Mills Hi-top

[brigham]

This was the problem that ultimately led to the (usually hideous) front-opener.

[coppinpr]

I dont think Mills ever made a front opening bandit unless you mean the compact series with the front opening cash draw but these were made by TJM so not really Mills, the case for the compact was mostly Jennings anyway (TJM owned Jennings as well as Mills by this time) Also the hi-top was made by Sega long after Mills stopped making it so I don't think you can say the rear door design led to its demise

[cait001]

It's super easy to open them up and show off the internals

Isn't it a bit of a pig to move it around to get to the cash box at the rear ?

Nah, the whole thing weighs like 85 pounds so it's not too bad to move. It's on a shelf just under waist height, too, so it's super easy for me to reach to the back, remove the back door, then slide the machine forward a bit (braced with my knee) to remove coins.

I got a natural jackpot last night and was able to see the jackpot mech work!!! (It's not 100% empty in this photo because I had a large pile of coins in the tray so it wasn't able to empty fully before closing)

[special when lit]

I know they're common, but Hi Tops are one of my favourite bandits.
Only got one though, a Bell O Matic version.

[cait001]

I know they're common, but Hi Tops are one of my favourite bandits.
Only got one though, a Bell O Matic version.

I personally didn't care about prestige or rarity. I wanted just one proper mechanical slot, and so I went for
LOOK: that art deco influence, minimal text on the front, no casino marquees, and the perfect colour combination,
FEATURES: jackpot, visible elevator, stubby pull arm, different single + double cherry payouts
and bonus points for being all original and not repainted. (payout card and the coin box are repops, locks aren't original, but the rest looks perfect)

There are extra cool features found in other machines, like auto-filling jackpots, jackpot reserves, BONUS letters, etc, but this one is perfect for me.

[highfield]

This is mine. Every part made from scrap parts bought from many people, including Rich DeLong. Only new part was wood side panels and base. Used 5 cent escalator, tweaked payout slides so it runs on 20p.

[dutchboy]

Wow respect for that!

[coppinpr]

Truly great work on that machine

The standard Hi-top is a classic but there are a few rarer hi-tops out there I would really like to own, the "Hi-Top bonus" looks so compact and just "right" somehow and includes the BONUS mech as well, that would be my second choice

hi-top bonus.jpg (17.47 KiB) Viewed 2413 times

but, for me, my personal favourite has to be the rare 1948/49 "Hi-top Token Bell" it retains the classic Hi-top design but with a great lower case with hand fill JP.

[special when lit]

Truly great work on that machine

The standard Hi-top is a classic but there are a few rarer hi-tops out there I would really like to own, the "Hi-Top bonus" looks so compact and just "right" somehow and includes the BONUS mech as well, that would be my second choice

A Hi Top Bonus is one of my dream machines, too. Given a choice, I'd take one over a Roll a Top.