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Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy


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Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy / IPD No. 438 / June, 1976 / 4 Players
 
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Average Fun Rating: [ 8 stars - Click for comments ]    7.7/10  (76 ratings/60 comments)        [ Add Your Rating! ]
Manufacturer: Bally Manufacturing Corporation (1931-1983) [Trade Name: Bally]
Project Date: September 04, 1975
Date Of Manufacture: June, 1976
Model Number: 1062
Common Abbreviations: CF
Type: Electro-mechanical (EM) [?]
Production: 16,155 units   (confirmed)
Serial Number Database:View at The Internet Pinball Serial Number Database (IPSND.net)  (External site)
Theme: Celebrities - Fictional - Licensed Theme
Notable Features: Flippers (4), Pop bumpers (3), Slingshots (2), Star rollovers (8), Standup targets (2), 5-bank drop targets (1), Right outlane detour gate. End-of-ball bonus.

Maximum displayed point score depends on the version:
Early production Over The Top games show 99,990 points per player.
Modified production games show 199,990 points per player.

Design by: Greg Kmiec
Art by: Dave Christensen
Notes: 'Capt. Fantastic' was inspired by the movie 'Tommy' and includes a representation of Elton John, as his character from the movie, playing pinball on the backglass. The game name, however, is the title of Elton John's 1975 autobiographical song and album where "Captain Fantastic" was Elton and "The Brown Dirt Cowboy" was his then-lyricist Bernie Taupin. Included in the song lyrics are the words "From the end of the world to your town" which appear at the very top center of the backglass.

Tom Nieman, VP of Marketing for Bally Pinball, tells us the flyer was made while Elton was recording a new album in Canada. For this flyer, a game was shipped to the Toronto hotel where Elton was staying. That is why he is shown wearing a Canadian hockey jersey. Elton then asked Nieman to send a game to his various residences and one to his "mum" in the UK.

Artist Dave Christensen included in the backglass several depictions of people doing things that, at first, escaped notice by Bally management. A small number of games with these so-called "X-rated" or "uncensored" backglasses made it through production before changes were required to be made. Specifically, small mirrored stars were added over the objectionable parts and, curiously, these stars did not effectively obscure the offending art in all instances. Nieman explained to us that he and Christensen wanted the correction to be as minimal as possible because they knew they had "a monster hit" on their hands. The X-rated version is often referred to as the "no stars" version even though all of the backglasses in the production run did contain a certain number of peripheral decorative stars anyway. Nieman is depicted in the backglass as the man in the three-piece suit, and he says that 'Brutus' is artist Paul Faris.

Mr. Nieman attended the 1975 New York premier party for the movie "Tommy" held in the 57th Street subway station. He had agreed with artist Christensen to represent the date of this event in the backglass art as the score 31775. A biography of Keith Moon records the date of this party as March 18, 1975. It is easy to believe that the party extended over both days.

Bally made an unknown quantity of playfields for this game having orange star rollover inserts instead of the usual green ones. This version is seldom seen, which indicates the quantity made was small. Pictured in this listing are three different examples of this "orange version" playfield. Two of the three also have a white drop target Special insert, instead of the expected red-colored one. The production run of this game was over 16,000 units, and these "orange version" playfields may have simply resulted from spot shortages during the production run of playfield parts having the correct colors. More information is needed to understand the reason for these playfield differences.

The Early Production game pictured here has serial number 1088 and has green star rollover inserts on its playfield. It has the Over The Top backglass which is uncensored and, like the game in the flyer, its cabinet front has the "reversed" red and blue striping as compared to the striping on the cabinet sides.

Included in this listing is a playfield showing signatures of both the designer and artist silkscreened in the black area at the bottom where the outlanes exit towards the outhole. Greg Kmiec tells us that Christensen had sneaked their signatures there but when Bally management heard about it and saw it, they made Christensen remove the signatures. Greg initially stated that only ten playfields were produced like this in a pilot run, not to appear on production games, but when the production game with serial number 1087 was identified as having a signed playfield, it caused him to wonder if a larger quantity of, say, 100 was actually made, to have appeared on production games. Another explanation would be that game 1087 was retrofitted with a pilot run playfield after it left the factory. We note that the game with serial number 1088 does not have a signed playfield.

One game in this listing has a backbox frame painted red instead of the usual white. We have no further information on this except the same variation has been seen on Bally's 1978 'Bobby Orr Power Play'.

A home version of this game was also produced; see Bally's 1977 'Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy'.

