It's Slick

American, British, French or German? We want to know about it.
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gameswat
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Re: It's Slick

Post by gameswat »

I'm the new owner of the Slick flyer - which is really the first piece of original advertising I've actively gone after and been excited about. Maybe because it has some Australian connection, and the lovely deco letterhead. Slick also happens to be one of my favourite machines - I own two, plus a third I sold. I'm a huge fan of Modernist design so this and Conveyor are a couple of my faves. I asked the seller where the flyer came from and this was his reply:
I picked this up from a Tasmanian stamp auction a few years ago, as part of a large lot of magic related material, mostly in it's original envelopes, that had been sent to a magician / magic wholesaler in Newtown (Sydney) between the mid 1940s and early 1950s. I was told by the proprietor of the stamp auction that their customer had picked it up as a job lot from a Sydney Book shop sometime earlier, specifically to keep the military related material that was originally in the collection. My guess is that Jim Fleming (the recipient) set up a magic business after returning from service in World War Two, but I did not see the nature of the military stuff in the original accumulation. I thought it was a really interesting lot, but the couple of runs that I have listed did not attract the attention of magic collectors that I expected. I am glad that you found this item, and that it fits well into your collection
The two I currently own are unrestored and both in steel cabinets, one came from a famous UK collection, the other from a collector in Sydney. The third example I restored and eventually sold was the rarer pre-war version in a wooden case. Two such examples have turned up in Aust so far. I was given mine by my friend Bob Klepner, basically a basket case that he'd started restoring and lost interest in. The case and door were mismatched but the case had a serial of #44 on it. The wooden versions differ not only in the cabinet style but also in the artwork which is hand painted, where as the steel case versions all have silkscreened artwork. Before I got the machine Bob had a new alloy coin chute cast, and he'd had two new handles machined and knurled. I made a new front door in old plywood and handmade a complete scoring mech which was totally missing. At the time I didn't have another example so Bob was able to borrow one from a friend in Melbourne and sent me the mech to copy. Took me a full day to get it done! The lights in the wooden cabinet version are not original, I added them myself as I was finding the game very hard to play in my moody house.
Personally I prefer the steel case design to the wood, which is partly why I sold my earlier example.
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badpenny
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Re: It's Slick

Post by badpenny »

I've not seen them in wooden cases before, I think they look better ............... mind you I'd have one in either case.
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Re: It's Slick

Post by pennymachines »

Interesting post gameswat. Must say, to my eyes it does look good in wood - even though it's only ply. Never knew such a version existed. Just shows how hard it is to be definitive about these games - so often an anomalous variant turns up. A few years ago I was offered a Bradley Super Challenger in oak - previously I'd assumed they were all clad in beach, ply and Formica.

I wonder if the ply case was originally painted. I don't recall seeing ply used on the outside of a case without some plastic/metal/veneer facing or paint finish - certainly not on a British pre-war machine.

A better scan of your Slick flyer in Resources (when you receive it) would be much appreciated.
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gameswat
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Re: It's Slick

Post by gameswat »

The plywood cases were never painted or covered with anything other than clear varnish. And the internal cabinetry is held together with metal "L" brackets making a very strong structure.
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gameswat
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Re: It's Slick

Post by gameswat »

The maker's name is printed on both my tin examples: "MANFD. BY NORTH AUTOS BALTIC AVE. SOUTHEND. ON. SEA." As well as the differences in the printed names there are some small differences in the screened artwork. Also both cabinets are slightly different in size and side shoulder height.
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pennymachines
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Re: It's Slick

Post by pennymachines »

gameswat wrote:The maker's name is printed on both my tin examples: "MANFD. BY NORTH AUTOS BALTIC AVE. SOUTHEND. ON. SEA."
Great - one more elusive and obscure manufacturer positively identified. Now for the sake of completeness, two more questions:- how many balls do you get and what score wins the coin back?

There was Slick on Swanage pier last time I visited (not working at the time).
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JC
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Re: It's Slick

Post by JC »

Yes, great to know the manufacturer, although I've never noticed it on my machine.

