A few weeks ago, a prototype of Orbitor 1, manufactured by Stern Electronics in 1982, created by the late Dixie Rinehart, holder of a patent for The Apollo Spacesuit, was found in a Colorado pawn shop by Bill Hinman of Bill’s Game World. Previously contained in Dixie Rinehart‘s own private collection, the game is in fine condition and comes with a plethora of historical photos and documents pertaining to its development. It is currently for sale on eBay.
But this story isn’t about the Orbitor 1 pinball prototype. It’s about what was found inside it.
Certainly, finding a prototype of anything from the video game and pinball golden years is exciting. And of course, there’s always the added bonus of finding items inside a game cabinet or pinball, too. Usually, it’s just a handful of tokens from a long-lost arcade chain or even money as some have reported finding. Other times it’s things you don’t want to find, like crumpled up porno mags, cobwebs and dead mice. But this prototype of Orbitor 1 yielded something truly astounding; a long-kept secret of another prototype that no one knew existed until now: CLONE, created by Dixie Rinehart for Stern Electronics in 1982.
Hinman had found an envelope inside the Orbitor 1, and not thinking too much of it casually mentioned it to this friend and fellow collector, Jon Exidy Jamshid of Denver’s 1Up Arcade Bar. Jamshid, a man with a keen instinct for finding the unusual and an interest in historical preservation, was instantly curious and went over to Hinman’s house to take a look. Right away he knew he was looking at evidence of something historically important. In the photos were images of Orbitor 1 development, but also photos of the development of yet another prototype, one that had been lost to time. In fact, no one in modern memory could recall ever seeing it before, let alone ever heard of it. Full Photo Dump here
Judging by photos, the CLONE prototype had been created sometime in 1982; a cool concept that never got off the ground, yet it is clear that one was undeniably manufactured for Stern Electronics. Apparently, only one.
In this series of photos CLONE appears to still be in its formative period. For instance, it has the basic design of a pinball, but it isn’t a polished piece yet. Its art is crudely rendered. It doesn’t have a plunger, isn’t yet wired and its playfield isn’t finished. And although it appears to definitively have been a work in progress, I’ve no doubt that it would have been completed at some point. But where it went, no one knows.
It is my belief that the prototype of CLONE is still at large somewhere in Colorado due to the fact that, after Rinehart passed away in 2019, his family dispersed much of his belongings to area resale shops because they did not know how to liquidate many of the objects he had collected over 80 years of his creative life. That the prototype for Orbiter 1 was found is an encouraging sign that CLONE might also be found at some point.
At least one could hope. It is my wish that people will keep their eyes out for it and help locate it and bring it back into the world where it belongs.
I, for one, know that if I lived in Colorado, I’d be out looking for that Alien right now.
*Special thanks to John Exidy Jamshid of 1Up in Denver, Colorado, for information and photos for this story, and Gary Stern and George Gomez of Stern Electronics for assisting me in identifying historical subjects in the photos.
Retro Bitch 
Orbitor One pinball history. I wrote this for Aeneas at Flippers.com. He sent me a link that sent me here. Clone must have come later. The Orbitor One prototype built for Stern was in their procession as was a second game prototype with a two level play field that I was working on when they ceased pinball operations. I don’t recognize any of the models presented so I assume this was done later. I will stand by my claim that what was presented to Stern was of much better craftsmanship than those photographed. Two years later I left Aspen to work on Nick DeWolf’s On!Computer in Libertyville, IL
A dozen more years as a sculptor, ten years living and cruising on a boat, and now in Vero Beach, FL writing books. Amazon books literary fiction Art Myers might get you there. Just a fun thing, my 87th birthday was yesterday, 04/07/2022. Art Myers
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Sir, I am honored to have you here. HAPPY BIRTDAY and thank you for your contributions to gaming and tech. I believe you are correct that the finished examples looked far better than the prototypes shown in the photos I published. I am hoping to uncover better photos because some certainly exist somewhere. I am on Twitter if you would like to contact me there @CatDeSpira. I know people who will LOVE to talk to you about all of this. Best wishes to you XX You can also reach me at cdespira@gmail.com
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Hi Cat,
This is Tina Rinehart Purcell, Dixie’s eldest daughter. I love the article and wouls love a copy to save (digitally). My dad was very creative and i miss him terribly. Thanks for posting. I would any pictures you might have o Dixie. purcell_tina@hotmail.com
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Hey Tina, welcome. Your father was an amazing man. I will get you a digital copy and send copies of photos to you.
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Hi Cat,
I am in the process of re-creating Dixie Rinehart’s book of bagpipe music compositions. As part of the background to Dixie’s life I would like to use some of the above pictures. Do I have your permission?
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He’d be honored. Please use what you wish.
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That’s a YES
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Many thanks.
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