family (1992), one of the most a display of game designer Collection and an original prototype popular pinball machines George Gomez’s “whitewood” playfield for the Lord of the Rings ever produced. prototype playfield for his The exhibit (2003) pinball machine, created is sponsored 2003 pinball masterpiece by revered game designer George in part by Lord of the Rings—one of only Gomez of Stern Pinball. Also view four prototypes created during and play a bagatelle-style game that the game’s development. Many machines in Pinball Playfields require inspired pinball-makers. purchased tokens. Money collected from the sale of tokens helps maintain these 2 P L AY Time • Spring 2016 original artifacts. www.museumofplay.org 3 UPCOMI Rockets, Robots, and Ray Guns Superheroes Weekend Opens June 11 Saturday, April 9, 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Zoom into the imaginative universes of popular science-fiction series at the new, original Rockets, Robots, and Ray Guns exhibit opening on Saturday, Sunday, April 10, 12:30–5 p.m. June 11. Explore how science-fiction books, toys, movies, and video games Swing into The Strong for a hero-filled weekend, and be Learn how you can be a hero for Super Why have captured people’s imaginations and shaped the way they play. Travel to sure to bring your camera! Meet two of Marvel Comic’s our environment by joining forces Courtesy XHIBIT distant futures and faraway galaxies to discover key themes such as space official superheroes—Spider-Man swings in on Saturday with Larry the H2O Hero, and try WXXI. heroes, robots, time travel, and extraterrestrial life. from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 to 5 p.m. and Iron Man out the enviroscape, an interactive N E “Science fiction—from the classic books of yesteryear to today’s rockets in on Sunday from 12:30 to 5 p.m. New this year: environmental education model. Talk with members Hollywood blockbuster movies—has shaped how generations of people timed superhero meet and greets! Meet and pose for a of the Be a Healthy Hero Street Team and discover G across cultures play and imagine their tomorrows,” says Scott Eberle, picture with a superhero at a designated time by picking the secrets to living the 5-2-1-0 lifestyle with nutrition vice president for play studies at The Strong. “Rockets, Robots, up a free ticket in the Caterpillar Atrium the day of the tips and physical activities that will get the entire and Ray Guns explores how we have played with the event while supplies last.* family moving. deep questions science fiction raises about P All day long, visit with PBS Kids’ Super Why and Drop into the American Comic our future.” celebrate with finalists from The Strong’s comic book Book Heroes: The Battle & ROGRAMS Try your hand at interactive elements, including costume contest. of Good vs. Evil exhibit NEW science-fiction arcade games, such as Tron, and go hands-on at Budding cartoonists can receive drawing and writing tips Johnny Mnemonic, and Terminator 2; magnetic Super Powers School from professional artists, check out original art, and view puzzles; an alien art gallery; a time machine; where everyone an engaging display of comic books spanning nearly and a giant version of Space Invaders. View becomes a superhero. 50 years created by Alfred University. unique artifacts from the Strong’s collections, such as toy ray guns and rockets, and popular Take on your own super persona when you create a hero Sponsored by science fiction characters, from Buck Rogers headband and craft a mini hero puppet to take home. to Transformers. The exhibit remains on view through September 5, 2016. The Force at Play Opens June 11 E Learn how the Star Wars movie inspire to the way that it shapes throughout literature, folk tales, franchise revolutionized play and children’s role-playing.” and popular culture—the unwilling VE playthings in the exclusive The hero who needs to prove himself, Force at Play—a companion exhibit In 2012, The Strong acquired more the kindly mentor, the deadpan to Rockets, Robots, and Ray Guns than 2,000 Stars Wars action figures cowboy with a heart of gold, and opening June 11. View dozens from long-time Industrial Light and others. And thanks to the powerful of artifacts from The Strong’s Magic model-maker Fon Davis, legacy of Star Wars, kids and adults N collections, including original adding significantly to the museum's alike continue to recreate their Kenner Star Wars action figures and collection. Star Wars action figures favorite elements of the story TS spaceships, LEGO sets, an original joined the museum’s National Toy through play.” video from the making of the first Hall of Fame in 2013. Star Wars video games, and video The exhibit remains open through Star Wars continues to endure, game design documents.