Mills Vest Pocket

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badpenny
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by badpenny »

I first came across one when I was 17 and on holiday in Jersey where gambling (at the time was illegal) I was in a pub where a Sega Vest Pocket was being passed around amongst the regulars. It was certainly getting some hammer.

A family friend visiting us a couple of years ago spotted mine and said he knew what it was as he used to work at The Standard Triumph Car factory (home of Toledos, Dolomites and Spitfires) in the sixties where a co-worker owned several that he used to let be passed around the factory during the day. It seems he wouldn't see them for days but they always found their way back to him for emptying and he was always getting complaints from colleagues moaning that someone must be hogging them as one hadn't been their way for ages.
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operator bell
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by operator bell »

I remember seeing a very fine chrome Mini Sega in an operator's shop window in the late 1960s, but never saw one on location or got to touch one. I'm not particularly tempted by the battered painted Mills Vest Pockets that come up on Ebay, although I do admire the ingenious mechanism, and I'd almost buy one just to watch its innards as it worked.

Here's a bar top machine you won't have seen. It's Japanese, early 1970s, and runs on electrickery. It's bigger than a vest pocket at about a 12 inch cube. It was originally a coin payout, but this one was converted to credit play for use in illegal markets. There's an operator panel on the back with key switches to add credits and cash them out. The displays are stacked plates of perspex with symbols drilled into them, and edge lit. There must be more of these in the world somewhere, but I've never seen one.
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treefrog
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by treefrog »

The problem with the Vest is it is dull, which I guess was the intention for discretion, but my favourite is still the Baby Grand I was out bid on a few years ago. The nicest looking micro slot ever IMO... probably the only machine I have not pushed the price on and regretted all this time later. Never seen one since :#:

Baby Grand
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marktol
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by marktol »

The Baby Grand looks very smart.

In many respects I think I prefer some of these smaller ones to the full size ones. The irony being you could probably get a full size one for less than a small one...!
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Hey there, I decided last night to pull out my Mills Vest Pocket that was shelved in disgust 4 years ago due to constant jamming. Currently trying to figure out the issue/s. One problem is I need the special tool as shown below. I made this one and even though i know it's close it might be a little off, enough to drive me bonkers!! If anybody has one and could scan it for me with the exact dimensions and thickness I'd be over the moon !!YIPPEE!!. The machine will payout well over a length of time and then jam coins halfway pushed out. A real pain to deal with unless you have the mech out already. I'm sure i have the payout adjustment slightly off. But it was like that when i found it and no amount of tinkering can get it right thus far.
I also have a basket case Sega V P and need a cabinet door and award plate if anybody has them spare.
Cheers.
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by marktol »

Hi,

Funny you should mention that as only today this showed up on eBay:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SS:GB:1123
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Hey Marktol, cheers for the link, I got the flap (and door) for $16!

On another issue, I had to do some pot metal welding to the back door as it had warped and cracked slightly. After this i then needed to repaint the machine. It had decent original hammered metal paint in pale blue and gold. But after spending quite a few dollars experimenting I've been unable to find a finish that's even close. The original was a very thin paint but had a deep 3D effect. One brand was thin but had about 1/5 of the effect. Another was thick and gluggy and while it has a raised pattern it had very little metal flake in it. In disgust I stripped the cabinet back for the third time and went and bought a can of wrinkle paint. Mills did offer them in wrinkle finish and I've always loved the effect. Though I could only find pics of green and grey. I decided to bling mine up a little and painted over the black wrinkle in mettalic blue on the ends and red in the middle. If any machine needed bling it's this one, about as boring a cabinet design as there ever was, but a very clever little machine hiding inside.Now i just need to get the mech to stop jamming*#%! A friend in the US thinks he has one of those stepped tools I need in a box somewhere. He never knew what it was until now. Hopefully he finds it.
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badpenny
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by badpenny »

I was told, or perhaps I made it up, that they look the way they are because at the time in the USA you could use coin operated radios at bus stations etc which for their own protection were encased in metal boxes. And the vestpocket was disguising itself to look the same, hence the flaps over the reels and payout chute. :didact:
Probably all lies :!?!: I can't be trusted you know
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

I'm sure you're right BP, they do look like a small radio. Though how long did that ruse last? Here's this one done. Once I find the back door for my Sega I think i'll just polish the aluminium cabinet up. I've done that a couple of times with little US trade stims and especially the deco ones look amazing.
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treefrog
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by treefrog »

