Niche Collections: Scottie's Allwins

Welcome to the first installment of the Niche Collections series, where we get to geek out and celebrate the unique coin-op related collections out there.

One thing that starkly differentiates American and British gaming was the influence of laws and legislation.  American machines had state and Federal laws constantly pushing them towards the electromechanical innovations that flipper pinball inspired, while British machines stayed legal.  Recovering post-WW2, Britain could keep making these stunning purely mechanical skill-based slot machines.
American machines had to obfuscate and diminish their chance elements with flippers, abstract the chance for payouts with credits.  British machines could continue paying out directly with the coins put into the machine, and the same mechanisms that were popular pre-war were still popular after.

Automated coin-operated vending machines really took off in the 1940s around the world, and some allwins also represent the first of the automated redemption arcades.  The earliest coin games would offer you prizes of cigars or cigarettes or store credit, but you'd have to bring your win to the attention of the bartender or pharmacist to get paid out.  Allwins could dispense a sweet or cig automatically, with just the turn of the WIN knob.  They are perhaps a precursor to the Japanese 10Y redemption games of the 70s and 80s, and the contemporary redemption arcades we see today.

I hope you enjoy this series, and these machines, as much as I do!


Niche Collection 001:  Scottie's Allwins

the basics
who: Scottie Banks
where: Canada
what: British Allwins
when: "I purchased my first allwin back in 1986 at a local auction"
how many: 25 machines
why: "I like allwins because of the nice looking solid oak cabinet.  They're all mechanical and they pay out.  I bolt them to the wall and they don't take up much room."

Win A Spangles 1954

exploring the penny arcade of The Band Wagon (1953)

I love the big MGM Musicals, and The Band Wagon from 1953 is up there.  It's no Singing In The Rain, but it's silly and irreverent and filled with fabulous numbers too, so well worth the watch.

Early on in the film, Fred Astaire's character is alone on the street and enters a Penny Arcade, and performs his song "Shine on Your Shoes".  Let's take a look at how they designed the arcade for this scene.

shall we enter?

Niche Collections 000: an introduction

Niche Collections

Welcome to a new series highlighting niche collections in the coin-op world!

I have a broad collection that peaks into a number of obscure corners of coin-op, but some people have zeroed in on specific areas and built fascinating collections around them.
The history of these machines is preserved thanks to a handful of loving and obsessive collectors.

Do you have an interesting niche collection that might make a good post?  Get in touch with me at
thetastates@gmail.com

Glory Ball is back from repairs!

Yeah!  Back from my friend's shop, Glory Ball is back and playing great.  The game always had issues from the moment I got it, so this is the first time it is working perfectly.

glory will be mine!

This game is extremely obscure as best as I can tell.  I've never seen one quite like it.  Arrangeballs themselves are hard enough to come by, but variant game like this are even rarer.  So no way was I going to abandon it, and I'm grateful now it's fully operational.

New in the basement: 1947 Ballyhoo

One of the last of the flipperless pins!!

Fun fact: I don't think the 1000s scoring has a reset at all.  Guess they felt it mattered so little they would save the money?

I have to solve the logic behind the specials and super specials.  Since in this era they were all essentially "skilled gambling" I want to nail down the logic on the specials and super specials.

Go to ipdb and check the schematics there, what a trip!  I have never seen schematics quite like that before.

Just go in blind and see if you can describe to me the expected behaviour in regards to all the specials.  Go for it.

Epoxy work

Tonight's task was redoing the epoxy on the front plastic on this Arrangeball.
It was cracked long before it got to me, but letting hundreds of hands on it at the show eventually busted the front again.  No worries, all better.  It's a constant debate about preservation vs play, but I kinda feel I'm not the right owner for something if it is so fragile it  can't be shared with the public

gameroom update

haven't been logging much here, but at least I can post a game room update.