Open the cave of wonders — Gottlieb’s Ali-Baba is an electromechanical single-player wrapped in the enchanting fantasy of the Arabian Nights, designed by the pioneering Harry Mabs, a genuine giant of early pinball whose innovations helped shape the flipper game itself, with art by the legendary Roy Parker, whose storybook illustration gave Gottlieb machines their unmistakable charm. With light-based scoring and a confirmed run of 1,700, it’s a woodrail-era treasure from pinball’s formative years.
The available details on this early machine are modest, as they often are for the oldest titles, but what we know captures its era beautifully: it offered the classic arcade proposition of five balls for a nickel, that irresistible bit of value that drew players to the glass generation after generation. The Mabs-and-Parker pairing is the real story here — Harry Mabs was a founding visionary of the modern flipper game, and Roy Parker’s warm, characterful artwork made Gottlieb’s machines feel like illustrated fairy tales come to life. Together they created games that were as much a pleasure to look at as to play.
Ali-Baba is a lovely piece of history for the collector who cherishes the deepest roots of the hobby and the legendary hands that shaped it. The Arabian Nights theme, full of magic, treasure, and adventure, was a colorful and evergreen choice, and this early EM take on it carries all the chiming charm of its age. Documentation on the specifics is thin, which only adds to the intrigue for those who love the hobby’s earliest chapters. For anyone who reveres pinball’s pioneering era and its founding figures, it’s a genuine find. Say the magic words, drop your nickel, and step into the cave of wonders. Open sesame. (Note: available data on this title is limited to basic details.)