FORUM

Hello Cheeky - I look forward to receiving details of your nice lots and photos!
Yes, I can confirm that Kevin will be back again this year, but please remember that it takes more than a good auctioneer to make a good auction:
1. You need good quality lots that punters will want to buy.
2. The afore mentioned lots need to have sensible (or no) reserves.
3. You need buyers with money in their pockets.
4. The afore mentioned buyers need to spend the money in their afore mentioned pockets!

If we get all of this right - then we should have a good one. We already have over 100 lots, which is pretty good at this stage. I shall post more details and lot descriptions in due course.

Jerry

Just a reminder that the closing date for entries is 9th Nov. (next Monday), so if there are any vendors who have not yet sent in their entry forms, please get them in the post tomorrow!

To date we have about 200 lots, with more to be added. There is a great selection of machines, with something to suit everyone.
Bandits include: Mills High Top, 2 Poinsettias, a rare Castle Front, Black Cherry. Jennings Dixie Bell, 2 Governors. Pace Commet and a rare Bantam. A cracking Sega High Top. Various Aristocrat, Jubilee and Bally..........Oh, and a Watling Bird of Paradise Rol-a-Top - yes, one of this year's star lots is a machine that I can't remember coming up at auction for many years.
Allwins range from Whales and Wonders to a beautiful Edgerton Double Event.
Bryans machines include 2 Elevenses, Pilwin, Worlborl, Bullion, 2 Clocks...... and once again, we have on offer a Payramid!
Add to this some nice trade stimulators, vending machines, interesting spares, weird and wonderful, a good selection of coins, and you should by now get the message that this is going to be another great day! Can you really afford to miss it?

Catalogues should be ready to order within a week or so. Details in the MARKET in due course.

See you all on the 29th

Jerry

Well, it's a little over two weeks to go, and this year's event will be our biggest ever. With 280 lots, there really should be something for everyone. Catalogues will be available to order in the MARKET shortly (as soon as I can remember my password)! So be sure not to miss the biggest UK slotties event.......it only happens once a year!

Jerry - your username in the Market is MMM and you remembered the password correctly.
(I sent you the details, but looks like my emails are not reaching you).

Thanks PM - what a terrible sign of old age, when you can't remember who you are?

Anyway, ad. now posted in the Market, so get your orders in now! Although not stated in the ad., the catalogues should be ready to post mid week (ish). As I've already stated, with 280 lots entered in the auction, this will be our biggest so far. The 'bandit men' in particular will have a field day this year, with over 40 on offer - everything from Aristocrats to our star lot, the Watling Rol-a-Top.

Vendors have supplied a good number of pictures this year, too many to post on this site. So in the next couple of days, I will post them all on my lovely new MMM website (on the News page). Here's a link:

http://mechanicalmemoriesmuseum.webeden.co.uk/

See you all on the 29th

Jerry

Some auction images already online here: http://mechanicalmemoriesmuseum.webeden ... 4536433181

Another quick update:

1. All pictures now posted on my site (see above post for direct link).

2. Catalogues still not back from the printers, but will hopefully be ready to post tomorrow or Monday.

3. If you order a catalogue from the Market on this site, please please please let me have your address, as it does not come through on the Paypal advice, and it is very time consuming having to chase buyers for their address.


Jerry

Thanks all for a very enjoyable day......Even bought my first non bandit relate slot a Bryans Clock, surprising given the number of bandits on sale.. Great day, shame one has to wait another year

Yes, it was a great auction, probably the best for many years. I must remember to bring a torch with me next year though.

Great auction good crowd.
I got a tin Mutoscope and also some spares off the side tables.
Well worth a visit.
I think every one went away happy.
Everyone was very sociable.
My first visit to Coventry auction.
I would recommend it, even if you have to stay overnight.
Congratulations and many thanks to the auction team.

Just like to thank Jerry and Jeremy and all the other behind the scenes people for the work that goes into organising an event such as this. I think the numbers there indicate that the slot world is perhaps in a better way than many think. Lets not forget that if it were not for these guys, our hobby would be very much fragmented.

Well done Jerry and Co for a very good event, even though I came away with nothing! - some of the hammer prices were higher than I anticipated!

Thanks everyone for our best ever yet!
Although I have the shortest journey of anyone (2 miles - just round the corner) I've only just surfaced and have still to get my thoughts together.
I'll do a "porter's report" and post it on here as soon as I can.
Hope you all got home safely with your new treasures.

Badpenny

Although I have the shortest journey of anyone (2 miles - just round the corner)

Ah, so that's why we hold these events in Coventry. Somehow, I think I may have pulled the short straw! Unlike BP, I don't live round the corner, and have only just got home (well alright, a few hours ago).

Anyway, a great day, and as we always say, it's YOUR day and your support makes it what it is.

I'll leave BP to do the long report...............I.m going back to bed.

Jerry

Would've liked to have come, but had to be at work at 20.00 and didn't know what time I would get away if I'd bought something.

The Porter’s Report – Coventry 2009

Every year we say how pleased we were with the auction, and this year is no exception. Everybody pulled together and helped with putting up the tables, organising the table layout plans, checking admission by catalogue, security on leaving and putting the tables away at the end. There’s a lot to do and I apologise if you mucked in and I didn’t notice.

With our largest auction to date and the highest number of registered buyers we were very grateful to have two professional auctioneers steering us through the day’s main event. The pace was striding and proved to Jerry and I the value of letting professionals do what they do best.
The machines entered this year were an impressive collection nearly 300 lots with over 40 bandits this time, bargains to be had for all tastes and pockets.

