Price & Castell Looping the Loop identified

[JC]

Does anyone know anything about this machine? It's one of the lots in the Coventry auction this year. The vendor doesn't know much about it but I have a vague idea it's a very early machine by Price & Castell, dating from around the turn of the century.
A ha'penny is flicked around the track (much like an allwin) and tokens are paid out according to where the coin lands.

Any ideas as to maker and approximate date?

[pennymachines]

A search of the Arena turns up lot 77, Looping the Loop by Price & Castell. It was in Christies sale of Nic Costa's collection, 2006. Possibly patent number 19492 'Game with coins' of 1900.

They also made Game of Skill, Get Tee Zee, New Get Tee Zee and another (unnamed) - all simple skill games in plain wooden cabinets.

[JC]

Thank you PM, seems for once I was right. I was at the Costa sale, so perhaps details of this machine are embedded in my sub conscious - certainly the name 'Looping the Loop' rings a bell. When I get a chance, I'll dig out the catalogue and see what they had to say about it.
Comparing our vendor's picture with the one posted by PM (which I assume is from the catalogue) it appears to be the same machine, so I wonder - is this a sole survivor?
Interestingly, the other three machines mentioned were all offered at a previous Coventry auction, although I think due to unrealistically high reserves, none sold.

[pennymachines]

I've now put all the Price & Castell games in the Museum.

[sweetmeats]

This machine was offered in Christie's sale Jan 2006 lot 77 described as "looping the loop" by Price and Castell circa 1899 est. £5/800 unsold. Reoffered in 31st May 2006 sale lot 191 est. £3/400 again unsold, may have been sold after sale?

[pennymachines]

I wonder if it was really called Looping the Loop as this name doesn't actually appear on the game.

[pennymachines]

I'm reliably informed that the "unnamed skill game" which was identified at auction as a Price & Castell product was in fact a modern 'fantasy creation'. I've therefore demoted it from the museum to this post. It does appear very home-spun, so easy to pass off as Price & Castell. In view of their rarity (each being a sole-survivor), I wonder if this short-lived London-based company made the games more for use in their own establishment, local pub or some such, rather than for resale, although Patent 19492 suggests grander ambitions. I've now located that patent which is for the Get Tee Zee which tells us that Mr Castell built cycles and Mr Price sold them.

[daveslot]

Having owned this machine in the past I can say this is not a modern recreation. It also appeared in the Costa/Haskell catalogue. If any look like it's out of place it's the Looping the Loop.

[daveslot]

I feel as this needs a reply. Just to casually cast this out of slot history as a recreation or 'looks home spun' seems a tad irresponsible to say the least. What evidence have you to back up your statement? I have actually owned this machine at one time and it looked OK to me, certainly not modern. The case had been refinished, but what machine has not? The knob looked replaced, but that's it. If you are saying it's not by Price and Haskell as Nic Costa indicated then surely the others are suspect as well.

[pennymachines]

Hi Dave,
Sorry, I was resisting a reply until I'd spoken again to the source of this information because, as I'm only passing it on, you could say it's heresay.

As you said, the game was pictured in the Costa/Haskell Catalogue together with the four others attributed to Price & Castell. After I put them in the Museum I received a call from a gentleman who bought many of the machines in that collection directly from Nic Costa (I bought a few myself at the time). There had been little or no interest in the P&C games but this gentleman agreed to include some in his purchase. During the negotiation, he said that Nic Costa fessed-up to having built the un-named game with the hand-written instructions.

The unsold 'Looping the Loop' was the only one to appear in the subsequent Christies 'Costa' auction of 2006. It remained unsold and failed to sell again later that year. I don't know what happened to 'un-named game'. Perhaps you bought it at the time? It resurfaced at the Elephant House in 2016.

Having been given this information, and mindful of not wanting to re-write slot machine history, I didn't feel I could just ignore it. I appreciate it's a touchy subject and if I've misrepresented the facts, or there's been a mistake, I will correct it.