Recorder

Recorder is a single-player, flipperless electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine produced by Genco Manufacturing Company beginning in February 1938. It sold new for $89.50, or $74.50 without the 'Free Game' unit, and represented an already-established manufacturer's take on the coin-operated pinball market rather than an early industry pioneer.

Gameplay features eight spring bumpers and two kickers for scoring, along with a 360-degree plunger skill shot. Recorder's signature mechanism is its adjustable dial recorder, which let operators set a threshold score -- between 4,800 and 6,000 points -- above which players would earn free plays, lit on the backglass and redeemed with a knob on the cabinet's front. A Veeder counter in the backbox tracked free plays redeemed by the location owner, and Genco's own Meyer Ginsburg acknowledged in a period Billboard article that the counter also "records all free plays taken off by the location owner when he makes other awards" -- effectively documenting cash payouts made at the location.

No specific theme or named artist is documented for Recorder, consistent with the plain, function-first backglass and cabinet styling typical of many EM machines of the late 1930s.