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Ever since I was a young boy I played the silver ball
The Who's Tommy by Data East
Believed by many to be the best pinball machine ever made by Data East, The Who's Tommy, produced in 1994, captures the spirit of the Broadway play and in some parts, of the original work.
The pictures on this page are of my Tommy pinball machine, which is currently in my basement, and might I add, a very popular machine with my extended family. I've only seen this machine out "in the wild" twice, once at a fundraising effort during my senior year of high school, and once at the Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix, AZ. Both times, the machine was extremely popular. The only unfortunate part was that it only had a production run of 3500 machines, so finding one can be difficult, but if you can, it's worth the search as this 5 year old machine easily stands up to the brand new pins being turned out today.
The information below is a modified version of Stewart's Guide to The Who's Tommy. The original text has been reformatted and minor factual errors have been fixed. I've also added some of my own comments.
1. Abbreviations and Acronyms
Here is a list of abbreviations and acronyms used in this rules sheet. Most are standard rec.games.pinball A&A's.
DE - Data East
STTNG - Star Trek: Next Generation
EB - Extra Ball
TAF - The Addams Family
JP - Jurassic Park
TFTC - Tales from the Crypt
K - Thousand points
TZ - Twilight Zone
M - Million points
UJ - Union Jack
SDTM - Straight down the middle
VUK - Vertical Up Kicker
2. General Description
The Who's Tommy (or just Tommy for short) is a Data East machine, officially released early February 1994 at PAPA-4. IMHO it is one of the best DE games, and with TFTC moving to 2nd place as the best DE machine. [TFTC has nothing over Tommy -- ed.] Tommy is based on the Broadway show of the same name.
The pin is of standard DE (24") width. It has three flippers: the two normal ones, and a left side flipper similar in position to the side flipper in Funhouse. It has the standard triangular slingshots above each flipper, one inlane and one outlane on each side, and a dot-matrix display.
As with TFTC, this game is part of a new generation of DE machines, with a very well thought-out rule set and a good score balance (except perhaps the double super jackpot, but that is not easy to get at all.) [I've never gotten one and I play all the time -- ed.] It is a mode-based game, and modes can run concurrently as in JP, TAF, and TZ.
3. Playfield Layout
In this section, the layout is described with the terminology I'll use for the rest of the rules sheet. Going from left to right:
Left inlane: Pretty standard. Lights the right spinner for double-value. Also, if there is no UJ feature currently running and the UJ is not lit, then it will light it for about 2 seconds unless you have already been through Pinball Wizard UJ.
Left outlane: No kickback! And there is rubber on the post seperating the inlane and outlane. Finally DE is learning! Collect Special here when lit (via completing GENIUS).
Left-bank-targets: Three plastic targets, with triangular lights pointing to them. Hitting a target lights the light. Lighting all 3 increases the left spinner value by 25K a spin, and scores 5M, 10M, 15M, then 20M for all subsequent completions. It resets back to 5M between balls. The unlit left scoop spots a left side target. These targets are also used in some UJ features.
Left scoop: When the union-jack is lit, it starts the flashing UJ. UJ's can be started from this scoop only until Pinball Wizard has been reached. Tommy Multiball can also be started here (see section 5). This scoop is also used in the Acid Queen UJ.
Upper left flipper: This sideways-facing flipper is designed for two primary shots: the Tommy mirror/hole, and the right ramp. You can also hit the "More Time" target or some of the silver ball targets from this flipper.
Left spinner/orbit: Each spin scores the current spinner value, which begins as 25K a spin, and increases each time the left bank targets are completed, to a maximum value of 1M. The value is doubled (thus max 2M per spin) if the ball just went through the right inlane. At the top of the lane is a switch, which is the 'orbit' switch. This switch relights the UJ. Normally the ball loops around the orbit feeding the right flipper quite fast (i.e., Mach speed, not warp speed :-)), so it is possible to make these loops, which are worth 1M, 2M, 3M, 4M. After the 4th loop, all loops are worth 5M for the rest of the game. Note that to score these loop values does not have to be continuous loops. There is also an orbit diverter, which is active at various times in the game to send the ball into the pop bumpers, instead of orbiting all the way around.
Left ramp: This ramp is quite easy to hit from the right flipper. It is used to count down to Captain Walker mode, to collect the single jackpot(s) during Tommy Multiball, and during the Sally Simpson UJ feature and Captain Walker (non-UJ) mode. On a shallow table or with very strong flippers, the left ramp can be backhanded from the left flipper.
Silver ball targets: These are 3 white targets with the picture of a pinball on the playfield. Two of them are on either side of the left ramp, while one of them is just above the right ramp. Hitting each one twice lights the silver ball for 20M. Initially the lights for these targets are off. After one hit, they are flashing. After two hits, they are solid. These targets are also used during the Silver Ball and Cousin Kevin UJs.
Genius lane: This lane is similar to the one in Funhouse, and is the easiest eay to feed the upper left flipper. Each hit (while not in Multiball) awards the next letter in the following words: OK, WOW, GOOD, SUPER, and GENIUS. Collecting each word awards the point value of 5M, 10M, 15M, 20M, and 25M respectively, and 25M for each subsequent spelling of GENIUS. The first completion of GENIUS lights Special at the outlanes. Many modes prevent completion of a word, but allow you to spot all but the last letter in the word. There is also an EB to be awarded for completing one of these, instead of the points. This is an annoying self-adjusting feature (almost as bad as whether or not you get the EB in the Holodeck in STTNG) which self-adjusts between every game. I've seen the EB awarded for completing WOW (easiest I've seen), and for completing SUPER (hardest I've seen). Normally it should give it to you for completing GOOD. This lane is also where you collect the EB after collecting the Lite EB UJ and for the Mystery, which is lit by right ramp shots, and is used in the Acid Queen UJ.
Silver ball: This ball scores 20M when flashing. When not flashing, it spots one hit on one of the silver ball targets. It is also used in the Silver Ball UJ, and is part of a combo which results in the Sigma Bonus (see section 6). Hitting this target also advances the next UJ to be awarded to be the next one that has not yet been collected.
Pop bumpers: The standard triangular combination. The pop bumpers rotate the ready UJ (as in TAF and TZ), and are used in There's a Doctor UJ. Pop bumpers start off at 100K per hit, and increase by 100K for every 10 hits to a maximum of 1M per pop. This resets on each ball. The Super Pops mystery award sets the value immediately to its maximum of 1M. There is a pin that pops up at the back of the bumpers, which can cause balls going through the orbit to be redirected into the pop bumpers.
Parachute: A very wide hole at the top-right of the playfield, which is for the skill shot. The ball often lands in here during normal play (especially during multiball) in which case the value of the next skill shot is increased by 5M.
Tommy mirror: This is a mirror which is similar to the tombstone in TFTC. Unfortunately the mirror doesn't register half the hits to it, so it can get frustrating. [You can hit the mirror as hard as possible and it will not register, or just lightly tap it and it will register. I've also seen a machine where front-to-back shaking of the cabinet would register hits on the mirror. This target is perhaps the worst-designed part of the machine. --ed.] Each hit spots a letter in T-O-M-M-Y. Completing TOMMY lowers the mirror, and exposes the Tommy hole. The mirror is also used in a couple of the UJs.
Tommy hole: This is a hole behind the mirror, and it is well designed in that balls sent to it do not bounce out! Generally this is only exposed when Tommy multiball is lit; shoot it to start multiball. During Tommy multiball it is also a mini-jackpot which must be collected five times to light the super jackpots. Any ball in this hole is fed to the right flipper.
Comments, Questions or Suggestions? Send me some email!