These Pinball Machines Are The (ZZ) TOP

Nothing’s better than pulling that pinball plunger back, letting that steel ball fly, and slapping those flippers while 8-bit sound bites from your favorite songs blare the background. Well, maybe the only thing that could be better is if it’s one of your own hit songs coming through the speakers.

Julien’s Auctions is excited to offer two pinball machines, based on classic action-adventure films Back to the Future and Lethal Weapon 3, from the estate of ZZ Top bassist, Dusty Hill. Both of these machines feature songs by ZZ Top - “Sharp Dressed Man” on the Lethal Weapon 3 machine, and “Doubleback” on the Back to the Future machine. ZZ Top wrote “Doubleback” specifically for the film Back to the Future Part III and even appear in the movie in a cameo as a band playing at the Clock Tower Dedication Festival in Hill Valley in 1885.

Michael J. Fox did not grant his likeness for the Back to the Future pinball machine, so the illustrations of Marty McFly are actually based on Brad Faris, son of artwork designer Paul Faris. Other music included in this machine are “The Power of Love” and “Back in Time” by Huey Lewis and The News from the first film, and the orchestral theme from the series by composer Alan Silvestri.

The Lethal Weapon 3 machine was the first pinball machine to feature a dollar bill acceptor. It was also the machine used as the mod for the custom machines that Data East built for famed television producer Aaron Spelling and basketball superstar Michael Jordan. The Lethal Weapon 3 machine also featured music by the film’s composers Michael Kamen, Eric Clapton, and David Sanborn, including the original song they wrote for the film “It’s Probably Me.”