The year of manufacture was previously listed as 1977 but both the backglass and the playfield show the artist Michele Martinelli signed it as "Mike 79".
The backglass also has a signature "Kobra B". Italian collector Federico Croci asked Martinelli about it. He replied that he had guys sometimes helping him to complete the work when they were in a hurry, but he can't remember their exact names. They were guys working at the printing facility where the backglasses and playfields were made. We have seen this name shown as "B Kobra" on at least one other game.
The manufacturer's flyer shown here is printed with a yellow tinge that colors the white paint and wood grain and metal. The game it shows has a different style and placement of manufacturer logo on its backglass, playfield and apron than the games we have seen, and we note the trivial absence of outlane mini-posts. One important trait of this game, however, is the two 4-banks of drop targets in the upper playfield.
Images 37382 to 37388 show a game with the same drop target placement as the flyer game and mini-posts have been added to the outlanes. The backbox insert shows on its front side two boards mounted side by side, connected to each other with a white ribbon cable. We presume that this machine has chimes in the lower cabinet but this has not been confirmed.
Images 64419 to 64437 show a game having extensive modifications to its playfield. The two 4-banks of drop targets were replaced with four star rollovers and a spinning target. One 4-bank of drop targets was installed in place of a right-side standup target, and a single drop target was added to the upper left lane. We cannot see if mini-posts exist. On the backbox insert, there is one long board instead of two ribbon-connected boards and a small sound card was mounted nearby. The front inside wall of the cabinet has three screw holes for the chime unit. The holes look enlarged from use so likely a chime unit existed but was removed. We assume the sound card completely replaced the need for chimes. A speaker is mounted directly over one of the two vents, the left one, at the rear of the lower cabinet.
Images 64439 to 64450 show another game with the same extensive playfield modifications. Outlane mini-posts are present. Its backbox insert also has one long board and the smaller sound card. However, this game still has its chime unit installed although we do not know if it is operative. A speaker is mounted directly over one of the two vents, the right one, at the rear of the lower cabinet.
Because of these few examples of this heavily modified playfield and its different insert boards, we presume there may be more examples like this in existence. Although we have yet found manufacturer documentation or other information for this modified playfield, the degree of its reengineering seems to be the serious domain of either a manufacturer or a large and talented distributor, not an operator. We note there was no attempt to adjust the artwork on these playfields to make aesthetic sense with the modifications.
The manufacturer's manual in this listing is not much help to clarify what we see. It shows a picture on its cover of the same game as in the flyer, with the two 4-bank drop targets in the upper playfield. Yet, it also shows the backbox version having one long card but no smaller sound card, a board combination that we have thus far only associated with the modified playfield. The text does not mention anything concerning the sounds for this game, whether electronic or chimes.
We invite additional information and documentation for this game, whether original or variation.
