Mills Extraordinary 5 cent
Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:05 pmI'm putting this up partly as a reminder that this is the type of machine I'm looking for, to replace the first one I restored (see sig), that got away from me:
Antique Slot Machine Mills "Extraordinary" 1930s Art Deco Classic
- http://www.ebay.com/itm/121580687381
It is a nickel model that even has the early version open reserve jackpot window (which was sometimes covered with a plate, before, if I have it right, being completely removed from the casting).
To my eye, at best, this is over-restored with the chroming and everything (and, thus overpriced). Perhaps those of you with more experience can help steer me here, but the first thing that looks wrong to me is that there aren't bolt heads in the front of the base - meaning that, at a minimum, is a replacement (though from the rear view, it looks like the cases sides are old if not original wood). Then, it has a later-style handle. The mechanism and case insides look to me like they could be over-cleaned (or even re-plated or painted) originals, but they're so shiny that I don't have the experienced eye to tell. And the cash box looks new, not surprisingly.
It occurs to me that there was a really rough partly repainted "barn find" type machine on eBay a while back, that looked to me like it needed too much work, including having a ruined base, to be turned into a nicely restored collector's machine, but this could be it turned into a shiny man-cave machine. I guess it wouldn't be such a bad thing to take a basket-case machine like the one I saw, and make something of it that there's a market for; that would be better than butchering a collectible machine, and certainly not as bad as selling a repro as an antique.
I'd be interested to hear what old hands think of this machine - am I looking at the right things? And if you know of an authentic one that's available....
Antique Slot Machine Mills "Extraordinary" 1930s Art Deco Classic
- http://www.ebay.com/itm/121580687381
It is a nickel model that even has the early version open reserve jackpot window (which was sometimes covered with a plate, before, if I have it right, being completely removed from the casting).
To my eye, at best, this is over-restored with the chroming and everything (and, thus overpriced). Perhaps those of you with more experience can help steer me here, but the first thing that looks wrong to me is that there aren't bolt heads in the front of the base - meaning that, at a minimum, is a replacement (though from the rear view, it looks like the cases sides are old if not original wood). Then, it has a later-style handle. The mechanism and case insides look to me like they could be over-cleaned (or even re-plated or painted) originals, but they're so shiny that I don't have the experienced eye to tell. And the cash box looks new, not surprisingly.
It occurs to me that there was a really rough partly repainted "barn find" type machine on eBay a while back, that looked to me like it needed too much work, including having a ruined base, to be turned into a nicely restored collector's machine, but this could be it turned into a shiny man-cave machine. I guess it wouldn't be such a bad thing to take a basket-case machine like the one I saw, and make something of it that there's a market for; that would be better than butchering a collectible machine, and certainly not as bad as selling a repro as an antique.
I'd be interested to hear what old hands think of this machine - am I looking at the right things? And if you know of an authentic one that's available....