C.O.C.A. Times
Issue: 2014-November - Vol 20 Num 3 - Page 10
By Johnny Duckworth
When I began collecting, I found a few common
slots locally which sparked my interest, but that was
about all I could find until eBay came along. You nev-
er knew what might show up on eBay and it seemed
so easy to find something you didn't have. That only
pulled me deeper into the hobby and shortly after that
I started making the trip to Chicago twice a year to
look for even more treasures. I soon discovered that the
Chicago show was more like a magic show. Whenever
someone would pull anything out that was very desir-
able it would instantly disappear! If you are a veteran
collector you know what I am talking about. The supply
is short while the demand is still very high for quality
com-op.
wasn't so easy since the magazines were over 20 years
old and many of the collectors had sold everything or
even worse, passed on. It wasn't a total waste of time
since I did pick up a few nice machines including a Vic-
tor musical upright and a Fey Duo.
One lucky find that I stumbled upon was pictured in
a 1985 issue of the Coin Slot magazine. It was a Pace
Kitty owned by Fred Sagebaum in Butte, Montana. I
cal led Fred up and introduced myself and was very
happy to hear he still owned the machine but unfortu-
nately he wouldn't even think of selling it. Fred pur-
chased his first slot machine for $100, a Jennings silver
chief in 1972 out of a local garage filled with dozens
of machines. Fred has gathered up quite a collection of
Early on I felt that all the great coin-op machines slot machines since that time. Butte was home to one of
were already residing in someone else's collection. I the largest coin operated distributors in Montana, which
could only find photos of the early coin op machines was owned and operated by Harry B. Brinck. The H.B.
that I wanted in the slot magazines such as Coin Slot Brinck Company was a distributor of Pace slot ma-
and Loose Change. I spent a lot of my time trying to chines and Rockolajukeboxes. They also sold pinballs,
contact collectors that were mentioned in the maga- amusement games, & novelties. You will notice the re-
zines to see if the machine could even be acquired. It cent photo of the long abandoned Brinck building that
10
When I began collecting, I found a few common
slots locally which sparked my interest, but that was
about all I could find until eBay came along. You nev-
er knew what might show up on eBay and it seemed
so easy to find something you didn't have. That only
pulled me deeper into the hobby and shortly after that
I started making the trip to Chicago twice a year to
look for even more treasures. I soon discovered that the
Chicago show was more like a magic show. Whenever
someone would pull anything out that was very desir-
able it would instantly disappear! If you are a veteran
collector you know what I am talking about. The supply
is short while the demand is still very high for quality
com-op.
wasn't so easy since the magazines were over 20 years
old and many of the collectors had sold everything or
even worse, passed on. It wasn't a total waste of time
since I did pick up a few nice machines including a Vic-
tor musical upright and a Fey Duo.
One lucky find that I stumbled upon was pictured in
a 1985 issue of the Coin Slot magazine. It was a Pace
Kitty owned by Fred Sagebaum in Butte, Montana. I
cal led Fred up and introduced myself and was very
happy to hear he still owned the machine but unfortu-
nately he wouldn't even think of selling it. Fred pur-
chased his first slot machine for $100, a Jennings silver
chief in 1972 out of a local garage filled with dozens
of machines. Fred has gathered up quite a collection of
Early on I felt that all the great coin-op machines slot machines since that time. Butte was home to one of
were already residing in someone else's collection. I the largest coin operated distributors in Montana, which
could only find photos of the early coin op machines was owned and operated by Harry B. Brinck. The H.B.
that I wanted in the slot magazines such as Coin Slot Brinck Company was a distributor of Pace slot ma-
and Loose Change. I spent a lot of my time trying to chines and Rockolajukeboxes. They also sold pinballs,
contact collectors that were mentioned in the maga- amusement games, & novelties. You will notice the re-
zines to see if the machine could even be acquired. It cent photo of the long abandoned Brinck building that
10
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).