Ranger

The Ranger, produced by Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO) in 1947, is a flipperless, Western-themed electro-mechanical pinball machine offering five balls for five cents -- a common format for the era's coin-operated amusements.

The Ranger features a dense layout of 15 passive bumpers and 5 kick-out holes. Two 'skill score lanes' on either side of the lower playfield, when lit, award either a free replay or 50,000 points, adjustable by the operator. The replay mechanism used a curved strip approximately three-quarters of a circle's circumference rather than a full wheel.

The Ranger's Western theme is reflected in its artwork and design, evocative of the American frontier. As a flipperless game, the Ranger predates Exhibit's first flipper title, 'Build Up,' released in January 1948; period operators reportedly retrofitted flippers onto games like Ranger afterward, often placing them in unusual playfield positions.