•
'
I am still unsure whether I was a target or whether the thief just got lucky. The police
expressed a view that it contained the hallmarks of opportunist and unprofessional
thieves - who knows. We were only out for a few hours when it happened and the only
people who knew we were not at home were the friends that we visited. Last year I
wrote a series of articles for MMM about photographing slot machines and included a
number of photos of my machines. I have asked myself numerous times, did I
inadvertently advertise the fact to the thief (or unscrupulous collector) that I had these
machines, through the very pages of this magazine. I hope in all sincerity that it was not
via these pages.
It has taken me some time to get over this and for weeks I just ignored the slot-
collecting world on the web and in MMM, I just could not bring myself round to looking
on the web or reading about my hobby. However, in such circumstances we need to
move on and that is exactly what I intend to do, so yes I will be collecting again but my
machines will now be kept away from my home.
Good advice to all collectors who own machines have already been covered by
Jerry's article in the May edition, and Richard's letter in the June edition of MMM, and
Richard's suggestion of a 'stolen register' is a very good idea. Thankfully, I had taken
many photos of my machines both inside and out and this greatly assisted in proof of
ownership. Be aware that insurance companies insist that if you claim for anything
stolen you need to prove ownership of that item; and the reason is that there are in
excess of 2000 false insurance claims per week in the UK. I have to say that the
insurance company have been very good and I have not encountered any insurance
problems at all.
Following on from Richard's comments regarding safeguarding your machines, as
well as bolting machines to walls/floors etc one recommendation that I would urge all
collectors to do is install a burglar alarm. If you do not have one, sell one of your
machines to pay for it! This piece of equipment is the single most effective deterrent to
the burglar. I would gladly forfeit one machine to save all the others. I started off this
article by mentioning Bollands Burglar......... now did they also produce the
executioner as well!! I leave it to your own imagination as to where my thought process
is going.
I would like to thank Jerry for all his help during this time both behind-the-scenes
and through the pages of MMM, I sincerely hope that fellow collectors will not suffer
the same fate. It is times such as these that the value of this magazine comes to the fore,
it not only serves as a catalyst for collectors of machines but also as a channel to feed
through views, thoughts and ideas to other like-minded individuals.
Richard Goddard
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