One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

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One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby rocgod » Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:31 am

My wifes' grandmother recently passed away and this was left to us, the story goes that she got it from Del Webb (my wifes' grandparents were really good friends with him) I only know that it is a Mills Hi-top machine and that they have had this machine for well over 30+ years. I have tried to look up the machine but have not see one that has the same bottom and top part (it does not have a center badge under the cowboys bandana). I have heard and looked these up and seen names like Frank Polk, Jim Schafer and Mannie Sanchez...I am NOT here to make any claims as to who made this, it can be a reproduction for all I know, I just know its cools and my wife loves it...though it scares the hell out of me every morning when I come home from work...gonna have to get used to having a man in the house...hahaha. It does work but the escalator needs help every now and then pull. I just thought I would share this and see if anyone can help in identifying the maching that is in this cowboy, it has no numbers that I can tell in it and needs cleaned up. Thanks for looking.
Attachments
bandit body the machine.jpg
bandit front full view.jpg
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby Midcoast Vintage » Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:39 pm

Nice machine.
The ones with the pipe in the back were sold by Joel Gilgoff, who owned a store in I believe Van Nuys, Ca on Valjean avenue.
I don't know who made them for him. There may have been others that made a similar one with the pipe, but, I am not aware of them.
Hope this helps.
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby rocgod » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:53 pm

Thanks it does help, have not heard of that name. I really dont care about the cowboy part, I like the machine inside it and hope to start looking into getting it restored. Thanks for responding.
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby Anglobritish » Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:19 am

Hi,
Joel Gilgoff along with John Herman (The best authority on Frank Polk) built 42 figures in Total, in 1980, Joel was my U.S distributor of the video games that I produced in the U.K. in those days I had a route in the L.A. area that we ran from the U.K. I also had an Auburn Roadster that I bought from Ron Brooks in Virginia City, (Ron at one time had the largest collection of Polk figures, he picked them up out of the street when the Bucket of Blood casino dumped them to refurbish their location) I would come to L.A from the U.K. Joel would meet me at the airport and take me to his home, where I would collect my car, I would then go and collect from around 60 video games that I had on the route, I would collect most of the money in quarters, I would then go back to Joel's house and if I had around $8,000-$10,000 in coins I would sell them to Joel for about 10% less he would give me bills and take me back to the airport.

Joel's wife Shellie took of with one of the G.A.M.E.S employee's, and the company wound up in 1984. they really put a lot of collectors in business. I last spoke to John Herman a couple of years ago, he is the greatest authority on Polk figures in the World.
If your machine is one of 42 made then you have something interesting and quite rare.

Freddy Bailey
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby Anglobritish » Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:33 am

Hi, after researching through my files, I found a copy of Loose Change dated July 1980, in that issue is an article on G.A.M.E.S I was correct, they did produce 42 characters, but in the article Joel states that they used only Mills Black Beauty models, not the Mills model that you have in your character, so perhaps it was made by another company.

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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby Swami » Fri Aug 26, 2016 7:53 am

Your character is NOT a John Hermann Figure. Look at the "Lumpy Legs" all John's Figures had smooth legs, like the Original Frank Polk figures. John did however use High Tops other than Black Beauty's. This is most likely a Royal Bell creation. While these don't have a high value, it's still a good idea NOT to restore the machine. Just enjoy it the way it is. Attached is a Photo of an authentic Frank Polk Bandanna Bandit for comparison.
Attachments
100_6188.jpg
100_6189.jpg
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby rocgod » Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:04 pm

Thanks for all the info, that's been quite helpful and fun to learn about. We definitely will be keeping it.
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby rocgod » Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:06 pm

I have no idea what royal bell means so off to the Internet for me to do some research, thanks
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby rocgod » Sat Aug 27, 2016 2:43 pm

Here is another view, thank you everyone for commenting, I love my machine and hope to start getting more slot machines but right now am saving up for a Flly Parton pinball machine.
Attachments
20160823_181042.jpg
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Re: One Arm Bandit 5 Cent Slot Machine Mill Hi-Top

Postby rocgod » Sat Aug 27, 2016 2:47 pm

Just posting a few more pictures, trying to figure out the best spot to put him so he doesnt scare the shit out of me when i come home from work...hahaha.
Attachments
20160825_093008.jpg
20160825_093157.jpg
20160825_093130.jpg
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