What is it?

[MikeB]

Anybody have a clue what this actually is?

I don't think it's a Caille, it's just not ornate enough. It's possible it might be a Mills, and the reason I think that is because of the stamped code on the back of the marque. However, it seems to have more of the trappings of a British machine. Though I've never seen a British machine take an American .25 cent coin.

I don't think the .25 cent paper sticker is original to the machine either.

[watlingboy]

What a mess. The denomination tag is a xerox of a Rol-A-Top, the top sign is off of a 4 column Mills FOK. That cabinet has been pieced together with birch and oak, never seen woods mixed in a cabinet before. It's mostly birch which would indicate European. My guess is, it looks like something the French put together. Most likely a French franc machine, which is about the same size as a quarter. Most everyone figured out what it was as it only brought $910.

Watlingboy

[MikeB]

The most interesting thing about it, is the inside mechanism is a slightly larger clone of Tom Gustwiller's miniature "One Wheeler" Smith Co. machine he shows on page 14 of his "For Amusement Only" book. I know that for a fact, as Tom brought that machine to the Chicagoland show years ago when I asked him, and I got extensive photo's of the inside of it then.

Mike

[SLOT DYNASTY]

This machine is a real joke. Cosmetic-wise, it is as phoney as a 3 1/2 dollar bill. It has been made up of a mish-mosh of different parts.
I didn't want to get into highly detailed information, as to what the seller was offering, as most do not want to listen to what we seasoned
collectors have to say anyway, but the following is that I sent to the seller, a day after it was listed:

Dear adalina82,
It should be noted in your description, so as not to defraud your bidders, that this is not a Caille produced machine. Even though they did make machines for the Foreign market, this is not one of them. It is most likely French, as they use a quarter size coin in many of their machines. It is definately not American made. The case style is very British, as are the castings. The top sign is Mills, and used on several of their 3 reel slots, and a couple of trade stimulators. The card in that frame is also homemade. The 25c badge in the center, is a copy from a Watling "Roll-A-Top". This machine may look good to bidders that don't do their homework, but it is not correct, and far from original.

Needless to say, I never got a response. Nor was any additions made to the description. I am also surprised as to what it sold for. Most of the
high bidders were 'newbies' with low feedback, and probably didn't have any idea as to what they were bidding on. But the winner had a much
higher feedback, and should know better, if he is a coin-op collector.

One of the biggest frauds with this style of machine, are the ones that were produced by Caille for the Foreign market, using a similar coin head
as on their "Ben Hur". The English version is in a taller case, was never Oak, and had a much different styling than the true American version, and
played on the large British penny. The style of the French versions were a little closer in style, and operated on a quarter size franc. These were
also NEVER called "Ben Hur's" by Caille. They had completely different names. Many of the people that sell these machines are constantly listing
them as a "Ben Hur", hoping to draw more bucks out of the unsuspecting collectors pockets. Some will try to make you think that it is U.S. 50c play.
Sure, our coin will work in it, but it will not pay out correctly, except on the two-coin pay. There is nothing wrong with collecting these machines,
if you like them as for what they really are, and pay accordingly, as they were factory built originals. But please don't continue to bamboozle the
buyers by calling them a "Ben Hur", which they are NOT, and never were. The late Dick Bueschel, and I talked at great length about these Foreign
versions many years ago. In fact, he found info on mfrs. other than Caille that produced these machines as well. Some of these can be found with
different wheel patterns & symbols. To confuse things even more, Caille made a version with a completely different coin head, with a Caille name
badge atop, that was called a "Commercial".

Another mfr. name that many people like to toss at you is Fey. Like the "3 Jacks", for instance. These were highly reproduced, starting in the mid
1980's, for several years, in dime play, (which originals never were), but they were advertised as repro's, by Royal Bell in Colorado. Nothing wrong
with that. But, many people will now offer them as a Fey original. A couple of other persons have also reproduced this same machine in 1c & 5c play.
If you are a serious collector, and want a true Fey "3 Jacks" original, your best bet is to buy a dirty, and scuffed-up one. Unless you can trust the
seller of a restored original. If the wood case looks 'too good', and especially clean inside, and a very clean mechanism, it is 99% safe to assume that
it is one of the repro's. Another Fey machine that many like to always call a Fey, is the "Midget". Both in Dice & Roulette versions. Even though it may
have Fey stamped on a mechanism part, does not mean anything, as many of the copy-catters did not redo all of the castings. The vast majority of these
models were mfr'd by Mills Sales, in Oakland, Calif. Were also made by Atlas Sales, Monarch, Michigan Novelty, and others. There are several casting
differences in some versions. Most very suttle. The only way for some to tell a true Fey, are the very first models that had "Chas. Fey & Son S.F." in
raised cast letters, on the top casting, and there are not very many of those versions in collections that I know of. Just because someone stuck one of
my repro award cards with the Fey name on it in their machine, doesn't mean diddly either! It just looks better!

Hopefully, I have enlightened a few of our new collectors, as to what to be aware of. There are many other Bogus machines to watch out for, that I hope
to cover in this forum soon. I have mentioned some before, but it doesn't seem to me that the info has spread around as much as it should have been, as
way-too-many of our collector friends have been getting Snookered on a regular basis. Mainly on eBay, as well as the live auctions.

Bill