Data East

The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard

Pinside Rating

This game received 233 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.744 _/10

7.744

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #135 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.91

Artwork: 7.402

Sounds/Music: 7.449

Other Aspects: 7.726

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 7 of us have rated this game.

7.836

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Found 116 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 116 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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7.331/10

3 months ago

CAS

ChapDDR

Pinside member

Utrecht

1y 23,900 17 2 10

I've played this game while restoring one for a couple of weeks.

I must stress, I am not a The Who fan, I am not even that familiar with their music (not my generation).

I like the layout itself very much, it is very open while there is still a lot to shoot for. It is easy to keep an eye on the ball at all times, which I like. However, some shots feel clunky like the orbits, upper-flipperramp and VUK-hole. It is easy to get rejects/brick shots, even after tweaking, lowering my enjoyment.

The rules are typical Data-east, I've owned a LAH before and I see a lot of 'copy-paste' modes. They are okay. The video-mode suck ass however.

I love the blinder, one of the best 'gimmicks' gameplay-wise as it forces you to play totally different. The mirror and propeller-blades are meh.

Art-wise, I love the cabinet and color-usage of the playfield. The rest is okay, I like other DE more. The music is not my thing, but that could be subjective, it is a music-pin after all.

I think that this game is very fun if you like The Who / the rock opera, otherwise it is fairly average and easily outclassed by other games in its price range.

9.080/10

6 months ago

JCC

Jesse-is-great

Pinside member

Tallahassee, FL

<1y 40,800 120 3 30

Tommy is cool! There are 2 skill shots. The parachute and ramp. There is a mode that is not like captain walker or fiddle about, It can be started by holding the start and buy-in button at the same time. It makes blinders appear over the drain flippers, just like Tommy, can you hear me Multi-ball. My high score is over half a billion, but with the blinders, 300M. Try it out!

Jesse-is-great edited previous rating on October 22, 2023.
Jesse-is-great has this game on the wishlist.

8.338/10

8 months ago

???

Calimori

Pinside member

Luton

3y 12,150 1 6 7

From my collection and a long time machine in my line up. Another tired machine that needed some work, was unreliable and still could do with some parts sorting to make it better.
This game has really good lastability, it makes me want to play again and try getting through the game. The call outs and the tension building are good on this machine and the gimmicks and toys really tie into the story of Tommy.
This is the machine that would benefit from Pinsound to bring out the original music but the broadway tunes do a reasonable job.
I think this is an underrated pin which means it has been a good price point for years.

Calimori currently owns this game.

8.493/10

1 year ago

ADC

Crewey

Pinside member

Broughton

2y 32,050 117 7 15

Based on PinSound with The Who's original album tracks, Nd animation via colordmd.
The Broadway cabinet and backglass colour scheme is awful, will be replacing this with custom art asap.

Crewey currently owns this game.

8.569/10

2 years ago

HRY

Harrisonmax02

Pinside+ Frequent

Van Alstyne, TX

6y 57,800 67 39 21 5

I own two Tommy’s and honestly don’t see myself selling either. Such a fun title with amazing music, flow, art, and just feel to the game. Blinders are a awesome toy but honestly not used too much after you do it the first time

Harrisonmax02 currently owns this game.

8.108/10

2 years ago

JMH

jmhewitt

Pinside member

5y 35,900 15 11 14

Tommy follows the theme of the play/album so well. Each song/part is a mode. The video mode is ok, the blinders are neat when they work, the smash the mirror is fun. I love the layout of this game and the music, it just feels fun to play and zone out.

jmhewitt currently owns this game.

7.244/10

2 years ago

VEE

Veemonroe

Pinside member

London

2y 55,550 205 7 176

I played this multiple times at FlipOut while keeping an eye on my four-year-old son.

It’s the epitome of a decent pin. The layout is pretty standard for a pin of its era. The shots are… decent. The animations are… decent. What raises it over the mass of ‘decent’ pinball machines, however, is the music - especially the eponymous ‘Pinball Wizard’ track.

