Light-up Hi-Top

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JC
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Light-up Hi-Top

Post by JC »

Has anyone seen one of these before? It's a light-up Hi-Top. This one is entered in the Victorian Casino Antique Auction Las Vagas, 13th & 14th October. Are these really really rare, or have I just been unfortunate never to have seen one?
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cheeky
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Post by cheeky »

A very nice machine indeed. Nope - never seen one myself. What about the US contingent?
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operator bell
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Post by operator bell »

It's comparatively rare, but not especially sought-after. It's a late 50s model, trying to compete with the Jennings Sun Chief. The Sun Chief had light-up panels on the front, whereas the Mills has faux panels - chrome with red vertical stripes - that look very similar if the Jennings' lights are off, but if you saw them side by side there was no comparison. In the late 50s Jennings had eaten Mill's lunch and there wasn't a HiTop to be seen in the smarter Vegas casinos. Here's a screen shot from Oceans 11 (original version) which was shot in 1959. This scene is in the Sands and shows the Sun Chiefs in action. There was no other model in the Sands at that time.

I go to all the Victorian Casino Antiques auctions (I live in Vegas) but have yet to buy anything. They often have some very nice, very rare machines but it attracts people with far too much money. In general the prices are 2 to 3 times what I expect to pay, and then there's the buyer's premium and sales tax on top. My buddy bought a Sun Chief this past weekend for $1000 in a private sale. If he puts it in VCA next March he'll easily double that.
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