“Jabba’s Bounty” Part from Data East Star Wars Pinball Machine

I did a study abroad program in England for a few months in 1992-1993, and I distinctly remember that they had Data East’s Star Wars pinball machine in the student union, right next to the pool table. While I wasn’t a collector back then (and barely had enough money to eat) I was still a Star Wars fan, so the lights and sounds of the machine attracted me right away. From time to time, I managed to scrounge some coins so I could play it, and remember it being quite a bit of fun. There’s something about the physical nature of pinball that’s hard to replicate with a video game. I don’t have this machine or any pinball machine for that matter, but when I saw just the “Jabba’s Bounty” part pop up on eBay, I thought it might be nice to have. (The photos here of the pinball machine itself are just for your reference and are provided courtesy of Videogame Obsession. You can also view more info about the machine on the Internet Pinball Machine Database.)

The part can be seen above.  Here’s a video of some gameplay (I’ve linked directly to a shot of the Jabba’s Bounty part, but the rest is worth looking at as well.)

The part itself is basically a piece of clear acrylic that covers the artwork (note that they apparently left the apostrophe out of “Jabba’s” for some reason). It’s got a picture of Jabba and his palace, as well as the twin moons of Tatooine. In the center is a light and behind it is actually just a piece of wood.

Kind of low-tech looking in a way, isn’t it? Anyway, while I can’t have the actual machine and I’m not sure I’ll ever get a chance to play it again, it’s nice to have a piece of it at least.