Favorite pins without pops

[Citizen]

So I was thinking about how tables without any pop bumpers represent a very small cross section of pinball machines, and I was wondering what all of you think of them and what your favorites are. Sorry if I missed any significant ones. I just went with solid state machines for this list.

Edit: Note that Iron Maiden refers to the Stern Electronics game from 1982 and not the new Stern Pinball game. I should have specified on the poll option. My apologies.

 

[wolfson]

Citizen , good bunch of tables WCS , Grand Lizard , Judge Dredd , Elektra and Junk Yard

 

[Michael]

It ain't really pinball without pop bumpers... That said, it is possible to design a good table without them, and the best table of that bunch is Elektra, which is sorely missing from TPA! I would much rather have had that at this point than the horrible Judge Dredd, for example.

 

[Rudy Yagov]

BIG GUNS. Criminally underrated game.

 

[DA5ID]

I like pops but only when they are designed/placed to not insta drain
example - twilight zone -
the new iron maiden has pops similar to TZ but designed to not drain your ball unfairly (great frackin game)

when I bought my first and only table, a star wars premium that was one of my considerations -safe pops
also on my checklist - varied modes, fun backhand shots, no magnets, drop targets, and theme and sound i would enjoy having in my home.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

If you want safe pops... don't go with a Lawlor table, seems to be the rule.

I voted for The Shadow. Great table, shame we'll never see it "officially" digitized.

 

[Citizen]

I've always felt that too many 90s and newer pins treat pops as an obligatory afterthought. Like, the designers didn't really want to include them, but did anyway because they were afraid not to. And so they just shove them in some area with heavily obscured view up at the far top left or far top right.

And sure, yes, they still add ball spin, but it's just always so disappointing to me to see that sort of design. I like pops. I like when they're nice and loud. I like when they have neat caps. I like seeing them get ahold of the ball for a few seconds and send it flying around like crazy. I don't like "Hey guys, we hid some pops up here somewhere! You might even occasionally notice they exist when you make this one shot on the table that leads to them!" Compared to that, I'd rather have a well-designed table without them.

 

[DA5ID]

citizen good point - the trend is pops are added as a bonus objective as opposed to part of the physical ball game play.
like ghostbusters - too easy of a shot to get to them but then its a "match 3" game to get a perk. Star Wars has the same mechanic, but harder to get the ball to the pops, and always sends a safe ball back.

 

[weirdproq]

Junkyard, Judge Dredd, and Champion Pub.