Music apart, there’s nothing wrong with it and I happily played it over several other things in the vicinity (e.g. Simpsons Pinball Party and Flintstones).

7.688/10

2 years ago

EJH

ehex9

Pinside member

Saint Albans Town, VT

3y 46,650 5 7 179

Great game and great theme. One of Data East's best!

7.680/10

3 years ago

???

Mattmz1

Inactive member

Unknown

3y 10,000 27

I loved playing this game at my local arcade for awhile and it is fun, but it gets a bit stale. For an older title it is solid and you will enjoy, I couldn't imagine owning one though it would get played out quickly.

9.340/10

3 years ago

???

touchtone

Pinside member

Seubersdorf

9y 26,150 13 10 49

Great game, I like the code and the Main Multiball is one of the best in pinball, Playfield Art is top and the Blinder is a unique feature. All in All, this game is on same level with the best Bally/Williams machines of this aera.

touchtone currently owns this game.

9.900/10

3 years ago

MVR

JohnSteed

Inactive member

Unknown

10y 16,650 87 7

I own this pinball machine. It is my ultimate favorite of all pinball machines! The blinder feature knocks me out every time (black fan thing that pops up to cover the flippers during one of the segments). The music is certainly the best of any pinball machine out there and the game plays just as good as any of the other higher rated games. Everything is tight, colorful and there is so much to do when playing. Mechanically, it does have some issues with the automated flipper during multiball and I am not a big fan of the DMD mode segment of the game. Otherwise this is a perfect pin!

4.442/10

3 years ago

TIM

OGpinball

Pinside+ Frequent

4y 44,300 97 6 15 1

I owned it and could not get rid of it fast enough. I know some people love it but it just felt cheap - I don’t really like the overdone accents and it got in my head, not in a good way.

The person that I traded with really seems to enjoy it so all is well that ends well.

OGpinball has owned this game in the past.

10.000/10

3 years ago

CHB

RojerLockless

Pinside member

3y 38,550 147 2 17 1

Such an awesome game that plays the hits from the Who!

RojerLockless edited previous rating on November 30, 2020.
RojerLockless currently owns this game.

4 Pinsiders flagged this.

7.412/10

3 years ago

TKM

Daditude

Pinside Moderator

Rockwall, TX

5y 266K 10,128 23 271

Great theme, modes, scoring, and multiballs. It is one of the best DE pins. I can only assume people have them stashed in their collections, however, because they made 4700 and you NEVER see them.

Daditude edited previous rating on September 21, 2020.

9.812/10

3 years ago

AKB

KingAndy

Inactive member

6y 36,400 8 12 30

The only ones of these that I have played have Pinsound, LEDs and a color DMD! The sound and music are absolutely out of this world. Left flipper on top make a backhanded shot almost impossible . I like the stackable skill shot useable on the next ball. The wire form ramps are nice to look at and the drop down mirror is a nice touch. The concept of a tommy scoring mode where Blinders are deployed is cool. When the blinders go up it forces you to go into autopilot. I find that I will hold a ball just to listen to the music.

Very fun game! If there is one on a route somewhere I highly recommend dropping a couple of quarters in it.

Update: I bought the game and it is still letting me in on scoring secrets. This was a great purchase! I do need to make the pop bumpers more sensitive and the left scoop kick out more to the right.....help!!

KingAndy edited previous rating on June 29, 2020.
KingAndy currently owns this game.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

9.660/10

3 years ago

???

Sandman454

Pinside+ Frequent

7y 38,800 253 9

Fun machine I never get bored of. Needs some extra lighting and LEDs to make it pop.
The colour DMD is a great addition.
Many multi ball’s and a whopping 6 ball multi. Plenty of modes and is not linear.
Great play field art and colour.
Can be hard at times.

7.223/10

3 years ago

JMA

Jackpotjared

Pinside member

West Bloomfield Township, MI

8y 111K 1,158 22

This is a very underrated Data East pin. Yes this game has its flaws, but over all it is a fun game, pretty basic rules, and a pretty difficult wizard mode to get to. Multiball is very fun, and defiantly challenging to get a super. Over all a very decent game.

