Rarefied Vintage----Take a Close Look!
by the late Ken Rounds
There aren't many Victor Vending specialists,
and I'm proud to be one of them. While a lot of col-
lectors might tum up their noses at something so
recent, I use my nose to root out the rarities and the
differences. And yes, there are rarities. You have to
take a close look at what you have in order to find
them but, when you do, it's a real kick.
These three vending machines are from my per-
sonal collection. They are among the rarest of Victor
machines. The Victor HOME RUN, at left, is one of
about six survivors of this game. The center game is
the Victor CANNON BALL and, as far as I know,
only three have survived. Finally, at the far right, is
the Victor PREMIUM VENDOR. This is the only
example known to me.
The problem that exists, and the reason for the
low survival rate among these games, is that they
date from 1940 or 1941 and were originally made in
limited quantities due to material shortages relative
to the demands of wartime production. All three
games work using the same general principle. One
places a penny in the slide and pushes in in. This
relases a holding wheel in the rear of the machine,
giving you a gumball which rolls toward the front
center of the machine. By using the gun paddle arm,
the player attempts to bat the gumball thru the tar-
get, at the top of the playfield. If successful, the
gumball drops into a visible slot below the target,
and the player is awarded a prize. The batter can
keep hitting away at gumballs so long as the target
is made, that is, until the player misses. Then the
gumball rolls into the delivery chute located at the
right of the casing.
A slot in the back door allows the proprietor to
release the displayed gumballs that have been shot
into the target. They are retained in a holding cham-
ber for reimbursement by the route man to cover
whatever prizes had been awarded.
CANNON BALL has a cannon turret in place of
the more conventional gun shooter. PREMIUM
VENDOR offers high-profile award such as a foun-
tain pen or a cigarette lighter.
I am very proud of my offbeat Victors, and it is
doubtful if collectors will see these three games
together in one collection, if at all - however, all
machines have since been sold.
Three rare Victory batting games.
HOME RUN, at left, has the original
gumballs. CANNON BALL, center, has
a gun turret. The 1941 PREMIUM
VENDOR, right, is the only surviving
example known.
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