Boland Black Beauty, Screen Stars, Brooklands, White City...

[raj]

A nice paint job will transform this bandit, esp if the wood sides are still good. Henry Powell may be able to supply a payout surround casting for the front from his stock of bits. I would not bother with the top flash. I would value it around £350 once completed to a good standard.

[pennymachines]

A couple of wooden-cased Boland single reelers:

[coppinpr]

Very nice 'Screen Snapshots' version on ebay this week,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 720wt_1396

[iceman]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

Saw this on craigslist, thought I would share. I've never seen one like it - but that's not surprising considering my limited knowledge of slots, especially English machines. The wooden cabinet looks especially nice.

Here is the link: http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/a ... 27170.html

[andydotp]

G'day iceman,
That's a British revamp and one of a series by Tom Boland from Leeds around the early 1950's. He used to take (mostly) Mills gooseneck mechs and re-case them as Totalisators, Screen Stars, Your Favourites etc often with motor car or greyhound racing themes.
You've found a rather nice example, well done.
Cheers,
andydotp

[iceman]

Hello andydotp,

Thanks for the information. Looking at the photo I could see the "Your" part but I couldn't make out the spelling of "Favourites". Obviously you cleared that up for me. Such a wealth of knowledge around here.

[badpenny]

They look super when really cared for.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the cases were made from very poor wood with the thinnest of veneers applied.
I've never owned one but seen a couple or three for sale (one of which was stored in an open ended garage) they all looked like day old pizza.

I wonder how many survived intact? On occasion, at specialist auctions you stumble across the front and top castings which suggests those that didn't.
Now I think about it I've got a set myself somewhere.
Thanks for posting the picture it's a belter.

Jeremy

Edited once upon a time because I've just remembered I might also have one of his Film Star conversions which was a single reeler sporting the names of contemporary screen gods and goddesses. This is a metal front case.

[andydotp]

Quite correct Jeremy, his 'screen stars' fronts are cast aluminium.
( I 'appen to have one but can't find a pic )
a.p

[treefrog]

Nice looking machine.....

If you use the Search function at the top of the page and search White City you will see a number of links talking about Boland machines and showing a few of the variations, both 3 reeler and single reeler: (Now merged above - Site Admin).

BP is right about it being rare to see the veneer intact, I am unsure if the curved surfaces don't help, but it is a fragile material for a bandit which do get a lot of abuse. Your machine could of course had the effort put in to replace this, not the easiest of jobs.

[coppinpr]

Not all the stars were metal fronts. I have one with almost the same case as the favorites shown above. The single reelers are very dark and it's hard to see the reel. I put a light in mine - looks great. The case wood is fine and mine has metal edging. No payout card, as the winning lines on the reel strips have the winning amount written on them.

[arrgee]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the cases were made from very poor wood with the thinnest of veneers applied

Paul Braithwaites Arcades and Slot Machines PB, there is nice photo of one, John Carter wrote:
"From an operators viewpoint they are constructed from veneered rubbish and keeping the veneer intact is problematical!"

[nvmos2]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

There is an auction on the US ebay for a vintage Mills slot machine.
Please see item number 111191213965

If I am not mistaken it is actually a Tom Boland slot machine.
My questions are:
Is it a Tom Boland machine?
If yes, approximately what year was he making these/
Did he use Mills mechanisms and just build the cases for his machines?
Is he still around and still making slots?

Any enlightenment you Limeys (I hope that's not considered derogatory) can provide would be appreciated.

[badpenny]

Is he still around and still making slots?

Well if that's his picture on the front I'd hazard a guess he ended his days mincing around in his pyjamas.
(I hope that's not considered derogatory)

Confused of Lincoln

[pennymachines]

Hi - and welcome!

Is it a Tom Boland machine?

Yes. (So I've moved your post and merged to the above topic).
Boland made a variety of cabinet revamps over the years and this is one of them.

If yes, approximately what year was he making these?

He started revamping bandits in the early 1940s to fulfil a demand for "new" machines during and after the war. This continued up until 1960 which saw the arrival of new products following the removal of legal restrictions. The example above is from the early '40s period.

Did he use Mills mechanisms and just build the cases for his machines?

Yes. For all I know, he may occasionally have used other makes, but generally he imported Mills machines and sometimes stripped the mechanism down to one reel (to make it more acceptable to UK conditions). This version incorporates a new cast fascia with the original Mills wooden base and sides.

Is he still around and still making slots?

He died in May 1984.

I've not seen the Golf theme before, nor the hand-painted golf symbols. The "GOLF" inscription on the front casting looks rather wobbly. I wonder if this Bolland revamp has been re-revamped by another hand at a later date.

[scottie]

Here is a Screen Stars from the cover of Gameroom magazine, June 1992.

[pennymachines]

Nice example. Here's a Brooklands Totalizator which made an amazing £2,375 (including premium) at the Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale in Chichester last September. Clever place to put it.

[pennymachines]

Yet another version of Screen Stars, this one called Film Stars.

[safetyman1005]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

Brooklands one armed bandit in Chippenham Auction sale this Saturday.

[aristomatic]

Thanks for the pictures. Below is link from the forum. (Now merged above - Site Admin.)
I've seen a number of different variations on the Brooklands racer, however it's the first time I have seen this particular option with the car and Brooklands under the reel glass. There must be lots of other options still not seen too.

As previously observed within the thread, the best place to sell these (if working) is Goodwood Revival or similar vintage car gathering.

GP

[jingle]

There was a French guy
Buying all these up
At beaulieu
Over last few years
He was giving 500 each for them
I bet this makes a lot more
Giving that that auction attracts a lot of motoring
Collectors
With more money than greece