Bally Console slot, worth picking up?

[rilaw]

I know they are not desirable, but if the price is right, is one worth picking up? I have a buddy who gave the the info of a 40's Bally console that has not been used in years, but looks to be in good shape...price is not horrible (as far as I know)..So, opinions?

Thanks

[TheFatman]

Cant give an opinion with out a picture. Its like .... I will sell you this car for 100$ ... COOL ... except it is a 10 cent matchbox car. Pics tell a lot.

[rilaw]

Cant give an opinion with out a picture. Its like .... I will sell you this car for 100$ ... COOL ... except it is a 10 cent matchbox car. Pics tell a lot.

Sorry, understandable.... And everyone loves pictures

[Anglobritish]

Like the other contributors have said, consoles are not that collectable, YET. I love these machines more than any other slot machine, they were the first machines to have features similar to todays slot machines that you see in the casino's today, they had features where a player could win thousands of credits (Cash) Keeney was the forerunner of this style of machine, Bally virtually took over as the leader in the console market, after they had made the pinball style of gambling games known as one-ball games in the mid 1940's, there is a great history to these games.

I think because collectors have a hard time referencing this type of game, they tend to stay away from them, I am at this time writing a book about the history of the Console gambling games.

In Europe many operators made there fortunes operating consoles and upright gambling machines as well as the Bally bingo games, even today in Belgium the operators still operate bingo pinball games, in fact they have officially been deemed a National pastime by the Belgium Government.

Bally brought out the Reserve Bell in 1947, (See attachments) the mechanism was later modified and used in the first modern day Bally slot machines (See attachment), known as electro-mechanical machines. The Bally Money Honey revolutionized the casino business in Nevada, and who knows without these hopper payout models, I am sure Las Vegas would not be what it is today, without the introduction of the Bally Money Honey, the earning power of the Bally models of the early 1960's could never be matched by the old mechanical models from the likes of Jennings and Mills as their models was very limited in their payouts.

Although the current day values of these machines are very weak, I feel that collectors should look more closely at adding these remarkable machines to their collections, after all they are a big part of coin operated machine history.

Freddy Bailey

[Anglobritish]

Just a quick footnote, the machine that you show, looks in very good all original condition, usually the glasses are very flaky, but your one looks exceptional, also the handle style on your machine was used by Bally right up to 1959, when they last used it on the Bally Jumbo model, after that, the last Bally Jumbo's made in 1960 for the U.K. market used a press button start. (See attachment)

Freddy Bailey

[rilaw]

Wow, awesome response, great info! Thank You! I am going to try and pick it up, will post better pics and info if I can grab it.

Thanks again!

[flipper77]

Good luck! Everyone should have a console or two - they are simply fun to play. Love the Bally when you hit a payout and it kicks the nickels out machine gun sounding. Here is my Draw Bell - probably the most common of the 40's and 50's Bally Consoles.

Flip

[Anglobritish]

Well said, perhaps in the future collectors will start collecting these machines, as they have a place in slot machine history, they were the first of the electro mechanical models. Some of these models even had the first multi-coin features, in fact I supplied Bally with some evidence for a lawsuit that Aristocrat brought against Bally for copyright infringment, after seeing the evidence I supplied the Judge dismissed Aristocrat's lawsuit

See the attached pictures

The Draw Bell was one of the early Bally models, it was followed by the Double-Up model.

[TheFatman]

On the Bally Reserve Bell console machine, there is a progressive JP that increases with play. It will dump coins into a special compartment and it activates a plastid disk inside the cabinet to turn. This disk has printer # on it that corrispond with the amount of the coins in the progressive box. There is a lamp that shines light onto the disk and projects the image onto a mirror type metal angled tab thru a lens. This is projected up thru holes on the upper area to another angled mirrors tab which projects it onto the frosted glass area by the Bally Bally Bally on the back glass. When that is hit .... a small button on the back of the cabinet is to be pushed after the small door is removed from the left bottom with a key . Pressing the button activates a coil that pulls in and raises a metal bar giving allowing the cash box with the progressive coins it to be removed. As far as I can think back, this is the first use of a progressive JP on a mechanical console ... could be wrong. If i am, I hope that I get enlightened herer. The only sad part is that every one of these I see, has badly warped or broken disks. They were thin and the heat and years took its toll. My unit works as it should but .... not a disk left to work, just broken shards. To me, its a pretty impressive machine.
Dave F

[TJ]

If you have two men and a boy to move it and room to display it BUY IT