Some of the most fascinating machines from the 1970’s are appropriately dubbed as “special electric” pachinko machines. This subset of models featured the first electric circuit boards and solenoids in the history of pachinko machine manufacturing and many were imported to the United States. In an effort to keep up with American pinball manufacturers like Bally, Williams and Gottlieb, Nishijin and a handful of other Japanese manufacturers incorporated more interactive center features as a way of driving more interest in pachinko.
Standard American pinball machines are much larger in size than pachinko machines and the electro-mechanical models of the 1950’s-1970’s were driven by relays, stepper units, switches, and solenoids, all of which needed ample space to fit and wire. A classic American pinball machine offers the space necessary to house these electrical components, but a pachinko machine simply doesn’t. It’s my belief that the delay in electro-mechanical pachinko machines stems from the lack of understanding on how to fit the pachinko machines with the proper electrical components to allow the more interactive gameplay. Eventually, very small, complex Japanese-made circuit boards were developed and they were incorporated on a variety of different machines.
Is my pachinko machine a “special electric” model?
To answer your question simply, it probably isn’t. There just weren’t as many of these special models imported to the United States as other regular machine models with basic lights for jackpots and ball empty lights. That said, I will outline some special electric machines and identifying features to look for so an official ruling can be made on your machine.
For starters…
Special electric pachinko machines were mostly manufactured 1974 and later. If your machine predates this, it’s likely NOT a special electric. The technology simply wasn’t there yet. To find out the age of your machine, see this blog post.
If you see convoluted circuit boards like the one above, there’s a good chance you have a special electric model. The presence of a 24V transformer is also a good indicator you have a special electric model. The circuit boards and electrical components needed more power than the standard 9V pachinko machine light circuit to function, thus the need for the 24V transformer.
An easy indicator that you should at least investigate if your machine is a special electric would be the butterfly tulips seen below. All special electric pachinko machines have this style tulip which is greatly different in design than a regular machine tulip. Some regular machines that AREN’T special electric machines do have these butterfly tulips, so beware!
Without further ado, here are some noteworthy special electric models to keep your eyes out for. Below are some videos I was able to find on Youtube of various models. These aren’t all my videos, and respective credit goes to the channel owner for videos that don’t belong to me.
Note: this is NOT an exhaustive list of special electric machines. There are more models listed HERE, but understand that there were MANY models of machines that likely haven’t even been discovered yet by our small American pachinko collector community.
1974 Nishijin PowerFlash Chinaman & Thunderbird
In 1974, Nishijin manufactured the first ever electromechanical pachinko models; The PowerFlash Thunderbird and the PowerFlash Chinaman. These were the first machine designs to incorporate more than basic electrical jackpot light wiring. The Chinaman utilizes a total of 4 solenoids and 3 microswitches to flick open and close all 10 of the tulip style pockets on the playfield. To open all of the tulip pockets at once, a ball must enter the pink heart pocket at the top of the playfield. All 10 tulips will open (after the jackpot ball passes a microswitch that activates 2 “opening” solenoids). A ball that enters a yellow tulip pocket will close ALL tulip pockets (by passing a microswitch that activates the 2 “closing” solenoids.)
The Thunderbird is a variation of the Chinaman, and the goal of this machine is to hit the center yellow crown pocket that opens all tulips (minus the pink center tulip) or the side by side “wing switches” that trigger the corresponding side’s tulips to open with the firing of a solenoid.
1975 Nishijin Circuit Racer
The Circuit Racer is one of my personal favorite machines from Nishijin. This machine’s playfield is much different than most as it features pictures of existing racecars and even Formula One racing legend, Sir Jackie Stewart. Racecars featured: 1970 Ford Capri Perana, Lotus 72A #12, Tyrrell 006 #5, Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF.
The black “NISHIJIN” tire is opened by a solenoid when a jackpot ball enters the left or right pocket of the top yellow plastic attraction. This begins the jackpot progression/race. A spring-wound counting component (similar to stepper unit on EM pinball machines) paired with a microswitch is used to count the jackpot balls and progress the lights around the racetrack. Only balls that have entered the top left/right sides of yellow plastic attraction and balls that have entered the “NISHIJIN” tire will progress the jackpot lights around the track. Orange tulip pockets function normally. When the “G” light is lit, the next jackpot progression ball will close the “NISHIJIN” tire and end the jackpot round.
To make things difficult, green microswitches on the left and right side of the playfield (when hit) will close the “NISHIJIN” tire and erase your progress on the track.
1976 Nishijin Boxing
The 1976 Boxing machine definitely falls into a category of very uncommon machines. When I found this model a few short years ago, it was the only known boxing model in functioning condition with all original electrical parts intact. It uses solenoids and a counter unit to fire the boxers arm into the right boxers head and count the rounds you achieve with jackpot balls.
The first solenoid is for the left boxer’s arm and is activated by every jackpot ball. The second solenoid is activated after 4 jackpot balls and will quickly open and close the boxing gloves on the left side of playfield until 8 jackpot balls have been counted. The boxing gloves will then remain open until two final balls fall through the opened gloves. Those two balls will count as rounds 9 and 10 in the “boxing match”, ruling a knockout of the right boxer which will end the jackpot cycle. All lights will turn off.
1975 Nishijin UFO
This alien space-themed machine from Nishijin features very similar gameplay as the Circuit Racer from 1974. In fact, the stepper unit that advances lights around the center attraction is nearly the same as how the Circuit Racer functions. The main difference is that the side switches (that appear to be space capsules) advance the jackpot lights and don’t kill the light progression like the circuit racer. These switches do achieve the same result, though, by taking away time for you to sink balls into the wide-open UFO pocket that the alien pops out of. It affectively decreases your time and chances to win.
1975 Nishijin Fish
The fish machine is a fairly simple. Hit one of the top pockets, and the fish mouth will open up wide and slowly start to close as you try to shoot the pachinko balls into the shrinking fish mouth.
1978 Nishijin Hockey
Nishijin Hockey incorporated a pinball-like pop bumper mechanism that punches the pachinko ball around inside of the center attraction like a hockey puck until it falls into one of the handful of holes. The different holes inside the attraction will award more or less open tulips.
1978 Nishijin Power Roulette
This machine features much more advanced electronics that operate a roulette wheel if a ball enters one of four pockets at the top of the playfield. This gets the lights around the roulette wheel to begin spinning rapidly. When you push a button on the left frame of the machine to stop the light on the roulette wheel, the light will land on a number on the roulette wheel and the corresponding number of tulip pockets will open.
1976 Nishijin Train – D51
I’ll let Dan do most of the explaining on this Train D51 machine. It sounds to me like the light sequences through a 1-2-3 progression followed by flashing railroad gates that open and close to increase your odds of winning more jackpots.
1978 Nishijin Super Don
I’m unsure of how this one works exactly, but it’s a super rare model and appears to involve the balls loading up on the sides of the airplane as if you’re loading bombs into the plane. When the jackpot progression advances far enough, you can push a button on the left side of the frame to release the balls all at once while simultaneously opening all the tulips below. As far as I know, I believe this is the only model known to exist in the United States.
1979 Nishijin Surfing
I’m unsure how this one works too, but it features some kind of a motor that keeps the surfers moving back and forth on the waves. As far as I know, I believe this is the only model known to exist in the United States.
