Mills Jackpot Bell?

See a listing on E-Bay and want to discuss it? Want to rant about Ebay? All E-Bay related discussion should go here.

Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby edgeCity » Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:19 pm

Not a machine that's on my wish list, but this listing caught my attention. To my untrained eye I'd say this slot appears to be about as original as they come.
Are these pre-Depression Bells that common, or does the 'Buy It Now' price seem enticingly low?!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mills-Novelty-C ... SwfVpYs19u
User avatar
edgeCity
 
Posts: 143
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:18 pm
Location: Elmore, OH

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby SLOT DYNASTY » Mon Feb 27, 2017 6:42 pm

edgeCity wrote:Not a machine that's on my wish list, but this listing caught my attention. To my untrained eye I'd say this slot appears to be about as original as they come.
Are these pre-Depression Bells that common, or does the 'Buy It Now' price seem enticingly low?!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mills-Novelty-C ... SwfVpYs19u


edgeCity:
This appears to be a very nice, totally original, and complete, Mills "Operator Bell - Owl". Even the mechanism is very clean, compared to most.
It is definitely a machine I would buy. I would not restore this machine. Just clean it up a bit, as it will retain a higher value, leaving it as it is.
The Buy-It-Now price is very reasonable for it's condition. If you are serious about this machine, better to snap it up now, rather that start the
bidding, and cancel out the BIN. The one thing I would ask the seller, is if it works, as they do not state that in their description. My guess just
from it's condition, it is in complete working order, but always better to ask. Other than that, everything else is there.
All the pluses are:
1) Untouched castings & paint detail.
2) Untouched wood case, with original stenciling & decals.
3) Original wood-grained metal back door, (which you very seldom see in this condition).
4) Excellent original reel strips & award card.
5) Locking door for cash box, (assuming the orig. cash box is behind).
To answer you last question: Yes, this is a fairly common model, but not always in the condition seen here.
Good luck, and let us know how things work out.
Bill
User avatar
SLOT DYNASTY
 
Posts: 1497
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 3:56 am
Location: S.F. Bay Area & San Mateo County, California

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby JHSS-1944 » Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:00 am

I agree with bill on this 100%. for the condition , the price is very nice. another one up just like it , not as nice & not working was listed at $5,000.00. after better thought & comments from forum members here, they relisted it at $3,000.00, still to high all in all. (just a bad comparison.)
JHSS-1944
 
Posts: 676
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 3:04 am
Location: Peoria, Arizona

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby damikeguy » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:40 am

Looking at the gooseneck it looks to of been a¢25 machine and someone painted red over the 2. Or is it just my old eyes??
Mike
User avatar
damikeguy
 
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 6:00 am
Location: Pinckney, Mi.

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby norabt » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:52 am

The '2' has been ground off. Why would somebody go to all the trouble to change a 25c gooseneck to 5c?
norabt
 
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 4:37 am

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby Chris » Tue Feb 28, 2017 8:23 am

Just a guess as to why change a 25c machine to a 5c.... You need to place yourself back in time when a quarter was a lot of money. Perhaps the store owner wasn't getting enough play on the machine.
Reminds me of a conversation I had with an operator way back when... He had 2 Little Dukes side by side in his store. One was a penny and other was a nickel... He made twice as much on the penny machine ! Kinda like nowadays if you go into a Casino... Most of the machines are " penny " machines. If you play a penny machine... you just won't lose as much !
Chris
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:34 am

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby edgeCity » Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:21 am

Here is the seller's response to my queries about the Bell:

"Works properly. I have been playing it and so far payed out correctly but have not hit all the options.

It was owned by an ex in-law who had 4 or 5 slots. A cousin of theirs may have worked at the Mills company so quite possibly came direct from factory but can't confirm that. I know it had already been in the family for years when I first met them about 50 years ago.

The coin slot only takes nickels but looks like it has the 2 ground down and the mechanism can only take nickels. I would think done when it was made otherwise why would anyone go to the trouble of modifying it afterwards."
User avatar
edgeCity
 
Posts: 143
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:18 pm
Location: Elmore, OH

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby SLOT DYNASTY » Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:20 pm

Well I'll be never! My senior years are creeping-up faster than I think. After all the lookie-loos I did all over this machine,
how in the hell did I miss the ground-down '2' on the gooseneck? This had to have been done way back when. But why?
The seller says that the entry only accepts a nickel. It does show signs of a very old insert line of the entry being sized-down
in the very distant past. This is not a way that it would have left the factory, especially with the grinding away of the '2'.
My only guess, is that an operator had done this, because he didn't have a 5c gooseneck available at the time. This all
boils down to, if you want to leave this as is, being as it was done many years ago. Or you want to replace it with a nickel
version, which will take some doing, to match the look of originality, the way it does now. I'm all for leaving it be, as long
as the machine functions well, without any other flaws in the coin system.
User avatar
SLOT DYNASTY
 
Posts: 1497
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 3:56 am
Location: S.F. Bay Area & San Mateo County, California

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby JHSS-1944 » Wed Mar 01, 2017 1:02 am

I need to have my eyes checked again also. guess my focus was on everything else that can typically be a issue.
This could be good ammo. on getting the price down a bit, for some one who really wants it.
if I talk to e-bay sellers , I point blank state , Every collector & Every dealer has already seen this slot machine , we all watch e-bay like a hawk. And many machines here, are discussed on the forum site as well.
JHSS-1944
 
Posts: 676
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 3:04 am
Location: Peoria, Arizona

Re: Mills Jackpot Bell?

Postby briank » Wed Mar 01, 2017 5:55 pm

Somebody may get a steal on this. Ive seriously considered bidding as it isnt too far away from me.
briank
 
Posts: 238
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 12:26 pm
Location: Leland, Il

Next

Return to E-Bay

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

cron