Photos in: Newsweek May 30, 1977, pp. 54.
Popular Mechanics 147(1), January 1977, pp. 98-101.
Arcade TreasuresExternal Link, pages 85-86
Pinball ArtExternal Link, pages 77, 98-99
The Complete Pinball BookExternal Link, pages 88, 121, and 178
Mike Pacak's Pinball Flyer Reference Book A-F
Pinball! (Sharpe) page 179
Pinball 1External Link Illustrated Historical Guide to Pinball Machines Volume 1, page 242
Pinball Machines (Eiden-Lukas)External Link, pages 97-99
The Pinball Compendium Electro-mechanical Era, page 214
Rule Sheets: Capt. Fantastic Rulesheet Version 1.0 (Aug/14/1997), by Scott R. Tiesma  
Documentation: 7 MB PDF English Manual (no schematics) [Bally Manufacturing Corp.]
  7 MB PDF German Manual [Bally Manufacturing Corp.]
  719 KB PDF Instruction Cards [Bally Manufacturing Corp.]
  566 KB PDF Playfield Chart from 1976 Parts Catalog [Bally Manufacturing Corp.]
  2 MB PDF Schematic Diagram [Bally Manufacturing Corp.]
  18 MB PDF Schematic Diagram (reproduction, continuous) [Paul Ferlan]
Files: 488 KB PDF Score Cards and Score Card Inserts [Bally Manufacturing Corp.]
Images:
(click to zoom)
Image # 3985: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Flyer, Front
Flyer, Front

849x1128
 
Image # 3986: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Flyer, Back 
(Back of Flyer, rotated 90 degrees for easier viewing.)
Flyer, Back*

900x752
 
Image # 9163: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Starred Backglass Difference
Starred Backglass Difference

867x386
[Duncan Brown]
Image # 9164: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Starred Backglass Difference
Starred Backglass Difference

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[Duncan Brown]
Image # 9165: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Starred Backglass Difference
Starred Backglass Difference

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[Duncan Brown]
Image # 16855: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Upper Playfield
Upper Playfield

640x480
[Tom Graham]
Image # 16934: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass - Reverse
Backglass - Reverse

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[Kendrick Reed]
Image # 21768: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass (no stars)
Backglass (no stars)

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[Robert Ballard]
Image # 23288: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Playfield
Playfield

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23289: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Right
Cabinet - Right

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23290: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Left
Cabinet - Left

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23291: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backbox - Right
Backbox - Right

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23292: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backbox - Left
Backbox - Left

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23465: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Front View
Cabinet - Front View

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23466: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Paperwork
Paperwork

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23467: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Inside Cabinet
Inside Cabinet

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23468: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Inside Backbox
Inside Backbox

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23469: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Front
Cabinet - Front

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23470: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Lower Playfield
Lower Playfield

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23471: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Middle Playfield
Middle Playfield

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23472: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Upper Playfield
Upper Playfield

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 23473: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass (with stars)
Backglass (with stars)

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[Vic Camp]
Image # 26404: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Left
Cabinet - Left

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[Jim Kronick]
Image # 26405: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Right
Cabinet - Right

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[Jim Kronick]
Image # 26406: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Under Playfield
Under Playfield

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[Jim Kronick]
Image # 26505: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass - Reverse
Backglass - Reverse

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[Jim Kronick]
Image # 26506: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Playfield in Service Position
Playfield in Service Position

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[Jim Kronick]
Image # 26507: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass (no stars)
Backglass (no stars)

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[Jim Kronick]
Image # 26508: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Playfield
Playfield

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[Jim Kronick]
Image # 27806: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Inside Backbox
Inside Backbox

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Image # 28199: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Orange Star Inserts - Upper Playfield 
(This playfield has orange star inserts, instead of the usual green ones. Game is serial number 3040.)
Orange Star Inserts - Upper Playfield*

400x300
 
Image # 28200: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Orange Star Inserts - Middle Playfield 
(This playfield has orange star inserts, instead of the usual green ones. Game is serial number 3040.)
Orange Star Inserts - Middle Playfield*

400x300
 
Image # 28201: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Orange Star Inserts - Lower Playfield 
(This playfield has orange star inserts, instead of the usual green ones. Game is serial number 3040.)
Orange Star Inserts - Lower Playfield*

400x300
 
Image # 29049: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Lower Playfield - White Special Insert
Lower Playfield - White Special Insert

1024x768
[Matt Walsh]
Image # 29050: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Orange Star Inserts
Orange Star Inserts

