BMCo. Wizard allwin

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coppinpr
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BMCo. Wizard allwin

Post by coppinpr »

I know we have seen this before... but it's been some time.

shiny penny
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Re: what can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by shiny penny »

This seemed to be the suitable thread. Today's additions to eBay's penny machine auction included an Allwin. Sorry that my IT skills are not really up to posting photos. If anyone has seen it I would be grateful for an informed opinion. Even to a novice like me there seems to be some incongruities. Reference to Oliver Whales on the mirror top piece. Have never yet seen a front with a top lock and no hinges so I assume it just lifts off. The cash door has no lock so is likely to be a fairly crude replacement. My guess would be that this is a home made eclectic concoction which has some original features perhaps from more than one maker but that it has never adorned an arcade wall. If correct then the few weeks browsing this site may have saved me from disappointment. If wrong there is still time to bid!
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JC
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Re: what can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by JC »

If this is what you're referring to, it's a 1930s BMCo. The mirror in the pediment may not be original and the lack of a lock in the cash box door would indicate it's a replacement, but otherwise it seems a good, honest machine.
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BMCo ebay.jpg
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Re: What can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by shiny penny »

Thanks for the info. Is it usual for this make of machine to have a lift off front rather than hinges to the side?
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Re: What can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by junior »

Hi, I have a couple of allwins with lift out fronts and Stevenson and Lovett— fireworks has a lift out front.
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Re: What can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by pennymachines »

BMCo. auto-pay allwins have hinges but, as the 'budget option', many manual-pays (like the one above) don't.
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Auto-pay Little Mickey
Auto-pay Little Mickey
Manual-pay Little Marvel
Manual-pay Little Marvel
Manual-pay Wizard
Manual-pay Wizard
shiny penny
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Re: What can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by shiny penny »

Thanks again for the info, looks like the machine on ebay was originally a "Wizard" but now with a different mirror and a different cash door. Perhaps the "budget" versions didn't rate the corner finials either. If a little closer to home I would have been tempted but will follow the auction with interest.
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bugdust
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Re: What can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by bugdust »

Hi everyone.
I was actually the winning bidder on the above machine! Pennymachines, Shinypenny and JC all appear spot on. The pediment glass is the "red herring" which appears to have been hand painted and added later. Interestingly, the base of the glass is painted with the "Oliver Whales" mark but I can't even find anything they produced called a "Gem" either! The base door also proved to be a thin piece of plywood just wedged in the gap!

Anyway, as suggested, I think it's most likely to be a Manual pay "Wizard" that's had quite a hard life with bits missing etc but nothing that can't be made or repaired as far as I can tell.


IMG_4250.jpg

My question is this....the fascia controls are all bare brass, and whilst I accept that it was mostly the base metal for them at the time, there isn't a hint of chrome plating on anything (even on the underside) I have several other BMCo. machines and the controls all appear to have been either either nickel or chrome plated, albeit in various stages of deterioration. Is it known whether BMCo. machines ever actually left the factory with the controls in just polished brass?
I can't rule out that at some point in it's life, it may have been stripped and rebuilt and the operator decided that, due to the peeling chrome, it looked better as brass and just polished the rest off, but it would seem odd to have done this on the underside of the fittings that were not visible.
Grateful for any advice.
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Re: What can happen if you buy on ebay

Post by pennymachines »

Hi,

Firstly - congratulations! You have the makings of a nice allwin there.

Chrome was widely adopted for automotive use about a decade before WW2 but I'm not sure how that compares to use on British slots. One would assume they lagged a bit behind American cars! So as a rule of thumb: pre-war is predominantly nickel; post-war - chromium. As far as I'm aware they were always plated, but like you, I've been puzzled occasionally to find no trace of plating. Could it be that in certain environments the nickel would completely disintegrate? :!?!:

Adjacent to images of BMCo. allwins, The Bollands Amusement Catalogue says, "Fittings heavily plated. Well finished interior castings".

For practical purposes, plating is desirable because sweat from greasy hands erodes brass.

Out of interest, does the pediment have the original steel pressed supports behind it?
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bugdust
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Re: BMCo. Wizard allwin

Post by bugdust »

Thanks for your thoughts pennymachines, and I'm sorry for the late update..been away for a few days.
Yes, I think these are probably the originals, although they are different from the supports on the other BMCo. machines I have (shown stripped and re-painted black) in that they have a seperate support strut running between the horizontal and vertical pieces.
IMG_4281.jpg


IMG_4282.jpg

Other notable points of interest on this particular machine is the traces of the original green felt on the playfield base wood once the blue plastic face had been removed. Presumably, the more durable plastic backing that exists on a couple of other BMCo machines I have was a post-war alteration?
Secondly, is the sheer preponderance of brass in the mechanism. Unlike the others I have, where the castings for main bar stop and spindle supports are brass but almost everything else is steel, just about everything in this machine (with the exception of the initial penny chute and sheet metal cover plate to routing for the win holes) is brass. All the levers, brackets, payout chute etc.
Do you know when the factory's move from brass to steel components occurred?
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Re: BMCo. Wizard allwin

Post by pennymachines »

Yes, those are the original supports. The others (London Brackets) are modern replacements.

Sheet plastics didn't come into common use until after the war and yet many BMCo. allwins, like the auto-pay games, and others (none of which were built after the war), invariably have plastic flashes. Many little mysteries about these machines remain. I don't know what plastic it is either - I guess acrylic, as this was commercialized in the early 1930s. Also BMCo. flashes don't seem to degrade like the Oliver Whales '50s material, which might be acetate?
bugdust wrote: Mon Apr 09, 2018 8:59 amDo you know when the factory's move from brass to steel components occurred?
No, but an educated guess would be the mid 1930s, because Frederick Bolland injected money into BMCo. around this time to keep it afloat. They would have been looking to cut costs. The Wizard was built in 1933.
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