Dance the night away — Williams’ 4 Star is an electromechanical single-player catching the upbeat energy of a dancing theme, designed by none other than Harry Williams, the founding father of the industry whose name graced the company, with art by George Molentin. With light-based scoring, it’s a woodrail-era artifact from the very roots of pinball’s family tree, crafted by one of the true visionaries who helped invent the modern game.
The layout is a lively, bumper-rich spread: two flippers, four pop bumpers, a pair of passive bumpers, two slingshots, six standup targets, and a gobble hole. That gobble hole is a classic period feature — the daring, high-risk hole that swallows the ball for an award, a hallmark of the era’s bold design philosophy — while the four pop bumpers and passive bumpers promise a bouncy, unpredictable ball that demands active nudging and quick reflexes. The six standups give a player a clear objective to work through, all in service of the machine’s cheerful, danceable theme.
4 Star is a lovely piece of history for the collector who cherishes the deepest roots of the hobby and the legendary figures who planted them. Harry Williams was a genuine pioneer, and playing one of his designs is a small brush with the origins of everything that followed in pinball. The dancing theme suits the machine’s energetic playfield, and that gobble hole adds a jolt of vintage risk-reward. For anyone who loves pinball’s formative era, it’s a treasure. Brave the gobble hole, ride the bumpers, and work those six standups. Some machines are fun; this one is a piece of the foundation the whole game was built on, from the hands of a founding master. Cut a rug and drop a coin.