Description: Pro Basketball,1961, Chicago Coin, 1 player, manikin players. A copy of Chicago Coin's 1947 Basketball Champ and even more advanced than the 1976 Exidy Old Time Basketball, but in a more modern cabinet and with more advanced scoring and score reels instead of backglass scoring. The player controls the offensive manikin, who automatically turns to get a ball from the feeding tube, then automatically turns into the shooting position. The player controls the offensive manikin's shot, but the player does not turn or move the manikin (unlike Genco's 1954 2 Player Basketball). The defensive manikin does move left and right (using a motor) and raises his arms to block the offensive shot. After the offensive manikin shots, he automatically turns towards the ball feeding tube to get another ball. Game uses 1.5" (38mm) hollow balls. Ping-pong balls do *not* work well (most pingpong balls are 35 or 40mm and are too light). The size of the balls really must be 1.5" or then will not feed correctly to the mannequin player. Essentally these are the same balls as used in Genco's 2 Player Basketball and in the earlier Basketball Champ. The game will work with eight balls minimum, but really nine to twelve should be installed. There are score reels for the player's score, for the number of shots made, and the total number of balls given. This is a really excellent manikin basketball game, second only to the 1954 Genco 2 Player Basketball.

If you have this game for sale please contact me at cfh@provide.net

Patent information on the earlier 1947 Basketball Champ (which this game is essentially a copy of) can be found here (650k).

See a movie of the game in play by clicking here (1.3meg).

Game Play: The first seven shots (call the "first half") alternate between single and double point values, and the last eight shots (the "second half") are all double point values. Also the point values constantly change due to the game's "flash-0-matic" motor (this is unlike the 1947 Basketball Champ, where all baskets are only worth one point and there is not double point shots). The object is to time the shot for the highest point value, but also avoid the defensive manikin (this adds another demension to the 1947 Basketball Champ's game play, where the only object is to avoid the defensive manikin, since there is no variable point scoring). This is a single player game (not head to head competition like Genco's 2 Player Basketball). Front glass size is 25" x 23" x 3/16" with a "15 shots 10 cents" decal. The two side glasses are rectangles with one angled side: |=/ (top side 32", bottom side 28", square right angle side 24").