by Midcoast Vintage » Tue Jun 25, 2013 12:35 pm
obviously very gullible, or just plain wishful thinker.
first off, mills did not "disguise" their machines by putting non-mills locks, and leaving off the decals.
if they were going to do that... why would they leave their name on the reel strips, and their casting numbers, which begin with MLB on the machine?
also, a mills machine is distinguishable by MANY other traits.. the way the case is built, their style of escalator, the way just about every part on the machine is constructed...
face the facts... you surely have been notified by enough l-o-n-g time collectors and historians by now to fill you in on the straight story.
the machine is a composite... PERIOD!
if it were in fact the rare machine you are TRYING to make it out to be.... don't you think some knowledgeable collector would have bought it after trying for around a year to sell it on ebay?
it may have been in the tavern you say. that is believable.
you may have gotten a "STORY" from some old mills employees... but that is EXACTLY what you got... "STORY".
DOES YOUR MACHINE HAVE VALUE? YES. IT IS RELATIVELY EASY TO FIND A CASTLE FRONT (FACTORY NAME "BLUE FRONT" ) lower front casting.
the machine needs to be restore, the futurity casting will sell for more than the blue front casting would cost, so, in a sense, whoever was to buy your machine, if you had a reasonable price on it, would not be out for the cost of the casting.
i am sure you have been told this information by a few different "knowledgeable" collectors.
you have been told by me a couple times... through ebay, and, now here.
i am also sure you have been lowballed, and, told by a few "strokers", that your machine is junk. IT ISN'T. it just has a wrong front casting, and once that is corrected, with a proper restoration, another "basically" original machine can be restored to it's original glory.
no one cares about the "story" you have supplied with the machine, because anyone that knows what time of day it is, knows it not factual.
you would probably have more interest in the machine if you dropped the story, and listed it as a castle front with a futurity lower casting, stated whether or not the machine works, and left it at that.
MISTER BASEMENT MACHINE is not going to buy it, because he would rather have something bright and shiny.
MISTER ADVANCED COLLECTOR is not going to buy it, because he already has a castle front in his collection.
the buyer for this machine will be MISTER BEGINNING COLLECTOR, or MISTER RESTORER. ... but not at the price you are trying to get.
as i told you through ebay, your machine as it is, is worth around $750. to $850.
at that figure, with the shipping charge, once a buyer gets the correct parts, and does the restoration he will be in it at a still fair price.
at the price you are asking, the only buyer would be a blind man that was mad at his money.