A BRYANS ELEVENSES

This is a Bryans Elevenses machine. One of the most popular types of Allwin. 'Allwin' in the generic name for wall machines that require the user to flick a ball bearing around a track, trying to land the ball in one of the payout cups. The Elevenses was produced in large numbers (unlike some other wall machines) from 1955 onwards. Bryans started producing coin operated machinery in the late 1920's and is still going (as far as I know) in a small way today. My machine claims to be a one new penny machine, but has been converted to 2 pence per go. The early machines were of course one old penny a go. The machine is entirely mechanical - no scary electricity - and the mechanism is rugged a beautifully designed. It even allows the operator to vary the payouts and allow a free ball whenever the players wins. The 'pins' just above the cups project all the way through the playfield, making them very springy indeed. The long row of eleven winning cups looks very inviting (and very easy to win on), but the ball bounces off the pins more times than not and disappears into the 'Lose' hole. Cunning! My Elevenses is in reasonable condition, but does require a couple of new locks, (which I will soon fit) and a small amount of repainting in the corner chrome areas. I bought it in late 1999 at a specialist auction. If you can find such a machine anywhere else then you are very lucky...

A BELL-FRUIT CASCADE

This is a very different machine. It is not an Allwin - instead it uses the coin that you deposit as the 'projectile'. The coin (one new penny) is inserted into the top of the machine, and rolls down behine the glass front to rest against the striker, which is the knob sticking out of the right hand side of the cabinet. The aim is to get the penny into one of the winning slots which are marked with a star in the photo. The coin then falls down, knocking the trip at the bottom of that column. Depending on which winning slot you have managed to hit, the coin may trigger more than one trip, and the released coins may also trigger more trips - thus 'cascading' through the machine. If you miss all of the winning slots, the coin goes straight through the machines and falls into the bonus area (on the the extreme right of the machine) if it is not full. If the bonus area is full, then the coin slides despairingly into the coin box, much to the delight of the operator! My example is in good condition, but is missing the original striker. If anyone out there has a spare, please get in contact. These machines are good fun to play, but are not as collectible as the Allwins. This one cost me about £80, once I had bought the missing trips from a fellow enthusiast.

I really like these old machines. They bring back the feeling of summers at the seaside, and are simple yet frustrating to play. Some examples are extremely rare, and collectors also look for more unusual machines such as mutoscopes (What the Butler Saw machines), shooters, fruit machines and many more. If you have any of these machines and would like to talk about them, sell them or would like to know where to get more information, please feel free to email me...