C.S.I. MINNEAPOLIS
by John Peterson
Don't you love those television shows that seek
to both challenge and entertain? I certainly do!
Though we may not agree on specific programs, I
think it is safe to say that we can all agree that there
are not enough of these shows offered to us. One of
my current favorites is "C.S.I.," (Crime Scene
Investigations, Miami, New York, and now
Minneapolis!) Besides the appeal of smart women
and clever writing, I enjoy the intellectual dissec-
tion of victims, crime scenes and the psyches of all
the players. With a combination of forensic inves-
tigation and strong intuition, the investigators
resolve puzzling and often contradictory evidence
on a weekly basis. Sort of like what I attempt to do
each time I report for duty to my tiny workshop in
the basement.
Today's article is entitled "C.S.I. Minneapolis"
or more specifically, "Coin-Op Scientific Inquiry,
Minneapolis." For you newer members who have
not had the pleasure of suffering through my earli-
er articles, there are several notable differences
between the older coin operated games made in
England versus those from the same era here in
America. One of the most frustrating is the lack of
manufacturer's identification on most British
games. My research suggests that a major reason
for this was the British game maker's desire for
anonymity and therefore immunity from prosecu-
tion should their game be deemed a gambling
machine rather than an amusement device. (See
"This Comdog Won't Hunt, "COCA Times, July
2002 for a more in-depth discussion.) The end
result is the vast majority of
pre-WWII British games
have no manufacturing iden-
tification on the game. We
will examine one such game
today to see what secrets it
has to tell us. Please dim the
lights, Professor. Let's begin.
Slide, please. (Photo A)
The machine before us is an
allwin named "Lucky Horse Shoe." Several fea-
tures besides its appalling condition immediately
stand out. First, you have undoubtedly noticed that
this is an automatic payout game. For the junior
grade detectives among us, your more experienced
brethren were able to conclude such by observation
of the case front. Take another look. There 1s a
hammer lever on the right and
a payout cup, nothing else.
Therefore, once the ball has
dropped into the horseshoe
"win" hole, the coin payout
must be automatic. Just for
comparison, please examine a
traditional allwin (Photo B).
This is another game of about
the same vintage as "Lucky
Horse Shoe." See the large knob on the lower left
hand side of the case? This is what you tum after
your ball has gone into a "win" hole. By doing so,
you manually operate the interior coin slide which
drops a coin (or whatever your prize) into the pay-
-out cup as well as returning your ball for another.
As you know, the autopay allwins are in the
decided minority and are much more desirable and
valuable than the manual
models. Therefore, this must
be a rare and valuable allwin,
right? Not so fast, Inspector.
Your initial assumption is
incorrect, we see a most
unusual interior mechanism.
(Photo C). Take a look as the
the spring at the bottom of the
door with the red ribbon
attached for illustrative purposes. This spring
attaches the hammer lever to the payout slide
mechanism. After the ball drops into the Shoes
"win" hole, you push the hammer lever down a
second time. This activates the coin slide in the
same manner as the turning of a traditional payout
knob. Quite a clever slipper, this "Shoe!"
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