I never noticed this, until now. . .

[Richard B]

We know that some tables are deeper than others in terms of rules and playfield complexity, but this is also true for the playfields themselves. Some tables have the playfield much shallower, so the ball is inches from the glass. This is especially prevalent with most tables up to and including the early 90s. Comparing two tables side by side, it's especially noticeable. Why is this?

 

[Heretic]

Which tables?

 

[Richard B]

A few with shallow playfields are Taxi, Pin*Bot, TAF, Strikes and Spares (1978), and Star Trek (1979). The deeper playfields include RBION, LOTR, No Fear, NBA Fastbreak, BOP, T2, Tommy and Who Dunnit. Basically, any tables from the 80's and earlier will have the shallow field, as they began to get phased out in the early 90s.

 

[Jeff Strong]

My guess would be more ramps and bigger toys.

 

[mmmagnetic]

You know, this is kind of a sidenote, but it always amazed me how relatively late in the history of pinball they started using more threedimensional design, with ramps and all that.

Maybe flipper strength has something to do with that?

 

[Richard B]

My guess would be more ramps and bigger toys.

Whatever the reason, it's another thing that should be reflected in the recreations.