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Description
I have a 1977 Williams pinball game. It's the Rancho one and has a metal body. I have found out that 1228 were made that year of both wood and metal body. I don't know how mant of each though and would love to find out. I read that it started in wood, then changed to metal only to switch bach to wood.
I also found out that this was the last game Mr. Williams designed for "Wiliams" before he left. i have looked all over the net for info on this game and have found nothing.
Any info would be apprieciated. Thanks
Category
Toys
Medium
Metal
Condition
Good
Date Period
1977
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Re: 1977 Rancho Pinball Machine with a Metal Body
From what I recall only a few hundred (if that) metal cabinet machines were made. It was an experiment to determine the general feasibility, cost, etc., and to determine the acceptance by the playing public and the distributors. The Chief Engineer at the time, Frank Murphy, wanted to experiment with the idea. Generally the feedback was poor. It sounded too much like an empty oil drum and it tended to dent in such a way that it couldn't be fixed.
Harry Williams had retired from Williams Electronics years before 1977 and only visited rarely. He would send his design drawings in and one of the regular designers (usually Steve Kordek) would attempt to make the design workable. Generally they needed a lot of work. Williams was living in California I believe. Sam Stern (Gary Stern's father) was running the company. Sam gave me Harry Williams' design to work on that eventually became Rancho. It was not a huge success. I did get a lot of help from Steve Kordek and the only reason I worked on game design at all was the fact that Norm Clark had left to go to Bally leaving a void. Eventually I left to work on slot machines just as electronic pinball was being introduced.
Chris Otis