by SLOT DYNASTY » Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:26 pm
As we all know by now.........NO ONE likes to use the word REPRODUCTION when describing a machine that they are selling.
Most of the sellers just don't say anything. Especially the Trade Stimulators from the Vegas "Butcher Shop". They SHOULD be
described as Bogus, Phoney, Junk, Crap, Fake, Fantasy, or better yet, "Your taking it in your rear door"! But if you ever say
anything to him about his wonderous phoney creations, he just lies about it all. I have heard more stories than I can count,
and he just keeps feeding the unsuspecting collector with them. When is this crap going to stop. There are not going to be
enough good original machines left, if something isn't done soon.
As for the "War Eagles" that Royal Bell has been REPRODUCING, not Remanufacturing, since the early 1980's, most of them
are Bran-Spankin-New Creations. Meaning, new wood cabinet, new recast castings, new door & cashbox, and in most cases
the entire mechanism was new, which they had the tooling to build it all. In other words, if it were built today, it should be
labeled as a '2013 REPRODUCTION' or 'RECREATION'. Many of their machines, you can tell what they are, if someone hasn't
repainted it, because they were painted GOLD, and they advertised them as the "Golden Eagle". They also used the late
model Sword Handle, and silver background reel strips. Royal Bell always stated what they were selling at the time. But the
big problem now, is the present owners are not saying what they have when re-selling. Especially if it has changed hands
more than once. We've all seen several on eBay that state, "this was my grandfathers, and he has had it for 30 or 40 years,
therefore it has to be an original".
In the 1980's, Royal Bell was also selling Reproduction Fey Style "3 Jacks" machines, and were advertised as such, and were
also, all 10c play. Mainly because of the shrinkage of the recast parts, a penny would not work in it. Unless someone that
had some time on their hands, altered it to accept a penny. But since then, a couple of other persons have Reproduced
this same machine in both penny and nickel versions. This is why I have always stressed upon new collectors, that it is best
to purchase 'Old Dirty Original', as opposed to restored, unless you can truly trust the person you are buying from. Most of
the collectors and dealers in this hobby are very honest, and great to deal with. But there are those chosen few, that only
think of their-greedy-selves, and make it unhealthy for the rest of us.