Fruit Machine Chat

I just don't know what I want.


Hi all. Jonesy from Essex here.

As the title says, I just don't know what I want...sort of. What I do know is that I want a fruit machine at home. I've always wanted one, just never got round to it. But now I'm building a summerhouse/gym (read as 'mid-life-crisis) in the garden I think that now's the time for my fruity as well. Hope you've got your reading glasses on. Basic requirements are (in no particular order)...

1/ It's a money box. Therefore it's got to have all the money 'bits' intact and functional. All the ads (ebay mainly) state that the money bits have been disconnected. I understand the rules insist on it. One ad says the hoppers need to be 'enabled' by an engineer. Should I read that as meaning they're kna**ered? Some say 'permanently disabled'. What does that mean?

2/ It's got to be fun. Therefore it's got to work with money. Back to question 1/

3/ It's got to be more fun. I see machines from about £99 up to £500 or more. For example, Yabba Dabba Darts is normally just over £100, but a DOND is £250 upwards. Also, reading through the forums I see you pro's slating this machine or that machine. Are you slating them on the basis of payout or fun value? Or both? As someone who hasn't put a penny in a machine for over 20 years, would I notice any difference from a 'fun' point of view?

4/ It's got to be even more fun. Are some machine genuinely boring? Are 10p play machines as much fun as 50p play machines?

5/ Reliability. Are some makes more reliable than others? Are older machines better built or does modern mean less trouble? I know that 2nd hand means cheap, but I don't want to buy a dodo. I got outbid on a Barcrest, and I'm watching another one. Good? Bad? Run away?

6/ Ebay's always a gamble. One dealer in particular (in the Midlands )with nightmare feedback. So I want to buy local and see the machine first. Any questions I should ask or what should I look for on the machine?

7/ Last one. (Who shouted YIPPEE?) Is there a list anywhere that gives the year of manufacture for most machines?

If you've read down this far, THANKS for your time and any help you can offer will be very gratefully received. (unless it's "GO AWAY.... YOU WRITE TOO MUCH!")

Jonesy.

magic 7

Unfortunately mate all machines get quite tedious after a while, I'd go for something like a DOND Can You Beat The Banker (£35 jackpot) - probably around the £150-£250 mark, lots of features, the DOND game and good fun to experiment with.

10p play ones are drab due to small jackpots and bad board frequency costs.

You could get an old barcrest stand alone £500 elvis/cashino for about £300-£500 but I reckon that might get a bit dull after a while, especially on ones that don't have the pie gamble.

DOND's are overpriced due to the popularity of the gameshow, you can get something quite good for £100 or so, admittedly it's a bit of a ballache now with ebay, but most people you buy off will reconnect everything anyway, saying it's disconnected is a way of circumventing the ebay restrictions (well it was, not sure about the restrictions now)

On ebay at the moment i'd recommend Indiana Jones

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pub-Fruit-Mac ... 134wt_1139

or Smash the cash

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMASH-THE-CAS ... 835wt_1110

But it depends on what you want really, a lot of machines get boring very quickly, most with a lapping trail board do, hence i suggested those, but the older barcrests are definitely also worth a shout, it just depends what you want.

Are you aware of the emulator dvd's Jonesy?

These are great value for money and enable you to play loads of machines for pennies, they are not simulations but the real deal only on ur computer instead of a big cabinet!!

At some point when i have the money i'm going to build a mame style cab with 2 huge monitors in... i imagine some of the lower res emulations might look fucking horrible lol.

Cheers for the replies chaps (and chappess'??).

Didn't know about the 'lapping trailboard' verses 'pie gamble' thingy. Funny enough, I liked the look of the Smash the Cash machine, and a dealer has one in Kent. Not too far.

As I've got a fair bit of time till I'm ready for it (weather delaying the building), I think I'll get one the Emulator DVD's off ebay and see what floats my boat. Any recommendations on emulators?

Stay Fruity

Jonesy

We've got a whole section here

forumdisplay.php?24-Fruit-Machine-Emulation

Or just google "fruit machine emulators"