Rancho

Rancho is a 1966 electro-mechanical, Add-A-Ball pinball machine designed by Wayne Neyens for D. Gottlieb & Company, with artwork by Roy Parker. Notably, Rancho is not an entirely original design -- it's an export version, made for the Italian market, of Gottlieb's 1965 title 'Cow Poke,' sharing the same American West theme and playfield layout. In the mechanical backbox animation, the kicking horse from Cow Poke was replaced with a bull, and the metal cowboy figure was swapped for a plastic one.

Gameplay features two flippers, three pop bumpers, three passive bumpers, two slingshots, two roto-targets, a standup target, and a stationary post between the flippers. The backbox animation -- a bull kicking a cowboy -- triggers during game reset, with the knocker sounding either once or five times (an operator-adjustable option), adding a playful touch to each new game. Tilt penalty could also be set by the operator to either end the ball in play or end the game entirely.

With 1,500 confirmed units produced, Rancho remains a scarce find today, of particular interest to collectors for its rarity and its unusual status as an Italian-market variant of a better-known Gottlieb title.