A
mushroom bumper is a small,
passive bumper used in
pinball. Unlike normal bumpers, mushroom bumpers don't kick the ball. At their most basic, they're simply small posts with
rubber mushroom-shaped tops that provide some form of obstruction or a way of angling a shot to take out a drop target.
On several tables designed by
Bally mushroom bumpers are
wired so they can detect a ball hit and perform some function like increasing score, advancing the bonus, or initiating some follow on action. When an activated mushroom bumper is hit, a little mushroom cap painted like a
bull's-eye raises up, providing some visual and auditory feed back that points have been scored. It's important to note that this raising action doesn't touch the ball or affect its
trajectory in any way.
The first official use of a mushroom bumper was on Bally's game
Monte Carlo (released 1963). Activated mushroom bumpers fell out of fashion in the '70s.
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