Here’s a genuine oddity for the collector — Af-Tor, a solid-state four-player from Wico, a manufacturer far better known for arcade joysticks and parts than for building complete pinball machines, which makes this a fascinating curiosity from an unexpected name. Its designer is officially undisclosed, adding a little mystery to the story, with art by the accomplished team of Constantino and Jeanine Mitchell and an alphanumeric display.
The layout is remarkably busy and ambitious: two flippers, four pop bumpers, a pair of slingshots, a whopping fourteen standup targets, two three-bank drop arrays, three solitary drop targets, twin spinning targets, two programmable gates, a kick-out hole, a rollunder, and dual inlanes on both sides. That’s an enormous amount of playfield hardware, especially those fourteen standups and the programmable gates, giving a player a dense, target-rich field to work through. The community wisdom is to “melt” the spinners for points while keeping the ball alive, and to relight the outlane save drops by shooting the upper drops — a satisfying bit of self-preservation.
Af-Tor is exactly the kind of off-the-beaten-path machine that makes pinball collecting so endlessly fascinating, a title from a company outside the usual pantheon of manufacturers, carrying its own quirks and mysteries. That undisclosed designer, the Wico name, and the wildly ambitious playfield all combine to make it a genuine conversation piece. For the collector who delights in the hobby’s forgotten and unexpected chapters, it’s a worthy pursuit. Melt those spinners, work the fourteen standups, and keep the ball alive. Sometimes the most intriguing finds come from the least likely names, and this Wico rarity is proof. A hidden gem with a story all its own.