What was your first slot and why?

[willborl]

There hasn't been one of these types of posts in a while so here goes...

What was the first machine you ever got your hands on? Where did you get it from? Did you do it up? Do you still have it?

Mine was a Gunter Wulf Orion bandit. Still got it and it still works good. Never had to do anything to it and nothing has ever gone wrong with it .
(Post some pictures as well if you've got them handy)

[pennymachines]

Mine was a good 'ol Bryans Twelvewin Clock. It caught my eye as I peered inside an antique shop not far from home. I wasn't sure what it was, but its appearance fascinated me. I think I paid £20, which was not easy to come by while I was still of school age. He also had a large ornate Victorian cast iron coin-operated scale which must have been much more valuable and was shipped to America I believe. I used to call in about once a week and got to know the proprietor well. He did a great line in old mechanical stuff - electric shockers, wind-up gramophones, piano players, magic lanterns... I bought a battery powered comb from him (put a bulb across the teeth to check the current is flowing), which I still have. He also offered me a bandit on 3D for £30 (I think it was a Mills Diamond Front), but this didn't appeal as much as the Clock, so I turned it down.

This triggered my lifetime obsession and set me on a mission to discover what other mechanical games existed. A few months later, I spotted what I now know to be an allwin in an antique shop on Richmond Hill. I was intrigued - it was £15, but I couldn't afford it and didn't buy any more machines until I was earning some money, years later. Eventually I sold the Clock because it was in one of those "orange wood" cases and replaced it with a slightly better looking one.

[willborl]

What a great story pennymachines. You don't find stuff like that in antique shops much these days.
A bet you sold it for a lot more than £20

[pennymachines]

That's true I'm afraid, and this antique dealer's stock was unusual even in the 1970s. The Clock was worth a lot more when I sold it - but the one that replaced it cost a lot more too.

Here are the next three Bryans machines I bought.

[JC]

OK, so it's April the 1st. No one would have believed you regardless of the date.
But where did you get the colour picture of the bumper from? Or have you been doing some serious photo-shopping?

[badpenny]

JC, you doubting so and so, I imagine he bought it from a certain auction oop north held on a pier .................. it's where I got mine from.

My first machine was also a GW wall bandit, a Novomat £5. A few weeks later I bought a Hawtins Allwin £10, and then a single column Woodbine vendor on 2d.

I still have the last one, but the first two sadly not. When I was 19 I moved to Spain for 3 years and my generous mother gave the bandit and the allwin to the kids next door who painted them in emulsion then abandoned them in the garden to the mercy of the elements; from whence they progressed to the bonfire (machines, not kids ... unfortunately). I was not amused, but when it's your own mum what can you do?

[coin-op]

I imagine he bought it from a certain auction oop north held on a pier

or it might have been that invisible one which appeared on ebay; but it's hard to tell from the pic that was on ebay.
My first machine was a Fill Em Up allwin that the seller assured me was the BEST example he'd ever seen. As time went on I realised that an awful lot of re-painting had been done, but it got me interested and it was fun to play. Surprisingly, my next machine was a Bryans Clock. I told the seller that I was actually on the look out for another allwin, but the seller kept knocking the price down as I kept telling him it wasn't what I was looking for. Eventually, I just had to buy it as it seemed to have become such a bargain!
Since then I have continued to buy sporadically with an stubborn reluctance to learn from my mistakes.

[pennymachines]

That's right, I got it from the infamous Victoria Pier auction. I had to get up really early, which doesn't come naturally to me, and I was home before the sale started.
On the other hand, it may have been a bit of Aprilfoolery Photoshoppery.

[JC]

My first coin-operated machine was a six column cigarette machine, which I still have.
My first bandit was a Sega Mad Money (front opening Windsor series), which I eventually managed to get rid of, although it took a good number of years.
My first allwin was a Saxony Allwin Deluxe, which I still have.
My first electro-mech. was a Rotomint, which was probably the ugliest machine I've ever owned, but gave me many informative hours learning the engineering of German electro-mechs.
The machine which took me longest to obtain is my Payramid, in showman's case. It took me about 12 years, but was well worth the wait!

Jerry

[treefrog]

My old man ran a series of launderettes in the 60s which, of course, were full of a huge variety of venders. Apart from getting all the dud coins and slugs people threw into the machines (this even included a series of early 19th century French francs I still have), he would often bring home redundant soap dispensers, change machines and laundry bag dispensers etc. I was fascinated by these, but I always made the mistake of stripping them down for no reason and was never able to put them back together. This unfortunately was done to dozens of machines....

I only recently have had the ability to clutter my abode with machines again and a few years ago started with an Aristocrat Elite, then onto a Clubmaster, Hi Top, etc. etc. etc.... 19 machines later, I am now seeking therapy and applied for an extension as I cannot get to the bathroom..... Still there is always the backyard, for more machines of course.

[operator bell]

My first machine was a 6d Games flasher that someone was throwing out - I got it for nothing. I brought it to America with me and I still have it. The same guy also threw out a Beromat that had woodworm, but I didn't hear about that until it was too late. He said when he took it to the dump it didn't touch the ground - the scavengers took it out the back of his car for him and it was gone.

