Above: A drop target focused pinball machine with a bowling theme from 1973 – Gottlieb’s King Pin.
Drop targets are the spring-loaded plastic targets that drop down under the playfield when the ball hits them. The ball knocks the target back and the spring zips it under the playfield. They reset (typically as a bank) via a solenoid.
Drop targets provide great mechanical action for visual excitement when playing a pinball machine and are so much more satisfying than hitting a static stand-up target.
The problem for pinball manufacturers and even pinball machine owners is that the cost of producing the mechanism for the drop target is much more expensive than a simple stand-up target.
In-line Drop Targets
In-line drop targets are “stacked” drop targets – one in front of another rather than a bank side by side. You have to hit one down to expose the next target in the line.
1976 Gottlieb “Target Alpha”
If you like drop targets, Target Alpha a gold mine for drop targets. With an abundance of riches in the form of drops, this is probably the most iconic drop-target game of all time.
This layout featured an iconic ten drop target bank across the top of the playfield, two off-set pop bumpers and the lower five bank of drop targets.
The layout loved so much, Gottlieb brought it back again and again. Target Alpha is a four-player re-imagining of Gottlieb’s classic one-player wedge-head El Dorado.
Key differences arise in the rule-set, though. Missing from Target Alpha and Solar City is the “Moving Spot” on El Dorado. El Dorado offered a lit spot that moved from drop target to drop target with each hit of the lower stand-up target or middle rollover.
The spot is important to El Dorado’s gameplay as it increases the value of each target from 500 points to 5000 points. Also, once all targets are completed on El Dorado, the targets reset, another important feature missing from the multi-player games with the same design.
https://creditdotpinball.com/2016/08/18/featured-games-gottliebs-target-alpha-solar-city/
This layout with all of its drop targets was so popular, Gottlieb re-skinned it a total of six other times. Of all the “reskins” of this layout, Target Alpha was the best selling at over 7000 units. There was also a two-player version called “Solar City” released at the same time for a combined run of 9,810 units combined of Target Alpha/Solar City.
The last target in that upper bank row actually holds a record: it is the longest shot in all of pinball. Since the layout has no top arch, it allows the targets to run into the normally unused space occupied by the top metal arch.
The distance from the left flipper to the target is an amazing 32.5 inches!
The upper flippers are not very useful in collecting this target, thus the game encourages a timed shot from the lower left flipper (and it feels fantastic when you make it).
https://creditdotpinball.com/2016/08/18/featured-games-gottliebs-target-alpha-solar-city/
1975 Gottlieb Fast Draw
Fast Draw (4-player) has an interesting use of two banks of drop targets on either side. Once you drop all the drops, the center black-colored horseshoe drop targets come back up as a bonus target.
The two-player version was called Quick Draw.
Games with the Most Drop Targets
- Gottlieb’s 2001/Dimension = 20
- Gottlieb’s High Hand/Capt. Card = 16
- Gottlieb’s Target Alpha/Solar City/El Dorado = 15
More Examples of Drop Target Focused Pinball Machines
