Philip Shefras wall machine list

[JC]

The Storm is an interesting addition to this range of machines, I note a number of differences. In particular, the absence of a payout knob indicates some form of automatic payout - solenoid perhaps?
There are a number of differences in the case design too. It appears to be shorter, with a much smaller cashbox door. I'm not even sure it is a cashbox, as there doesn't appear to be a lock? And no Bryan's hinges!

I know the Double Your Win Pennymachines refers to. I presume these were 'knocked-out' later in the sixties. Knocked-out being the operative word, they were quite cheaply made, with nasty box-wood cases. As Pennymachines stated earlier, one assumes manufacturers were finding it increasingly uneconomic to produce allwins during the sixties. I guess they would have had difficulty competing with Bryans whose machines, although more expensive, were firmly established as the Showmans' favourite.

Jerry

[john t peterson]

Just to keep things moving along, here are two machines from the GLENN collection. "Flash Win" looks like it could belong in the Mystery Manufacturer stable with that distinctive plate across the lower case and the Bryans hinges. It is an automatic pay-out with an electric solenoid. The second machine is, I believe the attractive Whales "Double Your Win" to which Jerry refers above.

[pennymachines]

Another one - Win a Kit-Kat

[jimmycowman]

Is that case homemade ?

[pennymachines]

Can't say for sure but I don't have any reason to think so. It appears to be covered in 60s style wood-effect plastic laminate on the front and sides of the cabinet. (It's eBay item 380037314736)

[treefrog]

Terry has a nice looking allwin on ebay at the moment.... A Double your Money.

LOVELY OLD VARIABLE PAYOUT ALLWIN PENNY SLOT MACHINE

The great thing about this site is the help in identifying things as he has stated he does not know for sure the maker....looking through the site there are two references to this style of machine as seen below. Pennymachines as per the excerpt below believes this style of case is attributed to Parkers, the coin payout cup is unusual...does this muddle things?

This was definitely by Parkers. What I need to confirm is that my memory serves me right, and the Jungle Skill has all the Jackpot features. Namely: the bowed wood top above the playfield; the large metal "player control" casting below the playfield and the Bryans-style hinges. Does anyone have one? It would be nice to settle this little riddle.
The confusing thing about Parkers is that over the years they made allwins in several quite different styles - some almost identical to Oliver Whales, others in Odean style cases with elaborate wood veneers

(Topic now merged above - site admin.)

Also below is a picture of the same machine, but with the full length metal panel on the base posted by Pennymachines on another thread....

Nice looking machine

[terry]

Thanks for the help Tree Frog! I'll add your findings to the listing on ebay although I see that on the earlier posting the Kraft name was mooted also...doubt if we'll ever know for sure! It's a quality built machine and leans heavily on Bryans ideas for a variable payout. It also uses identical hinges to the Bryans allwins and I'm sure that single plate background to the knob and trigger on the other Double Your Money was also used on late Bryans machines. Maybe manufacturers just bought spares from each other towards the end of the allwin era as they knew it wasn't worth investing in large orders themselves.

[treefrog]

Still a little confused over the maker of these allwins, as per the thread on here, but I noticed one or two people had posted that their machines were electric, one has appeared on ebay, although possibly with the wrong name or flash on top. Very little mechanical inside these, I wonder if they were more reliable than traditional machines

Vintage Eleven Win Allwin Old 1d Coin Op Slot Machine

[pennymachines]

What I need to confirm is that my memory serves me right, and the Jungle Skill has all the Jackpot features. Namely: the bowed wood top above the playfield; the large metal "player control" casting below the playfield and the Bryans-style hinges.

The jungle-themed allwin (with cut-down cabinet) in yesterday's auction seems to undermine my idea that Parkers might have been the maker of these mystery 50s allwins. The flash is quite different from the Parkers Jungle Skill.
No maker's name anywhere to be seen, as usual.

[treefrog]

See there is another one at the Coventry auction from JC's site below "the Amazing Electric Allwin" obviously a automatic paying solenoid based machine......still no manufacturer

[pennymachines]

I've replaced the Jackpot images that went missing from the opening post.

Looking back at that page, I see the mystery jungle allwin was actually called "Safari".

Putting on my deerstalker , I think "The Amazing Electric Allwin" was once a "Flash Win". It appears to have lost its backflash and possibly its original topflash too, but comparing it to the other electric allwins posted here (one without topflash, another without main flash) and with the aid of Photoshop, I reckon it may have originally looked like this:

Composite pic - Flash Win

The "Storm" lettering on the topflash of this example looks homemade.

Storm

Storm.jpg (25.28 KiB) Viewed 5099 times

The gallery is similar to the Double Your Money: 2,2,4,2,2,6,2,2,4,2,2.

[treefrog]

Picked up a couple of these myself recently and as per the comments earlier the Jackpot version is very generous for the player.....

[pennymachines]

The Double Your Money has had its original glass top sign replaced with one from a Safari...
Nevertheless, they look like two very smart specimens.

Both must be fairly generous - the Double Your Win (like the Flash Win) has a gallery identical to the Bryans Elevenses (on its most generous setting), whereas, on the Jackpot, all but the 12-coin centre target, pay two.

