CoinOpCollectorForum.com

We were discussing the topic of Mills War Eagle a while back. Fakes selling for high dollar and you can find a mis-represented War Eagle on FleaBay pretty much anytime (check now - betcha'). Here is the real deal - all-original barn find. Working side vendor and the original fortune strips even the original OK Vendor side plate. Thanks to Aussia Andy for his super picture and others for info. Only have room for five machines in my office to show off to guests - a Treasury had to go to make room for this one! We are all fortunate to have this fun hobby!

Flip

Excellent looking machine!!

Beautiful machine!
it's good to have the photos here; they can be a big help for someone looking for War Eagle to be able to compare with the fakes often found on Flebay.

Thanks for sharing.

Terrific job Flip, well done.
Comparing our respective War Eagles I just noticed two very tiny differences in the top casting around the coin entry which I hadn't really noticed before;
Yours has what appears to be a raised, polished boss top LH quadrant of the coin slot yet mine has a ninth 'feather'.
The other thing is mine has a bent coin reject button inside the hole. Bizarre and very subtle changes eh?
I wish mine had fortune reel strips but sadly not. Speaking of these, the fortunes on yours are similar to my Poinsettia in that they're printed on the diagonal yet on my Extraordinary they're straight horizontal. The more I study these beauties the more I learn, agree it is a fun hobby.
Regs,
andydotp

Beauty full machine, would have loved to have seen the before pictures, bringing a neglected machine back to it's former beauty, weather a slot, trade stimulator or vending machine is one of my favorite things about this hobby very rewarding, I wish I took pictures of all of my projects has I restored them, only recently have I started to do so.

Thanks for comments. Andy, I had noticed the two different top casting designs and assume it is early vs later War Eagle versions. Here is a close up of this casting.

And I didn't take very good pics of "before" but here are two that I had. Actually started stripping and polishing the top casting and set back on for the pic. Doesn't show how rough the machine was - jackpot windows were full of old tape (?) and extremely dirty from sitting in barn. Course all the wood was split so had to totally dismantle the case and reglue. My approach is always minimalist - retained the Mills decal, reused carriage bolts, every thing original. Even had this old tag attached to jackpot levers that I had never seen. Neat old machine!

Flip

Very nice restoration !
You can see my War eagle before : http://joiret.com/mills/war-eagle/presentation
And now : http://joiret.com/mills/war-eagle/remontage

I think his war eagle is one of the first model introduce in 1931.

Great job on both machines, Mills you sure had quite a project, good to see that that slot got a thorough restoration, Flipper77 I like that you used all of the original parts back in your slot, I do the same on my restorations, and how cool to still have that tag.
Lets have more before and after pictures, slots, trade stimulators, vending machines or arcade, great to see these machines brought back.

Mills, I finally had a good internet connection and studied your War Eagle pictures. Wow - that is returning a machine from the dead. I would not attempt a mech restoration of that degree. Very impressive! Your albums of machine restoration step by step can be a guide for future collectors. I did a Castle Front before this War Eagle and wish that I had seen your pictures. That was quite a project as well. Great info and merci beaucoup!

Flip