Awesome PM, thank you!

JP, did you bug that incomplete Ball Past the Arrow you sold me with a tiny camera or something!? :o Because I just happen to have both my examples apart on the workbench as I write awaiting new artwork from the printers! Sadly for Bugdust both are the later models with totally different mechs and I...

You had a lot of patience. proof that patience Funnily enough I don't think I have a lot of patience.....which is partly why I've learnt to restore as many things as possible myself because I hate waiting for others. I'm no team player that's for sure. I also use a lot processes that set and dry re...

Somewhere I once had a cabinet with an electric element spiral branded into the wood base.

That Wonders backflash looks like 1970s era artwork to me, when Victoriana was huge. Better than many remakes I've seen, but completely out of time with the '50s machine, so I'm no fan. I doubt it will create a bidding war of any kind as I'm sure most people would want to restore it back to a Wonder...

Thank you PM, I'd only ever seen the cover pages of this catalogue until now. That was in the Costa book back in 1988!

TF, I've done quite a few and don't remember any of them being an issue, but having said that it's not a job that meant anything to me so I'm now vague about it...... :!?!: Thinking about it I must've fitted well over a thousand locks to machines so that probably makes me pretty blase to the intrica...

The simple way is just to forget the original locking system for now and use a single lock in the bottom hole. I've done this for customers numerous times because even though I'm in Aust I've never come across any of those parts spare. Just means either customizing or making a new latch for the lock...

Ah, I just noticed the two cast bars between the reels, so then the top casting probably is from a Poinsettia after all!

I imagine this is a mid to late 1920s Operator Bell. Slightly earlier models had an open award card but also a square slug checking window under the coin entry. Later they used an oval slug checking window like yours and a divided score card. They probably just cut out that score card division when ...