Polo anyone?

Somebody knows... Maybe you?
roger
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Polo anyone?

Post by roger »

Has anyone ever seen a "Play Polo" arcade machine which resembles the Chester Pollard Soccer Game? The figures are mounted on horses... I would be interested as to who manufactured it and just how rare they are... Forty years ago, I saw four of them at the same auction and assumed they were very common but have never seen another since that time.
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Re: Polo anyone ????????

Post by pennymachines »

I think it was in the late 1980s that undertaker Roger Gillman turned up several Polo mechanisms made by Charles Ahrens. They were interchangeable with the Ahrens Football mechanisms. I suppose it's possible they were sold for this purpose, because there were no cabinets. The coffin-makers were put to work producing oak copies of Ahrens Football cabinets to house the mechs. I don't know how many there were in total, nor do I think I've seen an Ahrens Polo in an original Ahrens cabinet. Unfortunately I can't lay my hands on a picture at the moment. Can you remember where the auction was?
roger
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POLO ARCADE GAME

Post by roger »

I bought all four of these machines, sight unseen, from a Midwest U.S. auction house. From the advertised picture, I assumed they were Chester Pollard machines. I was very surprised to find they worked on the old English penny.... Two of the cases were wood and the others made of steel... It sure is strange that four of these rare machines would show up at the same auction and never appear again....
Roger.
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bob
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Re: Polo anyone ????????

Post by bob »

Here's a picture of an original Polo on location. This is a photo of the amusement arcade located in Australia in the Adelaide seaside suburb of Glenelg underneath the Big Dipper roller coaster. The Adelaide Luna Park was constructed in 1930 right at the beginning of the Great Depression of the thirties and struggled financially until it was closed down in 1934 and totally dismantled and re-erected at Milson's Point at the foot of the Harbour Bridge in Sydney in 1935.
As a bonus I've added a companion photo of the arcade showing some other rare and interesting British and American machines including a Tug of War.
This Polo was noted as being constructed entirely from Australian flush toilet parts.
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Arcade Adelaide Luna Park 1.jpg
Arcade Adelaide Luna Park 2.jpg
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slotalot
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Re: Polo anyone ????????

Post by slotalot »

Hi Bob, :D I just love to see these old photos of arcades long gone. !!PHOTO!! Thanks for sharing it. :tarah:
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treefrog
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Re: Polo anyone ????????

Post by treefrog »

Fascinated by those two large viewers "Lunas Little Theatre" and "Little Circus". They are huge. Would these type of machines have just had a model scene of the subject in them or possibly some moving bits like an automaton? Should not think many of this type of viewer has survived today.
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Re: POLO ARCADE GAME

Post by cheeky »

roger wrote:I bought all four of these machines, sight unseen, from a Midwest U.S. auction house. From the advertised picture, I assumed they were Chester Pollard machines. I was very surprised to find they worked on the old English penny.... Two of the cases were wood and the others made of steel... It sure is strange that four of these rare machines would show up at the same auction and never appear again....
Roger.
Sounds interesting. Any photos to share?
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Re: Polo PICTURE

Post by roger »

Sorry, but I never saved a picture of the four Polo machines. Forty years ago there wasn't much literature available on arcade machines, so I really didn't appreciate what I had. Secondly, there wasn't much interest in collecting large arcade games... lack of space, I guess... even today, large arcade games are not that popular in the U.S. In 1950-60 you could pick up these large arcade machines for a song.
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Re: Polo anyone ????????

Post by pennymachines »

Wow Bob - fantastic pictures. Thanks for sharing, and what a wonderful line up of games. The Tug of War is my favourite.
Chas. Ahrens produced his competitive floor-standers to order, in oak for indoors and iron-clad for outdoors. Chester Pollard's machines were in less elaborate wooden cabinets and, as far as I know, they only made three games: Play Football, Play Golf (2 versions) and Play the Derby.
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Re: Polo PICTURE

Post by cheeky »

roger wrote:Sorry, but I never saved a picture of the four Polo machines. Forty years ago there wasn't much literature available on arcade machines, so I really didn't appreciate what I had..
Thanks Roger. I was hoping they were a recent find.

Bob, love the photos. I went to Sydney a few years ago but didn't manage to get over to Luna Park although I could see it from my apartment. !!THUMBSX2!!
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arrgee
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Re: Polo anyone ????????

Post by arrgee »

Great Photos Bob and good detail too.
Pity the (Ahrens?) Palmistry is hiding the 'Pull The Lions Tail' machine, I believe that there was a thick rope on this and when pulled hard the lion would roar, never seen any pics of this machine and only ever seen one of these, must be a rare machine today.
roger
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Re: Polo anyone?.....

Post by roger »

Many years ago I posted this "POLO" inquiry which was clarified by MR. P.........I still have a vivid memory of these four machines being delivered and the realization that I had not purchase Chester Pollard machines.
I always assumed that the ones I bought were quite common...........how else would 4 of them end up in an general auction in the midwest USA in 1970.............Yet, despite this, there has not been any posts when Pollard or AHRENS are mentioned.

Again........... Does any member have knowledge of the "PLAY POLO". !PUZZLED!

ROGER
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by pennymachines »

There's an example on Melvyn's site (in Roger Gillman-built cabinet) and what appears to be an original one on Pinterest.
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unnamed.jpg
unnamed.jpg (10.51 KiB) Viewed 3820 times
693b03c8408d9518a2106cdb3fb9cd2b.jpg
cait001
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by cait001 »

Thanks for the great photos of the game on location.
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gameswat
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by gameswat »

Not on location. That second photo was taken at Greg McLemore's house, most likely at the time of the 2005 COCA visit. The marquee is not original but an average painted version done in the UK before he purchased.
roger
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by roger »

!!THUMBSX2!! ....Thanks MR. P for the" POLO "pictures...Your depth of information is truly amazing.

I wonder why such a unique machine is not more recognized and appreciated in the U.K.
I have never seen one in the U.S. and I've viewed most notable collections... I would love to know what happened to the ones I sold... my guess....the owners died and the widows sent them to the local dump yards. :smash:
ROGER
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by pennymachines »

Enamel top sign from same, sold at EH. I don't know if it was an original, or left over from the partly reproduced Polos.
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pennymachines
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by pennymachines »

Wooden and metal cased versions.
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polo1.jpg
polo4.jpg
roger
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by roger »

:!: :!: NIGHTMARE :!: :!:

I still recall the shock when the 4 monster Polo Machines were delivered to my front door. I flipped them right away with the "encouragement" of my wife....(it was more of a threat). Today, they are probably worth twenty times the price.

They say...."MISERY LOVES COMPANY"

Would you please tell us your sad stories of letting the big one get away.? ROGER
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coppinpr
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Re: Polo anyone?

Post by coppinpr »

I owned a Gottlieb "Kings and Queens" pin table as featured in the movie "Tommy" kept it for 4 years as it was the best game play of any pinball, then sold it in 1974....the movie came out in 1975 :dammit:
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