| Taxi / IPD No. 2505 / August 31, 1988 / 4 Players | [ Submit Changes ] |
![[ 8 stars - Click for comments ]](stars/8stars.png){kind=small}
8.0/10 (143 ratings/98 comments) [ Add Your Rating! ]
Incorporated (1985-1999) [Trade Name: Williams]
![[?]](/graphic/question.gif)
Actual measured weight: 245 lbs (includes legs).
The first games in production were made with a blonde 'Marilyn' taxi passenger, a likeness of Marilyn Monroe. This was changed during production to be a darker-haired 'Lola', ostensibly a likeness of no one famous.
We asked Roger Sharpe about the reason for this change. He replies:
Suffice it to say that we did have some limited run of machines featuring a 'blonde Marilyn' — and I don’t know if these were for international only. However, we were informed that there were rights that needed to be secured in order to use Marilyn and the decision was made to just alter the artwork so that the female character was renamed ‘Lola’ for the main production run. If memory serves, and I can’t say with certainty—there might be games that were manufactured with a brunette Lola and then a redheaded Lola.
The changes needed to introduce 'Lola' include backglass art, playfield art, game software, and instruction card.
According to Mark Ritchie, as explained in the book The Pinball Compendium 1982 to Present, at least 200 sample games were in the process of being shipped with 'Marilyn' before the change had to be made. He also explained the name 'Lola' was taken from a 1970s song about a transvestite, chosen to befit her muscular arms as depicted on the backglass.
Marilyn's face appears twice on the playfield: directly below the center drop target bank and also as an illuminating insert further down. We have seen one instance of the Lola playfield where she was still blonde near the drop targets but was a brunette in the insert. We don't know how many playfields were made this way.
Production Run Records for Taxi:
Production Start Date: Aug-31-1988
Production End Date: Dec-14-1988
Production Run Quantity: 7300
First ship date: Aug-31-1988
Last ship date: Feb-13-1989
"The one taxi Lola, Gorbie, Santa, Dracula... and Operators Everywhere are Hailing!"
"Get ready for the taxi everyone's going to be lining up for!"
Newsweek 112, December 5, 1988, pp. 76+.
Pinball Art
, page 100 (Lola)Pinball Trader, Vol 3 No. 1, Sept-Oct 1988, page 31 (Marilyn)
The Complete Pinball Book
, pages 180, 181, and 234 (Marilyn)Pinball Machines, page 131 (Marilyn)
Arcade Treasures
, page 125 (Marilyn)The Pinball Compendium 1982 to Present
, page 102 (Marilyn, Lola)Mike Pacak's Pinball Flyer Reference Book S-Z (Marilyn, Lola)
(click to zoom)
 Backglass 356x430 |
 Playfield 426x537 [Russ Jensen] |
 Flyer, Front 887x1144 |
 Flyer, Back 857x1150 |
 Flyer (with Marilyn) 300x393 |
 Flyer (with Lola) 300x393 |
 Popbumpers & Upper Playfield 640x480 [Chris Bucci] |
 Lower Playfield 640x480 [Chris Bucci] |
 Right Playfield 640x480 [Chris Bucci] |
 Backglass - Lola 431x476 [Marty Wilke] |
 Backglass - Lola 640x480 [Marty Wilke] |
 Upper Playfield 599x463 [Marty Wilke] |
 Lower Playfield 640x480 [Marty Wilke] |
 Cabinet - Left 569x253 [Marty Wilke] |
 Backbox - Left 191x573 [Marty Wilke] |
 Front 539x357 [Marty Wilke] |
 Under Playfield 480x640 [John Gray] |
 Behind Backglass 640x480 [John Gray] |
 Inside Backbox 640x480 [John Gray] |
 Backbox - Right 480x640 [John Gray] |
 Instruction Card 640x480 [John Gray] |
 Illuminated Backglass (Lola) 800x600 [Phil Hauser] |
 Translite 1024x768 [Philippe Thibault] |
 Playfield 1024x1530 [Mike Ives] |
 Passengers - Marilyn 1024x819 [Mike Ives] |
 Cabinet Front - Coined for British Money 926x686 [Mike Ives] |
 Upper Playfield 1024x685 [Mike Ives] |
 Middle Playfield 1024x686 [Mike Ives] |
 Lower Playfield 1024x819 [Mike Ives] |
 Passenger Drac 1200x960 [Mike Ives] |
 Passenger Gorbie 1200x960 [Mike Ives] |
 Passenger Santa Claus 649x727 [Mike Ives] |
 Passenger PinBot 960x1200 [Mike Ives] |
 Passenger Marilyn 1200x1392 [Mike Ives] |
 Cabinet - Front View 686x1600 [Jean-Pierre Renault] |
 Cabinet - Front View 696x1600 [Jean-Pierre Renault] |
||||
