1976 Gottlieb SURF CHAMP pinball machine

Here's a 1976 Gottlieb Surf Champ pinball machine in action. This machine was designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison.
Surf Champ is a very typical Gottlieb game (which is a good thing) with some neat features. Hitting the drops lights the middle side lanes for double bonus. Hitting the drops and the 5 star rollovers lights the outlanes for extra ball or special. The drops don't reset until the star rollovers have been completed, which is pretty cool.
A strong right flip can get the ball to the top through the narrow lane on the left behind the drops. And, of course, whacking the spinner is always big fun.
Each completed star rollover lights the corresponding light for an extra 5k at the kick-out saucer, which makes the saucer pretty lucrative when all 5 are lit.
Surf Champ is a really decent game from the king of the electromechanical era. Gottlieb couldn't do much wrong in the mid-70's and this is yet another solid title.

[@jppagetoo]

Gottlieb was a great maker in the 70's. Even their simple games had decent shots to go for.

[@rparker2824]

This game plays really well. The spinner, the stronger flipper coils and is its fast due to the angle. Nice!

[@mounirhmich7560]

ذكريات الثمانينات لعبت كثيرا بهذا الفليبر شكرا جزيلا على هذا 👬❤❤.

[@DJJ246810]

Love all these videos, thanx London Pinball

[@rescuemyplace]

Thanks for the video. I had one of these in our takeaway shop way back in 1979. We also had a Bally, Mata Hari later which I never liked. The gameplay of Surf Champ was more fun. I remember how the ball ended up more down the middle than the side chutes.

[@jimmyhuesandthehouserocker1069]

This guy's a good player lots of good flipper work. I don't see how anybody can like to play the computerized machines. Electro mechanical is the heart and soul of pinball. Instead of try to compete with computer video games, pinball factories should have stuck with electro mechanical and kept pinball that way forever. Gottliebs would probably still be here in business today

[@londonpinball]

The truth is that pinball enjoyed a massive resurgence with the introduction of solid state technology. People were lining up to play the latest games with electronic sound and digital displays. The EM games are great, for sure. But the electronic games breathed new life into a tired industry.

[@borna430]

do you still have this?

[@londonpinball]

Long gone.