# Past Times Pinball History Ep 2: Addams Family **Source:** Past Times Arcade **Type:** video **Published:** 2023-10-03 **Duration:** 2m 58s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8x9Q2OrE4w --- ## Analysis Past Times Arcade features a 1992 Bally Addams Family pinball machine, highlighting its historical significance as the most-produced pinball machine with flippers (20,270 units). The video demonstrates key gameplay mechanics including multiball modes, skill shots with magnetic features, and the bookcase target system, while contextualizing the game's design by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar within their broader body of work. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] 1992 Bally Addams Family is the most produced pinball machine with flippers (20,270 units) — _Past Times Arcade host, stated as historical fact during machine introduction_ - [HIGH] Addams Family beat the previous production record held by Bally Eight Ball Deluxe (1977) which had 20,230 units, winning by 40 machines — _Past Times Arcade host, specific production numbers cited_ - [HIGH] In 1994, Bally released 1,000 Addams Family Gold variants with gold plating on sides and some feature differences — _Past Times Arcade host, specific year and production variant described_ - [HIGH] Addams Family was designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar — _Past Times Arcade host, credited designers named explicitly_ - [HIGH] Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar also designed Earthshaker and Whirlwind among other popular games of the era — _Past Times Arcade host, describing designers' broader portfolio_ ### Notable Quotes > "This is historically significant because this is the most produced pinball machine with flippers. So this was literally for 1992. They made 20,270 of these just to beat their previous production record which was Bally Eight Ball Deluxe in 1977 which was 20,230. So they beat it by 40." > — **Past Times Arcade host**, Opening segment > _Establishes the core historical claim about Addams Family's production record and competitive context_ > "So this is a 1992 Addams Family, designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar. It is the most produced pinball machine with flippers ever." > — **Past Times Arcade host**, Closing segment > _Reinforces and summarizes the primary historical claim about the machine_ > "There is a magnet underneath that that will actually throw the ball around. Kind of a crazy little feature here." > — **Past Times Arcade host**, Gameplay demonstration > _Highlights innovative mechanical feature of the machine during playfield demonstration_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Addams Family | game | 1992 Bally pinball machine, most-produced with flippers (20,270 units), designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar | | Addams Family Gold | game | 1994 limited variant of Addams Family with 1,000 units produced, featuring gold plating and feature variations | | Pat Lawlor | person | Legendary pinball designer, co-designer of Addams Family (1992) along with Larry DeMar | | Larry DeMar | person | Pinball designer, co-designer of Addams Family (1992) with Pat Lawlor | | Eight Ball Deluxe | game | 1977 Bally pinball machine holding previous production record of 20,230 units before Addams Family | | Earthshaker | game | Pinball game designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar, mentioned as representative of their work | | Whirlwind | game | Pinball game designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar, mentioned as representative of their work | | Bally | company | Historical pinball manufacturer that produced Addams Family and Eight Ball Deluxe | | Past Times Arcade | organization | Arcade venue featuring the 1992 Addams Family machine and producing pinball history video content | ### Topics - **Primary:** Production history and manufacturing records, Gameplay mechanics and innovative features (magnets, skill shots), Game design and designer attribution - **Secondary:** Limited variants and special editions (Addams Family Gold), Pinball history and preservation ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Host expresses enthusiasm for the machine's historical significance and mechanical innovations. Celebratory tone regarding production records and excited demonstration of gameplay features ('Very cool,' 'neat little feature'). No critical elements present. ### Signals - **[design_philosophy]** Addams Family demonstrates innovative mechanical design with magnetic ball-throwing features and integrated multiball mechanics with thematic connection to 'show time' lighting effects (confidence: high) — Host demonstrates magnet feature that 'will actually throw the ball around' and shows multiball sequencing with lightning effects --- ## Transcript So today's feature is a 1992 Bally Adams family. This is historically significant because this is the most produced pinball machine with flippers. So this was literally for 1992. They made 20,270 these just to beat their previous production record which was ballet eight ball 1977 which was 20 230. so they beat it by 40 000 and then to celebrate the success in 1994 they released a thousand more which were called adam's family gold and those are distinguished a little bit differently because there were gold plating on the sides and some of the features were a little bit different. So this is designed by Pat Waller, Larry DeMar, those guys did some pretty popular games of the era, Earthshaker, Whirlwind are two more popular ones. So let's play this game real quick, we'll show you some neat features about this game. All right, start it up. All right, so one of the things you can do to start this game to play it is to earn multiball. So how we can earn multi I cheating a little bit today as you can see If we hit the bookcase and we spell greed the bookcase will turn We have a couple shots to lock for multiple the vault being one of them so there one a really neat feature about this game too is there's a skill shot i'm going to shoot it up here to the top laying in the hole and watch what happens here nick look at that thing has a little magnet Thank you, babe. Very cool. Let's earn some multiball to show you the chaos and a neat little feature that happens right here in the middle of the play field, too. Now you've done it. All right, here comes our multiball. Do you see the power here? And we see the lightning? We're getting a few balls down here. It's showtime. You can see, let's see if I can get one, Nick. There you go. There is a magnet underneath that that will actually throw the ball around. Kind of a crazy little feature here. So this is a 1992 Adams Family, designed by Pat Lawler and Larry DeMar. It is the most produced pinball machine with flippers ever. So come on down and play it at Pastime's Arcade. Let's go. _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 685acaea-0fe0-4b8a-8457-a1ee8ddd2852*