[pennymachines]

Here's your Casino's half twin - sold on the 19th March. Catalogue description: A Games Inc. (USA) "King Tap" Electric Fruit Machine, 60 or token play, circa 1960s, 24 1/2" wide, 54" tall, Est. £30-50. It made £42, so you're in the money there OB!
I should add, I think these machines have a definite appeal and their low monetary worth boils down to their size and fears about getting/keeping them working.

[slotalot]

OK, So I didn't Own Them!!! But.....

My fascination with slot machines started round about 1962; I was about nine years old and on holiday at a caravan site in Morecambe. I’m not sure which site it was but it had lots of big rocks all along the sea's edge and mud for a beach. I remember it was very basic by today’s standards; the arcade, such as it was, consisted of a brick shed with painted walls and I think it had a tin roof because when it rained, as it did most of that week, it sounded like drum roll overhead. There was a little room at the side of the arcade with a half door counter where the keyman had his store room. I think he also gave change from there. The machines must have been in a bad state as I was always going for the keyman because a machine had not paid out or some other fault meant I had lost my penny. He seemed to be a cheerful kind of man who whistled a lot and had a long chain hanging round his neck with keys all along its length, one for each machine in the arcade. As I went in to the arcade on the second or third day the keyman was just starting to unpack what I now know to be a pair of new sweetie allwins. I remember they were wrapped in several layers of corrugated cardboard tied up with string. One of the machines was a Win a Polo. I can’t remember what the other one was. The keyman then set to with his rawl punch and hammer making some holes in the brick wall so he could fix the machines to it. This took quite a while as there were no hammer drills and masonry bits in those days, but eventually we, (I say we because by this time I was helping him) got the cases fixed to the wall and the doors back on and filled with sweets. The keyman then handed me some pennies and said I could test the machines for him. This was a good move on his part as when I had used all of his pennies I then used all of mine. I do remember winning some Polos so I must have gone away happy. I wonder where the machines are now. I also wonder….. if I had gone to the beach that day instead of to the arcade, would I be sat here now writing this story???? .... I’m glad I didn’t go to the beach

[operator bell]

A Games Inc. (USA) "King Tap" Electric Fruit Machine, 60 or token play, circa 1960s, 24 1/2" wide, 54" tall, Est. £30-50. It made £42, so you're in the money there OB!

I remember seeing some King Taps at South Parade Pier. As I recall, they had some beer mug symbols. The Casino is a club machine that pays a 500 jackpot, and there's another one still working at Shanklin, IOW. But I'm not in the money, as it cost me over £100 to get it shipped over here. These machines do have a certain appeal. When my dad would come and visit me he'd play the Casino for hours at a time. It was difficult to get him off it to eat dinner.

On a historical note, the Games Inc company was started in the 1950s in Chicago by a guy called Clarence Schuyler, and was the first company to use those projection displays. When he died the company was bought by Mickey Wichinsky and renamed Games of Nevada. I know Mickey and occasionally do some work for him. It's a small world.

[pennymachines]

Nice to have some info about these. I wondered if it was one of those projection display bandits which we discussed before. I was a bit surprised when you said you shipped it to the US, but I suspect you'd be hard pushed to find another, even in its country of origin.

[operator bell]

I was a bit surprised when you said you shipped it to the US

It has sentimental value for me. It traveled in a crate with three other machines that were all unusual in some way. I had to give away several others that weren't worth the shipping, but I hadn't paid much for any of them. I used to pick them up at a local auction where the VAT people would dump goods they'd seized. The only thing I regret not being able to keep was a Captain Fantastic pinball machine that I bought at the auction for £15. The shills must have had a night off that week, as I ended up with the pinball, a jukebox, a table top Pac Man and a nice Bally and had change left from £100.

[malcymal]

I remember seeing some King Taps at South Parade Pier. As I recall, they had some beer mug symbols. The Casino is a club machine that pays a 500 jackpot, and there's another one still working at Shanklin, IOW.

Is it at this place by any chance?? http://www.coin.demon.co.uk/iow.htm I can see a King Tap in their list of retro machines in operation at their arcade.

[willborl]

On that site next to the Wonders allwin. If you scroll down a bit, it says that Wondermatics was owned by two gays and this is why the Wonders company logo is a bit unusual/funny/rude (depends how you feel about it).

Is this true? I find it a little hard to believe.

P.s. great stories of how all of you came across your first slots. Keep them coming.

[pennymachines]

The son of Tudah Walter Glover (proprietor of Wondermatics) dispelled this one a couple of years ago, having read it here. Like most rumours, we don't know where it originated, other than someone with a rather fertile, graphic imagination. John Carter relays it in Arcades & Slot Machines where Jack Glover (as he was nicknamed) was described as a New Zealander. That wasn't true either, but according to his son, "he was a great one for joking and misleading people."

[operator bell]

Is it at this place by any chance??

Yes, that's the place. The Games "Casino" is a couple of spaces above the King Tap. I chatted with the owner by email and he kindly sent me a photo of the schematics, but I can't remember his name and I've lost the email.