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To add to the above: the picture of the machine from the Elephant House auction case is I think not original. The original had a removable front. I have somewhere a copy of the patent showing the complete wooden machine and will put it on this when I can find it!

Your machine is a Matthewson Two Man Footballer, circa 1898. As well as being made in a cast iron case it was also available in a wooden case as a counter top machine. This is a very rare and valuable machine in an original case. I know of one that sold for over £5000. The mech alone would probably ...

These are in fact cheap compared to e-bay item 202005159111 this started at £20 for only 73 copies of MM magazine but ended at £231 !! just two bidders the winning bid being an opening bid, they went to USA.

Found this rather nice postcard on American ebay obviously was missed by the locals as sold at the opening bid of $15. The machine on the left is a " blow machine" these had a short life as they caused the spread of TB ! There was a similar machine to this sold in a resent Vagas sale but a...

Lot 35 The silver palace sold incl 23% $2091 other prices of machines I highlighted were double decker $2400, A1 note changer $180, Egyptian Bell $2337, tick-tock $1169. lilliput [1900 wall machine on 1/2d] $738, grip tester on 1d $738,wizard fortune teller on 1d [wall machine] $1140, Brook land rac...

I note Mr Peterson's comments regards the quantity of machines. I think a more positive view is that there are opportunities for all pockets to buy a machine, also many of the lower priced machines are rare even if not classics. Nice to see the video post I had forgotten just how amazing the collect...

The sale details are on calendar page apart from having a mind blowing collection of bandits from a collector I visited about ten years ago who had 1000+! then .There are also eight nice ENGLISH machines I spotted [may have missed one or two] all estimated very low even with exchange rate £1/$1.2 ha...

You will never get a better chance to see a collection of bandits than the Morphy's auction of Barry Goldfarb's collection on 28/29 January 2017. I visited him about 10 years ago and he had over 1000 then! All fully restored. See Calendar page for details. Worth bringing forward your trip or making ...

Just finished second on this postcard on ebay. What a fantastic postcard. If anyone on the forum was the lucky winner, I would love a print. ebay number 152335952854 Norfolk POSTCARD 2 sellers of Pin Ball Machines believed to be from Norwich, a real photograph card in nice condition note on the reve...

I am not wishing to take a side on the Coventry v Elephant house situation and clearly very strong views are held on both sides. I have spoken to Mr Hunt last week and he has said he will be available to view on Saturday afternoon I have arranged to visit at around 4pm on my way to Coventry where I ...

The results of this sale make very interesting reading even with the terrible £/$ exchange rate. The bandits I don't think have ever been so low. Caille Naked Lady $1,046 centre pull $4,200 including 23% premium. I bid unsuccessfully $11,000 hammer for a similar machine in VCA sale some years ago. T...

Bryans fan has sent me this enlarged close up of the Clacton postcard which I received this morning, showing the three shooters. It has been printed in sepia rather than the original black and white. Just thought other people might like to share the image.

Bob, although I thought I knew this story in full from our exchange of letters more than ten years ago, I now realise I had only a bare bones idea of the whole story. I must add my grateful thanks to other members for this wonderful contribution. However, you have not included how you came acquire t...

The postcard posted by Bryan's fan is fabulous. It is very rare to find any postcard showing machines on a pier after about 1915. Most show cast iron mermaids (as racers), Cricketers, Football or Golf and fortune tellers and cast iron mutoscopes. These are I expect a set of the three cast iron shoot...

About seven years ago, when visiting America for a COCA convention I was talking to Ken Rubin ( Drop Coin Here author) about the cast iron shooters and he mentioned that some years earlier he had heard of the base of a mermaid in New York being used as a birdbath. I seem to recall he hadn't seen it ...

Thanks gameswat for the information on the painting, still think quality of painting is great and as now know done in England even better however will be leaving mine red!

Where are they now? We know from my earlier article that there were 18 shooters found in the 1940s and restored by Bolland. The two sold in auction by Showtime and Morphy were both originally found in Canada by an American dealer (I believe in a café). They were sold to a well known collector for a ...

Seeing the picture posted by Bryans fan has prompted me to post this article which I had meant to do some time ago. I have been collecting information about these wonderful shooters for nearly twenty years but had never seen any image of a "castle" on site until now. Firstly I will reprodu...

The only reason the dice have been painted black on white is because I already had a normal payout coin domino so thought it would make a contrast for the new machine.

Update to earlier post. The restoration is progressing well - see new pictures. Amazingly, the machine is virtually complete from a 'box of parts', missing only part of the coin slide and some connecting wire. Only major missing part is the cage to hold extra cigarettes. Does any one have an idea of...