C.O.C.A. Times

TROPHY GOLD
A TRIBUTE TO BOB LEGAN
By Bill Howard
Early on in my collecting days I de-
cided to collect the most desirable of
the coin operated golf machines manu-
factured between 1920 and 1945. Over
time I compiled a list of nine machines
from my collection of ads and, me-
thodically I was fortunate to capture
six of the nine on the list. Then came
the Fair Weigh Golf Scale, the subject
of an article I wrote in the March 2003,
COCA magazine, and finally, African
Golf, also featured in that addition of
the COCA magazine. In almost every
one of these eight acquisitions, I was
successful in no small part due to the
help of friends. Such was also the case
when fortune allowed me to claim the
ninth and final machine on my list, Tro-
phy Golf, the subject of this article.
Automatic Inventions, Inc. of New
York City manufactured Trophy Golf
in 1930. To my knowledge only four
examples exist, all at one time or an-
other passing through the house of the
late restorer, collector and good friend
Bob Legan of Mentor, Ohio.
The story begins about ten years
ago when Bob invited me to his home
for dinner. As I entered Bob and his
wife Maddy's home through their ga-
rage, my eyes lit up like a Christmas
tree. There, against the wall in various
forms of restoration, were two Trophy
Golf machines. All I had seen of this
machine was my ad from the
February 1930, issue of Auto-
matic Age. Up to this point that
was the closest I had come to
knowing about the existence of
this wonderful machine. Bob
explained that a collector had
found four Trophies and had
given them to Bob to restore.
He had completed two of the
four and had sent them on their
way. Of the two remaining to
be finished, the person who had
located the four spoke for one,
and the fourth was one Bob had
an option on buying as part of
his restoration deal initially. He
indicated that he wasn't sure
if he would keep the fourth or
simply sell it. When the third
left Bob's house, he told me he
was not keeping the fourth example,
and I would get first chance to buy it
when restoration was completed. I was
ecstatic, because I knew that whatever
Bob had anything to do with was done
to perfection . When I asked Bob when
his restoration might be completed, he
smiled and reminded me what Michel-
angelo told the Pope when asked when
the Sistine Chapel would be completed,
"It will be completed when it's done".
I was not worried as years passed.
There were two things among others
that you knew about Bob - you didn 't
rush him, and you never had to doubt
his word.
More years passed, and some of my
friends did get worried. Some suggest-
ed that I press Bob and go directly to
the still technical owner of the fourth
un-restored machine, whose identity I
knew. But I had Bob's word, and I felt
that was all I needed.
Unfortunately, the plot soon thick-
ened. First, the value of this machine
had soared since Bob made his com-
mitment to me. I began to feel like the
guy who tried to block one of Daryl
Dawkins shots as his hand was on top
of the ball and kept going higher and
higher until he had to let go when old
"Chocolate Thunder", as he was known
then in the NBA, stuffed it through the
30
basket. Second, Bob called me with the
news that one of the nations top coin
op dealers had been to Bob's friend's
house and discovered not only his ex-
ample, but the un-restored one Bob
was still working on. Being the suc-
cessful businessman this dealer was, he
offered a handsome price and insisted
on buying both. Bob said he was sorry,
but could not do much other than col-
lect his full restoration bill.
Forhmately, this story ends well be-
cause this dealer was also a friend and a
true gentleman. After some phone calls
and some crying, whaling and accom-
modating on my part, the dealer friend
agreed to revise his demand and only
purchase one, leaving the one still at
Bob's to go to me. Bob not only kept
his word to me, but sold it at a frac-
tion of what he could have commanded
and must have known I could not have
paid.
So again, I have a machine in my
collection due in large part to friend-
ship. In Bob's case, it was delivered
shortly before his untimely passing.
The story has one final twist. I finally
discovered why it took so long for Bob
to complete his "S istine Chapel". A mi-
nor adjustment needed for the golf ball
to be dispensed if the player hit each
hole in succession without a miss had
stumped him. After a couple false starts
at finishing only to find the ball sti ll
hung up, Bob called on another friend,
Smiley Dubena, who solved the mys-
tery. As you can imagine, the Trophy
Golf sits in my house surrounded by
many fond memories.
Bob pointed out that the four ex-
amples known vary slightly in design
because of a modification by the man-
ufacturer in later models. In any case
it is a cut above Chester Pollard and
Hoot-Mon Golf arcade games. If you
were successful, you got an actual golf
ball vended to you. This vendor fea-
ture, plus the beauty of the playfield
and background, places The Trophy
Golf atop the field of coin operated golf
games. My example is pictured, and is
also featured on page 158 of my book,
Every Picture Tells a Story.