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Came across this on the Aussie flea bay.....Not sure if it ever was produced, but there are letters and a flyer talking about a machine called "It's Slick". I have not seen this before, anyone know of these or seen one.

It's Slick.".
This is an original brochure for a coin operated amusement machine, together with the company's covering letter, and envelope.
Publisher: Samson Novelty Co Ltd, London, England.
Date: This group was posted to Australia on 22nd February 1947.
The Folded single sheet brochure measures about 4.9" x 8" (124 mm x 202 mm) when closed, and opens out to 8.5" x 8" (214 mm x 202 mm) . The letter measures 8.2" x 10.75" (208 mm x 274 mm).
With black and white illustrations of the art deco shaped machine closed and opened, this describes the business opportunity of the machine, rather than how the game works. The covering letter responds to an enquiry for a different item, and promotes this as an alternative product. The letter has an attractive letterhead showing Samson Buildings, and claiming "Largest Distributors in Europe of all kinds of Coin Operated Automatic Machines". The envelope also has a Samson Novelty Co logo

ITS SLICK

Copied to Resources - Site Admin.

Definately made and they do turn up from time to time; although by no means particularly common. I have one in bits which I hope to sort out this year...but I did say that last year too

Hi tree-frog , As coin-op says they were made but I have only ever seen photos of them, they are an Electro-Mechanical ball catcher and I "think" it has a timer so you are working against the clock to catch as many ball as you can in the time allowed but not sure
I have found some photos that give you a better view of the machine

The front 'cut-out' for the glass is similar in shape to Bryans Payramid, as is the ball lift mechanism inside. I wonder if this was intended to be a competitive contender to the Payramid?

Arrgee wrote:I wonder if this was intended to be a competitive contender to the Payramid?

It seems in the same general area as the Payramid, but it also incorporates elements of other games. The top section requires the ball to be guided along the track to fall onto the next level of track, so that part has similarities to the Sky jump. The next section has a set of forks, so that mirrors the payramid. The last section requires you to time the dropping of the ball into a target hole, so I guess that copies a Bomb dropper (unless anyone corrects me on that one). There is another game called mystery quizz, which I thought may be made by the same manufacturer as the playfield artwork and manufacture seems to bear a similarity of style....err have one of those and that was a job for the year before last...too much to do, too little time

slotalot wrote:I "think" it has a timer so you are working against the clock to catch as many ball as you can in the time allowed but not sure

From memory - they don't have a timer. The dial counts balls past the three obstacles by means of the battery-powered solenoid, left of picture above. If you get enough points, your coin is returned. The sheet metal cabinet and front make for a very tinny machine.

Stuart, you have seen a Slick - when you came down to Brighton last year. I have one at Mechanical Memories (there's a picture of it on my website)
http://www.mechanicalmemoriesmuseum.webeden.co.uk/
It's probably the ugliest machine I own, but good fun to play. It's also well made, making it a very reliable machine.

Hi Jerry , You are of course correct, I knew at the back of my mind that I had seen one recently but I couldn’t think where I had seen it, it was in your arcade in Brighton, I played on it for god’s sake!!!.... I also remember now that it did have a dial to count the balls and not a timer... I’m putting this lapse in memory down to me having a senior moment .......Again!!!!.... Problem is I can’t remember when I had the last one...

Shows what an impression this machine had on me, as having visited mechanical memories museum in Brighton early last, I cannot recall seeing this. At first glance the shape reminded me of a double decker (quick glance)

Apologies if I missed this, but who made this machine?

It's generally attributed to The Samson Novelty Co. Whether or not they acually made it or it was made for them, I suppose we'll never know. It dates from the late 1930s. I have a copy of an advertisement placed in the Worlds Fair in 1939 or '40 (somewhere). If I can find it, I'll post it here.

