were originally shiny machines like the Jennings
Standard & Sun Chiefs, Pace Chrome Deluxe's and var-
ious Mills Chromed machines.
Another aspect of the market on eBay was the
strength of slot machines was a bit surprising. With only
four listings was the always popular Watling Treasury.
One nickel example with front mint venders in excel-
lent condition received a high bid of $5,605 (reserve
met). The seemingly ever present Mills Vest Pocket on
the other hand had 92 listings with the high coming in
at $1 ,524.75 for an example still in the original shipping
box.
I know there are a number of people that do not buy
or sell slot machines on eBay for a variety of reasons.
While there are reproductions, dishonest sellers, ship-
ping issues and dealing with emails, really how differ-
ent is it from going to an auction or buying from an ad
in a magazine? All of these issues are part of every
hobby now and both buyers and sellers need to be aware
of them.
I have actually talked with many people who never
considered collecting vintage coin operated machines
until they happened upon an auction on eBay. As with
many collecting fields, eBay has opened it up to new
collectors, which is extremely important for any hobby.
In the entire history of collecting antique slot
machines has there ever been a time that 80 - 100
antique slot machines are available for sale every month
to anyone? For this reason the sales results on eBay are
important to the hobby. If not simply to gauge the value
of machines but also the trends in restorations, popular-
ity of different models and rarity of some machines.
Finally I would like to preface this article by saying
I am not an all knowing or seeing expert on vintage slot
machines. I do greatly enjoy the hobby and buying/sell-
ing them. With that experience and a commitment to
recording the results on eBay I hope to provide you with
some insight into the trends of the hobby on the internet
twice a year. I hope to meet many of you at the upcom-
ing COCA events for 2005. For detailed information on
specific machines please feel free to visit my website at:
www.nationsattic.com/coca.htm or contact me directly
at slots@nationsattic.com
• Most Expensive Machine:
Mills Dewey with Jackpot Upright - $15,050.00
• Most common Model Listed: Mills Vest Pocket
• Overall Average Price: $1,083.85
• Number that did not hit reserve: 325 - 25%
• Number that sold with "Buy It Now" : 80 - 1%
There were a number of quite notable machines that
sold. There were 4 Buckley Bones machines, all selling
for over $10k. Caille Operator Bell Cast Iron for
$8,100. (reserve not met). Jennings Buckaroo for
$6,302. Jennings Golf-A-Rola for $12,000. Mills
Baseball for $7,200. Mills Checkboy for $6,500. Pace
Bakers Racers for $6,100. Pace Races $7,200. (reserve
not met). Set of Roll-A-Tops 1 ¢ through 50¢ went for
$15 ,100.
Some of the older or harder to find brands also
appeared in limited numbers, those were:
• Amusement Machine Co. - Little Casino - $3,750.00
• Bally - Reliance Dice with Jackpot - 5¢ - $14,500.00
• Burtimer - Pony 5¢ - $2,250.00 & $2,047.00
• C&F - Baby Grand 5¢ - $1,800.00 (ended with a
"Buy It Now" bid)
• Clawson - Three Jackpot counter Pocket -
5¢ $3,700.00 (reserve not met)
• Fey - Twin Jackpot Conversion - 10¢ - $1,660.01
• Kenney - Pyramid - 5¢/25¢ - $1,495.00
• Paupa & Holchreim - Columbia 5¢ - $3 ,700.00
(reserve not met)
• Sun - Bicycle - $7,600.00 & $3,350.00 (second with
new wood case)
• Superior - automatic Salesman Mints of Merit - 5¢
$5,600.00
• Vendet - Midget 2 Reel - $1 ,930.00
One of my first observations was the number of
Mills machines listed compared to all the other compa-
nies. They represented 60% of all the machines sold!
Rounding out the big 5, Jennings came in second with
Pace third, Watling fourth and Caille fifth. Granted,
eBay is not all inclusive of every machine in existence.
It does however show what is currently being offered on
the market and what is most readily available for sale in
the 21st Century.
The next interesting detail that seems fairly consis-
tent was the selling price for restored versus un-restored
machines. In many cases a very good un-restored exam-
ple would always bring more money than complete
shiny restored examples. The exceptions to this rule
Good Huntin!, Don Creekmore, Nations Attic.
If anyone cares to do this with other areas of
coin-op, please contact Paul Hindin.
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