R&W Aero identified

[Dazzy-B]

Dear All,
After many years of searching (non eBay prices) I have finally acquired my first flickball. It really is in excellent condition throughout with one exception. The small artwork in the top window looks great but is not original and is probably not the original design either. I presumed it was an Allwins but cannot find this specific theme listed on any Allwin website. All I can find on the actual machine is "R&W" on the front and "Robinsons & Co/Blackpool" stamped on the inside.

Do I have an Allwin machine or Is "R&W" another make? Also, I would love to find a picture of this game so I can see the original artwork and replace mine accordingly. Is there somewhere I can go that specializes in flickball art. The one I have is a "Win Aero chocolate bars" with planes & parachutes on the main art.

Many thanks in advance for looking and for any help I might receive.
Darrin

[badpenny]

Hi Darrin...
Welcome to the premier site for slotties, but then you already knew that didn't you otherwise you wouldn't have joined!
Well done on your purchase. Allwin was more of a generic name used to describe an amusement machine where you flicked a ball bearing around a spiral track before watching it disappear down the lose hole. Some manufacturers used the name to describe their machines. Hawtins of Blackpool for example built one that they imaginatively named "Hawtins Allwin".
R&W probably refers to Ruffler & Walker, a large concern that did indeed manufacture allwins, but also re-cycled other's machines by re-casing them (especially German wall bandits).

Your best bets at this instance are to send a photo of your machine to this site and (if you haven't done so already) subscribe to Jerry Chattenton's magazine, Mechanical Memories. You will find a link on this site, alternatively mail him at jerry.mmm@tiscali.co.uk

All the best
Badpenny

[JC]

Thanks for the plug Badpenny! And hello Darrin. Yes, the mag. is definitely a good bet! (Almost) everything you're ever likely to want to know about allwins can be found in the last two issues. Contact me if you'd like to subscribe (which you can do through this site).
As for your allwin, I assume you're refering to the top flash? For reasons totally beyond me, these often seem to have gone missing. Does anyone have any ideas why?

Jerry

[daveslot]

Hi, is this it? They are either made by Ruffler and Walker or supplied by them, they could also be made by Kraft.

[Dazzy-B]

Many thanks all for all the help and to daveslot for the picture. That is the exact machine that I have but I definitely do not have the original top flash artwork. Sorry for all the questions......is there a site/dealer that specialises in original parts?

Jerry, I would love to get the two past editions of the mag from you. Shall I PM you for details? I also have a 'The Challenger' & a 'Love test' that are both complete but in need of restoration so I'll need all the help I can get.

Thanks again,
Darrin

[pennymachines]

One of the things Paul Braithwaite turned up in Arcades and Slot Machines was that these, although distributed and commissioned by Ruffler & Walker, were manufactured by B. M. Corteen Ltd. (also trading as Advanced Automatics) of Erith, Croydon, London. He lists the multiball allwins. hockey etc., but one must assume the R&W sweety allwins were made there too.

Someone suggested at the last auction that I should create an online picture gallery onto which members could upload high resolution images of machine graphics and paperwork so we all had access to this stuff. I will look into this. Two issues I'll have to resolve. How to integrate it into the Forum registration routine (so signed up members can use it and unregistered spammers don't fill it up with Spam) and the question of disc space on the server.

[arrgee]

Great idea Pennymachines to have an online picture gallery. Over the past year or so I have learnt quite a bit about allwins etc just by looking at photos/paperwork and comparing them with the machines I have.

For instance, I have just converted my Bryans 10 cup from new penny to old. I had suspected that the machine had been factory converted to new p in the 1970s, but when I saw a picture of the back of the playfield of another Bryans 10 cup, which was original, I could see that the slide length was different to mine. On looking closer at the back of mine I could see the original screw holes left by the longer slide which I assume Bryans had changed to the new penny slide which was shorter owing to a different 'L' shaped penny entry guide.

What it is they say, a picture tells a thousand words.

Arrgee

[perana5000]

Hello all, does anyone know of Corteens address all those years ago at Croydon?

[coppinpr]

I dont know the actual address but it was at Erith not really Croydon. Erith is in Kent a fair way from Croydon which is in Surrey , postal districts were much bigger in those pre post code days.