Coin Slot

Issue: 1979 February 049

Coin Slot Magazine - #049 - 1979 - February [International Arcade Museum]
EDITOR'S STATEMENT
Newcomers and long-time collectors are always writing in with
the same question; "How can I learn more about slots, jukeboxes,
arcade games, etc.?"
Well, there are a number of ways to become
more knowledgeable.
One of the first things a collector should do is to subscribe to
any and all publications dealing with their subject of interest.
These publications are filled with valuable information that all
collectors can find very useful.
In addition to the articles, they
can put you in touch with a number of other collectors who share
your enthusiasm for coin operated antiques.
Further, they can
help you locate books, services, hard to find parts, etc.
But most
of you already know this.
Next a person might purchase some of the collectors books
available on their hobby. Dick Bueschel's Slot Machine and Trade
Stimulator books are excellent examples of valuable resource ma
terial. Although I have yet to see a copy of Ken and Fran Rubin's
new book "Drop Coin Here", the first proof sheets show it to be
colorful and very broad in scope covering slots, music, arcade and
even vending machines.
Then there are books such as Jukebox
Saturday Night, Pinball Portfolio, Pinball, Tilt, etc.
With any
of these books, you benefit tremendously.
Expert advice is no
further than the end of your fingertips.
Digging deeper we run across reprints of old service manuals.
They can be extremely valuable to you if you ever work on your
own machines.
Even if there are no service manuals available for
your exact machine, you need not worry. Although each machine
is different in some way, general principles of operation are shared
by all slots, jukeboxes, pinballs, etc.
For instance, many of the
slot mechanisms are quite similar in design and construction. With
the general instructions contained in these manuals carefully ex
plaining how the payout slides, coin escalators, and jackpots oper
.com
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ade of information are reprints of old
oad .a source
An often overlooked
l
c
r
n
manufacturer's
Dow // catalogs
www and promotional brochures. Not only
:
p
are they highly
entertaining,
but they can also alert you to fascina
t
ht
ate; you will find that this information can be easily apply to
your own machines.
ting machines you may have never seen before and may one day
wish to add to your collection. Then if a collector calls you from
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Coin Slot Magazine - #049 - 1979 - February [International Arcade Museum]
halfway across the country and offers you a "Mills Doctor Vibra
tor" for a song, you'll instantly have a very good idea of whether
to snap it up or not. Many of the machines pictured in these old
catalogs are ones that I have never personally seen, but would love
to have. As far as brochures go, we have one old Mills promotional
brochure that is an original and very rare that has 8Y2" x 11" color
pictures of the War Eagle and Super Bell machines. With some
thing like this, you can paint your machines exactly the way they
came from the factory with complete authenticity.
I could go on, but I think you get the general idea. Next month
I will discuss the most valuable resource aid of all, but very rarely
used. Meanwhile, happy reading!
¥f*tf *7aV^i-wr -
"Sound Off!" is a periodic column in which the Coin Slot provides guest editorial
space to colSectors.
Ef you feel there is an issue concerning any area of coin machine col
lecting that you wish to "Sound Off" about, here's your chance.
sent all sides to an issue.
thoughts for our very first "Sound Off" column.
write to:
The Coin Slot will pre
This month collector Dave Evans has sent us some of his
If you wish to "Sound Off", please
SOUND OFF, c/o Coin Slot, Box 612, Wheatrsdge, CO 80033.
SOUND OFF
"WILL THE REAL SLOT MACHINE COLLECTOR, PLEASE STAND UP."
How can he? He exists only in his imagination. The tried and
true collector does not even exist any more. He is a thing of the
past Today, all of us are rapidly turning into dealers, opportun
ists, and investors. Why has this happened? What happened to the
true collector?
Typically, we all started with one machine-it was a lot of fun-
and we wanted more slots. We got to know a few dealers who
would sell us that much wanted machine. The dealer made money
on the sale to us, just as he should. This process was repeated
quite often, and we built a fairly nice collection. As we upgraded
this collection from High Tops to Rol-A—Tops, we all discovered
that the goin prices on our common machines had advanced sharp
ly in the year or so that we owned them, in other words, we all
made money when we unloaded these lesser machines.
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Yes, this profit was
invested
in
e better slots, and we all recall that
ad
oa we d could
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n
the Rol-A-Top
have
bought in 1974 for $600-700,
a
ow
w.
w
now was D
costing / in
excess of $1,00Q-maybe even $1,500--or possi
w
:/
bly $2,000.
http St does not take a Harvard Business School graduate
to realize that these machines were a fantastic investment. So, we
spent more time and effort trying to buy more of these fantastic
investments. As we got to know more dealers, we all saw that
there was money in these machines. We wanted to be a dealer and
cash
on this Arcade
fantastic
profit We forgot http://www.arcade-museum.com/
all about being a true
© The in
International
Museum

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