Mills mystery

[woody1991]

I have a mills bandit I got given by my grandad, I've had people tell me it's a bonus with the missing bonus, but I know there has never been any work done on it or anything removed. All the plates on the front indicate it's a 777 bonus but I cannot find another with the mirror on the top. Can anyone shed any light?

[treefrog]

Hello there,

Looking at what we can see you have been told right. In the window at the top you should see the word 'BONUS'. Behind would be a special award mechanism which pays out 18 coins when all the letters are highlighted, triggered by the letter appearing on the reels.

It would help to see pictures from the rear with the covers removed. The reel strips should have the letters of the word 'BONUS' printed on them and there will be mechanical parts filling that windows with plates on spelling 'bonus'.

The 777 award is something else, usually a token vendor. If missing your machine may have lost its original mechanism during its operator days.

[widget2k4]

It has the wrong mech in. It's a mix up of all sorts now. I have seen pics of the inside.

[coppinpr]

I know there has never been any work done on it or anything removed.

The changes may well have been done before your grandfather got it. It was probably imported second-hand from the USA and the supplier did the conversion - club handle fitted, mech removed and replaced, bonus feature removed, award plate changed, coinage changed, reel strips changed. Does it have a full escalator or a roll down? The photo's too dark to see on my PC. I'd be interested to know how the 100 coins is paid for 777. Unless the JP is hand filled and the 777 then pays same as the other JP's.

May have looked like this once upon a time: