Colloquially known as ‘pinnies’, pinball machines were a ubiquitous feature of 1970s Australia. Beyond the pinball parlours and pubs where they were most at home, they popped up in milk bars, fish and chip shops, and laundromats – anywhere people had spare time and loose change. For many Australian youths, playing the pinnies was a favourite after-school pastime – until the arrival of video games like Space Invaders pushed the machines aside.
In 2025, with the support of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account, the NFSA acquired five distinct Australian-designed pinball machines made between 1978 and 1980. Produced by the amusement company A. Hankin & Company in Newcastle, New South Wales, these were the only locally designed machines of pinball’s golden age. As the NFSA builds a national collection of digital games and their precursors, these machines represent a foundational chapter in Australia’s audiovisual and interactive media history.
The Hankin Pinball Collection, NFSA, 2025.
Pinball wizards
The Hankin family’s amusement enterprise began in Newcastle in 1955, when Alec Hankin established himself as an operator of jukeboxes and pool tables before expanding into amusement centres across the east coast. After Alec’s passing in 1974, his sons, David and Peter, took over. A few years later, they made the ambitious decision to design and manufacture pinball machines of their own – something never achieved locally.
Like other Australian amusement companies, Hankin had been importing pinball machines for years. Most came from the three major Chicago manufacturers of the era – Bally, Gottleib and Williams – who together produced hundreds of unique models. In the mid-1970s the landscape shifted suddenly. Leisure and Allied Industries, then the largest local amusement company, began assembling pinball machines in Western Australia to American designs. Under Australia's tariff system, this move into domestic production counted as local manufacturing, and the tax on imported US machines consequently increased. With imported American machines now more expensive, creating a fully Australian-designed machine, though ambitious, was commercially viable.
Star Wars and Holden cars
Successful pinball machines needed a strong theme to hook players. To that end, the brothers enlisted the assistance of local artist Mike Eggleston. Hankin started with Orbit 1, which featured a space theme and was named after their first amusement centre in King Street, Newcastle. Their next three drew heavily on Australiana: FJ celebrated the iconic ‘50s Holden car; Dennis Lillee’s Howzat! featured the renowned fast-bowling cricketer; and Shark centred on surfers and great whites, evoking Newcastle’s coastal character and the surfing culture that defined the period.
Hankin’s final model was an unexpected coup – an official Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back pinball machine. After David Hankin personally reached out, Lucasfilm authorised and licensed it at no cost, requesting only that one be sent to George Lucas for his personal collection. This became the first licensed Star Wars pinball machine produced anywhere in the world.
As video games took over Australian arcades, Hankin’s pinball venture slipped into loss-making territory (though the company had hedged its bets by simultaneously importing video games and distributing arcade titles from companies such as Atari and Namco). A. Hankin & Company remains in operation today, still supplying jukeboxes and pool tables to venues around the country from its Newcastle factory.
In recent years, pinball has undergone a resurgence, and vintage machines – including those produced by Hankin – are now highly collectable. In the cabinets of these five – between the clacking flippers and playfield lights – is a uniquely Australian story, tracing our manufacturing heritage, entrepreneurial spirit and evolution of the ways we play.
The Hankin Collection was purchased with the support of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account.
