Blue All Star Comet Slot Machine 10 Cent
Welcome
Welcome to my antique slot machine home page. I am a collector of antique slot machines. I have one of the largest collections of 3 reel machines in the US and am constantly looking for interesting machines to add to my collection. Unlike other collectors, I rarely sell machines, in fact, some people call my collection the "Black Hole" because once a machine enters the collection it never comes out. In reality, I do sell machines once in a while, I think the last time I sold one was in 1999. I usually sell a machine only when I run out of room or end up with a duplicate and decide to sell one of the duplicates. If you have an antique slot machine and want to sell it, please send me an email. I buy machines from all over the country and know lots of people. In many cases I can arrange for someone to come and pickup the machine so you don't even need to deal with packing it. In the rare case where I cannot arrange for someone to personally pickup the machine I make it very easy for you to ship the machine to me. This might include mailing you a shipping container with all the padding already in it or, for larger pieces, arranging for a shipping company to come and professionaly pack the machine and pick it up.
A little more information about me ....
I have been collecting slot machines since the mid 1980's. I bought my first machine at an auction and was clueless as to what I was buying. Fortunately, there were slot machine collectors who were willing to give me advice. With the help of my new friends, I purchased a Mills Melon Bell machine and avoided falling into the reproduction zone pit since there were several reproduction machines at the auction.
Once I had my new toy I became fascinated with how it worked and with the history behind it. One thing led to another, including adding on a 4 car garage to store my machines and I now have a pretty decent collections of machines.
In addition to buying and learning about these fascinating devices, I also enjoy talking to anyone who is willing to listen about them.
Since space is now at a premium at my house I am pretty selective in what I purchase. However, I am always on the lookout for anything unique or anything that is a really nice original machine. I know many reputable dealers and collectors and if you have something that I am not interested in I will put them in touch with you. If you do have something that is of interest to me then I will usually pay more than a dealer would because a dealer is purchasing the machine with the sole purpose of selling it at a profit. There is nothing wrong with that because they have to eat, however, since I am not looking at selling the machine for a quick buck, I can almost always pay more than a dealer is willing to pay. Contact me if you have a machine and want to sell it.
I also restore antique slot machines. However, my backlog is currently at 5 years so I am not taking on additional projects at this time. If you have a machine and want it restored and are thinking about doing the restoration yourself, then check out the DVD that I am currently working on.
If you have a machine and just want to learn a little more about it feel free to contact me.
Current Activities
Like I mentioned earlier, I not only enjoy buying machines, I also enjoy talking about them and helping people out who are less knowlegable. Just like the folks who helped me out at my first auction.
Here are a few of the things I have done around antique slot machines:
- Documented the complete restoration of a Mills Castle Front slot machine: Since very few people know how to properly restore a machine, I thought it would be interesting to document the restoration project. I had no idea what I was getting into, but, in the end, I had an 8 hours VHS tape which documented the complete teardown an reassembly of a Mills slot machine. This project was done in 1994 and I sold the video tapes through the various coin-op magazines. The tapes quickly sold out and I never made any more.
- Coin-Op on CD: When Windows 95 came out, the technology was finally available where a CD could be made which contained photos, articles, and videos of all sorts of coin operated devices. In 1995 and 1996 I flew around the country and visited many collections. I photographed and video taped thousands of machines. I then put together a program which would allow people to learn about these machines on a CD. This gave people the opportunity to actually see some extremely rare machines in action. In 1996 I started selling the CDs. This was before the Internet really took off. A few years ago, I converted the content of the CD to web page format and put the information up on the web. You can get to it by going to www.IBuyOldSlots.com/COCD/.
- Coin Op discussion forum: I run and moderate the most active discussion forum on the web. It is at www.CoinOpCollectorForum.com, there is no fee to become a member. If you are thinking about buying or selling on eBay I highly encourage you to go to the forum and look at the eBay discussion area.
- Articles, I have written many articles around antique slot machines that have appeared in the various national coin op magazines. If you are thinking about buying a slot machine, you should read my article about how to identify reproduction machines. It is located at www.ibuyoldslots.com/ReproArticle.html
Here are a couple of projects that I am currently working on:
- Slot machine restoration on DVD: A couple of months ago, while cleaning my office, I ran across the original masters for the slot machine documentary. I thought it might be interesting to remaster them to digital format and make them available on DVD. Go to www.IBuyOldSlots.com/dvd to get more information.
- YouTube videos: An ongoing project is putting up YouTube videos of some of the more interesting machines that are not only in my collection, but in other collections as well. This is your chance to see videos of rare and/or unusual machines. Go to www.IBuyOldSlots.com/videos.php to take a look.
- I plan on putting up some videos which will give you tips on identifying the reproduction machines. Unfortunately, reproductions are a big problem with a couple of the more popular models and these are burning a lot of people. Not a week goes by without someone contacting me who either purchased or inherited a Mills Golden Nugget and think they have something that is worth many thousands of dollars when, in reality, it is worth nothing to an antique slot machine collector. To make things worse, sometimes these people have paid over $4,000 for this machine (usually at a casino gift shop).
What I am looking for
I am looking for any rare / unusual machines from the following manufacturers:
- Mills
- Pace
- Jennings
- Watling
- Buckley
The above manufacturers are the main ones, however, if it is old and unusual, then I am interested no matter who made it. If you have a machine and are interested in selling it send me an email. If I am not interested then I will put you in touch with someone who probably is. When I say unusual, this includes the following:
These days, I am particularily interested in cast iron slot machines or the large floor wheel slot machines.
Here is a list of some of the Floor Wheel style machines that I am looking for:
Article of the week
Periodically, I will post articles about a machine.
eBay Tracking
I track a lot of machines (including photos) on eBay (current count is 5722) so I am aware of the current trends.
Here is a list of some of the recent slot machines that I have data on (if the name is a link click on it to see the photo):
I also track trade stimulators (including photos) on eBay (current count is 4071) so I am aware of the current trends.
Here is a list of some of the recent trade stimulators that I have data on (if the name is a link click on it to see the photo):
Help in identifying machines.
There are hundreds of different models of slot machines. If you know the manufacturer of your machine then click on the link below and you will be taken to a page which shows many models of that particular manufacturer. If you don't know the manufacturer then odds are very great that it is either Mills, Jennings, Watling, Caille, or Pace. Those four manufacturers made 95% of all the slot machines before 1960.
Although I don't usually buy trade stimulators, if you have one for sale then let me know and I will put you in touch with a reputable dealer or collector.
Source: http://www.ibuyoldslots.com/