Step right up to the midway — Williams’ Circus Wagon is an electromechanical two-player wrapped in a cheerful circus-and-carnival theme, designed by none other than Harry Williams, the founding father of the industry, with art by George Molentin. With reel scoring, it’s a woodrail-era artifact from a true pioneer of the craft, radiating big-top charm.
The layout is a lively, engaging spread with a classic period feature: two flippers, three pop bumpers, a generous eight passive bumpers, a pair of slingshots, a kick-out hole, and a gobble hole. That hearty helping of eight passive bumpers promises a wildly bouncy, unpredictable ball that caroms endlessly across the playfield, while the gobble hole offers that daring, high-risk-high-reward proposition of swallowing the ball for an award. The kick-out hole provides another captured-ball award to chase, all in service of the festive carnival theme. It’s a gloriously kinetic, bumper-heavy design that captures the elemental bounce of the electromechanical age.
Circus Wagon 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 circus theme was pure vintage amusement, all spectacle and midway fun. For anyone who loves the golden age of EM pinball and its founding masters, it’s a worthy find. Ride that wild field of eight bumpers, brave the gobble hole, and roll into town with the circus wagon. Some machines are a piece of the foundation, and this Harry Williams classic is one of them. Come one, come all, and drop a coin.