Freddy Bailey & British slot books

Somebody knows... Maybe you?
User avatar
grabber
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:38 pm
Reaction score: 0

Freddy Bailey & British slot books

Post by grabber »

Hello.
Does any one know if Freddy Bailey finished and published his book yet ???, :lucky:
User avatar
loramarsden
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:16 pm
Reaction score: 0
Location: wigan
Contact:

help! british slot books!

Post by loramarsden »

Topic merged - Site Admin.

hey everyone! i'm interested in buying a book (or two) from the 'british' section in the library. was wondering if any of you owned any of the books and which you would/would not recommend?


thankyou! x
User avatar
slotalot
Posts: 2051
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:53 pm
Reaction score: 10
Location: Halifax West Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: help! british slot books!

Post by slotalot »

Hi Lora, :) the Arcades and Slot Machines by Paul Braithwaite is a good one for who made what and when between 1870 and 1970... I recommend you try this one..
Stuart. !!THUMBSX2!!
User avatar
JC
Posts: 1082
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:38 pm
Reaction score: 9
Location: Kent
Contact:

Re: help! british slot books!

Post by JC »

Yes, Arcades and Slot Machines is the one for you Lora. It's a very good reference source; it's cheap, and about the only one that's still available. Costa's book has been out of print for donkey's years, but if you ever come across a copy, that's a good one too, although they can be quite expensive when they do turn up.
User avatar
badpenny
Forum Moderator
Posts: 7212
Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 12:41 pm
Reaction score: 25
Location: East Midlands

Re: help! british slot books!

Post by badpenny »

I agree with the two curmudgeonly old souls above especially as my copy was free and autographed by John Carter.
raj
Posts: 642
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:19 am
Reaction score: 1

Re: help! british slot books!

Post by raj »

Shire's No 285 Amusement Machines (2.95) by Lynn Pearson, a slim but informative volume, out of print now, but fairly widely produced, is a good source. I've just noticed a picture of a high top Bryans Clock on page 4 that someone was asking about, also a 4 Square with a Pilwin & Gapwin on the same unit (or am I dreaming!)
User avatar
grabber
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:38 pm
Reaction score: 0

Re: help! british slot books!

Post by grabber »

There's also Penny in the Slot by Darren Hesketh - working models,
and Pennies by the Sea by Nick Laister
and also hopefully a book by Freddy Bailey this year all going well.
Hope this helps !THUMBS!
pennymachines
Site Admin
Posts: 6638
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2002 12:12 am
Reaction score: 56
Location: The Black Country

Re: help! british slot books!

Post by pennymachines »

Hi Lora - yes that's about it as far as British vintage slot machine books go - but I'm glad to hear that Freddy Bailey's book is still a goer.

I currently have in stock a tidy copy of Nic Costa's Automatic Pleasures (without dust jacket - £25), Lynn Pearson's Amusement Machines (good condition - £4) and Paul Braithwaite's Arcades & Slot Machines (new - £12), all p&p inclusive.
Also in stock - Pennies by the Sea: The Life and Times of Joyland Amusements, Bridlington by Nick Laister (£16) and the more specialist Penny-in-the-Slot Automata & Working Models by Darren Hesketh for £60. Darren's 2 DVD box set Old-Tyme Penny Arcade & the Vintage Fairground (£17) is a great way to see a good selection of automata and slot machines in operation. I've just been re-watching these discs projected onto a big screen and the video quality is pretty good.
User avatar
loramarsden
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:16 pm
Reaction score: 0
Location: wigan
Contact:

Re: help! british slot books!

Post by loramarsden »

thankyou everyone for your replies :D

looks like i'm going to have to get my credit card out pronto !!ESCAPE!!

xxx
User avatar
scottie
Posts: 293
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:10 pm
Reaction score: 0
Location: Canada

New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by scottie »

Topic merged - Site Admin.

OK, I'll throw a wrench in the furnace..... I'm sure a lot of you have seen the book ...Slot Machines on Parade..... I always thought that a large, hard cover book along the same lines but on wall machines, British, French, German etc. ..... a nice coffee table book.... mmmm anyone want to send 8/12x11 color pictures .... He He He...
SERIOUS, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Would you send pictures of your machines?
Would you buy a book like this?
scottie
User avatar
badpenny
Forum Moderator
Posts: 7212
Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 12:41 pm
Reaction score: 25
Location: East Midlands

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by badpenny »

I support anything that records the history of machines before it gets lost. I'd suggest detailed photos of the insides as well. Whether I'd buy another book?
It depends on what it was offering me for my bucks. Not particularly helpful I agree, but I'd rather spend my money on machines than books about machines.
I happily bought the Dieter Ladwig books but only because they were dirt cheap when nobody bought them at the original intended prices. Nice photos, not very informative, indexed in a strange (to me) way, but only a couple of quid in discount book shops.

So what's the unique selling point? Which way will Carter's book be shown the way home?

