Reproduction machines

[pennymachines]

The number and variety of coin-op games which have been reproduced since the 1980s (when the value of vintage slot machines began to appreciate) is quite surprising. In America, they range from one arm bandits and trade stimulators, right up to large arcade games, like the Mills Submarine Lung Testers. In Britain, too, I can think of about fifteen different games, mostly wall machines, but also a few arcade machines. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with reproductions, provided they are not bought under the mistaken impression that they are something else. Over the last few years I believe there's been quite an influx of new collectors who are inevitably unaware of what games have been reproduced. In next Sunday's Elephant House sale, for example, I spotted eight machines which fall into this category, mostly not identified as reproduction. Chiefly for the benefit of new collectors, I've posted in the Arena a survey and how to spot 'em guide of every reproduction British machine I can think of.

If you can think of some I've missed, or better ways to spot the difference, please tell...

[jpmhotpot]

Priceless info
I'm new to collecting and this info is priceless. I've been hanging on buying an allwin type wall machine due to some very new looking wood, also the wood cabinets sometimes look a bit odd (not matching) plus the inside mech sometimes looks 50% original 50% homemade. I would hate to buy one for £500+ and it not been 100% original.
Joined Arena - best £5 spent Cheers pennymachines for bringing this subject up.

[treefrog]

Can tell your not a bandit man mr pm......not a single one...

I only saw 3 obvious non described machines at the elephant, the two flickers you mentioned lighthouse and over the falls and the pool tote. The carousel and the conveyor are correctly described. Not sure what the others were.

Also one thing that is not always mentioned at all auctions is how much has been restored. New cabinet, new backflash, complete rebuild from parts. I am afraid one of the challenges when buying from collectors is a very high % of machines will be non original in one form or another ad not made clear. I have no issue with old operator changes, but know most on here that restore machines have made machines up from parts.....many a new buyer has bought not knowing, including myself over time.....so be warned lots at the auctions fit into this camp, so find yourself a trusted colleague and ask questions, people have lots of opinions at collectors viewings.. (edited again before I upset all restorers, a lot of people as is evidence do faberlous work on restoring machines even willing to share their master work on here)

Edited the Jennings peacock is a complete repro, think it had a aristocrat mech in from memory as was in auction before. Some bandits are obvious, others less so.......

Watch out for any staining of wood on machines, often is there to hide something...which is why to me a machine with original patina on cabinets and parts you cannot replace instead of shined metal and newly glosses varnish.

[pennymachines]

As an old timer now, TF, no surprise you spotted those three.

I didn't venture into American repros, because it's a much bigger subject, I don't feel qualified, and there's already plenty on the net about them. Not so the British stuff.

I'm not sure I'd agree that "assembled some years ago from remaining parts for Parkers of Rhyl" is a correct description of the Carousel. I believe the only original part is the cabinet and, as far as I know, it wasn't done "for Parkers". Maybe that was a typo? The other Carousel, is simply described as in "excellent condition working", but it is evident from the picture of the mechanism that it's new.

The eight I identified were the two Pool Totes, two Carousels, an American Love Tester, the Lighthouse, Over The Falls and the Conveyor. I didn't spot the Peacock. The Conveyor, as you say, is correctly flagged as modern, but the other eight, not so much. Maybe Steve will revise the descriptions in the final catalogue.

[gameswat]

When machine collecting really took off in the US in the '70s, the fashion eventually became to restore everything like brand new. But by the late '70s the high end collectors found this caused huge problems as fakes and upgraded machines were too easily being slipped into the market place. And then they promptly changed to wanting machines as untouched as possible since it's a lot harder to completely fake all that accumulated age and wear, or patina. Which is another great reason to leave machines as unmolested as possible!

[raj]

A recent ebay posting of a Nostalgic repro Allwin described it as being 'a vintage machine converted from old halfpenny play' to 2p. When I challenged the seller, he simply said that was how the auctioneer he bought it from described it. Needless to say it never sold, especially as it was up for silly money. But hey, sucker time, sorry, Christmas, is coming, so maybe he will get lucky.

[bryans fan]

I have always been mystified by the term "vintage" as it is so ambiguous.

[coppinpr]

I too have always wondered at the term "vintage". When I was a kid I was told the cars on the London to Brighton run were called vintage cars because they were not old enough to be "antique". The organisers actually qualified the terms as "antique" = over 100 years old, "Vintage" = 60 to 100 years old.

Dictionaries vary tremendously in the definition, some say it refers to a particular time (i.e. this wine is from 1980, a vintage year"), but the Cambridge Dictionary captures it best for the modern use of the word I think:

of high quality and lasting value, or showing the best and most typical characteristics of a particular type of thing, especially from the past.

[badpenny]

It refers to something belonging to a particular epoch.

Even this years Beaujolais Nouveaux is vintage, it's vintage 2016.

Veteran is an ambiguous description, it comes from Latin and literally means old.
It's the London - Brighton veteran car run, not vintage. In order for it to be vintage all of the cars would need to be from a stated and agreed period in time.

Badpenny (vintage 1954)

[coppinpr]

You're right of course, my childhood memory beat me - it was veteran, although I do know the cars do have to come from a particular time frame as I said above. The Cambridge meaning still holds good for what you say.