I think the game has a certain knockabout charm. There was demand for them back in the day, with several manufacturers turning them out. Ruffler & Walker made them in the UK:
- Ruffler & Walker Ice Hockey
- Ruffler & Walker Ice Hockey
In America, jukebox manufacturer J P Seeburg's version had hockey sticks scored into the sides:
- Seeburg Ice Hockey
I believe the Elephant House example (top of page), although it lacks the hockey stick sides, was a Seeburg, erroneously listed as Rock-Ola. These tend to fetch higher prices than the English version, and are sometimes referred to as the 'Rolls Royce of Ice Hockeys'.
- Seeburg Ice Hockey
The Germans also made several high quality versions, including Hanno's Hanno-Hockey:
- Hanno-Hockey
and Jentzsch & Meerz's IMOHOCKEY Model B
- Jentzsch & Meerz IMOHOCKEY model B
But to my mind, the most desirable is the auto-scoring 6 manikin IMOHOCKEY model A, made in 1936 by Jentzsch & Meerz.
- Jentzsch & Meerz IMOHOCKEY model A
The example above was recently on ebay US for an ambitious BIN of $3,600!
A 1950s version called Toto-Fix, by Lumet, is currently on
German ebay with a BIN of Euro 1099. These seem to be relatively common, at least in Germany.
- Lumet Toto-Fix
Th. Bergmann made a version called Hurricane:
- Bergmann Hurricane
There is also a miniature, possibly Swedish-built, 6 manikin version:
- Swedish?
and a late, Formica-clad, game called Mini-Match (possibly British). Unusually, in this game, the two teams play from within their own halves of the pitch.
- Mini Match
Nowadays they seem to have been largely superseded by Air Hockey.
I've borrowed some images from our German friends at
Antik-Automaten
There's a two page list of coin-op hockey games at
arcade-history.com.
