Bobby Orr’s Power Play (Bally, 1978). Design by Greg Kmiec and art by Dave Christensen.
Happy 2018 Winter Olympics! In honor of my home countries and the games, I thought I’d slap together a little post about a great Hockey pin; Bobby Orr’s Power Play. After Sega’s Rodeo, BOPP is the second solid state pin to have an up-post @ the center drain.Â
The idea of the Blackhawks vs. all of Canada is pretty funny to me, especially because there are often Canadian players on American teams (and Bobby Orr is, himself, Canadian). This is also interesting because Bobby Orr only played for the Blackhawks for a short time. Orr initially played for the Bruins and figured his next contract would be his last, so he was looking for security and good money. His agent, Alan Eagleson, never told Bobby about the far better offer the Bruins were making. Orr signed with the Blackhawks instead. He apparently never really felt at home in Chicago and was pretty upset when he found out Eagleson withheld the information about the Bruins deal. Orr only played about 26 games with the Blackhawks. There’s a great article about the whole saga here.Â
As much as I love the Blackhawks, this machine would make a lot more sense if Bobby Orr were wearing a Bruins jersey.Â
I’ve heard tell of a few BOPP’s with a Power Ball (Bobby Orr’s Power Ball) which sounds like a lot of fun. This is a great example of a nice pin that bridges the gap between the old EM’s and the new late 70′s solid states.Â
