On the frontier trail — Williams’ Arrow Head is an electromechanical single-player wrapped in a theme of the American West and Native American imagery, and it comes from a genuine legend: designer Harry Williams, the founding father of the industry, with art by George Molentin. With light-based scoring, it’s a woodrail-era artifact from a true pioneer of the craft.
The layout is a lively, engaging spread with a classic period feature: two flippers, four pop bumpers, three passive bumpers, a pair of slingshots, three standup targets, and three gobble holes. Those three gobble holes are a hallmark of the era’s bold design philosophy — the daring, high-risk features that swallow the ball for an award — while the combination of pop and passive bumpers promises a wildly bouncy, unpredictable ball that demands active nudging. The three standups give a player clear objectives to work through, all in service of the frontier theme. It’s a playfield rich in vintage tension, rewarding a player willing to brave the gobble holes for their prizes.
Arrow Head 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 visionary whose innovations helped invent the modern flipper game, and playing one of his designs is a small brush with the origins of everything that followed. The western theme captured the era’s romance with the frontier. For anyone who loves the golden age of EM pinball and its founding masters, it’s a worthy find. Brave those three gobble holes, ride the bumpers, and follow the trail west. Some machines are a piece of the foundation, and this Harry Williams classic is one of them. Drop a coin and hit the trail.