Skee Ball appears in the 1969 machine directory. We know Satomi began in 1965, and their first original game was Sonar Attack in 1968. Skee Ball appears to be a copy of a Chicago Coin game, so this could have been released any year between 1965 and 1969.
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| 1969 machine directory |
While I do believe this game is built nearly entirely of imported parts, I am not marking this as an import. The stand and artwork are new. The marquee follows the design of the original, but was entirely new.
Chicago Coin Midget Skee Ball was released in 1949.
This video shows off the 1949 Chicago Coin Midget Skee Ball, and shows some gameplay. The Satomi machine would have the same gameplay, as it appears to be all of the same parts.
The game Pitch Ball is the exact same as Skee Ball, but with a different backglass. According to the Morphy's Auction Listing (archive,) this is from 1972. I do not know where they got that date from, but it is the only date I have found so far.
I believe this machine was made for export, due to the 10 cent coin slot. I guess that after Satomi began exporting their first machine, Sonar Attack, they revisited this machine to expand exports. Skee Ball would be a trademark in the USA, so the new name, Pitch Ball was used.
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| 1972 Pitch Ball by さとみ (Satomi) |
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| 1972 Pitch Ball by さとみ (Satomi) |
Note the Canada/USA style coinslot. The wood playfield seems to be exact to Midget Skee Ball, reinforcing the idea that these are old stock parts. The green backflash looks different in this version, but those would also be the parts most potentially vulnerable to weather and atmospheric conditions.
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