On a personal note I dread the year that Mrs Hooper says that Dave can’t come out to play, I portered the two Sarratt auctions alone and the thought of tackling something like yesterday’s auction solo is daunting to say the least. Even the allwins are getting heavier each year and just pointing at a bandit makes the knees tremble. It’s astonishing that in a room of 150 sprightly people you elect two old doddery wrecks to hoist hundreds of pounds worth of treasures shoulder high, spin them round then lower them again. Fascinatingly every year we experience people who insist on squeezing past us in mid pirouette or better still go on tip toe to fiddle with the current lot and all while it’s on the move and five feet off the ground!

Bidding was brisk and prices were buoyant if this is an indication for the future then that’s encouraging. What was also good to see was that we had several new faces present, new blood’s always welcome.

At the end of each auction Jerry, Doff and I have to sort out the ton and a half of paperwork before clearing the room and departing for another year. Every time we find abandoned pennies, tanners, tokens etc. to clear up. On occasions we have even bits of lots left behind where someone has bought a bag of spares taken out the bit they want then dumped the bits they don’t. This year however will take some beating for sitting on the floor were four machines patiently waiting to go to their new homes!!!! I thought Jerry had bought them and he had assumed they were my purchases.
What ..... How ..... Why ....... !

One of them was just a door with limited interest to anyone but the most hardened enthusiast our records showed there had been some confusion at the time of its being offered.

The second machine was a very nice Bryans’ Clock, the sort of model that you often stumble across abandoned all the time. There it sat in the middle of the room all on its own. Again we challenged the system and discovered that although it had failed to reach its reserve there had been a conversation with the owner about dropping it. Consequently on one page it showed both unsold and that it had a buyer, we in turn had paid the vendor (so he was happy) but had failed to pursue the hapless buyer. As a result The Company now owns a Bryans Clock! At least we have the first machine for next year’s auction, and very nice too!

The biggest surprise however were the two bandits sitting together round the side by the stage, we looked at them they looked back at us. What the hell?
They were very nice entry level machines, clean and well looked after so what was the story? I wish I knew, because we don’t. So far as our records show they failed to reach reserve and the world moved on. So why were they left to their own devices in Coventry? We didn’t know. We couldn’t leave them there so Jerry and I started to argue over who should take them.
“You take them”
“No, you take them”

Finally we agreed he should take custody of The Clock and I would provide a roof for the two orphaned bandits until their owner suddenly realised that they had neither the money nor their machines. How does somebody struggle to transport two very heavy (as I soon found out) machines all the way to Coventry, see them fail to reach reserve then forget to take them home again?
Anyway Doff and I struggled to get them in the back of her Astra, then in the rain at the other end we manhandled them up the path and into the house. They currently reside in my front room where I can assure you they are not going to live for long. It takes a lot of advance planning permission to get one of my own machines into the inner sanctum I know for sure that somebody else’s don’t stand a chance of staying there.

A strange ending to a memorable day, I’ll let you all know how this ends I might even breed from them to pay for their board.
Don’t forget to treat yourself to next year’s auction we already have a very nice Bryans’ Clock to kick it off.

We'll get the prices etc on the Arena when Jerry digs them out.

Jeremy & Doff

What a wonderful report, BP! We could certainly use your talent over here, juicing up the scripts of the dreck Hollywood forces us to watch on nightly TV. And CONGRATULATIONS to you, Jerry, Doff, and the merry horde of collectors who attended and made this years event a success. Just for the record, I will not be flying across the Atlantic to apply boot leather to certain backsides as previously threatened. Instead, I am hoisting a pint in honor and admiration of all of you. Well done, mates!!

Your envious American Admirer
John Peterson

yes it was the cowman who lost bidders card at the start:dammit: any way what a great day!!!! just one point its a pitty that there wasn't a half way bit where people could pay in like there use to be, if some one buys a machine say lot 50 and spent up he has to sit there to see another 200 odd lots to be sold and the queue at the end wouldn't be as big to pay in.i think the showmen in the corner by the bar kept prices high on some items having saying that i dont think we will see many machines on ebay they sold at thier price, I came away with one machine very pleased apart from the the sticky auction number was covering a bad mark on the wood,lesson leant there when you inspect a machine before the auction and the sticker is on the wood look under it!!! anyway enough of that the day was great .congratulations to all who made this happen roll on the next did mr b.p.buy much??

Mr BP bought nothing ...................... he doesn't need to he just picks them up off the floor at the end for nothing!

Sale Results now listed in the Arena with lots of pics.

jimmycowman wrote: just one point its a pitty that there wasn't a half way bit where people could pay in like there use to be, if some one buys a machine say lot 50 and spent up he has to sit there to see another 200 odd lots to be sold and the queue at the end wouldn't be as big to pay in.

I strongly agree with this opinion.

The reason I ended up not bidding for anything is because I couldn't face the prospect of staying behind and queuing for God knows how long after the end of the auction.

Not only does this policy mean that buyers can't get away when they want, it also means that there's a horrendous queue of 200+ people at the end of the auction, and a lot of people at the end are just taking up space in the room and have no interest in the lots being auctioned.

I would have thought that it would be better for everybody all round if people could pay for their lots and go home when they wanted, get them out the way of the bidders, and significantly reduce the queue at the end.

I must admit that when I saw the queue at the end of the auction, I thought to myself: "Thank God I didn't buy anything"!

Anything which discourages people to bid is a bad thing. I don't know what the difficulty is in allowing bidders to pay after they have finished bidding, but it can't be too hard because it's always been done before. I think you should give this matter some serious consideration for next year.