C.O.C.A. Times

of coin-op games for roughl y
40 years. One of their most
popular
games
was
"Payramid" (Photo "G".)
Mr. Bryan combined the
potential speed of an allwin
with the sed uctive skill
required of a ball catcher. He
threw in a jackpot for good
measure and put it all in a
game shaped much like a
pyramid.
The result is
"Payramid."
The game
proved so popular that he was able to produce two
identical versions of the game almost 25 years
apart. The first model was from 1936 and is the
one pictured here. For a 1 D penny, you get eight
balls. You hoist the balls to the top, one at a time,
using the crank handle on the right. The introduc-
tion of subsequent balls can be fast or slow,
depending upon how quickly you twirl the crank.
Instead of a movable cup, Bryans went with a set
of chrome fingers. You control the "catching fin-
gers" with the knob on the left. The reward is vari-
able and tied to the number of balls that you catch.
If you're good enough to catch all eight, you get
eight coins and the contents of the jackpot so
prominently displayed on the playfield. The mech-
anism is amazingly complex with coins played fill-
ing both the jackpot and the payout tube, with over-
fill going into the operator's cashbox. The public
loved Payramid and it is a highly sought after game
in today's collector market. It proves that great
design and visual appeal are timeless in the pan-
theon of coin-op.
Conclusion and so ends our short tour
through the field of dreams ..... .. , er, I mean catch-
ers. Personally, I find catchers some of the most
fun games to play. My skills really have not
improved with age from those days in the Sixth
grade. The difference now is that I have enough
money to play the game over and over, until I catch
the ball!
The End
Extra Inning
How about you ? Are you catching the British
machine collecting bug? Want to talk about them?
Drop me a line at jp4@ charter.net or call me at
(952) 891-2312. Next time, we'll get back on
schedu le with those fabulous games made outside
Great Britain for the English market. Or maybe
not.
C.O.C.A.WEB SITE
S£0T
MACHINES
Americ~'s
·'ii • 1 . 1 ,
Fa vorite ■
Gaming .
•.
De vice
" '.
iiiEtil ■ I0IIOSi
•
Just a reminder to all ..... that C.O.C.A.
has its own web-site. It is maintained by
member Al Fox and has news regarding
shows, auction results, and classified ads, as
well as a question and answer section.
M IU'PWI Fey
~
SIXTH EDITION!
Same best selling book
with a new subtitle:
"America 's Favorite
Gaming Device"
and a new price, $35
plus $7.00 P&H
Over 31 ,000 copies cold,
plus two foreign editions.
Dealer Discounts
Marshall Fey (775) 826-26 07 e-mail : LibBelBks@aol.com
2925 W. Moana Lane, Reno, Nv 89509
the address is:
For other slot machine books check our web site:
www.coinopclub.org
LibertyBelleReno.com
8