Episode 349 - 1969 Chicago Coin Moon Shot

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·8m 32s·analyzed·Feb 23, 2016

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Deep dive into 1969 Chicago Coin Moon Shot's dual-bonus design, ball-save mechanics, and Christian Marsh artwork.

Summary

Nicholas Backbone provides an in-depth technical and artistic analysis of the 1969 Chicago Coin Moon Shot electromechanical pinball machine, detailing its distinctive dual-bonus chicane lane system, innovative ball-save gates with center holes, and Christian Marsh's characteristic "pointy people" artwork. The episode traces the machine's playfield design influences (Steve Kordek's Williams layouts) and contrasts it with Bally's identically-named but mechanically unrelated Moon Shot from the same era.

Key Claims

Chicago Coin's Moon Shot shares nothing other than the name with Bally's Moon Shot effort from the same period
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, opening comparison statement; contrasted with previous episode on Bally's Moon Shot
The pole-bumper arrangement and layout in Moon Shot are very similar to several layouts used by Steve Kordek in his work for Williams
medium confidence · Nicholas Backbone's playfield layout analysis; specific attribution to Kordek's influence
Moon Shot features metal ball-save gates with holes in the middle that flip down and hold when stand-up targets are hit
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone's detailed description of the dual left/right ball-save mechanism; distinguishes from Williams/Gottlieb standards
The artwork is by Christian Marsh and exemplifies the 'pointy people' style characteristic of his 1969 work
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone's explicit attribution and stylistic analysis
Roy Parker created artwork for both Chicago Coin and Gottlieb, while Christian Marsh did the same for Williams and Chicago Coin, both being highly prolific artists under time pressure
medium confidence · Nicholas Backbone's contextual speculation about artist workload and output quality across eras

Notable Quotes

“Chicago Coins Moonshot shares nothing other than the name from Bally's effort.”
Nicholas Backbone @ ~0:40 — Core thesis distinguishing the two identically-named machines from the same year
“These chicane lanes are actually on the left and right side. Every time that you go up them, it will collect a bonus that you build individually for each side, the left and right hand side, by hitting a rollover button, which is down in the middle third of the playfield.”
Nicholas Backbone @ ~2:30 — Detailed explanation of the dual-bonus mechanic that defines the machine's gameplay
“These are metal, almost regular flipper bats but they have holes in the middle which will flip down and hold if you hit stand-up targets”
Nicholas Backbone @ ~3:30 — Describes the innovative ball-save gate design that distinguishes Moon Shot from competitors
“I happen to like the pointy people artwork of Christian Marsh and some of his themes are actually rather excellent.”
Nicholas Backbone @ ~7:00 — Host's explicit aesthetic appreciation and contrarian stance on Marsh's polarizing style
“There's a lot of people who do not, and there's even more people who really do not like Christian Marsh's artwork on pinball machines.”
Nicholas Backbone @ ~9:30 — Acknowledges divisive community opinion on Marsh's artistic approach

Entities

Nicholas BackbonepersonChristian MarshpersonSteve KordekpersonRoy ParkerpersonChicago Coincompany Ballycompany Williamscompany Gottliebcompany

Signals

?
design_innovation: Chicago Coin's Moon Shot features innovative metal ball-save gates with center holes that flip down and hold when stand-up targets are hit, mechanically distinct from Williams and Gottlieb standards of the era.
high · Nicholas Backbone's detailed technical description of the dual left/right ball-save mechanism as unique compared to contemporaries
?
design_innovation: Moon Shot implements a dual-bonus tracking system (Moon Rocket Score vs. Venus Rocket Score) with chicane lanes that collect bonuses independently for left and right sides, advanced via separate rollover buttons.
high · Extensive playfield breakdown explaining the two independent bonus values and their collection mechanics
?
design_philosophy: Chicago Coin's Moon Shot pole-bumper arrangement and overall playfield philosophy reflect influence from Steve Kordek's Williams layouts, suggesting cross-manufacturer design knowledge or talent movement.
medium · Nicholas Backbone's attribution of layout similarities to Kordek's Williams work without explicit confirmation of direct knowledge transfer
?
historical_signal: Christian Marsh was a highly prolific artist working under time pressure across Chicago Coin and Williams in the 1960s-70s, producing the distinctive 'pointy people' style that remained polarizing in the community.
medium · Nicholas Backbone's contextual analysis of Marsh's workload and comparison to Roy Parker's similar multi-manufacturer role; speculates time pressure affected output
?
community_signal: Christian Marsh's 'pointy people' artwork style remains divisive in the pinball community, with significant faction opposing his aesthetic approach, though host expresses personal appreciation.

