Mechanical Memories Magazine

.J
Hi****, Your game is an amusement game but one that would also double as a
gambling machine. To work as a gambler, the players would have to be able to bet
against each other as to which would be able to attain the highest score. To be able to
count the score of each player at the end of individual games, the balls would have to
be trapped in the individual chutes so the numbers could be tallied up . If you look
closely at your game, at the bottom of the vertical chutes, below the lower screw
holding that chute in place, you will see a hole in the centre of the chute, right at the
bottom of the metal. If the game is playing correctly, a small "finger-pin" would come
out that hole to block the chute and catch the falling balls as the game was being
played. Without that finger-pin blocking the bottom of the chutes, the balls fall
through, preventing scoring. Without scoring, there is no betting. Without the ability
to bet on the outcome, the game would not have sold. Normally, the finger-pins are
retraced with the activation of the game. In this case, I thought it might be the act of
pushing in the coin slide with a nickel that retracted the finger-pins. It may also have
been activated by a pin in the middle of that metal circle we talked about earlier.
There should be a push-button in the centre that does something; like retracting the
finger-pins below the chutes. Your game is missing that button. It's clear the game is
not working as it should. Unless they're missing (a significant problem if true,) the
finger-pins are retracted inside the game and are not releasing as they should to come
out at the beginning of a new game. Try pulling out the coin slide (which I'm sure you
have already done since you put some nickels through it already). If pulling out the
coin slide does not bring those finger-pins into place, something else is wrong or
missing. Would there be any chance you could removed the screws from the back
board of the game, remove the board and take a picture of the interior mechanism?
That picture could tell me a lot. Thanks for your help on this,****. I'm a collector of
British machines with over 100 British games, some going back to before 1900. I have
a game that is similar to yours but not exactly the same. I'm interested in your game
too but bidding on an incomplete game is always an unknown risk. The more
information you can provide, the lower the risk to me or any other purchaser. Kind
regards.
tried taking screws off the back yesterday, and when it was loose enough up top, I
looked, and it looks as the play area is inside another type of case. I couldn' t get the
screws off the bottom, so I couldn't get it off completely. I will go out and look at the
metal chutes again and let you know what I see
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.J
****. You're terrific!
I just went out with another nickel. The balls dropped to the bottom. I watched for
the pins under the metal chutes. You are right. I could see them "trying" to come out
in the first two, but I couldn't see them in the others. My "guess" is that maybe
someone needs to go inside and clean and oil so the moving parts will work. This
game has probably been sitting in the garage for 30+ years.
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