Gottlieb · 1979 · Early solid state (1977 to 1990)

Genie

Name: Genie
Brand: Gottlieb

Design: Ed Krynski · Art: Gordon Morison

Genie was Gottlieb's first wide-body, and you can see it in the ads. Gottlieb sold it in late 1979 as "Gottlieb's WIDE and Beautiful BODY", a pun on the cabinet and the genie on the glass. It's widely seen as Gottlieb's answer to Bally's super-wide Paragon, and it kicked off a run of wide-body designs. Ed Krynski laid it out with five flippers, including two on a mini upper playfield with seven drop targets, and Gordon Morison painted the art. Roger Sharpe gave it four out of four in Play Meter. It runs on Gottlieb's System 1 boards, and 6,800 were made. Buy one for the playfield and the art, and plan on connector work, because that's where System 1 games give trouble.

Spec at a glance

Maker: Gottlieb
Era: Early solid state (1977 to 1990)
Theme: Original themes
Year: 1979
Players: 4
Made: Gottlieb, October 1979 (model 435)
Design: Ed Krynski
Art: Gordon Morison
System: Gottlieb System 1
Display: four 6-digit numeric score displays and a 4-digit status display
Production: 6,800 units
Cabinet: wide-body, 5 flippers, 282 lb measured with legs
Also listed as: Gottlieb Genie

Bench check

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries: System 1 CPU boards carry a rechargeable 3.6 V NiCad battery soldered to the board. The standard advice is to take it off as soon as you find it, because its fumes corrode the edge connectors and chips nearby, and a CPU board photo shows whether it's still there. Poor connector contacts are the number one reason System 1 games don't run, so look for new connector pins in the backbox photos too.
Display: Genie scores on four 6-digit numeric displays with a 4-digit display for the ball and credit count. Repair techs rate the System 1 displays as fairly reliable and long-lasting. Ask the seller to run the display test so you can see every digit light.
Playfield: There are two playfields in one, with a mini upper playfield at the top left holding two of the five flippers and a bank of seven drop targets. Ask for a straight-down photo of the whole playfield. Look for worn paint at the flippers, the inlanes and in front of the drop target banks.
Toys and mechs: The 7-bank and 4-bank drop targets, the wide spinner and the kick-out hole carry most of the scoring. Ask for a video of a game. The drop targets should fall and reset as banks.
Cabinet and art: Genie was Gottlieb's first wide-body, sold as "Gottlieb's WIDE and Beautiful BODY", and the backglass shows the genie rising from the lamp. Look closely at the backglass in the photos. The paint around the genie and the lamp should be whole, with no flaking.
Moving it: It measured 282 lb with legs, and the wide-body cabinet is wider than a standard game. Measure your doorways before you buy, and plan to take the legs and backbox off.
Parts and code: Aftermarket System 1 boards exist, such as the Ni-Wumpf CPU and the all-in-one Pascal PI-1/X4, which replaces the power supply, CPU and driver board together. So a dead original CPU isn't the end of the game. Ask whether the board is original or a replacement.

Should come with it

Backglass
Coin door keys and backbox key
Manual and schematics

Check the listing photos against these lists, and ask the seller about anything you can’t see. A missing toy, glass or key should come off the price.

What to check

System 1 games mostly fail from bad connector contacts and broken ground connections, and a leaking NiCad battery on the CPU board makes both worse. These are fixable, and aftermarket boards exist.

01Battery: Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery. Good looks like the battery removed or relocated and no green crust on the board.
02Connectors: Ask whether the connectors have been replaced. New pins and housings in the backbox photos are a good sign.
03Displays: Ask for a video of the display test. Every digit on all five displays should light.
04Upper playfield: Look at the mini playfield and its two flippers in the photos. Both flippers should flip and the seven drop targets should stand up.
05Drop targets: Ask for a video of a game. The banks should fall and reset cleanly.
06Playfield wear: Ask for a straight-down playfield photo. Paint should be intact at the flippers and inlanes.
07Backglass: Look at the backglass in the photos with the lights on. The genie and the paint around it should be whole.
08Moving it: Measure your doorways before you pay. It's a wide-body and weighs about 282 lb with legs.

