Lost World

At a Chicago Expo, artist Paul Farris stated humorously that the backglass figures were based on himself and his wife. Pictured in this listing is a prototype pop bumper switch found on the game with serial number ELW1008. We asked Allan Reizman, Engineering Lab Supervisor at Bally from 1977 to 1983, for the story behind its appearance on this game and why it was not used on production games. He provided us this information:Hi Jay, I looked over the photos you sent and I am giving you permission to print my following comments. Key to all this is the serial number of the game is #8. The first 10 serial number games are a part of history and were used as lab samples and test games. Typically the first 10 represented hand built games made in the lab or factory floor. The purpose of the first 10 was to test and modify the design prior to manufacturing. If you notice, for example, the speaker for the sound system was in the backbox and not in the cabinet. That is because Lost World was the first electronic sound game and the cabinet had not been modified for the speaker yet. If a new idea made it out of the lab we would consider using it in the first 300 pilot games. If the first 300 proved a successful test the feature would be approved for production in future games. This brings me to Desi D'Percel who was the father of all mechanical innovations at Bally pinball. Desi was a Hungarian resistance fighter during WWII and spoke over 9 languages. A munitions expert, Desi came to America after the war and finished his career at Bally where he worked on mechanical designs of things like the linear flippers and slingshots as well as drop targets and thumper-bumper modifications. Desi came up with a redesigned bumper switch that was intended to replace the traditional spoon type switch bumpers that had been used for activation. It was not unusual, in fact encouraged, by the game designers to use one of the lab samples for testing new designs. The new bumper switch was an interesting idea but never made it out of the lab. It was more expensive to produce. Instead Desi and the plastics molding vendor came up with a completely new one piece bumper assembly that used a less brittle plastic. These first appeared on Eight Ball Deluxe. Whoever obtained serial number 8 should feel lucky. Owning a first 10 game is a treat and often they will contain test features and designs. First 10 games were first used in the game lab for score testing. Yes, we were asked to play pinball continuously in order to percentage the game. So ya have to love to play pinball to work there. The games would then be used by the factory as manufacturing samples and often were shown at trade shows and the company show and lunchrooms. After the run was done the first 10 were often given away to the designers and key marketing and techs that worked on them. Thanks for reminding me of a bit of engineering history.