King of Diamonds

This is a 4-player solid-state "retro" version of Gottlieb's 1967 'King of Diamonds'. The prototype game pictured here (with the black card holder and black trim) is the sole prototype from 2006, produced by Fabulous Fantasies of Tarzana, California. It was hand-built as a proposal to Stern to build a line of retro games. That arrangement did not happen, so Gottlieb was approached for a license to make this game. A prototype Gottlieb game complete with ticket vender and a brand new board system was hand-built for Gottlieb approval. Licensing was approved in 2009 and Retro Pinball LLC was formed to manufacture 100 numbered games and 200 regular models in Taiwan (all would have a white Gottlieb card holder and chrome trim). The first ten production games were produced and sold in 2010 but playfields carried a 2009 copyright as that is when parts production had begun. Production ended in 2012 after 5 sample production games and 50 regular production games were built. (The two hand-built prototypes are not included in our Production Run quantity of 55. The 5 sample production games were built individually and not in a factory setting by a group of people.) The 50 regular production games carried a numbered plaque (1 of 100, etc.) and only the first nine games off of the production line have a number that corresponds to its actual place in the production line. Beyond that, buyers were allowed to select from any remaining number in that range to be on their plaques, regardless of the actual place in production that each game occurred. Therefore, some of the 50 games produced may carry a plaque numbered between 51 and 100. Parts are in existence for an additional 50 games.