As a fan of pulp-era heroes, Flash Gordon is a grail pinball machine for me. The movie is over-the-top and campy, and the pinball machine perfectly captures the over-the-top nature and camp of the movie -- while still being a serious and hard game. I've played this game a handful of times are local pinball arcades, and I'm always impressed at just how difficult this game is. Despite it's difficulty though, the game is engaging and fun.
Bally produced 10,000 Flash Gordon machines, making it a fairly common vintage game to find in both collections and arcades. Flash Gordon was the first Bally pinball machine to use a split-level playfield, with a small upper playfield in the back of the machine.
This was also the first machine to use the "Squawk & Talk" board, giving Flash Gordon all of its catchy sounds. The game field features 3 flippers, 3 pop bumpers, 2 slingshots, as well as a handful of drop targets through the field.
My favorite part of this machine is the artwork.
Kevin O'Conner was the artist behind the game, creating beautiful images of the movie's cast. O'Conner would go on to do art for several other notable machines, including 2008's Dark Knight by Stern, 1993's Judge Dredd by Bally, and 1989's Robocop by Data East. The game was designed by Claude Fernandez, who designed a handful of games in the 1980s.
As I said earlier, this game is a common piece in collections and arcades thanks to how many were produced.
This game does come up for sale periodically with a median asking price of $3,600. Since 2014 prices on this game have continued to climb, and will likely keep climbing over the next 3 years. Compared to the other space opera pinball machines -- Buck Rogers and the various Star Wars machines -- Flash Gordon stands out against the competition. Likely due to the red cabinet.
Depending on who you ask, this game is arguably more entertaining than Buck Rogers, which was released in January 1980. While it is unfair to compare the two side by side, it's amazing how far pinball machines came in just one year.
I have a Gottlieb Buck Rogers machine in my collection. It's a very basic game based on the 1970s Gil Gerard television series, and it absolutely pales in comparison to Flash. It's also worth less, with a median price of $2,100. For reference, my game was for sale at $900, but it needed some board work done on it.
While I do think it's unfair to compare the two franchises, it's almost impossible not to, as they are very similar. If you like pulp-era heroes and space operas, both machines are not a bad addition to your collection. Yet if you could only pick one, I would absolutely pick the Flash Gordon machine!
