Mechanical Memories Magazine

So, ha ving looked around and finding that there are so me reall y stunning, quality items
o ut th ere whi ch are a bit intimidating pri ce-w ise, whe re does thi s leave yo u? Well , all is
not quite lost. A ltho ug h sell ers are ge nerall y both serious co llectors and kn owledgeabl e
about pri ces, the sheer amo unt of stuff which seems to ha ve survi ved in America, and
the nu mber of mac hines w hi ch seem to ha ve been manufac tured, to be s ituated in eve,y
resta ura nt, soda fo unta in , dru g store and arcade, does mean that there are a lot of low
va lu e bas ic ent1y mac hin es and Ameri ca na whi c h ac tuall y seems cheap. Thi s is because
it is unbe li evabl y commo n by our standard s and so most Ame ri can coll ec tors already
have it. o r have passed by thi s leve l of mac hine/ me morabilia o r availability keeps th e
pri ce fa irl y reasonabl e. So, wha t could yo u buy that seems re lati vely cheap? We ll ,
ma inl y it seems to be vending mac hin es such as the Fo rd g umba ll , Sil ve r King and
se lect-o-vend 's. A ll bas ic mac hin es, at pri ces w hi ch a re c heaper than over he re; that
is, befo re yo u take into acco unt th e cost of th e trip' A lso, so me odditi es such as kitsc h
60"s radi os and bat te1y toys, w hen th ey turn up seem fa r c heape r than generall y is th e
case ove r he re. So me trade stimulato rs see m reaso nabl y pri ced (espec iall y w ith the
c urre nt£-$ ra te), but then aga in , it doesn ' t seem that they have a pa rti cul a rl y stro ng
fo ll ow ing over he re. So me jukebox wa ll boxes seemed c heap ( I boug ht a ni ce AMI
120 se lec t 50's wa ll box with a bespoke AMI ba r brac ket fo r £7 5). A jukebox co uld be
c heape r; except th at findin g what yo u actu all y wa nt a nd shipping it bac k make thi s a
risky bet . T he re is a lso s uc h a ra nge of stuff o ut th e re in a ll sorts of conditi on, th at
there is a lways th e hope of findin g a treas ure; aft er a ll , o ne man 's junk is ano ther's
treas ure. I actua ll y bo ug ht a front co in mec h fo r a Maste rs Fa nta il fo r $45 (if yo u
know that mac hin e. yo u wo ul d know th at was a g reat bu y!). In the past th e odd
Engl ish mac hine has shown up ; and by thi s I mea n litera ll y one at thi s time (but o n
this occasion the re were no ne to be seen). Howeve r, the pe rve rse s itu ati o n I have
encou nte red is tha t they are sca red to sell yo u a barga in and ac tu all y as k muc h mo re
tha n the mac hine wo ul d se ll fo r over here. O ne po int to bea r in mind too is that
so mething ca n seem a ba rga in , but if yo u are on unfa mili ar te rrito1y w ith fo re ig n (i.e.
A merica n) merc ha nd ise yo u mi g ht later di scover that so me inco n-ect parts are fitted o r
else it has fa ul ts in so me way whi c h yo u didn ' t noti ce.
Now, a ll of thi s isn' t intended to put off any co ll ecto r fro m visiting the show.
BUT, I thin k yo u have to attend on the sa me bas is that yo u attend , say, a foo tball match;
yo u pay yo ur mo ney and value the enterta inment yo u see . If yo u go out thinking that
yo u w ill find many c heap ge ms, I think that yo u mi g ht be di sappo inted, althoug h
equa ll y it co ul d be yo ur luc ky day. It can a lso be a littl e daunting from the po int of view
of j ust how seri ous and know ledgea bl e A meri can coll ecto rs can be. It 's pro babl y no
s urpri se to hea r th at many A me ri ca ns have a superi o r li ving standard (in so me respects)
a nd ce11ainl y a g rea ter di sposabl e inco me th an we have hi sto1i call y enj oyed. Therefo re,
th e w ho le concept of co ll ecting seems to have beco me, fo r man y, an establi shed pa11 of
A meri ca n li fe. T he re also appears to ha ve been less destructi on of o lder stuff. Thi s is
e nco uraged by th e size of the count1y w hi ch has meant that barn , wa reho use and
'basement" di scoveri es of ra re co ll ec tabl es and o ld machines seems to ha ve made fo r a
continua l source of g rea t bygo nes .
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