Rise of a Machine
From Donor to Masterpiece
It’s November 1982. Italy has just won the World Cup. Ronald Reagan is in the White House. Knight Rider airs for the first time. Michael Jackson’s Thriller – the best-selling album of all time – is released. And the following month, the December Murders take place.
Oh and pinball? After a run of successful years, it’s completely out of fashion. Video games have taken over, mostly played at home. Pinball machines are rapidly disappearing from public places.
In this climate, the Striker pinball machine is born. Released by the American manufacturer Gottlieb, it was designed during better times – but launched during the downturn. And you can tell: Striker is an ambitious machine with loads of moving parts on the playfield and even an expensive speech module.
Gottlieb hopes that the football theme will still appeal to players in markets where pinball was holding on.
To charm buyers in France and Germany, the export versions are even programmed to play the French or German national anthem.
But it isn’t enough. After just 910 units, Gottlieb pulls the plug on production.
A Little Background Information
The video Stranger Pins offers a glimpse into the era when the Gottlieb Striker pinball machine was created.
A dark time for the pinball industry – manufacturers barely stayed afloat.
But also a time when creativity flourished.
Click the arrow to watch the video. It runs about 5 minutes and is in English.
On the Brink of Death…
Most Striker machines end up in France. There, they’re played into the ground – then cannibalized for parts to keep other pinball machines running.
The Gottlieb Striker pinball machine featured here suffered the same fate.
More and more parts were stripped away over the years. It spent decades forgotten in a dark corner of a French arcade operator’s storage, awaiting the inevitable.
But then… a miracle happened.
While most Strikers were scrapped long before pinball made its comeback, this one was saved. And how.
…Reborn as a Beauty
Hundreds of new parts –
Including a brand new playfield shipped from the other side of the world. Countless hours of work. Every wire resoldered. Every bulb replaced. Every spring and mechanism adjusted to the millimeter.
In short: blood, sweat, and tears.
The result? A pinball machine that plays like it’s fresh from the factory.
On the inside, it’s basically new.
On the outside, it still tells the story of its tough life in the French arcade scene.
Playing this Gottlieb Striker pinball machine is a one-of-a-kind experience.
It’s a journey to a long-lost era. Pure joy. Only a handful of people have ever played a Striker in this condition.
You could be one of them.
