Mills Vest Pocket

[marktol]

Hi All,

I was wondering how common these are in the UK - do they come up for sale very often? Also what is a reasonable price to pay for one?

I've seen a few on ebay in the States but none in the UK. I really quite like them and considering getting one sent over but of course the cost goes up significantly doing that. If they are not rare items here then I may sit tight and wait. I guess there is always the possibility one may show up at the auction next month as well....?

Cheers,
Mark

[badpenny]

I've never paid over £300 for one but I haven't bought one for more than 6 years and prices have both dipped and risen since then.
That was a really helpful answer wasn't it?

[pennymachines]

Mills introduced the Vest Pocket in 1938 and Sega acquired the rights to manufacture it in the 1950s, rechristening it the Mini-Sega. These seem to turn up more frequently, in the UK at least. For that reason, I imagine it would be a cheaper alternative.

[marktol]

Thanks,

There seem to be a lot of shabby ones about. I presume the UK ones will use 6d?

Many thanks,
Mark

[pennymachines]

Yes, I've never seen them on any other coin. There are some shabby ones for sure. I guess they had hard lives.

[malcymal]

I have seen them on ebay many times over the years in various condtions averaging around £300 mark. I think they are ok; id gracefully accept one if somebody gave it to me but Im not really sure they hold any presence in a collection. They certainly arent eye candy, blue or gold hammerite finish..yuk. You can still get reel strips for them though. I kick myself though for not buying a sega clover at the brighton jukebox fair £275. This was a minature machine, small chromed lever arm, without the hidden reel cover that dispensed bubble gum on a win; that was pure eye candy and in mint condition too. A picture of one attached, if anybody has one who wants to part with it please PM me.

[willborl]

There's one come up on Ebay,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mills-Mini-Sega-v ... 500wt_1156

Looks a bit pricey though

[marktol]

Yes I saw that, very pricey!!

Another overly expensive High Top has cropped up as well:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/One-arm-bandit-vi ... 4aa5adfdea

This was previously listed a few weeks ago and the seller could not give any more pics or details as was selling for someone else. It didn't get any bids at 250, so God knows how they will sell it for 590!! Not particularly well indexed either...!

[treefrog]

Yes, I've never seen them on any other coin. There are some shabby ones for sure. I guess they had hard lives.

Thing is, what would they have been used for? Or at least the later ones like Sega, and how could they have had a hard life? Surely arcades or fairs would not use them, as people would just pick them up and walk away. The places where these were designed for were counter-tops, mainly bars... but were these really used a lot in pubs in this country? Obviously the original theme of hiding them was mainly applicable during the 30s in the US. I guess we had strict gaming laws here, so maybe there was a market for them in remote country pubs or men's working clubs..... They do not seem to be a rare item and come up reasonably regularly. I have one from a novelty point and they are fun. I love how they have compacted everything into such a small space and with the full 20 coin payout. 500 pounds is way too optimistic. Good luck to them.

[special when lit]

I once got one off ebay for £65 complete with a load of 6d tokens. Kept most of the tokens & sold the Sega a few months later to a bloke in Portugal for £350!
Wish I could make that much profit from everything I sell!

[badpenny]

I first came across one when I was 17 and on holiday in Jersey where gambling (at the time was illegal) I was in a pub where a Sega Vest Pocket was being passed around amongst the regulars. It was certainly getting some hammer.

A family friend visiting us a couple of years ago spotted mine and said he knew what it was as he used to work at The Standard Triumph Car factory (home of Toledos, Dolomites and Spitfires) in the sixties where a co-worker owned several that he used to let be passed around the factory during the day. It seems he wouldn't see them for days but they always found their way back to him for emptying and he was always getting complaints from colleagues moaning that someone must be hogging them as one hadn't been their way for ages.

[operator bell]

I remember seeing a very fine chrome Mini Sega in an operator's shop window in the late 1960s, but never saw one on location or got to touch one. I'm not particularly tempted by the battered painted Mills Vest Pockets that come up on Ebay, although I do admire the ingenious mechanism, and I'd almost buy one just to watch its innards as it worked.

Here's a bar top machine you won't have seen. It's Japanese, early 1970s, and runs on electrickery. It's bigger than a vest pocket at about a 12 inch cube. It was originally a coin payout, but this one was converted to credit play for use in illegal markets. There's an operator panel on the back with key switches to add credits and cash them out. The displays are stacked plates of perspex with symbols drilled into them, and edge lit. There must be more of these in the world somewhere, but I've never seen one.

[treefrog]

The problem with the Vest is it is dull, which I guess was the intention for discretion, but my favourite is still the Baby Grand I was out bid on a few years ago. The nicest looking micro slot ever IMO... probably the only machine I have not pushed the price on and regretted all this time later. Never seen one since

Baby Grand

[marktol]

The Baby Grand looks very smart.

In many respects I think I prefer some of these smaller ones to the full size ones. The irony being you could probably get a full size one for less than a small one...!

[gameswat]

Hey there, I decided last night to pull out my Mills Vest Pocket that was shelved in disgust 4 years ago due to constant jamming. Currently trying to figure out the issue/s. One problem is I need the special tool as shown below. I made this one and even though i know it's close it might be a little off, enough to drive me bonkers!! If anybody has one and could scan it for me with the exact dimensions and thickness I'd be over the moon . The machine will payout well over a length of time and then jam coins halfway pushed out. A real pain to deal with unless you have the mech out already. I'm sure i have the payout adjustment slightly off. But it was like that when i found it and no amount of tinkering can get it right thus far.
I also have a basket case Sega V P and need a cabinet door and award plate if anybody has them spare.
Cheers.

[marktol]

Hi,

Funny you should mention that as only today this showed up on eBay:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SS:GB:1123

[gameswat]

Hey Marktol, cheers for the link, I got the flap (and door) for $16!

On another issue, I had to do some pot metal welding to the back door as it had warped and cracked slightly. After this i then needed to repaint the machine. It had decent original hammered metal paint in pale blue and gold. But after spending quite a few dollars experimenting I've been unable to find a finish that's even close. The original was a very thin paint but had a deep 3D effect. One brand was thin but had about 1/5 of the effect. Another was thick and gluggy and while it has a raised pattern it had very little metal flake in it. In disgust I stripped the cabinet back for the third time and went and bought a can of wrinkle paint. Mills did offer them in wrinkle finish and I've always loved the effect. Though I could only find pics of green and grey. I decided to bling mine up a little and painted over the black wrinkle in mettalic blue on the ends and red in the middle. If any machine needed bling it's this one, about as boring a cabinet design as there ever was, but a very clever little machine hiding inside.Now i just need to get the mech to stop jamming*#%! A friend in the US thinks he has one of those stepped tools I need in a box somewhere. He never knew what it was until now. Hopefully he finds it.

[badpenny]

I was told, or perhaps I made it up, that they look the way they are because at the time in the USA you could use coin operated radios at bus stations etc which for their own protection were encased in metal boxes. And the vestpocket was disguising itself to look the same, hence the flaps over the reels and payout chute.
Probably all lies I can't be trusted you know

[gameswat]

I'm sure you're right BP, they do look like a small radio. Though how long did that ruse last? Here's this one done. Once I find the back door for my Sega I think i'll just polish the aluminium cabinet up. I've done that a couple of times with little US trade stims and especially the deco ones look amazing.

[treefrog]

Another great finish Gameswat, looks better than the original finishes