Pinball Manufacturers: Gottlieb

Founded in Chicago in 1927 by David Gottlieb, D. Gottlieb & Co. is the undisputed bedrock of the amusement industry. The company made its first massive commercial footprint in 1931 with Baffle Ball, a countertop mechanical novelty that sold tens of thousands of units and proved that pinball was a viable, lucrative industry. For decades, Gottlieb set the gold standard for build quality, defining the mechanics of the game as we know it today.

If there is one milestone that defines Gottlieb, it happened in 1947. Designer Harry Mabs changed the arcade landscape forever with the release of Humpty Dumpty, the very first pinball machine to feature player-controlled electro-mechanical “flippers.”

Throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, Gottlieb dominated the electro-mechanical (EM) era. Guided by the legendary design-and-art duo of Ed Krynski and Gordon Morison, Gottlieb produced hundreds of iconic, family-friendly wedgehead cabinets that focused on brutal precision, drop-target mastery, and the addicting “add-a-ball” mechanic.

As the 1970s bled into the 1980s, Gottlieb transitioned into the microprocessor era. Eventually navigating corporate buyouts from Columbia Pictures and Coca-Cola, the factory engineered their proprietary System 80 solid-state hardware. To compete with the blinding speed of Williams and Bally, Gottlieb went vertical, designing some of the most mechanically ambitious playfields in history like Sinbad, Black Hole and Haunted House.

Despite their massive structural innovations, Gottlieb struggled to maintain dominance as the 1980s arcade market fractured. Following a series of acquisitions, the company reorganized as Premier Technology in 1984.

Under the Premier banner, they released several notable DMD (Dot Matrix Display) titles in the 1990s, including Super Mario Bros. (1992) and the fan-favorite Stargate (1995). However, unable to withstand the industry-wide downturn, Premier Technology officially ceased pinball production in 1996. While the factory doors are closed, Gottlieb’s legacy is entirely unmatched, serving as the literal foundation upon which every modern pinball tournament is built.