MishM*A*S*H 53: Pinball Game

Of all the M*A*S*H licensed products that I have in the collection, the toys are the most fun! I have previously written about several including action figures, Halloween costumes, games, and a train set. But there were plenty of M*A*S*H toy options for kids in the early 1980s. One of my favorites is a M*A*S*H pinball game from 1981. It was a handheld pinball game instead of traditional pinball tables that would have been found in arcades across the country at the time. Today, we have handheld devices with many types of games at our fingertips. The games are virtual and the controls are under a sheet of glass that we tap. This handheld pinball game is a physical reminder of games that once were. I can imagine playing with a game like this with my own friends as a kid, setting a score, and passing the game around to try to beat the highest score set in the friend group. It may not be Roblox, but I think this pinball game is really fun. Let’s take a closer look!

I actually have two of these pinball games in the collection. This one is still sealed in its retail packaging, but the other one I have is not. I have spent time playing the game, and it takes some getting used to. The plastic cover and scoring areas are pretty durable, but the cardboard backing is not. It can be tricky, and learning how to hold a game like this at just the right angle takes a lot of trial and error. But it is fun, and I would enjoy playing a game like this even it weren’t M*A*S*H themed. The game features photos of Hawkeye and B.J. near the top, and full M*A*S*H cast photos near the bottom. The signpost and M*A*S*H logos are also featured prominently. In the middle, there are some vehicles featured, none of which really match the vehicles from the show. The helicopter isn’t a Bell, and the Jeep and other vehicle (whatever it is supposed to be) don’t match what we see on show either. But in the early 1980s, the printed graphics came from either Fox or whatever the printer had to offer.

Once you master holding the game at the proper angle (it cannot be level, but it also can’t be held at a too steep of an angle). There are four metal balls encased in the game and you use a mechanism to shoot the balls up a side channel, and into the game play area. The goal is to trap each of the balls in certain sections to score the associated amount of points. It is essentially a smaller version of a full size pinball table, but there are ways to cheat the system by tilting the entire game in your favor (which I am sure caused many arguments)! While playing, it really isn’t possible to get two of the metal balls in the same pocket, so getting all four balls in the highest point slot (50 points) is impossible. Despite that, it is still a fun, and challenging game since it has the additional hazard of bumping the game at the wrong time resulting in the balls falling back down. A steady hand was required!

I am surprised that this game has survived over 45 years! These games weren’t the highest quality with cheap plastic and a cardboard backing. They certainly weren’t designed to still be around in 2026, so to have two of them in the collection is a feat in itself. These handheld games are a lot of fun, and they remind me of arcades with movie and TV show tie-ins from my own youth. This offered a huge benefit over the arcade tables. Instead of having to go to the arcade and spend quarters, the price tag indicates that a child could own this pinball game for $1.79! And that offered unlimited plays! I am not sure what year that price was from, but assuming it was from 1981 when this game was released, that would be $6.40 today accounting for inflation. Still a decent price for a toy featuring a popular television show! A good, used M*A*S*H pinball game will set you back considerably more than $6.40 today. They do occasionally come up for sale, and they are a fun game to (carefully) play and display in a M*A*S*H collection.