Uploaded October 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Here we have a freshly refurbished solid state Gottlieb Sinbad pinball machine. This machine is a little different because it has a tone board and speaker with electronic sounds instead of the normal chime box. I'm not sure if this was an after-market change by a previous owner or if it came from the factory this way, but it certainly *looks* like the sound board is original to the game. If that's the case, this would be one of the first Gottlieb machines to use electronic sound.
Anyway, the gameplay on this machine is fairly interesting, but the four-flipper arrangement drives me batty. With no in-lanes there's very little ball control and the gaps between the flippers mean there's more options for the ball to get to the outhole.
Having said that, however, I like the drop target arrangement (look at Gottlieb's 1987 Robo-War for another interpretation of this layout) and the shot to the spinner and up the left lane to the top are both fairly satisfying. The potential for a sweep shot of the 4-bank is also great fun.
This machine was designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morrion. It was also produced as an electro-mechanical model, although just under 1,000 were made.
Fun game that can be had on the cheap if you're not afraid of bullet-proofing the notoriously failure-prone System 1 hardware.
If anyone wants to sell me a Robo-War (or TX-Sector), I'm all ears.
Sorry about the crappy camera angle.
Here we have a freshly refurbished solid state Gottlieb Sinbad pinball machine. This machine is a little different because it has a tone board and speaker with electronic sounds instead of the normal chime box. I'm not sure if this was an after-market change by a previous owner or if it came from the factory this way, but it certainly *looks* like the sound board is original to the game. If that's the case, this would be one of the first Gottlieb machines to use electronic sound.
Anyway, the gameplay on this machine is fairly interesting, but the four-flipper arrangement drives me batty. With no in-lanes there's very little ball control and the gaps between the flippers mean there's more options for the ball to get to the outhole.
Having said that, however, I like the drop target arrangement (look at Gottlieb's 1987 Robo-War for another interpretation of this layout) and the shot to the spinner and up the left lane to the top are both fairly satisfying. The potential for a sweep shot of the 4-bank is also great fun.
This machine was designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morrion. It was also produced as an electro-mechanical model, although just under 1,000 were made.
Fun game that can be had on the cheap if you're not afraid of bullet-proofing the notoriously failure-prone System 1 hardware.
If anyone wants to sell me a Robo-War (or TX-Sector), I'm all ears.
Sorry about the crappy camera angle.
