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Mechanical Memories Magazine

Issue: 2006-June - Issue 3

Page 3 Text:

Editorial
Hello and welcome to Issue 3 of Mechanical Memories Magazine. It's probably a little
later than you'd expected, and to honest, it's later than I'd planned too! Although I've
never actually specified a publishing date, you should normally expect the mag. during
the first week of the month. My computer problems last month are the root cause; it took
three weeks to fix. Then, as soon as I got the computer back, half term was upon us, so it
was off to Brighton every day for the next week. Anyway, it got finished in the end and it
helps me to work toward 'closing the gap' between the July and September issues. I've
printed a big notice later on in the mag. but I'll just remind you now that there will not be
a magazine in August, so the July issue will out during the third week of the month and
then issue 5 will be (hopefully) the first week in September.
It was good to see many of you at the Salisbury auction, and I even signed-up a few
more subscribers. I also met a few subscribers that I knew only by name, so it was good
to be able to put 'faces to names'! Apart from the weather, it was a good day out, and
I've heard Southern Counties were pleased with the event and will be repeating it next
year. For those of you who couldn't be there, I've printed a brief report on the next page,
and a full list of prices is posted on the pennymachines website.
There's been a bit of a change of plan with some of the content I had planned for
this issue. 'The Mystery New York Machine' (see page 7) has sort of taken over! What
started out as a nice little snippet, turned into a major article. As a result of this, there is
no room for 'How I started my collection' or 'Readers Wives'. Hopefully they'll be in-
cluded next time. Please, please keep sending in items for the mag. Although from the
outset, I've known I would be doing most of the writing, it would be good to have some
'help' from time to time!
And finally, I thought I should acknowledge some of the appalling spelling mistakes
in the first two issues, before someone else does! Nobody yet has commented, but some
ofthe spelling has been rubbish! In issue one I wrote " .... of coarse" and in Feedback, in
issue two, I wrote " ... that's sought of what the magazine's all about". WHAT!!! How did
I do that? Of course, the spell checker was useless because sought isn't incorrectly spelt,
it's just the wrong sort. But the final straw came when Les Saunders 'phoned and said
"thanks for printing the Ahrens ad. I haven't had much response, you got my 'phone
number wrong".
I give up!
Until next tyme, awl the best
Jerry
Page 3

Page 4 Text:

The Salisbury Auction
Overall, I think the auction can fairly be described as a success; all credit to Southern
Counties for their organisation of this event. Bearing in mind slot machines are not really
their 'bag', I think they did a remarkable job. Certainly, this is an ideal venue, being
centrally situated for those of us in the southern half of the country, although perhaps too
far south for anyone north of the midlands. The premises are ideal, with good facilities
including reasonably priced food and a bar, and not forgetting ample parking!
Lot numbers and variety were down on last year, although this was to be expected;
last year's sale being something of a ' one off'. Allwins and bandits dominated, with a
good variety in both categories. At the bottom end of the bandit range, Aristocrats; Segas
and Jubilees seemed to be selling for fairly predictable prices. Jennings Governors must
have been breeding like rabbits overnight, there being five on offer, realising prices of
£425 - £800. At the top end, a Mills Poinsettia and a Jennings Victoria each sold for
£800. A Mills Extraordinary failed to sell at £650.
Prices in general were low this year, this being particularly evident in the allwins,
although some of the lower prices did rather reflect the condition of some of the
machines; there were a lot of ' projects' on offer this time! Machines that sold included:
Wonders Quick returns £300; Whales Penny Points £250; Brenner Ball Past the Arrow
£380; Whales Players Please £200; Bryan's Elevenses £270 and another for £320. Prices
such as these would have been unimaginable a year or so ago, even accounting for
condition, and do seem to reflect the general fall in values that we ' ve seen recently. Is
this due to a lack of newcomers entering the world of vintage slot collecting?
Bryan's machines were a bit thin on the ground this year, although five Clocks were
on offer, again selling quite cheaply at £230 - £270 with a slimline version selling for
£390. An early white face Pilwin sold for £725 and a Retreeva made £2400. A Bullion on
old penny play, in original condition, failed to sell at £380
Most of the larger, floor-standing machines failed to sell, they included: Green Ray
(£1900); Wurlitzer 1080 Jukebox (£6500); floor-standing foursquare Sweetie Allwin
(£950) and one of the stars of the show, the Mutoscope Magic Finger (£2300). Figures in
brackets are the prices at which bidding ceased.
So, all in all, a good day out (apart from the weather). I understand that Southern
Counties were pleased with the event, and will be conducting another auction at the same
time next year. I' ll keep you posted.
A full list of prices is posted in the Arena
on the pennymachines website.
www.pennymachines.co. uk
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