Episode 198 - 1950 Gottlieb Knock Out

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·8m 54s·analyzed·Sep 25, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.015

TL;DR

Nick Baldridge reviews 1950 Gottlieb Knock Out, praising its boxing theme, physical animation, and Roy Parker artwork.

Summary

Nick Baldridge provides a detailed retrospective analysis of the 1950 Gottlieb Knock Out, a wood rail pinball machine featuring a distinctive 3D physical boxing ring animation on the playfield. He discusses the game's mechanics (knockout targets, rollovers, kick-out holes), replay scoring methods, and praises Roy Parker's artwork on both the backglass and playfield. Baldridge reflects on his positive experience playing a beautifully restored example at the York Show.

Key Claims

Knock Out was made by Gottlieb in 1950
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, opening statement of episode
The game features an actual three-dimensional physical representation of a boxing ring near the upper center of the playfield
high confidence · Nick Baldridge describing game mechanics
The game uses a V-shaped drop target mechanism that pops up between the flippers
high confidence · Nick Baldridge describing game mechanics
The playfield artwork was done by Roy Parker
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, artwork section
Nick Baldridge played a beautifully restored example of this machine at the York Show a few years prior to this 2015 episode
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, personal experience section
The game has multiple ways to score replays, which is typical for wood rail games of that era
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, gameplay mechanics discussion

Notable Quotes

“The game itself, you want to knock down your opponent in the boxing ring. And the big draw of this game is an actual three-dimensional physical representation of a boxing ring near the upper center of the playfield.”
Nick Baldridge @ ~0:45 — Introduces the game's primary visual and thematic feature
“So as you launch your ball, ideally what you want to do is hit the number one or the number five. Those two are pops. Two, three, and four are passive.”
Nick Baldridge @ ~1:30 — Explains core gameplay strategy and target types
“The playfield artwork is both beautiful and grotesque.”
Nick Baldridge @ ~5:20 — Sets the aesthetic tone for the visual design discussion
“I love the blues on this playfield, I think they are excellent the inserts are very cool and the way they're arranged is very appealing and the game is fun”
Nick Baldridge @ ~6:00 — Summarizes host's positive impression of the game
“one guy in the bottom left of the back glass who's saying shh which i find just terribly amusing you know was this one guy not participating at all”
Nick Baldridge @ ~4:30 — Highlights a humorous detail in Roy Parker's backglass artwork

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonKnock Outgame GottliebcompanyRoy ParkerpersonYork ShoweventFor Amusement Onlyorganization

Signals

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historical_signal: Discussion of 1950 wood rail game mechanics and how they represent era-specific design patterns (V-shaped drop targets, multiple replay scoring methods, physical animations)
high · Nick Baldridge's detailed mechanical breakdown and contextual commentary about what was typical 'for this era of Wood Rail Game'
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historical_signal: Roy Parker credited as the artist behind Knock Out's backglass and playfield artwork
high · Explicit attribution during artwork discussion section
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collector_signal: Mention of a beautifully restored Knock Out at York Show that was played in excellent condition, suggesting active collector interest in preserving this title
medium · Nick Baldridge's personal experience: 'the machine that I played had been beautifully restored. It looked and played brand new'
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venue_signal: York Show is a recurring annual event (October 9-10, 2015) featuring wood rail and vintage pinball machines from collectors
high · Nick Baldridge announces York Show dates and references having played machines there previously
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design_innovation: Knock Out's physical 3D boxing ring with animated referee and knockdown mechanic is highlighted as an unusual and appealing mechanical feature for 1950
high · Nick Baldridge repeatedly emphasizes the boxing ring as 'the big draw' and notes it is 'fairly unusual' for the era
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Topics

Wood Rail Pinball Gamesprimary1950s Pinball Design and MechanicsprimaryPinball Artwork and AestheticsprimaryGame RestorationsecondaryPinball Tournament/Collector Community EventssecondarySound Design in Pinballmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Nick Baldridge speaks very positively about Knock Out, praising its mechanical innovation, artwork, gameplay balance, and the quality of a restored example he experienced. His tone is enthusiastic and appreciative throughout, with genuine delight in specific design details (e.g., the SHH guy on the backglass). No critical complaints are expressed.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.027

