The EXAMINER

[brigham]

Has anyone heard of The EXAMINER, a Little Stockbroker conversion with, seemingly, a different gameplay?
It's on eBay, with an even more fantastic price than the one which sold at the Elephant House last month, but without the hole hacked into the front.

[treefrog]

Yes, odd one, as it looks like another Bradshaw modified machine with screws holding a plate over original name and an added pointer that probably does nothing but complies with the instructions….but it says patent pending. Also it is listed in Braithwaite book under Walton 1933……

Seems odd as obviously a Stockbroker

Edited as under Bradshaw entry, it clearly states there were copyists of his design of this machine, but one would have assumed this was the future pay side and not an exact copy of the actual machine, who knows……

[brigham]

I would have been interested in buying it, as I have the two usual conversions, Cricketers and Buy British.

Shame about the deal-breaker mentioned in the advert...

[pennymachines]

who knows……

I do.
I posted a piece in the Arena about quiz machines some years ago (got lost in the transfer), which included a description and patent link to this game. I've now reinstated it (with the new pictures added).

The 1934 patent GB414719 for "coin freed personal knowledge testing apparatus" describes two distinct versions. The other has three reels or drums with the questions and answers and looks more like a bandit.

GB414719a.jpg (107.17 KiB) Viewed 723 times

This ebay example is the first I've seen. The commercially successful 1928 Little Stockbroker (patent GB288744), with its future pay and predetermined payouts was designed to circumvent all existing anti-gaming regulations, and clearly the Examiner was conceived to get more mileage out of this. It utilized most of the same parts, with the large aluminium front casting 'transformed' by bolting a plate over the original name. Proclaiming on the instructions, 'THIS MACHINE IS NOT A GAME NOR AN AMUSEMENT DEVICE, BUT IS A MECHANICAL SCHOOL WHERE KNOWLEDGE MAY BE PURCHASED AND EXAMINATIONS ENTERED", it added further armour against legal objections in the guise of automatic education.

I suspect the result was a game with even less play appeal than the Little Stockbroker, which probably accounts for its rarity. With its very limited number of Q&As, it surely failed both as a fun gaming device and as an entertaining quiz machine.

GB414719.jpg (132.33 KiB) Viewed 723 times

Emaminer1.jpg (102.13 KiB) Viewed 723 times

In one constructional form of this invention, questions together with correct and incorrect answers are substituted for the printed labels of stocks and shares which pay dividends, and partial statements are substituted for the printed labels of stocks and shares which do not pay dividends, the completion of the partial statements appearing after the operation of the machine as hereinafter described.

A movable pointer operated by a controlling knob is adapted to be set by the operator to point to one of the answers seen through the glazed aperture of the machine, the said pointer being adapted to return to a neutral position after each operation of the machine.

Means connected to the said pointer are adapted to control the delivery of coins either to the operator or to the cash box according to the correct, incorrect, or no choice of answers by the operator.

When a partial statement is displayed, the completion of the said statement may be bought by inserting a coin and operating the machine, thereby causing a partial rotation of the revolvable disc and bringing into display the mid completion of the partial statement.

At the same time another partial statement may be displayed, the completion of which may be bought in like manner, and after a pre-determined number of statements have been sold, a question with correct and incorrect answers based upon the said statements is displayed, and a number of coins which may vary in number according to the difficulty of the said questions, are available to be awarded as a prize, and these coins can only be obtained by setting the pointer to the correct answer, and by the insertion of a coin comprising an examination fee to operate the machine.

If the said pointer is left in neutral or no answer position, or if it is set to point to the wrong answer, means connected to the said pointer divert the said coins into the cash box of the machine.

[coppinpr]

Topic merged - Site Admin.

We have all seen attempts to convince the law that machines are not gambling, but I don't think I've ever seen this convoluted attempt before, seen on a "Stockbroker", so it's a school that sells knowledge, and I always thought it was a particularly poor slot machine.