Mills Hi-top

Somebody knows... Maybe you?
Post Reply
User avatar
itsnot
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:22 pm
Reaction score: 0

Mills Hi-top

Post by itsnot »

Hello,
On a popular auction website a black Mills hi-top on one old penny play has been up for a few days. Looking closely at the machine l noticed that the sides look like they are plywood with a wood veneer. The coin box is 'L' shaped and the mechanism has a metal tag with the words 'Automaten bau, Rhein-Ruhr, type heros D' and a serial number. Is this a re-manufactured machine and quite common?
User avatar
treefrog
Posts: 4813
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:46 pm
Reaction score: 31
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by treefrog »

Saw that and never noticed the Tura mechanism in it as they look very similar to an old 10 stop Mills machine. This machine, like many, is a conversation back in that day and not a factory Mills machine. Coin entry on right, ply cabinet etc... Maybe even castings are copies. At the end of the day it is a machine from the day and probably worked and earned its living.
grains
Posts: 123
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:05 pm
Reaction score: 1

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by grains »

treefrog wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:42 pm Saw that and never noticed the Tura mechanism in it as they look very similar to an old 10 stop Mills machine. This machine, like many, is a conversation back in that day and not a factory Mills machine. Coin entry on right, ply cabinet etc... Maybe even castings are copies. At the end of the day it is a machine from the day and probably worked and earned its living.
A quick question were there many UK clones of Hi-Tops made?
Thanks
User avatar
brigham
Posts: 1180
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:37 pm
Reaction score: 2

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by brigham »

Mayfield is the usual one.
Sometimes has a ten-stop mech from an early Mills, sometimes a more appropriate 20-stop.
User avatar
treefrog
Posts: 4813
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:46 pm
Reaction score: 31
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by treefrog »

grains wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:51 pm
treefrog wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:42 pm Saw that and never noticed the Tura mechanism in it as they look very similar to an old 10 stop Mills machine. This machine, like many, is a conversation back in that day and not a factory Mills machine. Coin entry on right, ply cabinet etc... Maybe even castings are copies. At the end of the day it is a machine from the day and probably worked and earned its living.
A quick question were there many UK clones of Hi-Tops made?
Thanks
Yes, have had many, usually on old penny, but often in 3D as well
User avatar
itsnot
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:22 pm
Reaction score: 0

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by itsnot »

Moving the coin mech to the righthand and having a functioning reject for duff coins must have been a small feat in itself, anyone have a picture that might be posted?.
Treefrog stated a '10 stop' mills mech, tell me more please.
cait001
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:33 am
Reaction score: 1
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by cait001 »

joining the Mills Hi-Top club today! What a stunning feat of engineering.

If you appreciate purely mechanical devices, you absolutely need to get a mechanical slot machine.
I only wanted one American slot machine in my collection. I did my research and found the Mills art-deco style of that era to be 100% what I was looking for.
But then these come in a variety of paint jobs, and this was my #1 choice of colours. I'm so happy to get it.
Gambling machines have minimal utility for a "game room", but this is simultaneously a display piece, a functional coinop machine, and an incredible show-piece of engineering. It's super easy to open them up and show off the internals.

It is so lovely that it gets the prestige distinction of being the only machine to live outside the game room.
Attachments
20210105_220955a.jpg
20210105_220946a.jpg
User avatar
brigham
Posts: 1180
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:37 pm
Reaction score: 2

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by brigham »

I joined that Club a few weeks ago, with what claims to be a Black Beauty, but doesn't have the hand-load jackpot (like yours), even though it ought to have.
They're a good machine, and you could have a collection JUST of Hi-Tops, such is the variety.
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5111
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by coppinpr »

every bandit collection should have a hi-top, you showed me yours so ill show you mine !OMFG!
yellow hi top.jpg
yellow hi top.jpg (18.94 KiB) Viewed 2555 times

User avatar
arrgee
Posts: 1589
Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:56 am
Reaction score: 5
Location: North Wiltshire

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by arrgee »

cait001 wrote:It's super easy to open them up and show off the internals
Isn't it a bit of a pig to move it around to get to the cash box at the rear ?
User avatar
brigham
Posts: 1180
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:37 pm
Reaction score: 2

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by brigham »

