Aristocrat Bonus bandits

[aristomatic]

I picked up two of these Aristocrat machines, recently. One was complete with all the bonus parts working 100%. The other is complete apart from the slide in bonus widget that fits into the white section in the leftside topbox frame.

I would appreciate if anyone had one of the missing magic bonus widgets to enable me to complete the second machine. Will place a wanted ad but thought members would like to see an example of this rarer version of the standard run of the mill Arcadian. Happy to trade parts or pay cash for the widget.

Many thanks.

[badpenny]

I have only ever seen these machines once before. They were being operated at a steam fair in Yorkshire and were in terrible condition
Good luck with your hunt.
Badpenny

[badpenny]

Topic merged - site admin

About fifteen years ago I was touring Yorkshire on my Goldwing and stopped at a country show. Lots of tractors to look at and home made chutney to admire.

Up in the top corner of the field was a rather ramshackle lean to stall with a tilt. It sported a Hawtin's Allwin and half a dozen Aristocratic Arcadians the likes of which I'd never seen before or since. They weren't bog standard each of them was a BONUS.

Has anybody else ever seen such a beast?

[treefrog]

BP, you commented on Aristomatic's thread about 18 months ago on the same. He had two of the machines and there are pictures of the reels/mechanism on the thread. The top box is much larger than the standard light unit to house the mechanism.

Topic now merged above - site admin.

I did see one one ebay about 4 weeks ago, but was too far away for me to bother with... I saw a picture of a similar type unit in an Aristocrat Kingsway/Grosvenor recently, but can't now find the picture.

By the way, the site has gone very quiet of late, I guess the Winter Blues... hopefully as daylight a commeth we should all come out of hybernation

[badpenny]

BP, you commented on Aristomatic's thread about 18 months ago on the same.......

Oh brilliant ..... I've reached that stage have I?

Only a few years ago I had a great memory, was slim, strong and I had a great memory, but now ........

Actually while you're there TF can you remember me posting something about my dream bandit? It was an Australian one with an Aristocrat crown on the front and I think playing card reels. Somebody said he knew someone who had one, but I can't find the thread.

Thanks

[pennymachines]

can you remember me posting something about my dream bandit? It was an Australian one with an Aristocrat crown on the front and I think playing card reels. Somebody said he knew someone who had one, but I can't find the thread.

See Middlehurst Coronet.

[badpenny]

Topic merged - Site Admin

I suspect we all know the Mills Horse Head Bonus and The Hi-Top Bonus bandits? If not Click Here

However how many of you know Aristocrat built a version?
Probably about 20 years ago I was riding through a small village and saw a country fair. I parked the bike up and went in, lots of small amateurish amusements like hand cranked juveniles, hook a duck etc. Then over the back in what looked like a car boot, walk in clothes stall were a handful of mechanical slots on 1np. To my amazement I saw a row of 4 Arcadians, truth told they were in abysmal condition, but they had the BONUS feature. I played them of course and confirm it was a working feature and not just for show.

So who else has seen them, who has one? Where are they? What's the story? What's happened to the clock on my mantelpiece?

BP

[treefrog]

BP you are suffering I feel as you mentioned this 7 years ago, as Aristomatic has two of them as per thread below....., also you had forgotten in 2012 so reminded you then never seen one myself

Topic now merged above - site admin.

Trouble is I seem to oddly remember things on this site, but not what happened yesterday

[coppinpr]

Sega of course also made a later version,but the BONUS feature was electric so not so interesting.

