Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #051 - 1979 - May [International Arcade Museum]
It
stores the numbers of quarters played, the
Terry, his best Bally-trained mechanic, over.
His
number, color, and odd-even as well as the specific
tory repeats
odds for each, and it actually pays off with un
cases of beer, the machine was kicked and cursed
failing accuracy into a large, double-hand size pay
into life.
itself.
After six hours, two more
out cup.
Terry
A large flashing red button on the front of the
machine signals when all selected numbers, odds,
motor,
went through
search
mechanism.
unit,
every contact, solenoid,
memory
unit,
and
payout
We dropped $75.00 in quarters into
and color information are stored in the memory.
the bank-type coin counter, which was hooked up
At a touch of the button, the genuine excitement
to the memory sensors that served as the payout
of
mechanism.
Roulette
begins.
The
little
wooden ball
is
brought up by a pinball-type transport system. A
solenoid is fired by the flashing red button.
The
After a few more beers and a light supper, the
ball spins counter-clockwise; the wheel spins silently
neighbors
clockwise. The ball finally bounces and clatters into
several hours of play and on-the-spot repairs. The
began
drifting in.
The Elephant got
a numbered, colored hole on the wheel. There the
new electrical smell was invigorating as it thumped
machine's memory and search units take over scan
and
ning for the number, color, odds, and group com
payout
clattered
out the
quarters on
a long shot
binations played.
My son, Kevin, however, soon had most of the
We have to remember the state of the art during
the time of manufacture.
The search unit and
memory bank look again similar to the Bingo ma
quarters and was collecting side bets from us that
he would win on his next turn.
Under parental and
neighbor pressure, he finally revealed his method.
chines that were popular until President Truman
Kevin noticed the regularity of the spinning roulette
signed the Johnson Act in 1950 which made them
wheel and that if he hit the ball release button
illegal.
when a certain quadrant of numbers passed a spe
The Elephant may have been a prototype
or designer model for club or casino use out west,
cific point during its slow steady revolution, the
and the Johnson Act stopped their interstate ship
ball would consistently fall into a group of num
ment. So they languished for twenty years, motors
bers of another quadrant of the wheel.
gumming, contacts corroding, and solenoids stick
really simple since the wheel was sectioned into
ing.
fourths and the wheel motor revolved with such
consistent turns.
Considering their age and their complexity, it
It was
The machine could be beaten
and beaten badly, especially when 45 quarters are
is truly a wonder that any of them operate. They
put in at 3-for-one odds.
have a reputation for being a fragile machine.
9 numbers of one quadrant to obtain a 36-for-one
this is an undeserved reputation.
But
For me, it serves
He only had to "cover"
pay almost every time.
as a nice transition piece between solid state elec
tronic slots of today and sophisticated electrical/
What is needed now is for one of our contribu
mechanical
payout pinball and console slots of
ting experts in pinball machines to give us an article
yesterday.
Nothing else resembles this machine
on the mechanical and electrical wonders of this
closely except the Mills 1-2-3, or Owl pinball ma
machine.
chines, or the Mills Twenty Grant payout pinball
collectors forever grateful for expert information
machines.
on the care and feeding of the White Elephant.
electrically.
Both are nightmares mechanically and
I can't wait to own one or both of
those machines either!!
thing.
I know there will be at least a hundred
Like I said, I'll buy any
I even own a Pinto!!
If you have such a
machine, just call Macomb and ask for "Stupid."
So this ends the story of my safari with the
White Elephant. S really like it. I even treasure it.
But it's so big, so ugly, and so noisy. The mainte
nance
m problems for me are simple. I call my re
.co pairman,
m
he shoots a little "Blast" on a sticky con
:
u
e
om in m
S learned what not to do to fr mine
St. us
Louis.
tact or he cleans up a stubborn solenoid, and the
d
-
e take
So S bought a cheap pickup
White Elephant is off and thundering through my
ad it e home, since
oad . to
l
c
r
n
a
w
it and my family
wouldn't
fit into my station
recreation room again.
o
w
D
w
w
/
wagon. The care, cost,
and feeding of the Elephant
/
:
ht to tp escalate far beyond its value to
was beginning
The very few of us who admit owning the ma
Someone will get ahold of me.
me as a collectible.
At home, I called the local
chines often swap stories about it and the troubles
pinball company owned by a friend, and he sent
and pleasures it causes. We endure the sneers from
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