Texan

The Texan is an electro-mechanical pinball machine produced in 1960 by Alben, a French manufacturer active from 1958 to 1964. It was made under license from the American company Gottlieb, using the identical playfield design from Gottlieb's own 1960 'Texan' — though the backglass and playfield still carry the Gottlieb logo rather than Alben's own branding, with only some internal plastic parts marked Alben. This four-player version has a 2-player Alben counterpart as well.

The game carries an American West theme and is well equipped for its era, featuring two flippers, three pop bumpers, six passive bumpers, two slingshots, four standup targets, three kick-out holes, two gobble holes, and a roto-target, with a choice of 3-ball or 5-ball play.

Because Alben produced this game under Gottlieb's license using Gottlieb's own design, distinguishing genuine Alben units from Gottlieb originals can be tricky by appearance alone; collectors note that Alben examples tend to use lower-quality internal metal parts. Documentation on Alben's original production and marketing of the Texan remains scarce, making surviving examples an interesting subject for collectors researching cross-Atlantic pinball licensing in this period.