Clown Catcher, info please

[barryisland]

Hello
I have just found this site, what fun.
Please can anybody help with some info?
I attach a pic of a machine I bought about 20 years ago. It has an allwin type trigger to launch the ball. As I have not located another whilst looking on the internet, l hope somebody can help.

I had the old metal around the penny slot replaced. The old one says Brevete SGDG, so I guess it's French. The door is slightly warped - any suggestions? Also I use a ball bearing to play. This drops so fast, would this have been used originally?
Anyhow it's working.
Thanks
barryisland

[john t peterson]

Barry,

Welcome to PennyMachines. If you type "Bajazzo" into the search function in the Forum, you will find a wealth of information on your machine. There were several different iterations of the clown catcher as you will find. Yours is a nice one.

Regards,

J Peterson
American clown

[pennymachines]

I don't think I've seen that one before, but this heavily restored French clown, like yours, does not run on a ball, and requires the player to project the ball upwards with a trigger. I think it has had the ball added (notice the thin string, also added, for it to run on).

This British shield catcher is a forerunner to the clowns.

[barryisland]

Hello and thank you both.
I looked through the forum but could not find one like mine.
I see the similarities on the two you have posted.
The case is stamped 192 on the side. I attach a pic of the mech in case anybody can perhaps identify.
Any alternative to the heavy ball bearing?
Thanks

[brigham]

The ball will drop just as fast whatever it's made of, so I wouldn't worry about that.

[barryisland]

Hi
Yes I see your point.
It's also that the BB gets quite a wack from the timber peg to send it up.
I see the peg is mushrooming at the top, perhaps a steel BB was not the original material or I will try rubber top on the peg which will be a bit kinder?
Thanks

[pennymachines]

Unusual mechanism. I imagined it to be coin return, not token payout. I haven't seen a Clown use anything other than steel balls. Could be the ball is too small? It looks so, against the ball separator.

With regard to the door warp - perhaps a piece of wood as an end stop inside the top right corner of the cabinet (or a strip inside the length of the left side) would keep it straight when locked. Otherwise a combination of clamping, moisture and heat may be the answer. Some ideas here.

[santelmann]

The "Brevete SGDG" coin insert was a typical purchased part, used for various machines.

Are the fixig screws for the knobs (three per knob) slotted, or seemed they to be unusual?

[geofflove]

I agree the BB does look very small in the pics. Worth trying a more ‘normal’ size one and seeing how it works. It might also slow the fall a little as a larger ball will get more jostled by the pins.

[tallstory]

My Clown Catcher is similar except it doesn't have a 'flicker' to raise the ball to the top. It certainly makes the mech a lot simpler to do it this way. You can see from the attached photo how much extra metalwork is needed to raise the ball to the top of the machine with the T shaped knob.

The tube on the left holds the tokens so I don't think yours can be a coin return - it appears it is intended to return tokens, like mine. I did read somewhere that dispensing coins from a machine required a special license in Germany and this is why tokens were used instead. Could be totally wrong, of course, like so many of these stories.