I'm the new owner of the Slick flyer - which is really the first piece of original advertising I've actively gone after and been excited about. Maybe because it has some Australian connection, and the lovely deco letterhead. Slick also happens to be one of my favourite machines - I own two, plus a third I sold. I'm a huge fan of Modernist design so this and Conveyor are a couple of my faves. I asked the seller where the flyer came from and this was his reply:

I picked this up from a Tasmanian stamp auction a few years ago, as part of a large lot of magic related material, mostly in it's original envelopes, that had been sent to a magician / magic wholesaler in Newtown (Sydney) between the mid 1940s and early 1950s. I was told by the proprietor of the stamp auction that their customer had picked it up as a job lot from a Sydney Book shop sometime earlier, specifically to keep the military related material that was originally in the collection. My guess is that Jim Fleming (the recipient) set up a magic business after returning from service in World War Two, but I did not see the nature of the military stuff in the original accumulation. I thought it was a really interesting lot, but the couple of runs that I have listed did not attract the attention of magic collectors that I expected. I am glad that you found this item, and that it fits well into your collection

The two I currently own are unrestored and both in steel cabinets, one came from a famous UK collection, the other from a collector in Sydney. The third example I restored and eventually sold was the rarer pre-war version in a wooden case. Two such examples have turned up in Aust so far. I was given mine by my friend Bob Klepner, basically a basket case that he'd started restoring and lost interest in. The case and door were mismatched but the case had a serial of #44 on it. The wooden versions differ not only in the cabinet style but also in the artwork which is hand painted, where as the steel case versions all have silkscreened artwork. Before I got the machine Bob had a new alloy coin chute cast, and he'd had two new handles machined and knurled. I made a new front door in old plywood and handmade a complete scoring mech which was totally missing. At the time I didn't have another example so Bob was able to borrow one from a friend in Melbourne and sent me the mech to copy. Took me a full day to get it done! The lights in the wooden cabinet version are not original, I added them myself as I was finding the game very hard to play in my moody house.
Personally I prefer the steel case design to the wood, which is partly why I sold my earlier example.

I've not seen them in wooden cases before, I think they look better ............... mind you I'd have one in either case.

Interesting post gameswat. Must say, to my eyes it does look good in wood - even though it's only ply. Never knew such a version existed. Just shows how hard it is to be definitive about these games - so often an anomalous variant turns up. A few years ago I was offered a Bradley Super Challenger in oak - previously I'd assumed they were all clad in beach, ply and Formica.

I wonder if the ply case was originally painted. I don't recall seeing ply used on the outside of a case without some plastic/metal/veneer facing or paint finish - certainly not on a British pre-war machine.

A better scan of your Slick flyer in Resources (when you receive it) would be much appreciated.

The plywood cases were never painted or covered with anything other than clear varnish. And the internal cabinetry is held together with metal "L" brackets making a very strong structure.

The maker's name is printed on both my tin examples: "MANFD. BY NORTH AUTOS BALTIC AVE. SOUTHEND. ON. SEA." As well as the differences in the printed names there are some small differences in the screened artwork. Also both cabinets are slightly different in size and side shoulder height.

gameswat wrote:The maker's name is printed on both my tin examples: "MANFD. BY NORTH AUTOS BALTIC AVE. SOUTHEND. ON. SEA."

Great - one more elusive and obscure manufacturer positively identified. Now for the sake of completeness, two more questions:- how many balls do you get and what score wins the coin back?

There was Slick on Swanage pier last time I visited (not working at the time).

Yes, great to know the manufacturer, although I've never noticed it on my machine.

My Slick has five balls, and a score of twelve is required for coin return. As each ball can score a maximum three points, the chances of getting your coin back are fairly limited! Still a fun game to play though.

All my three have been 9 catches for a coin return. If you open the ply cabinet playfield closeup photo you can read the instructions. Either the operator of JC's was tight or there is some adjustment in the game play with the size of the gap in the two forks.

gameswat wrote:If you open the ply cabinet playfield closeup photo you can read the instructions.

Aha! Yes, I should have looked at the close-up.

I thought the Payramid was difficult to catch all balls, but this looks damn near impossible to catch nine!!