[bandito]

Nice to see all you allwin collectors scratching your heads on this one.......

[pennymachines]

I've been doing some more head scratching since Rob introduced us to the Cyclone
Although it's from the same stable, it's a flasher - not an allwin, so instead of merging the threads, I'll just put a picture of it here.

I stuck my neck out at the start of this thread with a theory that these games were made by Parkers. As nobody chopped it off (my head, I mean), I've grown bolder, and will now insist they can't possibly be from that company!

First, where did the idea come from? Well, long, long ago at an auction far, far away... a stout fellow with voluminous grey beard, much wiser and older than myself, whispered the name in my ear. John Morley was the gentleman, if memory serves... However, I've found nothing to substantiate (and several things to undermine) the claim.

Jimmy Parker donated some nice interior pictures to the Arena of Parkers Black Cat amusement arcade in the 1960s. These show a Saxony Allwin Deluxe, five recognized Parker allwins in Oliver Whales style cases and several in their distinctive inlaid veneer cabinets. No sign of our mystery machines. Given that they're evidently from the same period (no later than the '60s), it's implausible that the Parkers were making this quite distinct range of allwins alongside their other two styles, with no crossover. They produced their games in both cabinet styles, as can be seen in this thread: Parkers of Rhyl. But none of our mystery allwins turn up in the recognized Parker cases.

What's more, Parkers backflash artwork is quite distinctive and indisputably superior. I think we stuck with them as a candidate because they were one of the few who didn't badge their allwins.

What convinced me though, was looking more closely at the payout handles on these and other allwins. More specifically, the direction the handle is turned for a payout is determined by the design of the mechanism. It would appear that allwin manufacturers in the 50s and 60s were quite conservative:

R & W sweety allwins
Oliver Whales
Parkers
Turn handle anticlockwise

R & W multi-balls
Bryans
Shefras
Mystery allwins
Turn handle clockwise

So, we're not quite back to square one. OK, still no clue as to the maker, but I trust you'll agree, it wasn't Parkers.

[bandito]

Interesting point Mr Pennymachines. My personal knowledge of allwins is not very much
Are any of these machines mentioned in any advertising flyers or booklets from the 1960s? Must be something surely??

[gameswat]

Have to say though I've never been a fan of this design. Have passed on a few over years, and the reason being they always remind me of bloody Pachinko machines!!

[badpenny]

.............. it's a flasher - not an allwin, so instead of merging the threads, I'll just put a picture of it here.
..........

Nursey has commented in the past that you can be a snob, and I defended you ....... no more!

When I was running that pub in Leicestershire, somebody I can't remember, or even when, once offered me a "Made by somebody's uncle" machine for a fortune. It had the same sort of metal frontage and a decent case. The story was the uncle had worked for a machine operator/maker and his job included recycling bits & bobs of machines taken in part chop.
As his work was piecemeal, he tended to do foreigners. That is to say, using bits and bobs he acquired from his employer, he knocked up at home the odd machine of his own with a mate to help.

Of course, I don't believe a word of it, as the very suggestion that a professional in the showmen's world would get up to any skulduggery is horrendous. Even though the vendor is a brother of someone we all know and used to be famous for a type of penny he used to sell through Deal Directory.

[pennymachines]

Have to say though I've never been a fan of this design. Have passed on a few over years, and the reason being they always remind me of bloody Pachinko machines!!

They're not very elegant, even by '50s allwin standards, but have excellent mechanisms and the Jackpot must have been popular with players.

Even though the vendor is a brother of someone we all know and used to be famous for a type of penny he used to sell through Deal Directory.

You're getting too cryptic for me BP

[badpenny]

I do apologise I suspect I might have had a stale packet of crisps last night between my 15th & 16th pint of Guinness.

Ok, a clue worthy of The Times Crossword Compiler coming up.

3 Across
Clive Baker who sold de-crapinated pennies through Deal Directory ...... has a brother who lived a few doors up the road from The Fox Inn ..... he once showed me a picture of an allwin he could acquire for cash if I was interested. I didn't recognise it but think it was similar to our mystery ones.

2 Down

I expressed my doubts as to its pedigree and the explanation I was offered was .......
It was "Made by somebody's uncle" . ........... The story was the uncle had worked for a machine operator/maker and his job included recycling bits & bobs of machines taken in part chop to make new ones to sell.
As his work was piecemeal, he tended to do foreigners. That is to say, using bits and bobs he acquired from his employer, he knocked up at home the odd machine of his own with a mate to help, then sold them on to the industry privately without his employer knowing.

Last Week's Solution

Because I am quoting people whose story it really is and my memory isn't the best. I was trying to be subtle, also my memory isn't the best. So I might have got it wrong anyway. I just thought it was a possible explanation for a small run of decent wall machines that have a similarity yet no obvious antecedents. However as I have a bad memory I could be wrong who it was, they were strange times at The Fox. That's where I bought half an airliner and kept it in the car park. Long story that one and probably more interesting than this.

Now try the Wordsearch Puzzle.

SOUNDSBOLLOCKSTOME
WHATISHEONABOUT????
HEHASGOTTHATWRONG
CANTSEETHATHAPPENING

counterfeitpenny