The more discriminating among you might be asking, "What is this British game-nut
doing looking at American games in the first place?" This is a fair question. My answer
is that I look at everything. Part of what fascinates me about this hobby is the
opportunity to research items with which I am not familiar. There is more opportunity
for research into the English-made games since much less is known about them,
particularly here in America. Also, although I rarely purchase an American coin-op
piece, I am interested in all the different machines that were made, whether they are
English, European or American. I just happen to love the British games more.
Let me take time here to sing the praises of another American collector, Greg
McLemore and his 'International Arcade Museum' web site. If you have not been to the
site, you're missing out of a terrific resource tool. Whenever I find an American
machine that I do not recognize, I go immediately to Greg's site and see if I can track
down the game. Greg provides a terrific public service and we all are in his debt for his
,efforts to educate and promote the hobby. When I saw Topsy Turvy Derby offered for
bid on Ebay, I went to International Arcade Museum to see what I could find. What I
discovered was there are no books containing a picture of this game. Topsy Turvy
Derby was listed as one of those machines that was "on a list of games made from 1931
to 1939 which was published in the January 1940 issue of the Coin Machine Journal,"
quote-unquote from the International Arcade Museum site. That suggested to me the
game might be fairly rare. As I looked more closely at the picture on Ebay, I realized
the machine was actually a Fields 5 Jacks with the top marquee missing. In its place,
someone had attached the ' Topsy Turvy Derby' metal marquee.
I must admit, I love pieces that are mis-identified. I wrote to the seller and told him
my suspicions and asked him to examine the top of the case for signs that the single
metal casting original to 5 Jacks had been broken away and the Topsy Turvy Derby
marquee added after the fact. He wrote back to me and confirmed that I was correct.
Being a man of integrity, the seller corrected his listing and thanked me for my sharp
eye. Being a British game-nut, I did not bid on the piece and for those interested, it did
not sell. No one offered the initial asking price. After the auction closed, the seller of
Topsy Turvy Derby emailed me and inquired what it was I collected. When I
responded, "English coin-op machines ," he replied, "I have a British game that I've had
for a long time." Let's pause here for a moment. What do you think was running
through my mind at that very instant? If you guessed, "Find out what this fellow has, at
all costs!" then you are correct. I asked for a photo plus description and what came back
was a rare working model by Fred Bolland called Hell's Kitchen from the early 1950's.
The ' working model' is a very narrow field of British coin-op that has no true
American counter-part. The closest cousin in our inventory would be the arcade pieces
like Peppy the Clown, but even its name suggests the pathetic nature of the comparison;
we are clowns when compared to these fabulous British machines. Peppy merely jumps
about in response to basic inputs from the customer. The true British working model is a
virtual diorama of activity, all of which is compelling subject matter, sometimes comedic
and sometimes tragic, but never boring. They invite the visitor to deposit the required
coin into the slot, then, like the carnival barker, the machine goes into action, drawing us
closer to see the amazing story unfolding behind the glass.
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