First Post--Mills Bursting Cherry Questions

[mznb1u]

I am a collector of old candy and soda vending machines but have been looking for a vintage slot machine. I met with the seller of what appeared to be a nice original Mills 10 cent Bursting Cherry Machine today but I have some questions before I buy. The seller was very knowledgeable about old slots and was a nice guy and straight shooter. I have bought and sold a number of vending machines and am pretty good at reading people. Since I saw the machine, I did some research and reading including the Repro Article on this site--great resource for new guys like me. The seller indicates that as best as he can tell the machine was never restored and had not been messed with in recent years. He has a large collection and has had this machine for a few years. Here is what I know:

1. Castings appeared to be original and unrestored although based on pictures of other brown front machines, the face may have been repainted at some point in time.
2. Wood cabinet appeared old with a nice patina to match the age of the machine.
3. Machine played several times with no problems and did not jam. Paid out a few times--I did not note on what combinations.
4. It had the original Mills back with lock. I recognized the key from old Mills gum machines. The back can be seen on the floor behind the machine in some of the pics.
5. It had a SN stamped on the top right hand side of the casting above the pull handle. Did not write it down. Is there a database to check these if I can get it?
6. Mech appeared to be old and unrestored other than a couple of springs.
7. Coins moved across the escalator properly.
8. Award card was stamped and not screened--appeared original to me.
9. It had what appeared to be the original Mills coin box.
10. It had all of the original stickers on the inside that appeared to be aged like the machine. I know this can be faked but it looked correct to me.

The only other marking that I noticed was initials and 1-82 on the bottom right hand side of the mech. Looked like maybe it had been serviced at some point?

I want to buy this machine but wanted to get the opinions of the experts on this site. Does it look original to you? What else can I check? What would be a fair price for this type of machine.

Thank you in advance for your input and insight.

Tim

[andydotp]

G'day mznb1u,
All looks good to me.
Cabinet likely repainted - many are but correct oval award card, eave over the payout cup, club handle and drill-proof plating.
Nice find.
andydotp

[altort]

I think I know this machine, what state is it in? If it's the machine that I think it is you have a good one.
Al

[mznb1u]

Thanks again for the advice on the machine. I ended up buying it and I am very pleased with it and believe I got a pretty good deal based on what I see similar machines selling for on Ebay. The thing that I like about it the best is that it is pretty much an original survivor. I picked it up over a week ago and I play it a little almost everyday. I have probably played it for at least 500 pulls and it works perfectly everytime. Pays out the right amounts when the right combinations are hit as well.

Al--I picked this machine up in Toledo. The seller is a real nice guy who has a nice collection and he went over the entire machine with me to make sure that I knew how to take it apart and put everything back together. Even showed me his collection and let me play the machines.

Now for the newbie stupid question of the day. On this machine, I have hit almost all of the combinations for a payout except the big jackpot. I am assuming that I have to hit triple cherries to dump the big jackpot in the window?

Thanks again. I may have found a new thing to collect much to my wife's dismay!

Tim

[altort]

Not the machine I was thinking of but looks like a nice machine, to dump out the jack pot you need to line up the three bars, you can manually line them up by stopping the clock, after you set the reels in motion you can stop the fan on top of the clock, using the handle of a screw driver should do the trick, than you can rotate each reel to line up the three bars, set the clock back in motion and if you lined them up correctly you should get 20 coins from your coin tube and the jack pot dumps out in the other cup, it might take you a couple of tries but not difficult.
Al

[andydotp]

altort is spot-on and that's a quick way of checking all payouts are correct.
You could also check the reel disks to ensure there's no plugged hole or bugs.
Even easier - and without removing the mech, cycle the machine and retract all horizontal fingers at once with the side of your finger. Should dump all slides and trigger the jp.
Hope you work it out, please do keep us informed.
Regards,
andy.