Essex Greyhound Racer identified

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gameswat
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Essex Greyhound Racer identified

Post by gameswat »

For sale on US eBay, I'm not sure what British company made this particular version originally but this new cabinet doesn't seem right at all, well other than the cast feet. So possibly Ruffler & Walker re-vamped it from the original wooden cabinet into a streamlined tin case post WW2. Then recently some American owner converted it back into a wooden case confusing it with something made by the US company Chester Pollard! Oh the indignity. !OMFG! Been years since I worked on some of these things so I'm vague as to particular features but I'm sure PM will know. !PUZZLED! Pity they didn't bother to put back the payout cups for winning player, or maybe just didn't understand?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/152870811119?ul_noapp=true
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derby.jpg
derby mech.jpg
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JC
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by JC »

Essex?
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by jimmycowman »

I like the 38cents....... !!YIPPEE!!
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brigham
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by brigham »

I'm still at the learning stage. How do we know that this ISN'T by Chester Pollard?
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by pennymachines »

Well, the cabinetwork appears new and doesn't conform to a known design. Chester Pollard did make a racing game but it had an oval track:

derby.jpg



I've never owned an Essex or Ruffler & Walker racer, so I can't comment on the mechanism I'm afraid.
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by gameswat »

brigham wrote:How do we know that this ISN'T by Chester Pollard?
Many reasons. Chester Pollard was a major player in the US market and their very small output of only four different machines is well known. They never made a cabinet that looked anything like this. It's based on UK designs with claw feet. The mechanism inside this game clearly shows an upside down Y coin chute designed to take two coins (though the lower chutes and payout cup are missing) which was to send one coin to the cashbox and one back to the winning player. This form of two coins in and one back to winner seems to have never taken off in the US and I don't know of any such US made machine. Was very popular in the UK though.

Greyhound racing was not a popular sport to base games on in the US as very few exist, and then only small counter games that I know of. But Greyhound racing was a very popular theme in the UK. There are three well known UK makers who manufactured floor model Greyhound racing games, Ahrens, Essex and Arnold. I've seen several different models by Ahrens and restored another I think by Arnold (I'm vague as this was years ago). All those looped around either a round or oval track back to the start. While this game runs a straight race.

Add to that list, Walton as that was the game I restored years ago. Just found the patent on the site.
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by gameswat »

Just to be clear PM, I don't know anything about the R&W made race games they sold after the war. But I have seen up close inside a couple of the tin cased versions that look just like post war wooden cases R&W sold, but the mechs were much older 1920's. Polo seemed to be a popular re-vamp. Whether any had R&W labels I can't rightly remember but I've always thought they were responsible.
So there are at least 2 player Greyhound race games by:
Ahrens, Arnold, Essex, Ruffler & Walker and Walton.

I don't think this is by Ahrens, Ruffler & Walker or Walton, so probably by one of the other two.....
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by pennymachines »

Mystery solved? Essex is the winner - ridden into first place by JC. !!HOORAY!!
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by bryans fan »

I found this Game, presumably from the same stable, (pun intended) in a Sotheby's Auction Catalogue from November 1981.
Sold for £440 including buyers premium of 10%.
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RACE-GAME-Sotherby`s-014a.jpg
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by pennymachines »

Yes, that's the wooden cased version. At that price, I'll have two please. :cool:
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by bryans fan »

pennymachines wrote: Sat Feb 03, 2018 5:57 pm Yes, that's the wooden cased version. At that price, I'll have two please. :cool:

GREEDY :tut
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Re: Essex Racer identified

Post by gameswat »

Mystery solved! This attached question and answer is no doubt regarding the re-cased Greyhound machine that started this thread. Came across it by accident looking through old Coin-Op Classics magazines. This letter to Dick Bueschel in the Winter 1997, Vol4, Number 1. So this guy started with a rotten case and rebuilt it, and he even describes the incorrect marquee.
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derby.jpg
greyhound.jpg
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Re: Essex Racer identified

Post by pennymachines »

Interesting that Essex made two distinctly different wooden cabinets; one similar in shape to their metal-case design.
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Essex Race Game (at Morphy's)
Essex Race Game (at Morphy's)
Essex Race Game (at Sotheby's)
Essex Race Game (at Sotheby's)
Essex Football in metal case
Essex Football in metal case
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Another Greyhound Racer in the States

Post by tim575 »

Topic merged - Site Admin.

OK, so even more Greyhound Racer questions. I just picked up one at Morphy Auctions a week ago, yet to be delivered. Looking if anyone knows about this variation. It seems to have the same mechanics as the wood re-cased one in another thread identified as an Essex ~1926. But this one is in a metal case, I assume intended for outdoor use. I can trace this machine to the exact same one that sold in Christie's 25 May 2005 auction which had same cabinet paint job including some scratches and dents that match so I know it is the same one. But that one had different top Marquee lettering and different background art, both seemed to have incorrect background art, so some restoration has happened. I know it needs mechanical work to get playing but won't know how extensive until I receive it. Any further history on the metal case version will be useful. First photo is 2005 and next is current. More photos at Morphy site for lot 5395: https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/RAR ... 00718.aspx
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Re: Another Greyhound Racer in the States

Post by coppinpr »

The background art is interesting from a historical point of view. If the machine is 1926 or earlier then at least the style of the top photo background would make sense as greyhound racing prior to July 1926 was an outdoor cross country sport ( and a big one, the grand national horse race was first run to offer secondary extra entertainment to the people attending the Waterloo cup greyhound coursing event nearby). Large scale greyhound racing in stadiums, although it did exist after mid 26 in a small way, did not really get into its stride until early 1928 following the building of purpose-built venues.
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Re: Another Greyhound Racer in the States

Post by pennymachines »

tim575 wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 8:07 pm It seems to have the same mechanics as the wood re-cased one in another thread identified as an Essex ~1926.
Yes, it's another version (almost certainly later, given the more utilitarian style of the metal case). For this reason, I've merged the topics. Congrats on acquiring such a classic British arcade piece. !THUMBS!
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Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified

Post by JC »

Yes, it's another version (almost certainly later, given the more utilitarian style of the metal case).
Actually, it's not another version as such - it has an original Essex mech. that was re-cased by Ruffler & Walker in the 1950s.
This particular machine was owned by John Hayward until auctioned by Cristie's in 2005.
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Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified

Post by pennymachines »

Thanks JC for putting the record a little straighter. What other games have you seen in these R&W cases? Don't think I'm familiar with them.
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA

Post by gameswat »

gameswat wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:30 pm Just to be clear PM, I don't know anything about the R&W made race games they sold after the war. But I have seen up close inside a couple of the tin cased versions that look just like post war wooden cases R&W sold, but the mechs were much older 1920's. Polo seemed to be a popular re-vamp. Whether any had R&W labels I can't rightly remember but I've always thought they were responsible.
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Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified

Post by brigham »

It looks very like the familiar R&W wooden cases, even down to the players' handles and the centre coin slot, which I imagine returns the winner's coin at the end.
Has anyone seen a metal-cased version of the R&W Grand National?
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