The Collector’s Edition of Jersey Jack Pinball’s Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory is the most lavish form of Pat Lawlor’s sumptuous 2019 tribute to the beloved 1971 film — the same richly mechanical design, finished with the finest exclusive art and premium appointments for the dedicated collector. With four flippers, seven magnets, a remarkable thirty-six mini-inserts, and a rotating cellar hole, it captures the whimsy and wonder of Wonka’s factory alongside the menace lurking beneath its sweetness.
The scoring revolves around the golden tickets and the Everlasting Gobstopper. The Gobstopper target lights locks and advances your bonus multiplier, and to lock a ball you shoot a rotating disc with a scoop that spins around — the slick trick is to forehand the shot with the right flipper, then backhand it with the left once the hole rotates into position. The TV shot is another key target, and glancing the G.U.M. standups on the way activates targets, spins the Augustus spinner, and feeds the TV saucer. Shooting both orbits lights a super playfield multiplier, with the spinner setting its value.
There’s clever depth in the skill shots, too — a short plunge into the computer shot earns one, while an elaborate Super Secret Skill Shot chains the camera, factory, and Gobstopper ramps into the TV. Gorgeous, deep, and dripping with Lawlor’s signature wit, the Willy Wonka Collector’s Edition is a late-career gem from one of the all-time greats in its grandest form — a scrumdiddlyumptious machine that’s as rewarding to master as it is to behold. A world of pure imagination awaits.