Jackpotjared edited previous rating on July 21, 2022.
Jackpotjared has owned this game in the past.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

6.972/10

4 years ago

ECW

Ecw0930

Pinside member

Fredericksburg, VA

4y 69,550 1,018 2 113

Fun game. FAST GAME!

Multiball is nuts and blinding and awesome. Can be too crazy tho.

In a lineup with similarly rated pins.... This gets played fewer half and more than half of them ...

8.944/10

4 years ago

DL

dennisthemenace

Inactive member

Unknown

12y 20,250 6 30

I rates this machine as a 26 year old pin. Keeping this in mind it is a great game.

It's the best Data east out there

Goeed fun

7.941/10

4 years ago

MWN

Blackchevy138

Pinside member

17y 49,150 12 25

Overall a fun game that lasts.

9.400/10

4 years ago

LUC

Lucas66568

Pinside member

Bologna

6y 21,000 27

The best Data East pinball machine! Nice modes, multiball and wizard mode. Better than 70% of Bally Williams machines!

7.371/10

4 years ago

ADM

PinDoctor82

Pinside member

5y 77,050 278 6 104

I was surprised at how much is going on in this game. I felt that it was easy to get into and easy to unlock multi-ball, which is always nice after you played a brutal game (I had just put a bunch of games in on Iron Man). I didn't really dig the theme at all and that did hurt its appeal, but I still had fun despite that.

9.424/10

5 years ago

ZAP

zahner

Pin-a-Go-Go

Fair Oaks, CA

10y 81,800 1,098 6 16

This is an outstanding game. It is in many ways very similar to TZ in the way it plays. No magnetic upper mini-playfield, but the blinders more than compensate on the coolness/fun scale. The blinders are absolutely an amazing addition, and there is such an abundance of after-market parts for this feature, there is no reason to worry about fixing or replacing them should any machine you're looking at have busted or missing ones. The blinders are used to great advantage with the 5.0 upgrade, a must if you own the game.

The shots and tasks of the game are demanding at times, but very doable. the Union Jack in the lower left quadrant of the game is the same basic idea behind the TZ door panels. You knock out each one to end up with the Wizard Mode being the last - huge scoring and six ball madness. The other modes rely on hitting various targets, ramps, and holes throughout the game. some are timed, some not - instead relying on keeping multi-ball alive, which can be great fun. Ramp shots are good and the right one is rather rewarding. Some bounce out issues with the VUK shot to the right, typically bouncing out about one in ten shots. The loop is smooth and the pop bumpers are very responsive. There is also a trapped ball one the lower right side of the playfield that can be really challenging to hit.

The sound was a hard thing to rate. I base my rating on having added new speakers and a Pinsound board. The original Who soundtrack mix is similar to the stock mix [which is also available through Pinsound], but is just great if you like a rock themed pin. The call outs are really clear and the dot matrix display graphics are well done. I'm looking forward to adding a color DMD, which I've seen and is an excellent option.

I switched to LED lighting and added a couple of additional spotlights. If you do this look for an EnerGI lighting board to smooth out your GI or be prepared for a potentially seizure inducing light show. There is at least one other GI smoothing board out there, but no matter which one, I'd suggest it or leaving in incandescent. The flashers are successfully integrated into playfield artwork. Ultimately, a really nice bright open playfield.

At the end of the day, a great pin with the ability to add some subtle upgrades [I also added mirror blades, which look great and fit into the whole mirror theme]. For me a keeper

zahner currently owns this game.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

9.132/10

5 years ago

ZBW

ZenBallWizard

Inactive member

7y 22,250 34

Great multiball machine for early 90s.

8.324/10

5 years ago

CUZ

mcuzz

Pinside member

8y 117K 500 137

Tough but very satisfying shots. The upper flipper shots are hard to hit but make all the difference when playing. Skill shot is also hard but cool. The giant plane is a nice touch and it doesn’t take up any space on the playfield.
Art and music are top notch and the blind mode is amazing!
One of data east best games

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