Are these bandits any good?

[your-such-a-slot]

Hi.
These are the ones at the end of the room. Which ones are the ones to go for?

[treefrog]

I suspect you need to be asking yourself that question in terms of style and looks as we will all have different tastes......are they all in your budget......are you bothered about non U.K. coinage, assuming you're from the U.K.....

The dollar Hi Top is unusual and I like the chrome one, so there you go.

[coppinpr]

As everyone has already said, it's all about what YOU like at the price offered. Plus we can't see what condition they are like inside. Do they work correctly and have the mech inside that goes with the case? So anything we say is pure guesswork, but from the photos only, and not knowing the price at all, here is what I'd look at first.

Working across left to right in your photos (and I'm sure others will correct my mistakes, at least I hope so):
The two machines in the first photo are Buckleys. They are my favourite machine and both look like they need work which is what I like so they would be the first I looked at. Depending on the price asked, there are a couple of things you need to look at though. Buckley used Mills mechs and escalators in a lot of his machines so it's not wrong to find Mills mechs in these BUT he later made his own mechs and escalators which, to me anyway, is preferable. The first one at least appears to have a Buckley escalator (the coins touch rather than spaced as in the Mills esc). Buckley Mechs have a distinctive piston damper high on the right side which is a quick clue to it being a Buckley made mech. Buckley "Criss Cross" machines rarely have a jackpot, but it not unheard of.

Photo 2 are all later Hi-tops. The first could be a "Bonus Jewel" (not Hi-top Bonus which is very different) and purports to have come from the Mint hotel. The second could be for real as I think they did make a chrome/polished model, but it looks a bit wrong to me. If it's a "21" as it says on it, the wings are wrong at least. Number 3 is pretending to be a a "21" (1947) but it's later than that. 4 could well be a "21", although it SAYS it's a "Blue Bell". 5 looks like a "Bell-o-matic?

Photo 3 are all earlier Hi-tops (except number 4). Number 1 is perhaps the oldest and looks like a "Jewel", the first of the hi-tops. 2 looks like a slightly later "Jewel Bell". 3 might be the same but the colour is either wrong or was a special order for a casino. 4 is from about 1950 and was a case usually used for 4 or 5 reel special machines (often jackpot only). This is a three reel machine but does seem to be a special feature machine.

If I was looking for a Hi-top from this lot I'd look closer at "the Mint", the "Jewel", the "21" (if it has a jackpot) and the special on the end (but only because I've already got several Hi-tops). Then I'd climb over the Hi-tops to get at the Pace machines behind.

[brigham]

I'm always wary of Hi-Tops with a long handle. Are some of them genuine?

[badpenny]

I'm always wary of Hi-Tops with a long handle. Are some of them genuine?

Hi-Tops with Club Handles don't indicate fake.
As for being genuine or not there are many other things to be looking at inside regarding serial numbers that would indicate 100% genuine or not.
As for OP's last question .....
"...... Which ones are the ones to go for?"

I refer you to my post badpenny » Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:04 pm
Where I said: -

It depends on whether .....

*You're a collector an investor or operator.
*They are the era you collect.
*How desperate you are versus how much they want for them and the price they're asking.
*Whether the collection impresses you, or you want to impress others by saying you own them.
*Do they work and are complete with the correct mechanisms.
*Can you cherry pick (no pun) or is it necessary to buy them all.

Like the other replies you've been given by fellow members these are the defining factors. Your insistence on repeating the same question which is basically "which ones should I concentrate on, and which should I ignore?" leaves me for one to conclude any of the following: -

* You're scared to give out the basic of information as to where they are, if they're for sale, how much they are. Which is fair enough. You keep asking the same thing and ignoring the questions that are returned to you. Safeguard your secret by all means but it doesn't help anyone here to give you an objective answer.

* You're probably not a collector, more of an investor, otherwise you'd either know the answers yourself and/or realise your question is unanswerable.

* The main curiosity you're going to stir up here is from those that want to ride your coat tails. And you realise that that will not be helpful to you as they will want exactly the same as you. Also if they know more than you, you'll be in a worse position than when you started. I am interested in the hobby and not making a quick buck.

* If you are looking for others to partner you in this acquisition (which, if this is genuine, I doubt it by now, as you'll have received no end of emails and private messages) There will be a point where others will need to view especially inside the cases. At which point it will all become a different transaction, and you will need to be 100% open. How do those who may wish to go in with you know this isn't a scam? eBay is full of them at the moment. Just repeating your question again and again raises suspicion.

I wish you good luck in your endeavours and whatever motivates you. If this is a genuine collection that will be new to market then it will soon be known of, and probably worldwide.

Recognising that you want a simple answer to your simple question then I offer you this ........
If they are priced at £20 each then buy the lot sight unseen.
If they are priced at £1,000,000 each regardless of whether you are told you can have unlimited time to view and dismantle every single one of them. Politely decline and run away.

BP

[highfield]

When I first saw this post I checked straight away to see if it was April 1st !