bonus.jpg (7.23 KiB) Viewed 4105 times

I was re reading some info on the horse head BONUS last week and a couple of interesting things caught my eye. It seems its virtually impossible to find an early (1937/38) horse head in the USA because they were 10 stop machines (with 20 symbol reels) and these were deemed illegal in almost all states in the USA as they were considered to be cheating the public so they were almost all sent to Europe(especially France for some reason). Secondly, and I know this is generally already known, they were fitted with parts that allowed the machine to use all 20 symbols on the reels...but not at the same time, one set of 10 on one pull and one set of 10 on the next.If they hadn't had this the BONUS feature would have never come up as the strips had the BONUS letters spread between the two sets of 10. If all the letters had been on one set of 10 the feature would have come up too often and there would have been no room for the other symbols . Many of these 10 stop mech had the cam that switched the sets removed when the mechs got re vamped in the UK but left the 20 symbol reel strip in, this was truly a cheat, if for example an operator put just one cherry on reel one and it was on set two you could see it in the window from time to time but it could never come up a winner.

What's happened to the clock on my mantelpiece?

as you have been putting slot machine parts behind it for years it eventually fell into the fire

probably about 20 years ago I was riding through a small village and saw a country fair

I had this vision of BP on a white stallion dressed in doublet and hose ,then he spoilt it by saying he parked the bike

[brigham]

I'm pretty sure the Aristocrat BONUS feature was electric, too.
The Horse Head BONUS switched to the second set of symbols for the fourth and tenth losing spin. The payout % on that set was vast, so it usually ended the BONUS run.

[badpenny]

BP you are suffering I feel as you mentioned this 7 years ago, as Aristomatic has two of them as per thread below....., also you had forgotten in 2012 so reminded you then never seen one myself

Ye gods and buckets of blood Tom, I don't remember either of those previous posts. Interestingly though I am consistent about how long ago it was.
I guess it's time for me to fit a full length mirror by the front door so I can check myself over before leaving the house, I've already stopped myself once from leaving with a saucer and cup of tea in my hand.
Still I do know where I get it from, aged around 16 I was walking home from school in the rain when I met my Mother walking towards me hunched over trying to keep dry while holding a broom above her head. "I'm just off down the shops" She called across to me "I forgot to get butter." She added.
"I do not know you, strange woman whom I have never spoken to before" I replied scurrying off home hoping none of my mates had witnessed the pantomime that is my life.

Anyhoo, thanks for keeping an eye on me Tom, I know you like Aristocrats so I must tell you one day about the row of Arcadian Bonus bandits I once saw at a Steam Fair twenty years ago. Remind me some time.

BP

[aristomatic]

I sold one of my Aristocrat Bonus machines. Still have one. They were/are both Arcadians. The bonus feature was also fitted in a Grosvenor cabinet format for the Scandinavian market too. I bought one complete and then bought probably five or six incomplete ones to complete the other one.

As with Mills machines, the bonus feature was removed and award cards replaced with standard. The top box for Bonus Arcadians is deeper than non-bonus models to accommodate all the hardware. I still have some original bonus award cards too.

[coppinpr]

The Horse Head BONUS switched to the second set of symbols for the fourth and tenth losing spin.

Mills made a selection of set switching cams for the Futurity mech (which is what the early BONUS mech is). These ranged from 5 and 5 (every other pull) through 8 and 2 (as you mention).The idea was the operator could set up with a better payout cam for a week or two to get the punter interested, then switch to a poor payout cam to rake in the money (no wonder it was called the cheat mech). On the Futurity this worked well for the operator as the odds of a winner dropped to 0.23% on set 2 from 64% on set one. The BONUS however is based on a different principle, and the cheat mech didn't suit it as the cheat function wasn't required. No one knows why Mills used the 10 stop Futurity cheat mech in the early BONUS. They already had 20 stop mechs in operation. Perhaps just to test out the popularity of the BONUS with existing parts.

[aristomatic]

Dave from coinop forum recently posted another video, this time on the 10 stop version of the Horsehead Bonus. The video covers most discussed above. He has previously posted video on the 20 stop version too I think. Always easier to understand points when you can actually see it in action.



Whilst I wouldn't chop a Horsehead or Hitop Bonus, you could quite easily change the letters to personalise an electric Bonus machine to spell out anything of course.

[liquorbox]

Some nice machines in that video.