
Fleet Air Arm
This appears to be the most common of several small war-themed allwins produced by BMCo either during World War Two or the immediate post-war period. Others were Bomber Command, Dawn Patrol and D Day. The ball must be dropped into the central gap between the two 'lose' cups, whereupon a bell rings, a coin is automatically delivered to the player and the ball returns for another shot. The target light, top left, is illuminated to show that the machine is 'on'. Originally it would appear these were powered by battery although surviving examples work from the mains supply via a transformer. |
BMCo 1940s

Forks
Like Bryans other three ball games (3 Ball Seven Win, 3 Ball Nine Cup), the Forks has a self-metering jackpot (maximum fill set by the operator) which is won by getting all three balls into the forks. The 'forks' from which the game derives its name can be controlled by the knob on the left, in an attempt to catch the balls, so this game is part allwin, part ball catching game. In practice, there is very little chance of following the balls, so players sometimes opt to set the position of the forks before firing the balls. Patent GB913064 |
Bryans 1961

Gap-Win
The Gapwin is an allwin with a very effective twist - one ball for a penny, you aim for the wide gap between the two lose cups. If successful, the weight of the ball tips over the first gate obstructing the gap and rolls back to the firing hammer. The player must now repeat the performance to remove the second gate, exposing the three win targets beneath. A third successful shot releases the payout handle. The game can be set to offer players a fair chance; the operator can adjust the gap (by moving the left lose cup) and can set payouts to coin return only, up to a maximum of 2, 6, 4 on the three targets. The ball can also be returned to play following a win. A variable pressure unit tries to throw the player off by altering spring tension between wins. |
Bryans 1956

Get the Ball Past the Arrow
The novel feature here is the large chrome arrow which jumps to a new position at the start of every play. You have to drop the ball beyond the arrow, inside the win area, whereupon a coin is automatically paid and a repeat game awarded. Consequently, your chance of winning varies from quite likely to very slim. Holes in the star wheel which determines the arrow position are provided with bugs which the operator could employ to reduce player odds. The game had an unusually long production run from 1937 to the '50s. A radical post-war redesign introduced a lighter, more efficient mechanism which reduced the depth of the cabinet. The example above is the later type. |
Brenner 1937

Hat Trick
The unique selling point of this giant allwin was that it let the operator, without recourse to tools, rearrange the long metal tubes that served as cups on the three galleries, making it as liberal or stingy as desired. Black were losers and, depending upon the model, gold paid either 3 or 6, blue paid either 2 or 4 and red paid either 1 or 2. |
Ruffler and Walker Unknown date

Jackpot
The jackpot became a ubiquitous player attraction of the one arm bandit, so attempts to incorporate it into the allwin were inevitable. This was not easy given the relatively high chance of hitting the target on an allwin compared to the low odds of getting three jackpot symbols to line up on a bandit. It is remarkable that this game with a gallery of eleven winning targets, can include a jackpot paying twelve coins. The gallery employs springy pins, like Bryan's Elevenses, and in fact offers a slightly less generous scheme than the Elevenses' highest award setting (2242262242). The central jackpot column swivels out of view and the coins are dumped to the payout cup. It then appears to refill. This is a crafty illusion - a coin slide pays the twelve coins and those in the jackpot remain there. |
Philip Shefras 1960s