My Slick has five balls, and a score of twelve is required for coin return. As each ball can score a maximum three points, the chances of getting your coin back are fairly limited! Still a fun game to play though.
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gameswat
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Re: It's Slick

Post by gameswat »

All my three have been 9 catches for a coin return. If you open the ply cabinet playfield closeup photo you can read the instructions. Either the operator of JC's was tight or there is some adjustment in the game play with the size of the gap in the two forks.
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Re: It's Slick

Post by pennymachines »

gameswat wrote:If you open the ply cabinet playfield closeup photo you can read the instructions.
Aha! Yes, I should have looked at the close-up.
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Re: It's Slick

Post by arrgee »

I thought the Payramid was difficult to catch all balls, but this looks damn near impossible to catch nine!!
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gameswat
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Re: It's Slick

Post by gameswat »

It's actually not that hard - or maybe I just have good reflexes from playing machines my whole life! You do eventually get good at the top and bottom games, the forks catcher in the middle is the hardest. I find the top tilter is the next hardest, and the bomb dropper is slightly easier. But you really need your wits about you. I've watched so many people in my house be defeated by it time and time again but keep coming back for more, which is what makes a great game. Eventually they start to realise that the one handle does all the work, the tilting, the catching and the dropping. Very clever mechanism!
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Re: It's Slick

Post by geordy55 »

gameswat wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:33 pm I'm the new owner of the Slick flyer - which is really the first piece of original advertising I've actively gone after and been excited about. Maybe because it has some Australian connection, and the lovely deco letterhead. Slick also happens to be one of my favourite machines - I own two, plus a third I sold. I'm a huge fan of Modernist design so this and Conveyor are a couple of my faves.

The two I currently own are unrestored and both in steel cabinets, one came from a famous UK collection, the other from a collector in Sydney. The third example I restored and eventually sold was the rarer pre-war version in a wooden case. Two such examples have turned up in Aust so far. I was given mine by my friend Bob Klepner, basically a basket case that he'd started restoring and lost interest in. The case and door were mismatched but the case had a serial of #44 on it. The wooden versions differ not only in the cabinet style but also in the artwork which is hand painted, where as the steel case versions all have silkscreened artwork. Before I got the machine Bob had a new alloy coin chute cast, and he'd had two new handles machined and knurled. I made a new front door in old plywood and handmade a complete scoring mech which was totally missing. At the time I didn't have another example so Bob was able to borrow one from a friend in Melbourne and sent me the mech to copy. Took me a full day to get it done! The lights in the wooden cabinet version are not original, I added them myself as I was finding the game very hard to play in my moody house.
Personally I prefer the steel case design to the wood, which is partly why I sold my earlier example.
This is my Slick, some people might recognise it. I really like the wooden case and was thinking of re-casing mine as such. Do you still have any details or measurements for the wooden case ?
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gameswat
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Re: It's Slick

Post by gameswat »

Sorry no info. The purchaser of my game stopped answering calls many years ago because he reneged on a deal for another machine! He'd hassled me for a while to find him an early ABT Target Skill game, which I did from the USA. Was not really an issue anyway as sold straight away to someone else. I was more pissed that he wouldn't man up to his mistake. In 2010 a user here showed much interest in owning one of them, so I could only ask about the other example in Aust which was not for sale, I've since lost touch with that guy too.
cait001
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Re: It's Slick

Post by cait001 »

I'd be into buying one of these some day !!THUMBSX2!!
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brigham
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Re: It's Slick

Post by brigham »

Jingle offered me one.
It's £400, though.
He may still have it.
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Re: It's Slick

Post by moonriver »

brigham wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 5:38 pm Jingle offered me one.
It's £400, though.
He may still have it.
And you didn't buy it? :!?!:
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brigham
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Re: It's Slick

Post by brigham »

When I first met Jingle, EVERYTHING was £400.
I only had a limited number of £400s!
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Re: It's Slick

Post by moonriver »

brigham wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 7:30 am When I first met Jingle, EVERYTHING was £400.
I only had a limited number of £400s!
Much like taking antibiotics, in Showman's terms you have to complete the whole course , (of buying a lot of tat) , before you get offered the good stuff.
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Re: It's Slick

Post by cait001 »

brigham wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 5:38 pm Jingle offered me one.
It's £400, though.
He may still have it.
jingle if you're out there I'll be into this for £400! :cool:
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Re: It's Slick

Post by arrgee »

cait001 wrote:jingle if you're out there I'll be into this for £400!
And a lot of other collectors would as well !
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