Staal Society

Staal Society was a French pinball manufacturer based in Saint-Ouen, a suburb of Paris, active from 1977 to 1979. Its first machine, Ben-Hur, released in 1977, was among the earliest French-built solid-state pinball machines: a four-player game that paired solid-state scoring with a chime-based sound unit and used mechanical assemblies and playfield parts copied from Gottlieb. Ben-Hur was distributed in England by ACE, a slot-machine manufacturer.

Staal followed in 1979 with its second and final title, Gun Men, a Western-themed game whose playfield and backglass artwork was credited to Italian artist Michele "Mike" Martinelli. Collector estimates put production at roughly 460 units for Ben-Hur and 424 for Gun Men. No further Staal pinball machines followed Gun Men, and the company's two-title run ended there.