Rack ’em up bumper-style — Gottlieb’s Bumper Pool is an electromechanical single-player wrapped in a billiards theme built around the beloved tavern game, and it comes from the legendary designer Ed Krynski with art by Art Stenholm. With reel scoring and a confirmed run of 2,150, it’s a handsome woodrail-era Gottlieb with a genuinely remarkable, target-heavy playfield.
The layout’s calling card is an extraordinary complement of standup targets: two flippers, a single pop bumper, a generous four slingshots, and a jaw-dropping twenty-seven standup targets. That enormous field of standups defines the whole game, giving a sharp-shooting player a wealth of objectives unlike almost anything else of the era. The strategy rewards smart, controlled play: completing all three top lanes lights the pop bumper for 100 points, and the key is to concentrate on sending the ball back up top, aiming for the yellow lit shots worth 300. Be careful, though — if a target on the extreme left or right of the front bank lights up, leave it alone, since those shots tend to find an outlane. And coming through an inlane, hold the flipper up to bridge across for a more controlled shot.
Bumper Pool is a fine example of Ed Krynski’s design craft and Stenholm’s artwork, pairing a beloved billiards theme with a genuinely distinctive, target-saturated playfield. That field of twenty-seven standups makes it a standout, rewarding a player who works the ball up top and shoots the safe, lucrative targets. For the collector who loves the golden age of EM pinball and an unusual layout, it’s a rewarding find. Work the ball back up top, hit those yellow shots, and avoid the risky edge targets. Some machines stand out for a truly distinctive playfield, and this Gottlieb billiards classic is one of them. Chalk up and drop a coin.