Pipe Dream

General vintage slot machine related topics.
roger
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by roger »

I just awoke from my "PIPE DREAM" and wish to thank "sweetmeats" and "gameswat" for supplying
such a fairy-tale ending.
BOB ran off with a life-changing bundle of cash !!YIPPEE!!
And the Yacht Race ended up in the hands of a true collector @&@
Why else would the present owner take the time to call Bob to express his pleasure of ownership.

I will conclude this post by giving my experiences in collecting coin-ops prior to the universal interest in the hobby.

I refer to it as the BTBB (before the big bucks)... ROGER :byee:
sweetmeats
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by sweetmeats »

I have just acquired this photo showing the Mermaid restored by the two young antique dealers who found it in a field in two parts with a tree growing through the base. Not sure where and when this picture was taken. Maybe gameswat can help?
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treefrog
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by treefrog »

jetsetjester
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by jetsetjester »

sweetmeats wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 5:34 pm I have just acquired this photo showing the Mermaid restored by the two young antique dealers who found it in a field in two parts with a tree growing through the base. Not sure where and when this picture was taken. Maybe gameswat can help?
That is Glenn Coad and Leigh Pritchard most likely pictured at either Glenleigh Antiques in Walkerville, which they owned, or in Rundle Street in Adelaide, South Australia as detailed by Bob in his description of the Holden Collection.

I suppose I am one of the very privileged few to have actually seen Yacht Race in person, as I knew Bob for almost 30 years. His main living room was an incredible place filled with some of the best penny arcade and coin op machines produced. In fact he even had machines covered by a tarp in his carport at one stage that were unique.
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tim575
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by tim575 »

You can always hope to find some part of one, and recreate any missing parts. I remember seeing one in an antique store in the S.F. bay area in CA USA a long time ago, I think maybe late 1980's or early 1990's. I remembered it as the base was so over the top ornate and unique. Any internal mech (boat or gun) was long gone, as it had been converted into a fish aquarium! If I knew back then what it was and how rare I would have picked it up as a case for a potential future project, in later years I saw it in an arcade book and realized what it really was. I would not be surprised if that or similar was the fate of the casting for some of them when pulled from service. :#:
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john t peterson
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by john t peterson »

Funny you should mention the aquarium conversion, Tim. About the same time, I was contacted by a well known British dealer who told me the same story but said his information had the unit somewhere in Pasadena. I had a long layover in Los Angeles so I rented a car and drove to Pasadena and scoured the antique stores looking for the mermaid. I never found her but did discover one of the two-player helicopter race games. It was priced at $2,000, out of my range.

J Peterson
Fish out of water, USA
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tim575
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by tim575 »

I saw it in a rather large antique store around Belmont area close to Hwy 101, but that store is long since out of business. Only clue now would be if a collector or restorer posted rebuilding one that had been converted to a fish tank. I regret now not checking it out further but at that time it was big/heavy looking and I didn't yet have a proper game room. So I don't know if all mech inside were gutted as much of that would be under where the tank was, but I would suspect that area would have been converted to storage of air pumps etc. I can see how it would end up in an antique store as ornate as it was.
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treefrog
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by treefrog »

Follow the link I shared above or the one below which shows the discussion on these 5 years ago when the copies made into fish tanks were advertised on eBay. They had owned an original and took castings before parting…

Re: Discovery and Dispersal of the Holden Collection in Adelaide, Australia
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tim575
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by tim575 »

That makes me feel a lot better, I never looked closely at it see if it had a back, but given 2 partial copies were made specifically to become fish tanks I am sure that must have been what I saw. It would have been a crime if an original had been treated to that gut out and conversion.
roger
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Open Letter to David Copperfield

Post by roger »

Prior to moving into a retirement home, David Copperfield invited me to visit him in his New York penthouse apartment and view his outstanding collection of coin-ops. Ironically, he explained that he did not have any interest in slot machines because of his constant exposure to these gadgets in his Las Vegas workplace.
His collection consists of some of the world's greatest rarities including the one and only YACHT RACE as detailed in this posting.

Some Pennymachine Forum members may have David's present day PERSONAL contact information....Would you please send him this entire post. I am sure that he would enjoy reading some inside scoop on his super-rare Yacht Race. It would be great if he would add to this post and show this prized machine in action. The coin-op Community would be eternally grateful.

David Copperfield is the world's greatest illusionist... Let's hope he will pull off this technological trick.
ROGER
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roger
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Re: Pipe Dream

Post by roger »

In another posting I made reference to the Yacht Race hoping that some kind member would send me one for my 10 years of contributions to the Forum. It has occured to me that perhaps you are not familiar with this rare machine so I have reposted this "Pipt Dream". ROGER
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