Editing Gottlieb (section)

==History==
Gottlieb's main office and plant was at 1140-50 N. Kostner Avenue until the early 1970s, when a new modern plant and office were opened at 165 W. Lake Street in [[Northlake, IL]]. A subassembly plant was also built in Fargo, ND.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-01-tt-64157-story.html LAtimes.com]</ref> 

The company was established by David Gottlieb in 1927, and initially produced only [[pinball]] machines. It later expanded into various other games, including pitch-and-bats, bowling games, and eventually video arcade games (notably ''[[Reactor (video game)|Reactor]]'', ''[[Q*bert]]'' and ''M*A*C*H*3''.){{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

Like other manufacturers, Gottlieb first made [[machine|mechanical]] pinball machines, including the first successful coin-operated pinball machine ''[[Baffle Ball]]'' in 1931.<ref name="ElectronicGames-Jan85" /> [[Electromechanical]] machines were produced starting in 1935. The 1947 development of player-actuated, [[solenoid]]-driven 2-inch bats called "flippers" revolutionized the industry, giving players the ability to shoot the ball back up into the playfield for more points. Flippers first appeared on a Gottlieb game called ''Humpty Dumpty'', designed by Harry Mabs. By this time, the games also became noted for their artwork by Roy Parker.

In the late 1950s, Gottlieb made more widespread use of numerical score reels, making multiple player games more practical than the traditional scoring expressed by cluttered series of lights in the back box. Score reels eventually appeared on single-player games, now known as "[[Glossary of pinball terms#W|wedgehead]]s" because of their distinctive tapered back box shape. By the 1970s, artwork on Gottlieb games was almost always by Gordon Morison, and the company had begun designing their games with longer 3-inch flippers, now the industry standard.

The company made the move into [[solid state (electronics)|solid state]] machines starting in the late 1970s. The first few of these were remakes of electromechanical machines such as ''Joker Poker'' and ''Charlie's Angels''. By that time, multiple player machines were more the mode and wedgeheads were no longer being produced. The last wedgehead was ''T.K.O.'' (1979) and the last single player machine was ''Asteroid Annie and The Aliens'' (1980).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?searchtype=advanced&mfgid=94|title = The Internet Pinball Machine Database}}</ref>

Gottlieb was bought by [[Columbia Pictures]] in 1976.<ref name="ElectronicGames-Oct83">{{cite journal| journal = [[Electronic Games]]| pages = 12| title = Gottlieb changes company name|date=October 1983}}</ref> Gottlieb released ''[[Q*bert]]'' in 1982, which would become immensely successful and is an icon of the [[Golden age of arcade video games|golden age of arcade games]]. In 1983, the year after [[the Coca-Cola Company]] had acquired Columbia, Gottlieb was renamed '''Mylstar Electronics''',<ref name="ElectronicGames-Oct83"/> but this proved to be short-lived. By 1984 the video game industry in North America was in the middle of a [[Video game crash of 1983|shakeout]] and Columbia closed down Mylstar at the end of September 1984.<ref name="ElectronicGames-Jan85">{{cite journal| journal = [[Electronic Games]]| pages = 14| title = Goodbye Q*Bert--Mylstar ceases operation|date=January 1985}}</ref>  A management group, led by Gilbert G. Pollock, purchased Mylstar's pinball assets in October 1984 and continued the manufacture of pinball machines under a new company, '''Premier Technology'''.  As a result of this a number of prototype Mylstar arcade games, which were not purchased by the investors, were never released. Premier did go on to produce one last arcade game, 1989's ''Exterminator''.  Premier Technology, which returned to selling pinball machines under the name Gottlieb after the purchase, continued in operation until the summer of 1996.

Gottlieb's most popular pinball machine was ''[[Baffle Ball]]'' (released mid-1931), and their final machine was ''[[Barb Wire (pinball)|Barb Wire]]'' (early 1996).