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Our new full service distribution facility will
serve the greater Southwest- Texas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas and Mississippi.
Over 10,000 items in stock to provide parts and
supplies for vending machines, music / game
equipment.
Over 12,000 sq. ft. of space housing everything
from coin chutes to video game testers.
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Centrally located at 4560 Leston, in the new
Regal Industrial Park.
Wi co/ Dallas your best one-stop source for
everything you need to repair, maintain or mod-
ernize your equipment.
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Call (214) 634·7790
Now serving the entire Vending, Game/Music
Industries even better!
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HOME OFFICE
64 00 Gross Po int Rd .
Niles, IL 60648
(312) 647· 7500
SALES & SERVICE BRANCHES
'16 Gloria Lane
~ Fai rfield, NJ 07006
~ (201 ) 575·0515
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4560 Les ton , Suite 410
Dallas, Texas 75247
(214) 634-7790
5584 E. Imperial Hwy .
South Gate, CA 90280
(21 3) 923·0381
(continued from page 17)
regular flipper game?
NICHOLS: Most of our machines are on two plays
for 25 cents; and we have no five -ball games- all
are on three balls. However, we are experimenting
with some of the new games at one play per
quarter, three plays for two quarters, and in this
case we're using five balls and we're also using
three balls. We haven't determined yet whether
there's any point in going to five balls or not. We
hadn't had a five -ball game for about fifteen years
until this fall.
PLAY METER: It kind of softens the blow a little
bit when the player walks up to the machine and
sees that it's 25 cents a play and then realizes he
gets two extra balls. Is that your philosohy here?
NICHOLS: Well, we thought when we went to the
quarter a play, we had to give them something so
we gave them a couple of extra balls. Still I actually
don't know whether the going to five balls is
worthwhile or not, but we do know that the quarter
play doesn't seem to stop the players. Recently I
saw two boys waiting to playa machine that was 25
cents a play while there were six other machines in
the location that weren't being played at all. They
said, "Why don't you get more machines like this?"
It just happened to be a pin game that they liked,
and they were waiting their turn on it, a quarter a
play.
PLAY METER: Five balls or three?
NICHOLS: Five. Another thing that I have
mentioned to operators about pricing on games is
this. For a long time now, for several years , we've
had 25 cent games in video, and quite a number of
amusement devices have been 25 cents for one play.
Sometimes the player doesn't get much more than
one minute's play for his quarter and still these
machines will earn tremendously. On a pinball you
get four or five minutes of play for your quarter
depending on the number of balls. What I'm trying
to say is that if the player will spend a quarter for
the other games, he'll also spend a quarter to playa
pinball where actually he gets more playing time.
PLAY METER: So you think it's quite possible that
you could get away with three balls for 25 cents.
NICHOLS: We're doing it now. There may be
locations where it wouldn't work, but we're doing it
and it's working very well. We're even mixing
machines up: we have machines that are on two for
a quarter right beside machines that are on one for
a quarter and the one for quarter machines are
earning more. Of course they're new .
PLA Y METER: And some of these are one for a
quarter, three balls?
NICHOLS: Yes, and I'm not the only one doing it.
It's being done in a few other places in the country .
In fact there are other places where it's been done
for several months or longer and they're reporting
that it works out okay.
PLA Y METER: What other ways can the operator
increase his profit picture other than raising his
prices and adjusting his commisssion structure?
NICHOLS: Dr. Malone from the University of
Notre Dame has studied the problem. He gave a
seminar in Chicago at our last convention. He points
(continued on pag e 7(/)