Bend it like a silverball — Alvin G. and Company’s A.G. Soccer-Ball is a genuinely unique head-to-head pinball machine from the plucky family firm founded by pinball royalty (the Gottlieb family), and it’s built for competitive, face-off play like almost nothing else on the market. Conceived by Alvin Gottlieb and designed by Jerry Armstrong and Michael Gottlieb with art by Tim Elliott, this scarce solid-state title has a confirmed run of just 500, making it a real collector’s curiosity.
The layout is extraordinary: a full six flippers, six ball kickers, eight standup targets, four spinning targets, two three-bank drop arrays, two kick-out holes, and two up-posts between the flippers. That symmetrical, kicker-heavy design is built for a soccer match played in pinball form, with players effectively defending and attacking as they battle to drive the ball past one another. It’s a wonderfully original concept, turning the machine into a two-player sporting duel rather than a solo high-score chase, and that six-flipper, six-kicker arrangement makes every game a frantic, back-and-forth contest.
A.G. Soccer-Ball is a fascinating example of Alvin G. and Company’s inventive spirit, the small manufacturer unafraid to try radically different ideas. The head-to-head soccer format gives it a social, competitive energy that most machines simply don’t have, and its scarcity makes it a genuine prize for the collector who loves the offbeat and the rare. For anyone who enjoys pinball as a battle of wits and reflexes between two players, it’s a delight. Defend your goal, work those six flippers, and outscore your opponent. It’s soccer, pinball, and a duel all at once — and it’s a wonderfully original good time.