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A few interesting listings I dug up on the online marketplace:
Sega "Diamond Star" -- http://www.ebay.com/itm/182445644072?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
Mills 'M' Head -- https://rockford.craigslist.org/atq/5990659061.html
Aristocrat "Old Reno '49" -- https://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/for/5972155069.html
. . . don't know much about these machines -- reckon they were among the last of the mechanicals to be driven into extinction by the Bally EM 'meteor.' The Mills looks like a direct descendant of the old HiTop '7-7-7' model. I've seen a few of the Aristocrats pop up, the English claim they're bullet-proof. And wasn't Sega big in the video game market back in the Eighties?
Does anyone own one of these dinosaurs, or have an opinion (+/-) about them? Yeah, they're oddballs. I like Corvairs, Ramblers, and Studebaker Larks, too! Just chatting . . .

Old Reno machine is a fantasy machine created by Royal Bell out of Denver.

They took old Aristocrat machines and had special glass made.

Dave wrote:Old Reno machine is a fantasy machine created by Royal Bell out of Denver.

They took old Aristocrat machines and had special glass made.

Dave:
That same case style was also used for many Export models. Mainly English. Quite a number
of them had Pace mechanisms, as I was buying several, that were coming back across the pond,
and re-coining them U.S., for resale here. They were 'Bullet-Proof', and played well, with little
or no problems. I even made special glass changes as well, for customers that wanted their own
name and artwork on them. Was sort of a fun time. I know, I know, I was making one of our
dreaded FAKE machines, but I don't consider them in the same class as Faking an original
early model slot. I still have one of the original enclosed-metal cabinet stands that some of these
models were shipped with.
Bill

Dave wrote:Old Reno machine is a fantasy machine created by Royal Bell out of Denver.

They took old Aristocrat machines and had special glass made.

. . . forgive me, Dave, being new to this cult. So by 'fantasy machine' do you mean a revamp, or does it carry a more derogatory connotation?

Anyway, I'm guessing $800 is a bit steep for an Old Reno. I'd probably be inclined toward the Mills 'M' Head, given the choice.

edgeCity wrote:Anyway, I'm guessing $800 is a bit steep for an Old Reno. I'd probably be inclined toward the Mills 'M' Head, given the choice.

Yes-- a couple years back I had an opportunity to work on a variant of that Mills "M" machine. It was a neat, clean, "compact" now-vintage slot, and well worth rescuing and keeping in my opinion. One word to the wise, though: that little unit is a LOT heavier than it looks! Keep a hernia truss handy! Frankly, I'm a lot more tempted by that unloved Sega "hubcap diamond-star halo." Nostalgic, for my generation anyway: sort of a "Jetsons" version of an old Mills High-Top. I've dealt with Jerry Linton (the seller) more than once before, and he's always been a very square dealer.

What I mean by Fantasy is that they put in glass that they designed and they sold a lot of those machines with those glass in them.

That glass was never in a machine when it was on location.

So, they changed the entire look of the machine from what it was when it was actually used.

Personally, I like machines to look the way they were when they were being used on location.

SLOT DYNASTY wrote:

Dave wrote:Old Reno machine is a fantasy machine created by Royal Bell out of Denver.

They took old Aristocrat machines and had special glass made.

Dave:
That same case style was also used for many Export models. Mainly English. Quite a number
of them had Pace mechanisms, as I was buying several, that were coming back across the pond,
and re-coining them U.S., for resale here. They were 'Bullet-Proof', and played well, with little
or no problems. I even made special glass changes as well, for customers that wanted their own
name and artwork on them. Was sort of a fun time. I know, I know, I was making one of our
dreaded FAKE machines, but I don't consider them in the same class as Faking an original
early model slot. I still have one of the original enclosed-metal cabinet stands that some of these
models were shipped with.
Bill

Bill, making a change at a customer's request is different than taking a boatload of machines and making them look different then they ever did when they were actually being used.

I agree that the Old Reno machines are not anywhere in the same class as faking an original Mills machine (which Royal Bell also did).

to try to answer the original question.....
the Sega is priced where it should be. the other 2 ...Maybe a tiny bit high in the price. but, it's all up to the guy looking to buy. all of us here has over paid a bit on a machine for 1 reason or another. now in terms of rarity , all 3 might fit the bill today. most collectors don't really want any of the 3 but, something a little older. with this in mind , many are now long gone trashed , parted out ,ect. Because of the low demand.
As long as "you" are happy to own one of these ,pick one & call it your own.
And I do own a "lord sega" = basically a compact looking machine. plays very well.
Since no one seems to really care if these "look factory, think of all the things you can turn it into. change the glass, reel strips, color, really make it your own.
jeff H.

Dave wrote:What I mean by Fantasy is that they put in glass that they designed and they sold a lot of those machines with those glass in them.

That glass was never in a machine when it was on location.

So, they changed the entire look of the machine from what it was when it was actually used.

Personally, I like machines to look the way they were when they were being used on location.

Ah -- so an 'original' Aristocrat might look something like this?

JHSS-1944 wrote:to try to answer the original question.....
the Sega is priced where it should be. the other 2 ...Maybe a tiny bit high in the price. but, it's all up to the guy looking to buy. all of us here has over paid a bit on a machine for 1 reason or another. now in terms of rarity , all 3 might fit the bill today. most collectors don't really want any of the 3 but, something a little older. with this in mind , many are now long gone trashed , parted out ,ect. Because of the low demand.
As long as "you" are happy to own one of these ,pick one & call it your own.
And I do own a "lord sega" = basically a compact looking machine. plays very well.
Since no one seems to really care if these "look factory, think of all the things you can turn it into. change the glass, reel strips, color, really make it your own.
jeff H.

Hey Jeff,
This Sega Diamond 3 Star was relisted yesterday -- I thought it had been sold!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/mills-Sega-slot ... Sw-0xYmHPs
Anyway, called the seller (Jerry Linton). He said the Sega was part of a "lot" of machines he picked up recently. We both speculated that it may have begun life on an overseas military base (turns out he and I were both in Korea in the Sixties!) and ended up modified and revamped in some amusement park (see award card), although he knows nothing of it's actual history. I asked him a bunch of questions about the machine ("Keys?"/"Do the lights work?"/etc) and he's going to check it out more closely and call me back (he admitted he hadn't really looked at it that closely). He did say that the max payout was six coins, however. Hmmm.
So I'm thinking this baby could be a bit of a project, considering the butchery it's probably endured. But I like the challenge (and the machine), and as you said, "think of all the things you can turn it into. change the glass, reel strips, color, really make it your own."
Bidding starts at $475, which I think is a bit steep, all things considered. Possibility of delivery to the Chicago show next month.
Thanks,
Nelson