COMPOSITE MILLS SLOT ON EBAY

[Midcoast Vintage]

This machine has been listed several times for about a year on ebay.
i emailed the seller the first time he listed it, told him his machine was not as he has represented it, and that he was fed a line of b.s. by the auction house that sold it to him.
i told him it had been repainted, was made up from parts, futurity lower, castle front upper.
he refused to believe me, saying i knew nothing about slot machines, and his machine was 100% as he says it is, and is a 'TRULY UNIQUE MACHINE"...which it is... but not in the sense he thinks it is.
take a look...perhaps if a few other people in the know email this guy, he may realize that he does not have what he thinks he does.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-1940S- ... 2ec8a47308

[Midcoast Vintage]

ANOTHER CASTLE FRONT / FUTURITY SHOWS UP!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0657228792

[altort]

I would not trust that seller check out his last slot he sold item #171013364997

[Midcoast Vintage]

i just emailed the seller of the one that claims it is a
"custom order" machine.
here is what i sent him:
Dear lbjteck,

HI,
your machine has the wrong lower front casting.
it was probably switched by an operator due to breakage at some point in it's life.
the paint is not original from the factory, as mills NEVER used this color scheme, and never used this casting combination.
another machine, but earlier top casting (as evidenced by the square paper reward card, as opposed to the later oval metal card which yours has) has just been listed.
here is the auction #: 380657228792
it too has a lower front casting from a mills futurity, as yours does.
again... switched by an operator at some time.
original mills parts? yes.
did it leave the factory this way? no.
i have been a slot collector / historian for over 40 years.
the auction house lied when they told you that story. (common practice for auction houses).
you've been trying to sell this for about a year now.
if the the machine were original, and as rare as you claim... it would have sold.
it is a composite machine.
HERE IS HIS REPLY...WHICH I READ 3 TIMES, AND, IT STILL MAKES NO SENSE...
Dear midcoastvintage,

The house didnt tell me this i found out by contacting workers from mills itself and it was a chicago bar that got this machine. Now to prove this take a look at the key chicago area slot were sold with chicago lock compnay lock and keys. Reason being slot were illeagal so no mills kep no sticker no proff mills made the machine chicago politcs had its roll in this. I really dont care if someone wants to beliave me or not but this was not a throw togthere machine even the bolts used were diffrent pattern,

- lbjteck

AS FAR AS THE SELLER WITH THE ONE THAT SHOWED UP TODAY,
he is a local picker, and not a slot expert in any way.
he mainly does old signs, and is a reputable, nice guy.
the repro war eagle he sold, he knew nothing about it.
as far as trusting him, he is straight up... just an old picker doing the best he can.
he is honest.

[nvmos2]

I too emailed both these sellers concerning their slots.

Concerning ibjteck;
I got a polite answer back from him which made no sense whatsoever.
He may have trouble speaking/writing English.

Concerning littleshanno;
No answer on the composite machine or on the bogus War Eagle he sold a while ago,
(concerning which I and, I believe, others emailed him).
Yes; he is a big ebay seller of "vintage" signs", a collectible area that has a huge reproduction problem,
so he should be well aware of repro/originality issues.
But he is no stranger to coin-op; he periodically has machines for sale;
I bought a trade stimulator from him 2 years ago (no problem with that transaction).

Concerning them both;
I understand "Buyer Beware" but when a seller receives repeated input questioning the accuracy of their descriptions,
an honest seller should at least let it be known that the item has been questioned.
Neither of these guys are doing that.

[Dave]

I also sent him a very polite email with the same concerns.

Here was his response

I went to a show many years ago to get another machine and there were some workers from mills there talked with them and they caam by to see the machine.

Looks like this guy (lbjteck) is not to be trusted.

[lbjteck]

Well it seams someone doesnt like that I wont sell my machine for parts cheap. So here is whats I said to all that has asked. First this machine was custom ordered here in chiccago. It was sold to a bar in Melrose park il. When I was 16 I went to a show and met some guys that used to work for mills. I got a huge history lesson that day. In the city of chicago you were not allowed to own or sell slot machines. Mills was here in chicago there name was mills entertaiment. This machine was sold here in chicago so to make so Mills itself would not get bad feedback they did special orders. All machines made for chicago had chicago lock and key locks no mills sticker was on the side. My machine has the original paint and welcome anyone to come see my machine. The wear is the same throughout if this was a thrown togthere machine you would see wear patterns that didnt match. I have been very honest with all who wrote to me and I will not come down on price nor will I part it out because of the history that I know it has.

[WS65711]

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[Midcoast Vintage]

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.

[lbjteck]

The funny thing here is right now there are two for sale on ebay so the idea that it is just parts thrown together holds no water. The other one link is above and it does have the stickes for mills and why you say well it was bought outside of chicago. It was illeagal to buy and sell slot here in chicago funny thing look up the history of mills and chicago lock and key funny how things work out. And by the way 800 for parts to machines that havnt been made sence 1937 that is really low ball try to find those parts today and good luck with that.