Jed Yingst's Story
Jed had a several photos of a home-made sound generator and of the prototype game, providing a clearer view of the playfield design. SNP asked if there was another way back to the main payfield besides the ramp, and asked for confirmation that the route down to the lower playfield was via the left side lane and then down through a hole (as in the production model). SNP wanted to know if it was a straight drop, a ramp or some other device (the production model uses a spiral wireform). SNP's last question on the design concerned the main playfield window. In these picture it seems that the window is not a regular shape like the production version. SNP asked how the window was made, or if the main playfield a complete piece of clear sheeting that was painted, leaving an unpainted "window" in the centre, as it looks in the photo (Joe Cicak had said that a full acrylic playfield had been tried). We provided Jed with detials of the Gottlieb patent for the window.
SNP also searched the internet and found corroborating information on Jim Capp. SNP then asked about the agreement with Gottlieb and Jed�s recollections of working with the Gottlieb designers actually credited with Black Hole. We asked about difference between the prototype�s playfield window and that used on the production model, whose design is patented, with the inventors named as John Buras and Adolf Seitz.
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