Bell-Fruit Manufacturing Co. bandits

[slotalot]

Three STARS for that!!

[jonesthegarage]

Not sure it's Bell Fruit but there's a definite theme going on here with this offering on Ebay. It is brewery related, in this case Ansell and it offers the top prize of a 5/- token. Can't make out any of the other words but I have messaged the seller for more info.

Ansells Penny Tumble

[riche100]

here is my bell fruit 1p special

http://www.dropshots.com/jamma#date/2012-06-08/00:46:22

[clubconsoles]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

Interesting article charting history of Bell Fruit from its Watling days:

http://www.coin-opcommunity.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Bell-Fruit-Article.pdf

[badpenny]

Excellent, thanks for posting.

BP

[coppinpr]

Great article. Very interesting to read about dealing direct with the breweries and installing custom strips for each brewery. I have a "Three In A Line" with Flowers brewery strips which I didn't know much about till now, thanks.

[chris rideout]

That picture you have shown reminds me of a similar chrome plated Bell Fruit machine from the mid 1960s. It was advertised as having "the world's largest auto-drop jackpot" and that was no understatement. The jackpot window was nearly as wide as the front panel and probably took several days to fill up. I think 3 bars was the only jackpot on the machine so the odds were 7999 to 1 assuming it had a 20 stop mechanism. With 6d play, I would imagine at least 300 coins (£7 10 shillings) could be waiting for a lucky punter but that's a wild guess. Who knows the capacity of the JP window?

[bradsguns]

Topic merged - Site Admin.

Picked this up at a sale, as I thought it would be a good fixer upper. Thought I would check if it had any great value before I tore into it as my first restore project. Seems to be generally working anyway, as the reel spins when you trip the coin mech and pull the handle. Haven't been able to find one with the same glass pattern, though close. Any value range would be appreciated, as this is my first slot purchase.
Thanks,
Brad

[aristomatic]

See Bell-Fruit Manufacturing Co. bandits. (Merged above - Site Admin,)

Bell Fruit "Flowers Brewery" slot machine

[treefrog]

Welcome to the forum. A cute little Bell Fruit Machine there, one of the earlier ones, as it looks like it is mechanical so has payout slides rather than a solenoid to payout. Also has token vendor and a visible rotary escalator. This really shows off the machine's earlier heritage of the Pace Manufacturing company.

Your biggest challenges will be the chrome plate and graphics, as it's difficult and expensive to put right. One of the links Aristocrat shared, shows one that has been powder coated which may be cheaper than chrome plating. Anyway good luck. Price is always subjective and you can look at the Elephant House auction website can help with price guide as a few have passed through there.

[daveslot]

You're been lead astray by the rotary escalator - the heritage of these is Watling.

[glittering-prize67]

Anything is worth what someone will pay. The bell fruit machine in question as it is about 150 to 200. You can make it worth more but will cost you the extra and more to restore.

[coppinpr]

The Flowers Brewery machine I had that is mentioned above I sold at the annual forum backed auction a year or so ago for I think £150. When you take into consideration that the chrome was near perfect and the theme unusual it goes to show the value of these is never going to be high.

[aristomatic]

Topic merged - Site Admin.

Probably one of those exceptionally rare examples but unlikely to warrant an exceptionally rare value kinda machine.

[badpenny]

I've had two, although only one had the jackpot.
One cost me £50 and the other was given free as a sweetner on a bigger deal.

I swapped the first one for a brass lamp and gave the other away.

I don't remember which one had the jackpot.

[glittering-prize67]

Worth what you can get really. At a guess about 40 quid. If it needs work even less. And that is if you can advertise without it being taken off. You need a licence now.

[pennymachines]

A couple more: Krazy Koins (from a recent German auction) and another Line 'Em Up (which was paired with a more distressed example at the Elephant House).
Of those seen so far, I'm not sure any two are alike.

[pennymachines]

Time for a little survey of Bell-Fruit chrome-fronted counter top bandits.

Although there's much variation in graphics, there are two basic versions: the 'topless-type' which operate on the old penny or sixpence; and the 'light-up top box type' which are usually on sixpence (sometimes converted to new penny). The top box was presumably a later 'improvement'. The first two here, with the substantial Bell-Fruit casting on the front, appear to be the earliest. For some reason they're almost invariably cursed with crumbling chrome and flaking graphics, whether through poor storage or substandard materials I don't know.

Three Alike (Line 'Em Up) seems to be the most common model (see flyer).

[pennymachines]

And some of their less-than elegant Formica-clad console bandits.

[brigham]

So 'SOCCER' is a genuine BFM offering, then? I thought it was home-made.
My console model was originally 'Soccer', but came with a spare, sawn-off top half with glasses for 'Double Diamond', so I naturally swapped them over.
The designer of the counter-top version was clearly no Raymond Loewy! The last pic on the right in the console selection clearly shows the evolution of the famous (and sadly decimal) Action Line. By that time the excellent E/M Penny Target was in full swing, so I think Action Line might well have been a means of using-up a stock of Watling-type mechs., Henry Ford-style.
My 'Double Diamond' works wonderfully!