Bonnet Parts (and locks?) for Prince - 1931 or so

[standardchief]

I recently acquired a Prince slot machine made by King Equipment corp in the early 1930s. I have not seen one of these before. Parts of the top/bonnet are replacements, and I guess the locks are, too. Please let me know if you have these or if you know where I might find them. I would be very interested in any documentation, too, if you have a source for that.

This particular machine looks like it is an older restoration. I'll attach some pictures of the top/bonnet and a few other images, too.

Thanks in advance,

Steven

King Equipment Corp.

[altort]

Well truly a machine little heard of by King Equipment Co., from what I have been able to find out about this manufacturer is that they made three different models starting with the Prince in 1931 and later made The New Prince and The King, production stopped around 1934, an other source put production through 1939, but I believe 1934 to be the correct date, The Prince had the straight drop coin entry and The New Prince and The King had a revised coin entry at the center with an anti cheat/tilt The King has double jack pots.

I have The King, slightly taller machine with double jackpots, mine is serial number 414, low number but I don't know of any other serial number to help to date, it could be a early machine or the last of a very short run, if you could post the serial number of your machine it would be help full.

It will be difficult to locate the parts that you need, comparing the picture of your bonnet with my bonnet it is different and I can only assume that The New Prince bonnet would be more like mine.

If any other members out there have any more information on King Equipment Co. or serial numbers and can share that information it would be helpfull.

[standardchief]

Thanks, altort, for the reply and pictures. From what you say, the coin entry on the right side makes this slot a Prince.

Replacing the few home-made parts with original or finding some documentation? It never hurts to ask, and I will be pleasantly surprised if I find some.

I'll attach a few more pictures, including the serial number, which is 1352.

[altort]

Well it's interesting to find out that our two machines serial numbers are almost 1000 apart, the coin box in the front reminds me of a Pace Bantam, whats also interesting is how the jack pot is paid out from the front coin tube hidden behind the "MYSTERY JACK POT'' casting, I can only assume that the reserve jack pot is only a dummy? Could you post a picture of the back of the front casting? Also if you could ck your reel combination I would be interested to see if it's the same as mine.

Here is my reel combination ten stop mech

1ST: PLUM CHERRY ORANGE BAR BELL CHERRY PLUM ORANGE BELL CHERRY ORANGE PLUM CHERRY LEMON CHERRY ORANGE BELL LEMON BAR BELL

2ND: CHERRY BELL BAR ORANGE CHERRY BELL ORANGE PLUM CHERRY BELL PLUM ORANGE CHERRY BELL ORANGE BAR CHERRY PLUM BELL ORANGE

3RD: BAR LEMON PLUM ORANGE BELL PLUM ORANGE LEMON BAR PLUM ORANGE LEMON BELL ORANGE PLUM BAR BELL PLUM ORANGE BELL

[standardchief]

I am attaching a picture of the back of the front casting. The reserve jackpot is indeed just for show. Yes, I do have the same reel strips as you do. There is this identification number on the third strip: NO. C 1 (or perhaps it is NO. C-1).

I'd love to have some clue about the serial numbers, but I haven't seen any reported before your posting.

If you look closely at the coin entry in the image which I am re-posting and the image of the coin entry from the arcade museum
(http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detai ... e_id=11335),
you will see a slight difference on the right of the coin entry. My slot has a small triangular area (painted yellow) on either side of the coin entry. The one from the arcade museum does not have that. The right triangular area is not there at all, which tells me there are different tops. That likely means there may be two different bonnet shapes as well.

Anyone have an idea of the correct paint colors, since these two machines are painted differently?

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Besides the difference in the casting around the coin entry, the left side also has a more pronounced slant,
and the award card frames are shifted slightly. As for the correct color scheme, I have attached a pix of an
original example, showing a red, green, and blue combination. But I don't like it as well as the two you show.
I don't know who this machine belongs to, or where it was transferred to my files in March 2015 from.

[standardchief]

Thanks, Bill, for the picture of an original Prince.

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Steven:
Was just thinking. You originally said that you had just recently acquired your machine, and that it looked like
an older restoration. Could 'older restoration' have been this past March? Because, when the original machine
was found, that I sent the previous pix of, it didn't have the two top castings, or a back door, as seen here in my
rear shot of the same machine.
I remember the person saying that this is how the machine was found, with the missing parts. It may have been
one of our Forum members, rather than an eBay listing. I wish that I had gotten the serial number, as that would
cinch the mystery. Sniff at the paint, to see if it smells recent. Or perhaps you will spot some little mark, or detail
in the pix, that matches yours. Or better yet, ask the person you got the machine from, if this is in fact the same.
Bill

King Equipment Co. 1c "Prince" (As found)

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Ah, Steve:
I just found where my submitted pics came from. They were posted by one of our Forum members in March,
under the 'Fantastic Finds' listings, by the name of 'Frank', and titled "Found in Texas". Mystery solved!
So, I guess my next question is, did you buy the machine from Frank?
Bill

[standardchief]

Bill, I can see a difference, so I think I have a different machine. I'm attaching a picture of the back of the mech. In your picture, I see two screws in a metal piece by the clock. That frame piece (I don't know the name) is about 1.5 inches long. Mine does not have those two screws.

I also see rust in my slot in places where the other machine looks "clean."

I picked the machine up from someone in Minnesota. I met him at the C.O.C.A. meeting before Chicagoland.