Review

The 1938 Review pinball machine, produced by the Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO) of Chicago, is a wartime-themed, single-player electromechanical machine typical of the pre-flipper era. Its gameplay centers on 15 spring bumpers scattered across the playfield; hitting numbered bumpers lights corresponding flags on the backglass.

This design emphasizes direct player interaction with the machine's mechanical scoring elements, since flippers did not yet exist and skillful shooting of the ball into the numbered bumpers was the primary object of play.

Review's wartime theme reflects the tense climate of the late 1930s. As a flipperless machine from ESCO's mid-century run (1932-1957), it offers collectors and historians a look at pre-war pinball design conventions.