Uploaded August 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Here is a 1977 Gottlieb Jet Spin pinball machine in action.
This machine has a lot of cool features that were uniquely Gottlieb during the electromechanical era. The Roto-Target and the Vari-Target were both mechanisms that, to my knowledge, no other manufacturer implemented within their games. My guess is that Gottlieb held the patents on these devices, but it's also my understanding that Gottlieb was pretty free and open about allowing competitors to utilize Gottlieb innovations in their pins. Maybe I've got my history all wrong, but this game is definitely fairly quintessential Gottlieb design for sure.
Basically the point of the game is to build the bonus to 15k to light the centre of the Vari-Target for special - a reward that can only be achieved by hitting the centre target when it's the "star" target.
The left lane target can be lit for special by whacking the Vari-Target to 5. This requires an incredibly precise and hard shot and it's not easy to do (which is why I was surprised that I did it during the recording of this video).
The other stationary targets light for extra ball at various times depending on the bonus count number. It's fairly random and can be adjusted to light more or less often.
This game was designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison - 70's Gottlieb at its finest.
For more information on this game, see here:
ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1290
Here is a 1977 Gottlieb Jet Spin pinball machine in action.
This machine has a lot of cool features that were uniquely Gottlieb during the electromechanical era. The Roto-Target and the Vari-Target were both mechanisms that, to my knowledge, no other manufacturer implemented within their games. My guess is that Gottlieb held the patents on these devices, but it's also my understanding that Gottlieb was pretty free and open about allowing competitors to utilize Gottlieb innovations in their pins. Maybe I've got my history all wrong, but this game is definitely fairly quintessential Gottlieb design for sure.
Basically the point of the game is to build the bonus to 15k to light the centre of the Vari-Target for special - a reward that can only be achieved by hitting the centre target when it's the "star" target.
The left lane target can be lit for special by whacking the Vari-Target to 5. This requires an incredibly precise and hard shot and it's not easy to do (which is why I was surprised that I did it during the recording of this video).
The other stationary targets light for extra ball at various times depending on the bonus count number. It's fairly random and can be adjusted to light more or less often.
This game was designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison - 70's Gottlieb at its finest.
For more information on this game, see here:
ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1290
