Mechanical Memories Magazine

Issue: 2013-March - Issue 74

Rex Rotor
By Stuart Dale
This month's offering is the story of my three reel Rex Rotor console sty le bandit and
how I came to own it. As some of you will know, I am not a fan of ' bandit' type
machines in general , but I do have a liking of the unusual and quirky types of
machines, and the Rex certainly is quirky .
I first saw this machine about three years ago when it was put up for sale on a
well known internet auction site, I am a sure you all know the one I am talking about.
Even though the machine was in a pretty sorry state and non-working, it was love at
first site, so I put in a bid. The machine sat there all week without any other bids, even
though lots of people were watching it. I thought it was in the bag, then at the very last
moment I was outbid. My heart sank and I kicked myself for not putting in a higher
proxy bid . Yes, I know we have all been there!
Anyway, a few months went by, and by chance the subject of the Rex came up,
and I was told that the winning bidder was none other than Harold English, which
made a lot of sense because Harold was the un-crowned king of the German bandit. I
also learned that sadly Harold's health was failing him and he was starting to let some
of his machines go.
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By chance, a collector friend of mine was going down to see Harold with a view to
buying one of his machines and it was arranged that I would go with him to look at the
Rex. To cut a long story short, we both had a very enjoyable day at Harold's house,
where we got to see and play some of his collection of German wall machines, and we
both came home with a new machine for our collections. Sadly, that was the last time I
ever saw Harold, as he passed away a few months after our visit. He may be gone but
he is not forgotten.
Once I got the machine back home, I did a little research and I found it was dated
1954, which makes it about the same age as me, give or take a few months, and had
been produced in a choice of styles. It came as a countertop machine, like your
'normal' bandit style; a wall machine and a console machine like mine.
Rex Rotor in its wall machine form,
and (inset) as a counter-top.
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Download Page 12 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

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