Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #091 - 1982 - September [International Arcade Museum]
ETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor
I have enclosed pictures of three machines marked A, B, and
C. I would appreciate any information you may be able to give
me on these machines, i.e. the year they were made, what country
they came from, the manufacturer of the machines, how much
they originally cost, and what they are worth today. None of the
machines pay off in coins. Only the pinball/slot is electrical.
A — is some kind of trade stimulator.
B — is some kind of mechanical pinball machine.
C — is a cross between a pinball machine and a slot machine.
None of the machines have names or serial numbers from the
manufacturer.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Robert Scrimshaw
lot of the pinball collectors stumped for some time. But the
researchfor the upcomingpinball book to bepublished by Coin
Slot Books unearthed the story. It'll be in the books, but suffice
it to say here it's the SK-IL-RO made by the Auto-Bell Novelty
Company in Chicago in 1968 as a copy ofthe pre-World War
11 Mills Novelty 1-2-3, only the graphics are considerably
different and it also has flippers.
That third machine is the toughest, as we really can't make
out much. We do know that it is American, and an earlypinball
game circa summer of1931 to summer of1932. It looks like an
A.B.T. game to us, but we can't really tell. Are there any
markings at all, or names of cities, on it?
So they're all American, you have the dates, and two of the
manufacturers. As for their new cost, that's hard to say. More
often than not the makers didn't advertise the cost of their
games in their ads. That was a closed-mouth deal between
Dear Robert:
Two out ofthree ain't bad. And that's what we can identify.
The trade stimulator is the easiest one to identify. It was
made by the Groetchen Tool Company in Chicago in the
summer of1934, and is called ZIGZAG. Your machine seems
complete exceptfor the missing nameplate marquee on the top
of the cabinet shown in its advertising.
That three-reel pinball game is a lot tougher, and has had a
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6 — THE COIN SLOT
© The International Arcade Museum
SEPTEMBER, 1982
http://www.arcade-museum.com/