You’ve seen the movies. You’ve probably binged the Netflix series. But if you’re a certain kind of arcade nerd or a hardcore collector of 1970s ephemera, the name The Addams Family Fun House hits different. It isn’t just a catchy phrase or a description of their spooky mansion. It’s a specific piece of coin-op history that most people—even fans of Morticia and Gomez—completely overlook because they’re too busy looking for the 1992 Bally blockbuster.
Here’s the thing. When people talk about Addams Family games, they almost always mean the Pat Lawlor-designed masterpiece from the early 90s. You know the one. It has the electric chair, "Thing" grabbing the ball, and Raul Julia’s booming voice. It’s the best-selling pinball machine of all time. But long before that 90s craze, there was a weirder, more obscure ancestor from 1973.
The 1973 The Addams Family Fun House isn't actually a pinball machine in the way we think of them today. It’s a "Wall Game" or a "Pitch and Bat" style machine produced by a company called Chicago Coin. If you haven't heard of Chicago Coin, don't feel bad. They were the scrappy underdog that eventually got bought out by Stern. This specific machine is a time capsule of a version of the Addams Family that was caught between the original Charles Addams cartoons and the Hanna-Barbera animated series.
What Actually Is the Addams Family Fun House?
Honestly, it’s a bit of a mechanical oddball. Unlike a standard pinball table where you're looking down at a playfield, this was a vertical display. It was designed to save space in crowded bar-and-grill joints or bowling alleys. You’d stand in front of it, and instead of flippers, you often had a trigger or a dial.
The artwork is what really makes it. We’re talking about hand-painted backglass that captures that specific 70s aesthetic—slightly muddy colors, exaggerated features, and a vibe that feels more like a carnival attraction than a high-tech game. It featured the whole gang: Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, and Lurch. But because it was 1973, the licensing was based on the animated show that was airing at the time, not the black-and-white sitcom from the 60s.
Why does this matter? Because the voice acting and the "feel" of the characters shifted. In the 70s, the Addams Family was being marketed heavily to kids as a Saturday morning cartoon. The Addams Family Fun House machine reflected that. It wasn't "creepy and kooky" in a gothic way; it was bright, loud, and designed to eat quarters from ten-year-olds.
The Mechanics of a Forgotten Classic
If you ever find one of these in the wild—and good luck, because they are incredibly rare—you’ll notice the gameplay is primitive by today's standards. There are no ramps. No multiball. No complex LCD screens.
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Instead, you have:
- A motorized "mystery" unit behind the glass.
- Simple contact switches that trigger bells or chimes.
- Score reels that click-clack like an old odometer.
- A "Fun House" gimmick where hitting certain targets would light up different rooms in the mansion.
It’s tactile. It’s noisy. It smells like ozone and old wood. Collectors love it because it represents the end of the electro-mechanical (EM) era. Shortly after this, the industry moved to solid-state electronics, meaning everything became chips and circuit boards. The Addams Family Fun House is one of the last gasps of a world where games were run by gears, motors, and literal miles of copper wire.
Why Collectors Are Obsessed (And Why You Can't Find One)
Trying to buy an original Chicago Coin Addams Family machine today is a nightmare. Seriously. They didn't make nearly as many as the 1992 version. While Bally pumped out over 20,000 units of their Addams Family pin, Chicago Coin's production runs were often in the low hundreds or low thousands.
Most of these machines were beaten to death. They lived in damp basements or smoky bars. The backglass—which is the most valuable part—often flakes off due to heat from the old incandescent bulbs. If you find one with a "pristine" glass, you’re looking at a four-figure price tag just for the art alone.
Expert restorers like those featured in Pingame Journal or members of the Pinside community often spend years hunting for replacement parts for Chicago Coin machines. Unlike Williams or Gottlieb machines, you can't just hop on a website and buy brand-new reproduction parts for a 1973 Fun House. You have to scavenge. You have to fabricate. You have to be a little bit obsessed.
Common Misconceptions About the Name
There’s a lot of confusion online because "Funhouse" is also the name of another legendary pinball machine (the one with the creepy talking head named Rudy). People often mash these together in their heads.
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- The Addams Family (1992): The famous one.
- Funhouse (1990): The one with Rudy the dummy.
- The Addams Family Fun House (1973): The rare wall game.