[treefrog]

I doubt this lot will be going for a song looking at the storage, memorabilia etc....also suspect not in the U.K. as not a single machine not on Cents...

Roll the dice and pick one or 10

[your-such-a-slot]

I think you guys have me all wrong.

l am new to this. l know nothing and joined here so I could talk with people that have an interest in this and to keep being told it's down to personal choice, you can't be a collector, you must be invested - I find that a bit shallow because that's not the case.

I ask which is the best purely because I don't know which is the best and I don't want to buy something only to be told, 'you should have asked, that's what we're here for'.

I don't own a machine. I am looking to buy my first one and wanted help, that's all.

[aristomatic]

You probably need to check your private messages.

[treefrog]

You know, for me it has always been.......ahhh I like that, then I find out more like rarity, value, how it works etc......so if it were me I would go for the the machine that most appeals.

So the question, which machine pulls your leg, there must be one or two more than others.

[moonriver]

This whole thread is reminiscent of a certain American picker who likes to use this forum for valuation advice, disappears for a while, then pops up again and does the same again.
When you ask which is best, if you really don't know anything about machines then you should simply go for which one you like the look of the most and make sure it works.

[your-such-a-slot]

I like to own the best.
I don't want to have the best Ford Anglia in town, I want to have the best Lamb
so if I have the chance of buying guidance of which is a prize piece and which is an OK piece is what I am trying to find out.

These are not in the UK, they are all for sale and before I talk turkey on buying any it would have been nice to have an idea on what I'm buying.

I didn't want to go to him and negotiate on the biggest rust bucket he has.

That's all guys. I guess the answer will be if you like the rust bucket, who cares.

[treefrog]

Problem is we can’t answer that question as we can only see the fronts and have no idea on condition, operation or originality.... a risk you take if buying from a long way away.....

From what I see I suspect most are OK, but you would need to take into account the risk. Pick one you like and ask for many more pictures including of the mechanism and inside of casing.

[your-such-a-slot]

No, you can't see inside, but you could say, 'hey that green one on the right - if that was fully restored it would be a beast, the others are two a penny and I wouldn't bother with them'. I am none the wiser on the selection I have been offered. I am trying to learn.
I guess you're all having a good laugh.

Maybe the American Picker came and went because he was made to feel like a fool. I am starting to wish I had not mentioned it.

[treefrog]

The green machine does stand out and is a typical Vega casino type with the full face panel/facade often lit up. This says Las Vegas Club, which was a well known and one of the oldest casinos in Vegas started in 1930 and was pulled down last year.

Ask the seller if there is any history with the machine, condition and pictures... it looks nice.

[your-such-a-slot]

Thank you. I will start there. I will see what info I get sent over.

[moonriver]

The American picker is far too thick skinned to be bothered about what anyone else thinks about him.

[coppinpr]

I didn't think my long post above did anything else but try and help. Like one or two others, like TF, we tried to help. Seems one or two others have taken against you because they think, perhaps unfairly, you are not giving all the info you have, but that will happen on this forum... believe me... I know. Please don't think we are all having a go at you, we are not.

I think the problem is, and if indeed you are very new to collecting slots is understandable, you say openly you only want the best... There isn't a best, and the long standing collectors on the forum know that, so they are looking at this differently from you. There isn't even a "best of this lot" for we would, most likley, all disagree on our first choice. There isn't even a "most valuable". Sell this lot at auction one day and the same lot on another day with different buyers and prices would flip flop.

If what you're saying is you... let's say... want the most authentic Hi-top there, well it's impossible, unless you're there and give them all very close scrutiny. Some may well have the correct TYPE of mech inside but not many will have the mech that came with the machine when new. These were intentionally interchangeable during repair or service. They have all seen a lot of work over almost 50 years. Many may have started life as the pick of a Vegas casino and ended their working life at Joe's Diner just across the Nevada state line. Like Tom says, pick a couple you like the look of and ask for as many photos of the case and the mech (outside the case) as you can get.

[badpenny]

Before you start going down the road of assuming I am (or anybody else) is not friendly towards you I suggest you re-read this topic, count how many questions you have been asked in an attempt to help you. Then count how many times you didn't answer, that is very frustrating.
If you can't appreciate how difficult it is to help you, then try this .......

Which of these is any good, are there any I should avoid?

[clubconsoles]

Your-such-a-slot,
I'm afraid I agree with badpenny here. He is, after all, forum moderator. You ask many questions but chose to answer few. That is not a good start and will get peoples' backs up. You did not respond to my pm??? I would hazard a guess you have had many pm's which you have not answered!!! Help is a two way street. If you put in the work to endear yourself to the people you are asking for help, you do yourself a tremendous service.

My advice, for what it's worth!
Buy one you like for what you feel is a good price. Once you have your one, tell the others on here where they are and prices sought. You will not make any money on buying them and trying to sell them on at a profit. As they not in the UK they will attract Duty @ 20% as well as VAT and shipping and crating costs. There will be virtually no chance of you making any money on these so take what you want and let us collectors take a shot at the rest!!