Bally 2p Union Jack slot machine identified

[mrdave]

Hi,

In the '70s my mother took me to an arcade that had 2p fruit machines. One of those, if I remember rightly, had union jacks and beer glasses (like below) on the win lines. Does anyone now if these exist any more or who made them?

Thanks in advance.

[brigham]

A good guess would be Bally.

[livinginthepast]

I had one of these......it was called Union Jack.....and yes it was a Bally!

[mrdave]

Perfect, now I just need to find one.

How much do these old Bally machines fetch these days in working order?

[pennymachines]

Bally Super Golden Girl has the beer kegs, but no Union Jacks.

[coppinpr]

How much do these old Bally machines fetch these days in working order?

hard to say with machines reaching higher than usual prices since the start of covid. In the past these early "money honey" machines were never very expensive coming as they did right at the end of the mechanical one-armed bandit era and working with some electric parts, £400 should get you a good one fully working I guess

[mrdave]

Bally Super Golden Girl has the beer kegs, but no Union Jacks.

Nice one, yeah can see the beer, no union jack like you say. Hopefully I can source a Union Jack version in time.

Where are the best places to look for these machines, not seeing many for sale.

I don't seem to be able to put a request anywhere on here?

[pennymachines]

You can advertise for one on the Market: here

There's a list of places where vintage/old slot machines are sold in the Archive: here

[coppinpr]

Might not be easy to find the union jack variant, which had to have been a UK conversion, so not a standard machine, and may have been a very regional and small production. BUT it would not be difficult to convert a machine like the "Golden Girl" into one. Most likely the ones you played had the BARS replaced with union jacks, so all you would need would be a new set of reel strips and a repro award glass (cost about £40).

[livinginthepast]

The Union Jack I had was in a wide body Bally case. Only 3 symbols on the reels, as I remember: Union Jacks, tankards and bars. Payouts were either 5 x 2p or 25 x 2p, I think.

[cheeky]

Interesting. I thought that I had seen all the Ballys but never remember the Union Jack version. Any photos?

[livinginthepast]

Sadly I have no photos... It came to me in the late '70s, possibly from the Barry Noble outfit I think.

[mrdave]

The Union Jack I had was in a wide body Bally case. Only 3 symbols on the reels, as I remember: Union Jacks, tankards and bars. Payouts were either 5 x 2p or 25 x 2p, I think.

That's the one. I must have only been about 6 or 7 at the time but they stuck in my mind for some reason.

Sadly I have no photos... It came to me in the late '70s, possibly from the Barry Noble outfit I think.

Not sure if it helps, but these were in Morpeth, Northumberland. Maybe a regional thing. Just hope I can grab one at some point.