1939 Baseball (Novelty Model)

The 1939 Baseball (Novelty Model), manufactured by Western Products, Incorporated starting in December 1938, is an electro-mechanical bat game with novelty play, built around a baseball theme. It is a continuation of Western Equipment's 1938 "Baseball," renamed on its marquee for the upcoming new year, and was produced under various names and models until Western Products went out of business in 1941.

This Novelty Model features a flat, non-illuminated marquee reading "Western's 1939 Baseball," with no free-game button beside the coin slide — distinguishing it from the later Free Game and Payout versions of the same game that followed starting in April 1939. Gameplay centers on a simple "three outs ends the game" rule that mirrors the structure of an actual baseball game.

The novelty aspect of the game wasn't emphasized in advertising until the free-play and payout versions arrived, suggesting Western marketed this model somewhat differently at first. As with much of Western Products' output before the company's 1941 closure, surviving documentation is limited, and original examples are considered scarce among collectors today.