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Firstly, I'm no expert and I'm sure even experts will disagree what constitutes rare...What is fact is which machines we actually currently own so cannot double count. I'm only interested in 100% fully mechanical mechanism, one arm bandits, although fluorescent tube lighting is permissible. Rare of course doesn't always relate to more valuable either so doesn't matter what machine is, just how rare it is....OWNED IN UK.

I also want to include only machines that had a full production run e.g. machines that are rare now as only relatively few remaining, not primarily that were always few in number. If the thread takes off maybe the site owner could do a poll at the end to decide a top 3 or similar?

Condition irrelevant. For example if you own a Jennings Governor MKII that's likely to be rarer in this poll than a Jennings Governor although a Mark II is probably likely to receive a lower auction bid, but rarer? There may be some surprises - who knows? I have been downsizing my bandits and have sold my rarer machines but I'll start off with these that will not be in the top 3 but don't get advertised for sale too often:

Mills Bellomatic 4 Reeler 25c

Jennings Governor Pearly King & Queen on 6D (if it passes production run parameter)

Chip in with suggestions, if not made clear etc., or parameters need revision to improve. If a collector doesn't want to make public, then fair enough, maybe they could pm me? Or the Site owner, later to include in a poll at the end without matching machine to owner and possibly its location for security purposes. Hope I've covered most things. I'm sure there are many rarer machines than this, maybe European manufactured?

Not American, German.
But were imported into UK under the 3 year rule.

I've had two, I sold one about a year ago, and still have one.

The Monimat.


I have Aristocrat Clubmaster, Horses Head, usual Jennings and a Watling Rol A Tor, but these funny little ugly German machines I find as cute as hell. Likewise Günter Wulff machines re-cased in Formica

BP

I like your criteria, opens a more interesting bracket than "rare". We may also find some machines more common that we thought.

I love my 1960 Wulff "Jupiter" which I bought very cheap at Coventry one year and works perfectly, You certainly get your moneys worth,all spinning globes,flashing lights and whirring motors,all of which seems to go on for ever thanks to the German "you must get your moneys worth" laws of the day.Ive been told by German collectors its rare





I also like my Groetchen Columbia Deluxe "Club" on 6d with the correct coin denominator and UK coloured number reel strips, the club is a little rarer than the usual Columbia because it only has one JP.



and I like my latest machine the 1939 J.M.Sanders "Imperial" trade stim with cigarette reel strips and working gum ball dispenser, apparently a machine not very common.

Don't think that Sanders qualifies?

You could go on for ever here and suspect we would put forward favourites rather than rarity, but sticking to the rules, so bandit, rare and non electric:

Aristocrat Kingsway Mad Melons, still very high up my top list, not a common theme and one of the first machines I bought.



The Merkur, classic shape and not common.



I lied about the rules and added in an electric one, but it is a bandit, the Nixie tube from Semco, not common....

The Golden Mint with The Nixie Tubes has to be very rare, I wouldn't have any idea how many were made but there can't be more than a handful left.

One good frustrated thump from a player must have soon eaten up the spare stock of Nixie Tubes.

aristomatic wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:06 pmDon't think that Sanders qualifies?

Fair enough ..but why? It is a 100% fully mechanical mechanism, one armed bandit, it had a full production run, and it's not common. Why is the poor little chap being thrown out?

Now my choice of the Jupiter does NOT fit the rules, it's true, although it does have three spinning reels, but if he goes so does Tom's Nixie.

This is probably rarest in my collection.

Strawberries! That rings a Bell...

It's true some Caille machines had strawberries as a symbol. On this one, the strawberries replace oranges, the crown replaces the bell, and the Silver King replaces the bar. The crown makes me think of the 6 Fruit 6 Rotamint, and the Silver King makes me think it came from a Silver King Casino somewhere. So I'd be inclined to just put the strawberries down to it being a European machine rather than surmising a connection with Caille.

clubconsoles wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:57 pm This is probably rarest in my collection.

I know this is nearly 2 years old, but I'm a bit slow these days ..... why would a machine that is a vendor front (twin columns to boot) also have a side vendor? How many tubes of mints does the operator want you to have?

BP

BP, those are dummy packs in the front, there's no way to vend them.

Three of mine. Let you decide if you think they qualify for rare, I will just say find me another!

quadibloc wrote: ↑Sun Jan 19, 2020 3:58 am So I'd be inclined to just put the strawberries down to it being a European machine rather than surmising a connection with Caille.

Quad, except it's a 5 cent machine so made for US operation. Don't remember any Euro slots marketed in the US and did the Europeans even have any need for mint vendors? The name is cast into it, by Silver King Novelty who were quite large selling private labelled Mills and revamping Mills and who knows what else.

watlingman wrote: ↑Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:06 pm Three of mine. Let you decide if you think they qualify for rare, I will just say find me another!

I would say I've never seen a FOK front casting like that, so let's say it is a rare revamp of a common machine, as is my Silver King which is a revamp of a common Jennings "Mints of Quality" gooseneck from the mid '20s!

Is a Watling Treasury rare, or it there something unusual about that particular one?

Not really, less were made than the Rol a Tops but Treasury still had a Seven year production run.
The problem with Treasury is the castings have been reproduced and bolted onto blue seals which are much more plentiful.
So the Treasury population has doubled and half of them are repro, which has hurt the value of the real deal!

Thankfully, most of the repros are sand cast and some of the fine details in the coins are lost, so if you compare it to a real one, it's easy to see.
If you don't have one to compare to, it can be hard to discern.
Most made from Blue Seals tend to be without jackpots, have no second coin return chute and a blue seal handle instead of a wider Rol a Top handle.
I know Watlingman's machine and I can safely say it is the real deal.

It's also a mint vendor Treasury that makes it a little harder to find, but not impossible I agree!

I think the early basic Treasury had the front shown below. I guess the vendor front on the one above was standard for vendors and was the same lower casting used on some Rol-a-Tops, although the first Rol-a-Tors had the mints visible on the vendor, at least Thomas White Burns Watling stakes his reputation on it!!

Surely the mint vendor is blanked-off? You wouldn't use it as a vendor like that, it defeats the object.