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[Matt Walsh]
Image # 29104: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Comparison Of Two Playfield Versions 
(The playfield on the left is the common version.)
Comparison Of Two Playfield Versions*

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[Matt Walsh]
Image # 31339: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Under Playfield
Under Playfield

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[Jeff Miller]
Image # 32046: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Factory-Signed Playfield
Factory-Signed Playfield

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[Dennis Dodel]
Image # 32047: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Factory-Signed Playfield
Factory-Signed Playfield

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[Dennis Dodel]
Image # 32048: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Factory-Signed Playfield - Detail
Factory-Signed Playfield - Detail

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[Dennis Dodel]
Image # 32049: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Factory-Signed Playfield - Detail
Factory-Signed Playfield - Detail

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[Dennis Dodel]
Image # 32050: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Factory-Signed Playfield - Reverse
Factory-Signed Playfield - Reverse

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[Dennis Dodel]
Image # 32412: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass - Detail
Backglass - Detail

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[Miroslaw Adamczewski]
Image # 32413: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass - Detail
Backglass - Detail

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[Miroslaw Adamczewski]
Image # 34864: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Manufacturer's Certificate 
(Serial number 1965.)
Manufacturer's Certificate*

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[Miroslaw Adamczewski]
Image # 43637: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Promotional Poster 
(This is the game shown in the manufacturer's flyer. The poster inside the frame measures 45 cm by 61 cm.)
Promotional Poster*

900x1200
[Federico Croci]
Image # 44263: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Early Production Backglass (Over The Top, no stars) 
(This is the Over The Top version of the backglass from game serial number 1088, the 88th game produced.)
Early Production Backglass (Over The Top, no stars)*

870x764
[Dwight Andersen]
Image # 44264: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Early Production Backglass (Over The Top, no stars) 
(This is the Over The Top version of the backglass from game serial number 1088, the 88th game produced.)
Early Production Backglass (Over The Top, no stars)*

1024x768
[Dwight Andersen]
Image # 44265: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Early Production Cabinet 
(Serial number 1088.)
Early Production Cabinet*

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[Dwight Andersen]
Image # 47011: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Blank Playfield - Orange and White - Front 
(This playfield has orange star inserts and a white Special insert. Photo taken at Chicago Expo 2010.)
Blank Playfield - Orange and White - Front*

824x1556
[Jay Stafford]
Image # 47012: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Blank Playfield - Orange and White - Back 
(This playfield has orange star inserts and a white Special insert. Photo taken at Chicago Expo 2010.)
Blank Playfield - Orange and White - Back*

820x1564
[Jay Stafford]
Image # 52054: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Upper Playfield
Upper Playfield

1200x862
[Mark Steinman]
Image # 52055: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Middle Playfield
Middle Playfield

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[Mark Steinman]
Image # 52056: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Lower Playfield
Lower Playfield

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[Mark Steinman]
Image # 65110: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass
Backglass

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[Jean-Pierre Renault]
Image # 65111: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Front View
Cabinet - Front View

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[Jean-Pierre Renault]
Image # 65112: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Full View
Cabinet - Full View

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[Jean-Pierre Renault]
Image # 65113: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Inside Backbox
Inside Backbox

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[Jean-Pierre Renault]
Image # 65114: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Illuminated Backglass
Illuminated Backglass

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[Billy Loretelli]
Image # 65115: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Illuminated Playfield
Illuminated Playfield

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[Billy Loretelli]
Image # 66490: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Artist Initials
Artist Initials

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[Jan Izaks]
Image # 71925: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Backglass (with stars) 
(Serial number 16629.)
Backglass (with stars)*

1200x900
[Jay Stafford]
Image # 71926: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Illuminated Backglass (with stars) 
(Serial number 16629.)
Illuminated Backglass (with stars)*

985x900
[Jay Stafford]
Image # 71927: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Playfield - Orange Star Inserts and White Special Insert 
(Playfield is mylared. Serial number 16629.)
Playfield - Orange Star Inserts and White Special Insert*

1200x1600
[Jay Stafford]
Image # 71928: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Playfield - White Insert 
(Factory-installed white insert. This insert is supposed to be red on production games. This playfield also has orange star rollover inserts instead of the usual green ones. Serial number 16629.)
Playfield - White Insert*

574x876
[Jay Stafford]
Image # 71929: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy Cabinet - Serial Number 
(Serial number 16629.)
Cabinet - Serial Number*

1200x900
[Jay Stafford]
 
Source: Photo [?]

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