Another great finish Gameswat, looks better than the original finishes !!THUMBSX2!!
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Well, I think this little Vest Pocket lost me some hair tonight in great bloody chunks, ripped out by the handful no less! But damn it all to hell, I didn't give up. And after a half litre of energy drink I semi-confidently walked back out to my workshop at 11.30pm to try and figure out the random jamming problem. My big issue with this mech is the tiny size which makes it really hard to see what's going on with the payout mech. This was jamming at odd times no matter what I did to adjust it. And to unjam is a nightmare. I recently found a different manual than my first (which was little help) sold on eBay that included the Sega manual as an extra. I paid my cash and had it sent to a US friend for on-postage to me, of course the seller didn't do overseas sales, of paper manuals!??? Anyway it did have a lot more adjustment info in the Sega version plus many more diagrams. I figured out a way to remove the coin tube and payout mech so I could adjust the coin payout adjustment, which is what I thought I kept getting slightly wrong somehow. This was much easier to see what was happening, and it helped that I had a basket case Sega mech to compare with, as the Mills and Sega do differ in detail slightly.

Anyway, as I was putting it back together I noticed an adjustment that I hadn't known of thanks to the original US manual. The Sega manual showed that the payout slide was supposed to be slightly inset from the coin tube, but mine was adjusted to be slightly proud. So I think that occasionally, with slightly larger dia coins, they would catch this edge and tilt, and this was the coin on top of the stack ready to payout, so instead of cleanly paying 10 coins for example, number 11 would tilt down at the front and partly slip through, just enough to jam up everything, and no payout. Which explains why when I'd shine a torch in through the payout cup to look, there would be one extra coin twisted at the top. I kept assuming that I had the coin payout adjusted incorrectly, but I must've had it right so many times, DOH. Once I had it back together, everything works perfectly, at 2 am! Hoo - Bloody - Ray. Just started restoring the Sega version and that will be a laugh with all the knowledge I now have.............. gameswat
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Just about have my Sega VP sorted now. I'm missing reel strips though and have yet to find anybody selling the correct black versions. I can make them but to save a lot of time if anybody happens to have a loose example they could scan I'd be thrilled. !!THUMBSX2!! Thanks. The black versions have a little white outline around each symbol to make them stand out, and to add this to each normal symbol will take quite awhile.
Had a different problem with the Sega mech. The payout lever trip wouldn't budge unless you really forced it. The two responsible springs seemed fine but on close inspection I found that no matter how I adjusted the lock lever, that to release it the payout slide had to actually move backwards against a very strong spring. I filed an ever so slight angle to the lever and then used emery paper to smooth every possible scrtch or edge away. So that now the payout doesn't need to move at all until it's tripped, and a lot less force required to trigger it. Not sure why this should be an issue except that the machine has done a bit of work in it's time. I also just found that an operator had drilled six extra payout holes for every Lemon symbol. Making a very liberal payoff. Filled the holes with brass countersunk headed screws and soldered them in place.
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special when lit
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by special when lit »

Try this guy for reel strips. He's got them listed in his catalogue.
http://www.mrslot1.com/
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Special When Lit wrote: Try this guy for reel strips. He's got them listed in his catalogue.
http://www.mrslot1.com/
Thanks, but I already checked that catalogue a while ago and only the white Mills strips available. I don't remember ever seeing anybody selling the black Sega strips.
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Just pulled my part restored Sega VP out of storage and I'm close to finally finishing the damn thing! But my last task will be to make the missing black reel strips. Just before i do go to hours of trouble tonight I'll ask one last time if anybody has a loose set, or even one loose original black Sega reel strip to suit - a scan please!? I only have partial pieces left and in very bad cond so a lot of touching up required and then measuring and spacing out of symbols.

I was hoping to just polish the alloy case but the repro door that needed putty and roughly machined original case put paid to that idea. Tried again to paint with modern hammerite paint but after two attempts still wasn't happy with the results in the original light blue. So third effort was the wrinkle effect only used by Mills. I chose the black and gold version and looks very classy indeed. :D
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

OK, reel strips not a problem anymore!! I just started looking hard at what i have and realised that all Sega did was take the original Mills strips and paint black around the symbols leaving the small white outline. So i can just buy a white set for $9.99 and paint in the black myself saving a ton of time. Great when a plan falls into place. :HaHa:
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Me again.......in the course of cutting back the rusty as hell payout door on my restoration I've lost all the 6D Mini Sega lettering. Wasn't even worth scanning it was that badly pitted. Could someone please scan or photograph their nice example for me so i can acid etch mine back in? Thought I could live without it but ain't gonna happen!! Thank you.
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badpenny
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by badpenny »

Not sure if this falls into the category of a nice example, but it is the only one I have ........
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gameswat
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Perfect BP - Thank you! Will post some pics when it's done.
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Re: Mills Vest Pocket

Post by gameswat »

Finished this last week and sadly already gone......Thanks to BP again for sending the pic of the door for me to copy!
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