Bally Reserve Jr.

The Bally Reserve Jr. (May 1938) is an electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine from Bally Manufacturing Corporation, arriving amid a wave of Bally releases in the late 1930s -- the company had already put out titles such as 'Bally' (1937) and 'Bally Entry' (January 1938) before it. Rather than being a first for the company, Reserve Jr. reflects Bally's steady output during this period.

Notable features include a play mechanism offering five balls for five cents, an affordable entertainment option for the era, along with 12 spring bumpers, a common feature in pinball designs of the time. The game has no payout mechanism of its own; instead, it includes an Award Compartment from which a merchant could draw for location payouts.

Limited information is available about the machine's design, art, or theme, and it appears to lack a specific theme altogether. Still, its award-compartment mechanic and affordable play offer an interesting look at how Bally structured payouts differently across its late-1930s lineup.