Godzilla vs. Mothra Pachinko Game (Toho, 1992)

This is almost two posts in a row about Pachinko (the other having to do with Ebirah), but this is such a cool toy, I had to write about it.  Amazingly, it's from 1992, and was in the hands of a collector, rather than a child, because it's in flawless condition.

It's a working pachinko game (albeit with 8 balls), but it's all about the graphics.  Just look at the chibi-style Mothra larvae!

The game is bigger than I thought it would be, and stands around 6 inches high.  When you launch a ball, the Mothra larva spinner spins.  Other spinners/pockets have cute versions of Angilas, Baragon, Gigan, Rodan...and the jackpot, King Ghidorah.  In the background graphics, Minya, Adult Mothra, and, strangely, Mechagodzilla, are lurking.

Now, they could have phoned it in with this one, and just made it a pinball game with no features! But they didn't.  The jackpot target, pictured above, is a perfectly-engineered, slow-moving funnel.  Did you ever put a coin into one of those giant funnel things, as a kid, that collected money for charity?  They used to have them in malls, and also in McDonald's restaurants.  This funnel is a miniature version of that concept!  Upon exiting the funnel, the ball drops straight into the King Ghidorah target, and JACKPOT!

And it really does jackpot, too, like its bigger Pachinko siblings.  And just in case it doesn't, there is a "reset" lever on the back to release the balls.

I found it quite bizarre, but there is no manufacturer listed anywhere that I can see, other than Toho, which I didn't THINK ever made toys, but who knows.  I'd expect a Bandai, Banpresto, or Tomy, even.

A great addition to the collection, but don't play this game if your loved ones are trying to sleep...it's extremely noisy!