Bruzilla
Well-Known Member
A couple of days ago, I was browsing through the Auto Parts directory of our Jacksonville Craigslist and I found something that should not be there for two reasons. The first was the items I found were two vintage slot machines (a .25 and .5 machine), which are definitely not auto parts, and the second is they were listed as both for $350! Only issue was he had lost the keys for them, which older slots usually all use the same key so I wasn't too worried. But he said they were from the 1970s, which in Florida makes them legal to own, so I wanted them!
I'm not a gambling guy, nor is my wife into it much, but she does like playing slots when we go somewhere they have them, and she always does well. I bought her one of those Japanese machines a few years ago, and they are really kind of crappy. Make lots of noise, you can only play with tokens, etc. They're the gaming equivalent of a rice boy's Honda Civic. I wanted to get her a legal real slot machine, but they are usually big bucks. These two looked like a deal so I contacted the guy.
I told the seller I was interested in the .25 machine if he would sell them separately, and he told me he would take $200 for it. My goal was to go out there, buy the .25 machine for $200 and then offer $100 for the .5, but he told me the machines had to be gone by Wednesday afternoon as they were in a storage area that he was clearing everything out of and moving to a new site. So all day Wednesday I'm waiting for him to email me to verify I am coming over, and I don't hear from him. I suspected he was entertaining other offers and I didn't want to drive across town to get in a bidding war, so I just went home after work and didn't contact him.
Come 7:00 Wednesday night I get an email from him that confirmed my suspicions. He told me a couple of people who said they wanted the machines didn't show up and he needed to get them gone, and he said he would take $200 for both machines! I told him we would be there Thursday morning.
My son and I picked up the machines and the casino stands they were on, gave the guy his money, and we left. We're halfway home when the seller calls me and says "Hey, I found the keys! You can have them if you want them.", so we turn around, go back, and get the keys.
We get the machines back to Casa de Bruzilla, plug them in, and get an error, which I figured we would. I opened the .25 machine to hit the reset button and see the coin hopper is FULL! I opened the .5 machine and the hopper isn't as full but close. All told there's about $700 or so between the two. I called the guy back and told him we had found some money in there and I would be by today to bring it to him. My son and I decided we would split the pot and give the guy $350, which seemed fair.
So now my wife will be getting a 1977 .25 Bally and a 1979 .5 Bally, in operable condition, which makes them worth about $1,000-$1,300 each. Plus she's got $350+ in there already so they'll make the best piggy bank ever.
I'm not a gambling guy, nor is my wife into it much, but she does like playing slots when we go somewhere they have them, and she always does well. I bought her one of those Japanese machines a few years ago, and they are really kind of crappy. Make lots of noise, you can only play with tokens, etc. They're the gaming equivalent of a rice boy's Honda Civic. I wanted to get her a legal real slot machine, but they are usually big bucks. These two looked like a deal so I contacted the guy.
I told the seller I was interested in the .25 machine if he would sell them separately, and he told me he would take $200 for it. My goal was to go out there, buy the .25 machine for $200 and then offer $100 for the .5, but he told me the machines had to be gone by Wednesday afternoon as they were in a storage area that he was clearing everything out of and moving to a new site. So all day Wednesday I'm waiting for him to email me to verify I am coming over, and I don't hear from him. I suspected he was entertaining other offers and I didn't want to drive across town to get in a bidding war, so I just went home after work and didn't contact him.
Come 7:00 Wednesday night I get an email from him that confirmed my suspicions. He told me a couple of people who said they wanted the machines didn't show up and he needed to get them gone, and he said he would take $200 for both machines! I told him we would be there Thursday morning.
My son and I picked up the machines and the casino stands they were on, gave the guy his money, and we left. We're halfway home when the seller calls me and says "Hey, I found the keys! You can have them if you want them.", so we turn around, go back, and get the keys.
We get the machines back to Casa de Bruzilla, plug them in, and get an error, which I figured we would. I opened the .25 machine to hit the reset button and see the coin hopper is FULL! I opened the .5 machine and the hopper isn't as full but close. All told there's about $700 or so between the two. I called the guy back and told him we had found some money in there and I would be by today to bring it to him. My son and I decided we would split the pot and give the guy $350, which seemed fair.
So now my wife will be getting a 1977 .25 Bally and a 1979 .5 Bally, in operable condition, which makes them worth about $1,000-$1,300 each. Plus she's got $350+ in there already so they'll make the best piggy bank ever.
