C.O.C.A. Times

Issue: 2002-July - Vol 2 Num 2

one that was mass-produced for consumption in its
original condition, this is one
of the few legitimate Hitler or
Tojo target games I have seen.
Most often, some clever soul
has painted these villains on an
already existing machine, or
pasted a picture onto an
already existing game. Again,
buyers beware! As for the Hitler Target, you not
only get a gumball after taking a shot at the "world's
most hated man," as the award card indicates, but, if
you are successful, you get to watch his tongue wig-
gle. And whatever his shortcoming, Adolph certain-
ly could wiggle his tongue.
The graphics of Keep Em Bombing on an origi-
nal machine in great condition simply defy descrip-
tion.
The Spitfire allows you to operate the plane as it
flies over the enemy ship so that you can drop a
gumball bomb on one of the shops' two smoke-
stacks. For me, it is one of the neatest skill games I
have ever played.
Rounding out the group is the Victor
Cannonball. This machine is very rare for a Victor
and this is the only example I have ever seen in all
original condition. You shoot a gumball into the air
and try to hit the airplane target flying over the land
mines. If successful, your gum hangs in the verifi-
cation window of the plane until you collect your
prize, and the ball gum is voided into the machine
by a lever in the back into a compartment that keeps
track of the winning balls, If you lose, the ball falls
for another shot unless it's eaten up in the land
mmes.
Today, these machines are not politically correct.
But they sure were a hit on the home front at a time
when we knew our enemies and knew they deserved
to be hated.
"Help Defeat the Axis • Buy U.S.
HILP" War Bonds."
On the right side also in blue
UNCLE
SAM writing, there should read: "Help
Uncle Sam Win • Buy U.S . War

Bu4fr Bonds." On each side of Keep Em
us. Bombing there should be an
American soldier inside a red "V"
WAI\B D
urging you to: "Buy United Sates
Defense Bonds and Stamps."
Kill the lap, perhaps the rarest of these
machines, has only a red star on the sides and top,
but on the face of the
playing field it is the urg-
ing to: "Buy U.S. War
Bonds." It is my opinion
that, since it is almost
impossible to get to the
face of the play field of
this machine without
smashing the glass or
otherwise causing serious
damage to this machine,
it is almost impossible to find one of these machines
that "survived" the war.
As to the particulars of these machines them-
selves, I find them all wonderful as to graphics and
substance. The Ball Gum Bomber has you bombing
submarines from planes that are colorfully depicted.
The front of Civilian Defense urges you to
"Remember Pearl Harbor: while you watch the
bombing of New York City near the Empire State
Building by all three of the
axis power planes. This
has sad historic signifi-
cance today and is the
only World War II
machine I know of that
has all three villains
prominently depicted for
hatred on one machine.
As for the Hitler
Target, buyers beware! If
the definition of a coin-op
machine to a collector is
WIN
t
5
This Corndog Won't Hunt
by John Peterson
It all started innocently enough. It always does,
you know. The headliner on Ebay said: "Penny
Machine Stimulator 1920's England NR." The
word description was equally enticing: "This fun
old machine from England used the large English
penny . .... I don't know exactly how this works. It
looks like it has some kind of a wire attached to a
battery of some sort and all kinds of gears. I haven't
a clue other than this is out of a purchase of things
from the 1920's I recently
acquired." The three pic-
tures showed the case from
two angles and one picture
of the interior. All in all, a
most intriguing and quite
unrevealing offering with a
$49.99 opening bid.
British people. I found them to be warm hearted,
generous of spirit and all around fun; in a word, just
like Americans but with a better accent! When I
finally got around to pursuing coin-operated items
in the early 1990's, I stumbled across a British "all-
win" machine and after that, I didn't have a choice.
My collection has progressed slowly and I relish the
research into the background of these machines as
much as I do the collecting.
This Ebay machine, mysteriously named
"RAINBOW ROULETTE" definitely had my
attention. I pulled out my reference books and
sought possible manufacturers. In this respect, col-
lectors of American made machines have a distinct
advantage. Americans recognized early on that
product placement has important advertising impli-
cations. As a result, almost all American manufac-
turers stamped their name on the case or works,
very prominently in some instances. For some
unknown reason, the English are exactly the oppo-
site. It is extremely rare to find an English coin-
operated game with the name of the manufacturer
on it and the older ones almost never have any iden-
tification other than the name of the game, if that.
The matter is complicated somewhat by the fact that
it was not uncommon for several manufacturers to
make machines with the same name. The games
may or may not be the same type of play.
Therefore, when researching the games, you start
with the name. If the name appears in one of the
reference books, you may or may not have a match.
The books that I have are good but by no means
comprehensive in their coverage of the vast subject
of British coin-op. The next step is to look at the
machine itself. Some of the manufacturers had a
distinctive style to their games in both cabinetry and
hardware. This is more art than science and attri-
bution based solely on the "look" of the game is
suspect at best.
"Rainbow Roulette" was not listed in any of my
books nor did I recognize the case work . My court
of last appeal under these circumstances is my
English collecting buddies. I've never met any of
them face to face but have developed friendships
Rainbow Roulette
To set the record, I am a
collector of British coin-op
games. I'm not really sure
how that all got started. It
may relate back to my days in the early 1970's when
as a US Navy pilot I was flying over to Europe on a
regular basis. I spent a lot of fun time in London
and the surrounding pubs and many of their antique
stores. I was not collecting coin- operated items at
that time. In retrospect it would have been fortu-
itous had I been doing so but at the time I was con-
sumed by antique music boxes and pump organs.
One was easy to transport but very expensive to
purchase and the other just the opposite. More than
one full-sized pump organ came across the Atlantic
in the back of my C-130. I also fell in love with the
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