Topics

Playfield Mechanics & Design InnovationprimaryDual-Bonus Chicane Lane SystemprimaryBall-Save Gate MechanicsprimaryArtwork & Aesthetic Styles (Christian Marsh, Pointy People)primaryElectromechanical Pinball Design InfluencessecondaryPinball Manufacturer Competition (Chicago Coin vs. Bally vs. Williams vs. Gottlieb)secondaryGame Layout Design & Kordek's InfluencesecondaryCommunity Opinion on Artistic Stylesmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Nicholas Backbone expresses clear appreciation for Moon Shot's mechanical innovation and Christian Marsh's artwork, while acknowledging divisive community opinions. His tone is enthusiastic and analytical, with genuine interest in the machine's design. The few criticisms (e.g., of Marsh's later 70s Williams work) are contextualized and sympathetic.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.026

Welcome back to... What's that sound? It's For Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. For Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. Tonight I wanted to talk about 1969's Chicago Coin moonshot. Last night I talked about Bally's moonshot and how it was a carbon copy of 1962's Gottlieb Tropic Isle. Chicago Coins Moonshot shares nothing other than the name from Bally's effort. Moonshot is a four-player game and uses two-inch flippers as was standard at the time. It's got a five paw-bumper arrangement with two passive bumpers up near the ball arch. This is very similar to several layouts used by Steve Kordek. in his work for Williams. There are stand-ups, which are accessible off of the pops or from a very well-placed shot from either flipper. But you can also access these stand-ups, which are on the left and right-hand side in the upper playfield by passing through a chicane lane, which is a molded plastic area that directs the ball in a particular way. These chicane lanes are actually on the left and right side. Every time that you go up them, it will collect a bonus that you build individually for each side, the left and right hand side, by hitting a rollover button, which is down in the middle third of the playfield. Now, aside from keeping track of two different bonus values and allowing you to collect at will, this game also has ball save gates on both the left and right hand side but the left and right hand ball save gates are different than what you might find in a Williams or a Gottlieb of the era These are metal almost regular flipper bats but they have holes in the middle which will flip down and hold if you hit stand-up targets, which are located on the left and right-hand side, either at the top or the bottom, directly to the right or to the left of the out lane. Now that's pretty handy for you because it makes that a very safe shot. Those stand-up targets are worth 100 points apiece, or 300 if the light is lit. Now, when you go through the gate, there's a roll-under switch. And when you hit that, it will close the gate. So let's talk again about the bonus values. There are actually two. The one on the left hand is called the Moon Rocket Score, and the one on the right is called the Venus Rocket Score. The two dead bumpers at the top will advance either the Moon on the left or the Venus on the right. And down in the bottom third of the playfield, you have those rollover buttons I was mentioning, which will advance either the Moon or the Venus, depending on the left and right. And then in the chicane lanes themselves, you have the buttons. which, when hit, will actually collect the bonus value. So, ideally, you have each racked up to 500 points, and just keep hitting those rollovers to collect. Now, on certain thresholds, you'll also light extra ball. And to light extra ball is one thing, but you have to collect it in this game. In order to collect it, there's a rollover button right in the center, in between the two moon rockets and Venus rockets on the play field down in that bottom third. And it's labeled extra ball when lit. So when you hit that, it'll actually light extra ball and save you. Of course the only problem with hitting this button is that it looks like it fairly easy to drain directly after hitting the button because there a post a couple inches above that which will just ricochet the ball right back down so good nudging is required Other than that, the shots look relatively safe on this game. It's not one that I've played before, but it certainly looks interesting, and looks like it'd be pretty fun. Your specials are in the outlanes, but of course you can make those safe to collect by opening the gates on the left and right hand side So let's talk about artwork Moonshot is a Christian Marche art package and as such, during 1969, you get Pointy People I happen to like the Pointy People artwork of Christian Marche and some of his themes are actually rather excellent I happen to like this one quite a bit So looking at the back glass, you've got a few female astronauts which are tethered to various landers. And they're heading out before the lander has actually landed towards the surface of the moon, I guess to go for a moonwalk. it's pretty neat looking because there is a spotlight coming from above and below the lander on the right hand side and in that spotlight you have moonshot written the playfield artwork is also fairly interesting you've got the rockets that I mentioned on the left and right hand side feeding up to the top where you have a huge representation of the moon and then another planetoid over to the right. Perhaps that's meant to be Venus, I'm not really sure. But it is a lot smaller than the moon. But perspective's a thing, and perhaps you're close to the moon and therefore Venus looks farther away At any rate the plastics themselves are yellow or gray and portions of the moon or the planetoid that I mentioned are actually in the plastics in the center. And I find that very appealing, very attractive. You have representations of pointy astronauts on the left and right hand side. Very cool. interesting action shots on each of the plastics. And the cabinet has more pointy people in space. Again, I happen to like the pointy people artwork. There's a lot of people who do not, and there's even more people who really do not like Christian Marche's artwork on pinball machines. For the most part, I love the pointy people. However, some of his later artwork on 70s Williams in particular, I'm much less fond of. But it's speculated that he had very little time in order to crank out these pieces of art. And as Roy Parker did for both Chicago Coin and Gottlieb, so did Christian Marche for Williams and Chicago Coin. so keeping that in mind and how prolific he really was makes me appreciate the pointy people and some of the more detailed artwork that he was able to accomplish in the 1960s even more well, that's all for tonight thank you very much 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 that's 724-BINGOS1 724-246-4671 You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at Bingo Podcast. Or you can listen to us on our website, which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.