War Eagle - reproduction or not?

[giles_gunning]

I'm off school for the summer and have been spending the days searching the web for bandits and came across this and was wondering whether you guys could tell me if its a reproduction or not?

Thanks in advance

[treefrog]

No one will guarantee this here I suspect, but I have a repro Eagle so have some idea what to look for. Also would be helpful to see a picture of the inside without the mechanism in.

The case look original half top case. The escalator is a roll down, all the teeth have been snipped. The mechanism is of the right type.
The main issue is this would also fit a Black Cherry, which would be easy to convert to a war eagle with repro castings....the only saving grace is there looks to be a chip on the side of the casting, which leads more towards being the real thing. You need to see up close as repro castings are slightly poorer in their detail,,,,I maybe able to take a close of mine....By the way the handle is no help as they did repro handles, mine is the same,,

[badpenny]

As I said earlier on..........
Personally without having a machine sitting in front of me I wouldn't dream of attempting to give an opinion on its pedigree.

If it were me I'd allow it to have replacement reel strips, and even a similar if not original mechanism as they often got swopped over in the workshop.
Most of us have been suckered in at some point, eventually you get a feel for new castings and repro handles. Look for the sharpness of detail and part serial numbers.

It is a risk, but I'm afraid it's yours.

Good Luck
Badpenny

[giles_gunning]

Just been told the serial number is 280304, is this proof of a legitimate machine?
In the third picture the upper detection lever is not there?

[badpenny]

You're not the only one asking this question today, in fact it's almost identical in content ...........................

CoinOpCollectorForum.com

[silverbitz]

Hi,
Looks genuine to me. Correct serial number area etc. Is it a 6d machine? Not sure that would be correct for a 1931 machine, although it does seem to be the UK top casting for the 1d. Something I'm not sure about... is that people always seem to believe that the 'run down' esculator has been tampered with and weren't original to any half top. I have two totally original versions each with the 'run down' esculator that certainly have never been clipped/filed or altered. I think it would seem more likely that this was the 'easy fix' solution to the UK 1d models with the larger coin entry. I'm sure Mills never made a 'run through' version for the 1d and the ones that you do see are a 50c conversion?
Course, I could be wrong!

[gameswat]

I'm sure Mills never made a 'run through' version for the 1d and the ones that you do see are a 50c conversion?

Silverbitz, funnily enough I always thought it was the other way around, and the few 50 cent War Eagles that turn up in the States were probably just re-converted English 1D machines sent back to the States in the 70s. I see a decent amount of US machines turn up with these re-conversions, but real 50 cent machines must've been pretty uncommon in the 30s. So, conversely, it must've been tough for UK operators to find second hand 50 cent machines to ship over and convert to Penny play.

Particularly common in the US are the UK Caille Commercial style machines that turn up with with streamlined cabinets and greyhound graphics, and claimed to be fifty Centers!

[silverbitz]

Hi Gameswat,
I agree......With the UK early models with the large fishmouth penny entry and probably rarely using a 50c escalator, I would have thought the slope an easier option in the early thirties. However, as 50c escalators came more widely used in probably the fifties and Mills would have been 'tooled' up for them, many earlier UK machines could have converted to the more usual 'run along' version at that point.
I only conclude this theory owing to the number of 'definately' original early UK machines I have seen!.
The other possibility on a 50c machine is that at some time its life, it would have had to have its 'slides' altered to 50c thickness, thus a fair giveaway that it started life as a UK machine?.

[arrgee]

Hi Giles, go to the Board Index section of this Forum then 'see it operate' category then 'one arm bandits' section, there is a very good video about the mills war eagle and it discusses reproductions in some detail.


Embedded here - site admin.

[giles_gunning]

Exactly what I was looking for. Some of the parts and bits he talks about are there, whereas others as missing. May as well take the gamble.

[slotfixer]

Two ways to check if the machine is a repro. First the castings will have slag bumps in the inside corners due to cheaper sand casting instead of investment casting. The other way is the jackpot check plate is solid, not removable. Too expensive to make that part seperately now.

[christopheb]

The other way is the jackpot check plate is solid, not removable. Too expensive to make that part seperately now.

Hi,
Sorry for my ignorance, but which part is the "jackpot check plate" ?
(could it be, by any chance, the small corner-shaped vertical plate on the front casting of the machine, to the right of the jackpot window, and which looks like a cover or something ? If so, you have juste solved a mystery to me : have always wondered what this was for ?!)