Buying your first one? Red flags in a pinball listing covers the photos and videos to ask for, and the battery corrosion guide shows what leaking batteries do to an old CPU board.

Find one on eBay

We haven’t been through this game’s listings yet. Search eBay and run every listing through the checklist above. Ask for a video of a full game, a photo of the CPU board and photos of the playfield in good light, and ask what’s been replaced. Pass on any seller who won’t answer.

Search “Gottlieb Genie pinball” on eBay ↗eBay search

Compare with

Keep exploring

Maker

Era

Theme

Read

Genie

Design: Ed Krynski · Art: Gordon Morison

Spec at a glance

Maker

Gottlieb

Era

Early solid state (1977 to 1990)

Theme

Original themes

Year

1979

Players

Made

Gottlieb, October 1979 (model 435)

Design

Ed Krynski

Art

Gordon Morison

System

Gottlieb System 1

Display

four 6-digit numeric score displays and a 4-digit status display

Production

6,800 units

Cabinet

wide-body, 5 flippers, 282 lb measured with legs

Also listed as

Gottlieb Genie

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries

System 1 CPU boards carry a rechargeable 3.6 V NiCad battery soldered to the board. The standard advice is to take it off as soon as you find it, because its fumes corrode the edge connectors and chips nearby, and a CPU board photo shows whether it's still there. Poor connector contacts are the number one reason System 1 games don't run, so look for new connector pins in the backbox photos too.

Display

Genie scores on four 6-digit numeric displays with a 4-digit display for the ball and credit count. Repair techs rate the System 1 displays as fairly reliable and long-lasting. Ask the seller to run the display test so you can see every digit light.

Playfield

There are two playfields in one, with a mini upper playfield at the top left holding two of the five flippers and a bank of seven drop targets. Ask for a straight-down photo of the whole playfield. Look for worn paint at the flippers, the inlanes and in front of the drop target banks.

Toys and mechs

The 7-bank and 4-bank drop targets, the wide spinner and the kick-out hole carry most of the scoring. Ask for a video of a game. The drop targets should fall and reset as banks.

Cabinet and art

Genie was Gottlieb's first wide-body, sold as "Gottlieb's WIDE and Beautiful BODY", and the backglass shows the genie rising from the lamp. Look closely at the backglass in the photos. The paint around the genie and the lamp should be whole, with no flaking.

Moving it

It measured 282 lb with legs, and the wide-body cabinet is wider than a standard game. Measure your doorways before you buy, and plan to take the legs and backbox off.

Parts and code

Aftermarket System 1 boards exist, such as the Ni-Wumpf CPU and the all-in-one Pascal PI-1/X4, which replaces the power supply, CPU and driver board together. So a dead original CPU isn't the end of the game. Ask whether the board is original or a replacement.

Should come with it

Backglass

Coin door keys and backbox key

Manual and schematics

Check the listing photos against these lists, and ask the seller about anything you can’t see. A missing toy, glass or key should come off the price.

What to check

System 1 games mostly fail from bad connector contacts and broken ground connections, and a leaking NiCad battery on the CPU board makes both worse. These are fixable, and aftermarket boards exist.

01Battery: Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery. Good looks like the battery removed or relocated and no green crust on the board.

02Connectors: Ask whether the connectors have been replaced. New pins and housings in the backbox photos are a good sign.

03Displays: Ask for a video of the display test. Every digit on all five displays should light.

04Upper playfield: Look at the mini playfield and its two flippers in the photos. Both flippers should flip and the seven drop targets should stand up.

05Drop targets: Ask for a video of a game. The banks should fall and reset cleanly.

06Playfield wear: Ask for a straight-down playfield photo. Paint should be intact at the flippers and inlanes.

07Backglass: Look at the backglass in the photos with the lights on. The genie and the paint around it should be whole.

08Moving it: Measure your doorways before you pay. It's a wide-body and weighs about 282 lb with legs.

Buying your first one? Red flags in a pinball listing covers the photos and videos to ask for, and the battery corrosion guide shows what leaking batteries do to an old CPU board.

Find one on eBay

Genie

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

Compare with

Black Hole

Haunted House

Big House

Keep exploring

Genie

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

Compare with

Black Hole

Haunted House

Big House

Keep exploring