Joust

The manufacturer produced the backglasses in both crystal glass and Plexiglas. In 2007, an Early Production game with serial number 1001 was located in the Netherlands. Serial number 1001 would be the first Joust made. It is pictured here alongside another Joust having a later production serial number of 1485. The owner stated there are no backglass, playfield, cabinet, or gameplay differences between the two games. However, the backbox of #1001 has a third cable connector plug coming from the main cabinet that the later one does not have. It does not have the relay located above the replay mechanism that the later one does have. The owner had no information for these extra differences in #1001 except to comment that the 2nd player unit had a lot of wires that may have needed the third connector plug. In The Pinball Compendium 1970-1981 page 14, Jim Patla stated that, as Ted Zale's "pupil", he helped Zale with the design of this game. Patla considers Bally's 1970 '4 Queens' as his first game as a designer.