If you’re searching for this on eBay or Craigslist, you have to be specific. If you just type "Addams Family Game," you’ll get a million hits for the movie tie-ins or the newer Stern machines. To find the relic, you have to look for "Chicago Coin Wall Game" or "Addams Family 1973."
The Design Aesthetic: More Than Just Spooky
The art director for Chicago Coin at the time had a specific challenge. They had to make the Addams Family look "fun" without losing their edge. If you look closely at the Addams Family Fun House backglass, the character designs are actually quite close to the original Charles Addams New Yorker sketches.
Gomez is shorter and more stout, rather than the suave leading man played by John Astin or Raul Julia. Morticia has a slightly more skeletal, otherworldly look. It’s a fascinating bridge between the high-brow art of the 1930s and the commercial pop culture of the 1970s.
The "Fun House" element of the title refers to the gameplay loop. The machine encouraged players to "explore" the house by hitting specific targets that corresponded to the kitchen, the graveyard, or the conservatory. It was one of the earliest examples of "narrative" gameplay in a mechanical format. You weren't just playing for points; you were trying to "unlock" the house.
How to Value and Identify an Authentic Unit
If you stumble across one in an estate sale, don't just assume it's junk because it doesn't look like a "real" pinball machine. These vertical wall games have a massive following in the mid-century modern (MCM) decor community. People who don't even play games want them as wall art.
- Check the Backglass: Look for "crazing" or lifting paint. If the characters' faces are missing, the value drops by 70%.
- Listen to the Motor: When you plug it in, does it hum or does it grind? A grinding motor in a 70s Chicago Coin machine is a sign of gear failure, which is a massive pain to fix.
- Inspect the Coil Sleeves: These are the little tubes the plungers move through. If they are melted, the machine was left on for days at a time, which can indicate deeper electrical issues.
- The Cabinet: Is it original wood grain or has someone "restored" it with a coat of black spray paint? Originality is everything in the collector world.
The Cultural Legacy of the Spooky Arcade
We live in a world where Wednesday is a global phenomenon. But the Addams Family Fun House reminds us that this franchise has been reinventing itself for nearly a century. This 1973 machine was a weird experiment in a decade where the arcade industry was trying to figure out what it wanted to be.
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It wasn't quite a video game (Pong had only just come out in '72) and it wasn't quite a traditional pinball table. It was an "amusement." It was a piece of interactive furniture.
For the people who own them now, it’s a conversation starter. It’s a piece of history that survived the "Video Game Crash" of the 80s and the rise of the internet. It’s a reminder that even before we had 4K graphics and haptic feedback, we had bells, lights, and a family of outcasts that we just couldn't get enough of.
Actionable Steps for Enthusiasts and Potential Buyers
If you’re looking to dive deeper into this specific niche of Addams Family history, don't just browse Wikipedia. The information there is sparse.
First, join the Internet Pinball Database (IPDB). Search for "Addams Family" and filter by the year 1973. You’ll find high-resolution photos of the circuitry and the backglass that you won't find anywhere else. This is the gold standard for verifying if a machine you found is the real deal.
Second, check out local arcade expos. Shows like the Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show or Pinball Expo in Chicago often have "Electromechanical" sections. You might not see a Fun House every year, but you'll meet the mechanics who know how to fix them. These guys are a dying breed—usually older hobbyists who understand how to tune a leaf switch by ear.
Third, look into "Backglass Restoration." If you find a machine with ruined art, companies like BGResto can sometimes create high-quality reproductions on glass. It’s not cheap—often costing $300 to $500—but it’s the only way to save a machine that would otherwise be destined for the landfill.
Fourth, verify the license. There are many "bootleg" Addams Family items from the 70s. An authentic Chicago Coin unit will have the manufacturer's stamp and usually a licensing credit to "Hanna-Barbera Productions" or "King Features Syndicate" somewhere in the small print on the glass.
The Addams Family Fun House is a weird, wonderful slice of 1973. It’s not the flashy 90s machine everyone knows, but for those who appreciate the clank of a mechanical relay and the glow of a hand-painted monster, it’s the ultimate piece of "creepy" memorabilia. Grab a screwdriver, learn how to solder, and start hunting. These machines are disappearing, and once they're gone, that specific mechanical "click" of the Addams mansion will be lost to history.