This was the problem that ultimately led to the (usually hideous) front-opener.
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5111
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by coppinpr »

I dont think Mills ever made a front opening bandit unless you mean the compact series with the front opening cash draw but these were made by TJM so not really Mills, the case for the compact was mostly Jennings anyway (TJM owned Jennings as well as Mills by this time) Also the hi-top was made by Sega long after Mills stopped making it so I don't think you can say the rear door design led to its demise
cait001
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:33 am
Reaction score: 1
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by cait001 »

arrgee wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:42 am
cait001 wrote:It's super easy to open them up and show off the internals
Isn't it a bit of a pig to move it around to get to the cash box at the rear ?
Nah, the whole thing weighs like 85 pounds so it's not too bad to move. It's on a shelf just under waist height, too, so it's super easy for me to reach to the back, remove the back door, then slide the machine forward a bit (braced with my knee) to remove coins.

I got a natural jackpot last night and was able to see the jackpot mech work!!! (It's not 100% empty in this photo because I had a large pile of coins in the tray so it wasn't able to empty fully before closing)

20210106_222443b.jpg

User avatar
special when lit
Posts: 496
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 4:46 pm
Reaction score: 2
Location: Derby

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by special when lit »

I know they're common, but Hi Tops are one of my favourite bandits.
Only got one though, a Bell O Matic version.
cait001
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:33 am
Reaction score: 1
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by cait001 »

special when lit wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 3:30 pm I know they're common, but Hi Tops are one of my favourite bandits.
Only got one though, a Bell O Matic version.
I personally didn't care about prestige or rarity. I wanted just one proper mechanical slot, and so I went for
LOOK: that art deco influence, minimal text on the front, no casino marquees, and the perfect colour combination,
FEATURES: jackpot, visible elevator, stubby pull arm, different single + double cherry payouts
and bonus points for being all original and not repainted. (payout card and the coin box are repops, locks aren't original, but the rest looks perfect)

There are extra cool features found in other machines, like auto-filling jackpots, jackpot reserves, BONUS letters, etc, but this one is perfect for me.
highfield
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2013 9:23 pm
Reaction score: 1

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by highfield »

This is mine. Every part made from scrap parts bought from many people, including Rich DeLong. Only new part was wood side panels and base. Used 5 cent escalator, tweaked payout slides so it runs on 20p.
Attachments
8386B6A7-2001-4CE8-B63F-5DD9DD4BACA0.jpeg
1BFE9B53-B8C6-47BD-87CD-581A96D8A140.jpeg
D962DB2E-D2A2-4039-A43D-5214671BED55.jpeg
CC458F28-D24D-451F-85F4-7D26ADA6458D.jpeg
EB1100EC-DEEB-4784-B1AE-31EBBDFEF0F8.jpeg
05B2267E-04AF-426A-9B05-FA12BF3ADB69.jpeg
A0238801-4226-4176-BDC3-89BF24C5E16A.jpeg
5A607D73-B6F9-4824-B725-F146A2BB0021.jpeg
User avatar
dutchboy
Posts: 415
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 8:28 pm
Reaction score: 0
Location: Netherlands

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by dutchboy »

Wow respect for that! !THUMBS!
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5111
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by coppinpr »

Truly great work on that machine **xXx**

The standard Hi-top is a classic but there are a few rarer hi-tops out there I would really like to own, the "Hi-Top bonus" looks so compact and just "right" somehow and includes the BONUS mech as well, that would be my second choice
hi-top bonus.jpg
hi-top bonus.jpg (17.47 KiB) Viewed 2380 times

but, for me, my personal favourite has to be the rare 1948/49 "Hi-top Token Bell" it retains the classic Hi-top design but with a great lower case with hand fill JP.
token bell.jpg

User avatar
special when lit
Posts: 496
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 4:46 pm
Reaction score: 2
Location: Derby

Re: Mills Hi-top

Post by special when lit »

coppinpr wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:10 pm Truly great work on that machine **xXx**

The standard Hi-top is a classic but there are a few rarer hi-tops out there I would really like to own, the "Hi-Top bonus" looks so compact and just "right" somehow and includes the BONUS mech as well, that would be my second choice
A Hi Top Bonus is one of my dream machines, too. Given a choice, I'd take one over a Roll a Top.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 30 guests