What's that sound? It's For Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to For Amusement Only, this is Nick Baldrige. Tonight I wanted to continue in my series of wood rails that have made a previous appearance at the York Show. The York Show is October 9th and 10th of this year, 2015. And I'm looking forward to seeing what new wood rails that I haven't played before. But tonight I wanted to talk about Godlieb's Knockout. This was made in 1950. The game itself, you want to knock down your opponent in the boxing ring. And the big draw of this game is an actual three-dimensional physical representation of a boxing ring near the upper center of the playfield. So, this is one of Gottlieb's games that has the V-shaped drop target type mechanism that pops up between the flippers, and until you meet a certain goal, it will not drop. This prevents you from losing your ball immediately for no apparent reason other than the machine is set up. to be very difficult. Your main goal in this, again, is to score knockouts, and what you do is knock out the targets. See what I did there? One through five along the top. So as you launch your ball, ideally what you want to do is hit the number one or the number five. Those two are pops. Two, three, and four are passive. and what you'll see if you knock out all the targets is you knock your opponent down in the boxing ring and the referee count It a pretty awesome animation and it actually a physical animation on the playfield which is fairly unusual On the left and right side are rollovers You can use those as a shortcut to knock out your opponent. And underneath those are two more passive bumpers, each of which will score 100,000 points if you have gone through the rollover directly above it. Now below that in the sling type area are two kick-out holes, one to the left and one to the right. And if you land in one, it's going to shoot out. And if you're lucky, it'll land in the other kick-out hole on the other side. Now the machine is configurable how many replays it awards and at what thresholds. But your basic goal, of course, is to either get a high score or to knock out your opponent above the machine's threshold, in which case you'll win replays. Now, I played this at York a few years ago now, and the machine that I played had been beautifully restored. It looked and played brand new. Uh, I'm hoping that perhaps I can talk to the collector who, uh, did that restoration. He does beautiful work. But regardless, uh, that game, I was just, I was feeling it, uh, when it was at York and I was able to, to get some, some good replays going on it. I don't know if that's because it was in such great shape that it just kind of drew me to it, or the physical animation, which is so unusual, or if it's just not a super challenging game. It's definitely a beautiful game. And below the boxing ring, there are three stand-up targets I neglected to mention And the center one which of course is the most dangerous one to hit will also score a knockout Now the playfield has inserts underneath that count the number of knockouts that you actually completed And that V target, when it goes down, there's a rollover button in the center, and when you hit that, it will also award replays. So, as per usual for this era of Wood Rail Game, there are multiple ways to score replays. The gameplay is fast and furious, and you want to be fast and accurate, just like every pinball machine, in order to achieve the greatest amount of replays. Now, let's talk about the artwork It's Roy Parker Just doing an excellent job He's just killing it on this machine The back glass, let's start there Has the words Knockout Writ large above the boxing ring And they appear to be illuminated And just very cool looking underneath that is a referee holding up one arm of an incredibly worn out beat up boxer the boxing ring itself looks like it's been pretty much destroyed by the fight the other boxer the losing boxer is leaning up against the one remaining rope on this ring and then if you look out further to the crowd it's just pure mayhem they're all in a massive brawl fighting each other except for one guy in the bottom left of the back glass who's saying shh which i find just terribly amusing you know was this one guy not participating at all That the first question And secondly does he not notice that there is some kind of horrible event taking place after this boxing match had completed One guy's being hauled out on a stretcher. It's pretty funny stuff. The playfield artwork is both beautiful and grotesque. There are a couple of boxers up at the top near the ball arch. Then, of course, your eye is drawn directly to the boxing ring, which is kind of front and center. And then below that is a boxer having his face smashed in, teeth flying. and then you've got a very attractive banner that's displayed from kick out to kick out as I had mentioned before I love the blues on this play field, I think they are excellent the inserts are very cool and the way they're arranged is very appealing and the game is fun, like I say. It's a great game. Three inch and a five inch bell. When you knock somebody down, you get the big bell. When you score 100,000 points, you get the smaller bell. And the sounds are just wonderful. Very classic. So, that's all for tonight. Thank you again for joining me. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com, or you can call me on the bingos line at 724-BINGOS1, 724-246-4671. You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at bingopodcast. You can follow me on Instagram at nbaldridge, or you can listen to us on our website, which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time. Thank you.