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World Champ


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World Champ / IPD No. 2809 / August, 1957 / 1 Player
 
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Average Fun Rating: [ 9 stars - Click for comments ]    8.6/10  (6 ratings/6 comments)        [ Add Your Rating! ]
Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Company (1931-1977) [Trade Name: Gottlieb]
Date Of Manufacture: August, 1957
Model Number: 131
Type: Electro-mechanical (EM) [?]
Production: 2,300 units   (confirmed)
Serial Number Database:View at The Internet Pinball Serial Number Database (IPSND.net)  (External site)
Theme: Sports - Boxing
Notable Features: Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (4), Slingshots (2), Standup targets (4), Gobble hole (1). No outlanes.

Maximum displayed point score is 6,990,000 points.

Replay wheel maximum: 26

Sound: 2 bells, knocker

Design by: Wayne Neyens
Art by: Roy Parker
Notes: The backglass carries Gottlieb's famous phrase: Amusement Pinballs, as American as Baseball and Hot Dogs!

The backglass is silkscreened with the words "Game Over" and the backbox insert has a hole for a light bulb to light these words but inexplicably the factory did not install a socket or wiring to this hole. This game does have a Game Over Relay, a relay that first appeared in Gottlieb games five months earlier with Gottlieb's 1957 'Royal Flush'. Reportedly, some 'World Champ' games have had this lamp installed after-factory by collectors.

The backglass indicates a possible 7-million point score and the schematic shows a lamp socket is wired for this '7'. However, Gottlieb did not actually wire this lamp socket in the game itself. The 100,000 unit stops stepping at 6900, not 7000, making the maximum possible displayed score to be 6,990,000 points.

See also Gottlieb's 1957 'World Champ (Extended Play Prototype)'.

Photos in: All About PinballExternal Link, page 50
The Pinball Compendium 1930s - 1960sExternal Link, page 104
Mike Pacak's Pinball Flyer Reference Book S-Z
GameRoom Magazine, Vol 9 No. 9, September 1997, front cover and page 10
Documentation: 4 MB PDF Schematic Diagram (continuous) (Availability limited by copyright)     [D. Gottlieb & Company]
Images:
(click to zoom)
Image # 2684: World Champ Playfield
Playfield

360x513
[Russ Jensen]
Image # 4774: World Champ Flyer
Flyer

1120x824
 
Image # 8011: World Champ Playfield
Playfield

725x1225
[Alan Tate]
Image # 15750: World Champ Backglass
Backglass

443x489
 
Image # 15751: World Champ Playfield, Artwork Removed
Playfield, Artwork Removed

524x393
 
Image # 15752: World Champ Playfield, Artwork Removed
Playfield, Artwork Removed

503x383
 
Image # 17801: World Champ Inside Backbox 
(A hole in the insert is located below the relay below the replay wheel. A lamp was intended for this hole to light Game Over on the backglass. Although this production run does have a Game Over relay, neither the lamp nor its wiring were included in production.)
Inside Backbox*

302x430
 
Image # 22833: World Champ Upper Playfield
Upper Playfield

792x600
[Jim Stahlecker]
Image # 22834: World Champ Lower Playfield
Lower Playfield

792x600
[Jim Stahlecker]
Image # 22835: World Champ Cabinet - Left
Cabinet - Left

664x600
[Jim Stahlecker]
Image # 22836: World Champ Cabinet - Right
Cabinet - Right

697x600
[Jim Stahlecker]
Image # 64682: World Champ Backglass
Backglass

704x768
 
Image # 64749: World Champ Inside Backbox 
(A round hole in the insert can barely be seen just below the M-relay that is below the replay wheel. This hole was intended for a lamp for 'Game Over' Illumination but the socket was not wired in the production run. A bell is missing from the 0-9 unit on this particular game. The brown eyelet screw above the replay unit is not original to this game.)
Inside Backbox*

1200x1366
 
Image # 64750: World Champ Inside Backbox - Detail 
(This view shows only six sockets, not seven, were factory-wired for the 'Millions' scores on the backglass. The brown eyelet screw above the replay unit is not original to this game.)
Inside Backbox - Detail*

1200x900
 
Image # 64751: World Champ Under Playfield
Under Playfield

1003x1536
 
Image # 64752: World Champ Inside Cabinet
Inside Cabinet

1200x900
 
 

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