A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

American, British, French or German? We want to know about it.
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lol_penny
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Re: A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

Post by lol_penny »

Thanks for posting a copy of the Royal Bell advert gameswat. I think that is the answer with the conversion to 6d most likely carried out in the UK. Royal Bell stated that they were reproductions so it is strange that they were then converted to 6d and not decimal coinage. The two that sold in auction for £320 & £420 were probably sold for much less than Royal Bell sold them for.
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gameswat
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Re: A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

Post by gameswat »

The cases might be new reproductions but those mechanisms sure aren't, looks like the mechs had little done other than a mild service, sold as collectibles I'm sure where they'd only get light home use and not meant to be operated professionally. I'm not sure what UK decimal coin was the same size as the US 1 cent & UK/Aust 6D?
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treefrog
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Re: A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

Post by treefrog »

I wonder if TPG or Liberty Games had something to do with them. Looks like Liberty has stopped doing bandits and only focus on no gambling related items.

Googling Royal Bell still exist and only do Mills repros now. Interesting as they state that they seem to own the Mills Bell-O-Magic name, maybe I read there on another thread some time back. I reckon the castle front in Isle of Wight recently was a Royal Bell machine.

I guess the thing is, revampers have been around for years, in the past they sold to the trade, over the last 30 years to collectors or man caves.....
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gameswat
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Re: A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

Post by gameswat »

In the July/Aug 1994 issue of Coin Drop mag there is a Royal Bell advert stating:
Aristocrat & Jubilee rebuilt slot machines $895 to $995 - The machines were originally built for arcade use in the British Isles where they would get substantial use during the summer months" So this could also explain 6D mechs. But not sure why they added the part about substantial play, unless they were alluding to worn mechanisms? Which would be strange as they were famous for usually not telling the whole truth, like using tricky wording in their adverts for reproduction machines stating "completely remanufactured to "as new" condition.
Their pricing back in 1994 on "remanufactured Mills Classics" was damn high, between $1925 to $2195. These were all new except for restored older Mills mechs that had been replated etc.
aristomatic
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Re: A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

Post by aristomatic »

Just a point - is it a given that Royal Bell made/revamped these or could they just have been a distributor for a.n.other supplier as an add on to their own machines?
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gameswat
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Re: A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

Post by gameswat »

As far as I know Royal Bell were the largest maker ever of these repros and fantasy machines. Very much hated by collectors for having done this, especially in the US, having muddied the waters by passing these off to unsuspecting new collectors. And still causing issues to this day!
fantasia
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Re: A Rol-A-Top but not as we know it.

Post by fantasia »

I am 99% that the coin front is one of the first from Powells Automatics with a Jubilee mech in. (The later machine had a vac forming at the top to hold the coins not as in the photo black perspex).

The Bird of Paradise looks like an Aristomatics Ltd. machine. They used the Bell Fruit made mechs from electro mechanical 1970s games like action line. (The machines with the newer Bell Fruit mech sold better in the USA as they looked more authentic). Made and sold in the UK, Aristomatic also made for Royal Bell the "look alike" Rol a Top, Treasury and Poinsetta. The Aristocrat Arcadian with the War Eagle front also.

The other two Aristocrat machines in the advert look like 1970s UK club machines (Aristomatic Ltd. operated a large number of Aristocrat machines in and around the clubs in Leeds). At the time these two machines were made they sold better if they played with old money, hence shillings and sixpences.
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