Tempt me :tarah:
User avatar
gameswat
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 5:17 am
Reaction score: 21
Location: perth, australia

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by gameswat »

I like any coin-op books as long as they add something new to what's out there. But collectors sending in photos of their own machines never works for a book; quality is just too all over the place. Look at eBay: rarely do you ever see professional photos. And a coffee table book needs to be pretty damn sexy looking otherwise it'll never sell.
User avatar
coppinpr
Posts: 5111
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:01 pm
Reaction score: 20
Location: Lewes, East Sussex
Contact:

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by coppinpr »

The photos are a problem but not an unbeatable one;I've had two books published (on another subject, of course) and both contained over 100 photos almost all of which I took myself, but the secret is these days that you just need Photoshop or Painshop Pro (which is better, in my view). Using these, almost all photos sent in can be made good. Getting it published might be the biggest problem. My latest book is by far the best I've done (so the previewers tell me) and it has a good market, and if a publisher reads it I'm sure he will snap it up, but the problem is getting him to even look at it, because of word processing and the internet. Publishers are swamped with books. Most won't even receive them now. Only real way is to get an agent who will tout the book for you (at 10% for life!!) If you DO go ahead with the book, and can afford it, by far the best way is to publish through Amazon.com. Their service does it all: proof reading, editing, printing, sales, and they are of course the biggest seller in the world. Cost around £2000-£3000.
I think all of us would contribute and if we did we would buy just to see our machines (LOL). You do need a better title though !SMARTY!
User avatar
badpenny
Forum Moderator
Posts: 7212
Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 12:41 pm
Reaction score: 25
Location: East Midlands

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by badpenny »

gameswat wrote:.......... a coffee table book needs to be pretty damn sexy looking otherwise it'll never sell.

......................................................... !THUMBS!
Sexy coffee tables! Wow! now there's a book to hope for.
User avatar
slotalot
Posts: 2051
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:53 pm
Reaction score: 10
Location: Halifax West Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by slotalot »

And just for you Jeremy :D

Look at the legs on that!!!!! :o
As for the new book? !READ! ... I would be more likely to buy it if it also showed in detail what goes on inside the machines, and not just photos of the outsides, but then again that may just be me?
Good luck, I hope you manage to do it....
Attachments
sexy coffee table.jpg
sexy coffee table.jpg (4.35 KiB) Viewed 3774 times
malcymal
Posts: 849
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:58 am
Reaction score: 0
Location: Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by malcymal »

A book detailing the inner workings of the machines would be useful. It's not the exterior pics I'm interested in, but what's going on inside. Been many a book purchased that is purely pictorial, disjointed and put together by somebody who isn't expert. If it listed some common faults and fixes per machine this would be useful. I think the internet is the proverbial killer of books; one could achieve the same through a Wall Machines Specialist Forum if it relied on photographs from the community. Indeed on this very site, pennymachines, categories of machines would be a starting point.
coin-op
Forum Moderator
Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 6:23 pm
Reaction score: 0
Location: England

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by coin-op »

Some interesting points, malcymal (but before I say anything - Slotalot... where DO you get your pics!).

I guess if you were to look at producing a book you have to look at numbers, and truthfully, for all but a few, a concentration on internal slot pics would take away any real viable market. A coffee table book with the right pics sells to the casual buyer just because it's interesting to look at... and you need to get to as many customers as possible; selling to enthusiasts is the easy bit.... selling to anyone else is the challenge.

As to technical fixes, really this site is a prime place to deal with those and, with wall machines, these are generally so simple that a book isn't really needed (there being decent books on bandits out there already).

Regarding the community... well, the 'active' community is rather small... although like the watchers on ebay, the viewing audience in larger, so it is harder than you would think to get support.
jingle
Posts: 661
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:21 am
Reaction score: 0

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by jingle »

Scottie, you could call the book
Slot Machines That Are On Fire

Put this pic on the front lad.
Attachments
IMG_0001.JPG
User avatar
scottie
Posts: 293
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:10 pm
Reaction score: 0
Location: Canada

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by scottie »

He He He nice picture ...
Good advice from all of you... yes I really would have to sell to the general public too, to pay the bills.
I think if I showed how a regular, average, run-of-the-mill,allwin works, that would be enough.
The rest would be a bit of history: different chapters for German machines, French and British, etc. and mostly full page color pictures of the different machines (and their owners ), just names... no pictures ...
scottie
User avatar
gameswat
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 5:17 am
Reaction score: 21
Location: perth, australia

Re: New book out...Wall Machines of the World

Post by gameswat »

Ha, we used to burn machines too, then collect the copper from the ashes and sell for scrap. But backyard burn offs of any kind have been illegal in Aust for at least 10 years I think.

I like internal slot machine photos too and I've found so much free info on my games while searching eBay. :D For a while there in the late 90s I was going to do a book just on Aust machines. Including original designs, copied designs and overseas machines with an Aussie theme. Had written a little and accumulated a lot of info and machines. But writing for me is like having teeth pulled for most people, (I actually like dentists, go figure!?). So eventually with a backlog of exciting restorations that always seems to number at least 80+, I lost interest in the idea. A friend is working on a book about Aussie jukes which will be quite entertaining.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 33 guests