Dropcase Games

[treefrog]

Of course not a lot to go wrong with just a few bulbs... l did play it and the sound is obviously more arcade-like in person than on camera, and the gameplay is similar to all the arcade machines that use spring loaded cups like Tip the Skittles. Only negative, if there is one, compared to the latter machine is that larger coins can end up covering the craters making them not drop. (I didn’t try 1np, 2np, which sections were on). Of course a the key about the Moonraker is how impressive it looks, which Tip the Skittles doesn’t and is easily walked past. Not sure why this is under “Pushers” which it is not.

[scorpa163]

It may get more exciting the more coins build up around the “craters”. Thus creating larger coin drops.
But it’s not a pusher more like a Tip em off or See Saw .

[cait001]

Can someone please explain the Moonraker payouts?
Do different craters pay out different amounts? If multiple coins fall into a crater at the same time, is it just a single payout value?

[pennymachines]

But it’s not a pusher more like a Tip em off or See Saw.

I've split and moved the topic over to dropcase games, because, as others noted, it's not a pusher. I realized that just after posting. Rollite did of course make pushers. Even the name 'Moonraker' suggests a pusher.

Can someone please explain the Moonraker payouts?
Do different craters pay out different amounts? If multiple coins fall into a crater at the same time, is it just a single payout value?

The hinged flaps beneath the craters give way once there are enough coins inside. I imagine the 'collapse' threshold may be somewhat adjustable and may vary from crater to crater.

I think it's a spectacular looking thing and would be unable to resist dropping coins into it. Whether it has the repeat appeal of a true pusher I'm unsure, having never played it.

The Tip Em Off type games, although very simple, are quite fun. I have one called Mini Golf which operates on a similar principle.

Coins placed in the slot at the top were channelled by pins between Perspex (decorated with simple golf course graphics) onto the front half of a horizontal, rotating, green plastic disk. The disk was perforated by a circle of eight equidistant holes, and the object was to drop coins into them as they passed. Beneath each hole a red, counter-weighted, plastic flap supported the coins until sufficient were accumulated to cause a drop to the payout cup below. Behind the golf course graphics, a sweeper guided coins from the hidden surface of the green disk to the cash box, or into the holes, to accumulate or dump to the cash box.

Portable Penny Pushers

[moonriver]

It may get more exciting the more coins build up around the “craters”. Thus creating larger coin drops.
But it’s not a pusher more like a Tip em off or See Saw .

I remember as a kid playing one of these that they were exciting to play, although I remember the playfields being much fuller of coins absolutely stacked, and that some of the craters never seemed to tip no matter what, with losing coins constantly sliding down.
There is no getting away from it being a spectacular machine.

[brigham]

The one in the video isn't actually working, it's just being used as a static display item.
When the machine is running, the pinfields continuously sweep in and out, allowing the player to use skill in placing the coin. The same motor drives a vertical shaft with three arms, each one carrying a model of one of the Thunderbirds craft.
The models became broken very quickly, and made a poor impression on the punter, in much the same way as the broken-off ballerina's leg on Penny on Ice.
Gameplay is slightly more interesting with the machine running, because of the skill element, but still not a lot.

[pennymachines]

Presumably a percentage of coins go to the operator's cash boxes beneath the lunar surface. I wonder how that works.

[treefrog]

The one in the video isn't actually working, it's just being used as a static display item.
When the machine is running, the pinfields continuously sweep in and out, allowing the player to use skill in placing the coin. The same motor drives a vertical shaft with three arms, each one carrying a model of one of the Thunderbirds craft.
The models became broken very quickly, and made a poor impression on the punter, in much the same way as the broken-off ballerina's leg on Penny on Ice.
Gameplay is slightly more interesting with the machine running, because of the skill element, but still not a lot.

Interesting, and sounds like it would be good if the playfields did swing, but I am not sure they can as they are all attached and there is nothing to allow them to do so… Also, looking at pictures from flyers, there is no mention or anything to indicate they did or have thunderbirds in them. Is this from memory you have seen in the past?

[brigham]

It is entirely from personal experience. I've never seen a diagram of the mechanism, but it was clearly mounted at the top of the casing, and from its operation, I concluded that it was the same as the drive for a coin-pusher; i.e. a crank or eccentric on a slowly-rotating shaft, driven by a Parvalux-style worm-geared motor assembly.
The rotating models were simply on the extended lower portion of this shaft.