Never seen one

[TheFatman]

Check this out ... Antique Mills FOK Sheffler Conv. Front Mint Vendor Slot Machine Skill Stops 251527270850 on Fleabay. Looks like a replacement cabinet too. What are the 3 windows for???? Can this be called a Mills?
Confused and bewildered.... but in no way would pay that price for this machine. Looks like the front casting lock is not there either.... description doesn't address any of these issues oir even say the mint vendor parts are there or works. No pics of the inside either ... I guess I would post them either if it would kill the sale. Payout card talks about tokes with no cash value ... is that mech present on the inside of the front casting?
Hummmmmmm NO
Dave

[MikeB]

Well, Sheffler Brothers really existed, and they did revamps and reconditioning of slots.

[Midcoast Vintage]

This machine is rarer than you are assuming.
Sheffler did in fact exist, and revamped many machines, with many different fronts, including this, and their own private label of the rockola super triple.
this same front way marketed by a few other revampers as well. Simplex was one of them.
to give you an idea of what the machine may, or, may not be worth, i bought a nearly identical machine, but, it did not have skill stops as this one does.
otherwise same machine, but i believe mine actually was a simplex... but can't remember for sure.
I purchased the machine at a local estate auction here in illinois around 1980 for $1,000. it was complete, working, and, castings and wood were painted gold.
I sold the machine to THE LATE, GREAT, STAN HARRIS. he wanted me to restore it for him, which i did. HE PAID ME $2500. + SHIPPING FOR THE MACHINE.
I do not know what the machine brought when his collection was sold. someone out there who was there, and, has the catalog, or the issue of coin slot, or loose change that his auction prices were listed in may be able to let us know. (again... name may not have been simplex... it was not sheffler, as there aren't many sheffler machines here in the midwest).
now... about the machine:
the 3 windows are dummy jackpots...as in display only. they do not dump. BUT... my machine, and, probably / possibly the sheffler machine in the ad (as he mentioned it has sheffler slides) had a special tall top slide that if 3 bars (the jackpot) came up dumped ... as i recall... an additional 20 coins.
now, to the machine in the ad:
this one has skill stops, and, if you view the mechanism picture closely, you will see that the skill stop arms are there. this is a plus.
the cabinet is original, just an old refin, possibly done when sheffler revamped it.
as far as the vending unit... the knob is there. a simple email to the seller, who is knowledgable in machines, as he has listed several in the past, will let you know if the vending unit is intact, or not.
as far as "tokens have no cash value"... very few of them ever did. many of them are marked that way. many mills tokens say on one side "PROPERTY OF O.K. VENDOR", and "NO CASH VALUE' on the other side.
the vendor lock is nothing to worry about. they often appear on ebay, and are not that hard to find. i definitely would not let a missing lock be a deterrent in the purchase of this machine.
this a rare machine, and, appears to be pretty straight.
email the seller, and, ask about the vendor unit, and the taller pay slide.
I DO NOT KNOW THE SELLER, AND AM IN NO WAY INVOLVED IN THE SALE OF THIS MACHINE.

[TheFatman]

This is why I love this place. ... thanks very much for the knowledge. Really a great looking machine, thanks again for the history lesson.
Dave

[Midcoast Vintage]

you're welcome.

[terick2104]

I had a complete one 10 years ago. Here are some pictures.

[nvmos2]

The Sheffler Brothers were big operators in the LA area and did some interesting revamps.

I personally think revamps are a very interesting part of this hobby.
At one time, I thought about focusing on nothing but revamps, but that is a lot easier said than done.
It's amazing how little versus how much work the revampers did on machines and the interesting features they came up with, like the feature shared in midcoast's comments and terick's photos.

I've see the modern day fakers try to claim that what they are doing is not any different from what the revampers did back in the day.
That is Blasphemy; they should be burned at the stake.

[atac]

When I first saw it, I assumed it was a Dean Novelty Tulsa, which was pretty famous for triple jackpots. Can one of you guys explain what's the difference between the Dean Novelty and Sheffler revamps? I know both are quite collectable. Thanks.

[Midcoast Vintage]

i have seen this same front on at least 4 manufacturers / revampers / distributors.
some had the name cast in, some had the name on the reward card, some had the name on the reels strips under the jackpot bars.
this leads me to believe they were available as a kit from one manufacturer, and, if you ordered enough of the kits, they would "house brand" them for you.
i could be wrong, but... the odds of at least four revampers / distributors / operators in various parts of the country coming up the then exact same casting, tall payout slide, and corresponding reward card is pretty astronomical.

[nvmos2]

Very interesting.
atac raises a good question and midcoast sheds good light on answering it.

As midcoast points out, there was a large number of jackpot fronts and revamp slots offered by dozens of operators/revampers from coast to coast.
Among them, of course was Sheffler and Dean.
Unfortunately, I don't know of a lot of good info on revamps in any one source; just bits and pieces scattered in the literature.
Most of the knowledge resides in the heads of guys like midcoast with personal experience (I just know what I read).

In Collector"s Treasury of Antique Slot Machines, page 106 and 117, there is an ad for the Simplex Triple Jack Pot Attachment for Jennings and Mills machines
by Dean Novelty.
It illustrates both a mint vender and non-vender version for the front casting.
The mint vender front is the same as the one on ebay.
The non-vender version is not the same front as shown in terick's photos above (which is also a mint vender).
At bottom of ad, Dean claims they are "Originators and Manufacturers, Patents Pending" of the attachment.

So, I'm thinking the one on ebay has a Dean Novelty Simplex Jack Pot front, mint vender version, attachment which was sold to Sheffler Brothers who did the revamp
(assuming the seller has good proof/indication that Sheffler had a hand in creating this machine).
Although Sheffler made some interesting fronts (2 of which are highlighted in Slot Machines on Parade) in their own right, as midcoast points out, no reason to believe they did not get revamp kits from other suppliers.


P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there who produce the fakes and think they are modern day revampers.