Essex Greyhound Racer identified
- bryans fan
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA
pennymachines wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2018 5:57 pm Yes, that's the wooden cased version. At that price, I'll have two please.
GREEDY
Re: Essex Racer identified
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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Re: Essex Racer identified
Interesting that Essex made two distinctly different wooden cabinets; one similar in shape to their metal-case design.
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Another Greyhound Racer in the States
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
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
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
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.
Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified
Actually, it's not another version as such - it has an original Essex mech. that was re-cased by Ruffler & Walker in the 1950s.Yes, it's another version (almost certainly later, given the more utilitarian style of the metal case).
This particular machine was owned by John Hayward until auctioned by Cristie's in 2005.
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Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified
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.
Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA
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.
Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified
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?
Has anyone seen a metal-cased version of the R&W Grand National?
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Re: Greyhound 2 player Race in the USA
I believe the handles are smaller than on R&W racers (and Chester Pollards for that matter) which, together with the close picket fencing, are the main external clues to the Essex mechanism.
Like this re-cased Ahrens Footballer (EH sale 2015)?
As these were found in the UK, with British mechanisms, we can rule out Mike Munves - and a similarity to the R&W wooden cases is evident.
Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified
HERNIA MYSTERY SOLVED !!!.......Many years ago I posted about an incident that happened circa 1970. I had purchased 4 huge English pier machines from a small American auction house. How they got there is a mystery in itself.
Two of the "Play Polo" machines were housed in steel cabinets which weighed a ton. They were not tin-covered wood as shown in this post..i.e. football, racer,soccer, golf.
So, the question remained, what were these steel cabinet machines that caused my friends and I to end up with hernias ???
The recent Morphy auction May lot # 5395 may have solved this mystery as it looks like my cabinets with a fancy paint job and fitted with a Essex greyhound mechanism...........confusing, to say the least.
GAMESWAT, posted that "Play Polo" was the most popular of all the games but I have found that this model is the rarest one of all in today's collections. ROGER
Two of the "Play Polo" machines were housed in steel cabinets which weighed a ton. They were not tin-covered wood as shown in this post..i.e. football, racer,soccer, golf.
So, the question remained, what were these steel cabinet machines that caused my friends and I to end up with hernias ???
The recent Morphy auction May lot # 5395 may have solved this mystery as it looks like my cabinets with a fancy paint job and fitted with a Essex greyhound mechanism...........confusing, to say the least.
GAMESWAT, posted that "Play Polo" was the most popular of all the games but I have found that this model is the rarest one of all in today's collections. ROGER
Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified
That's a lot of extra info from my simple comment Roger. I've seen a couple more of the Polos than other games but I've never taken much interest in these revamped games so never confessed to know much about them.
I don't remember ever seeing any tin covered wood cases in my travels, just those streamlined 1950s all tin or steel cases with the older 1920s mechs.
Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified
Along with GAMESWAT, I am not a big fan of the revamps.......however, the Morphy $8600 sale price cannot be denied for item #5395 with a number of under bidders. ROGER
Re: Essex Greyhound Racer identified
I received a request to post more pics of the Greyhound Racer from Morphy Auction this year inside out so here they are. Although auction description was suggestive of it needing mechanical work, the only problem turned out to be one screw had fallen out letting a linkage come loose, 5 minute repair. It looks like someone had already done a mechanical restoration. I also replaced the modern line core with a more vintage cloth covered wire.
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