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FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY
BOOK REVIEW
There are many books on jukeboxes, a few on slot machines, an encyclopedia on gumballs and peanut machines, a comprehensive book on soda machines, but hardly anything on counter games.
Tom Gustwiller's book For Amusement Only changes that. This book is overwhelming. It has over 50 dice machines, 60 coin-drops, 55 one-wheel machines, 75+ cast iron slot and card machines, 15 horse race machines, hundreds of two and three reelers, and even skill games and roulettes. Overwhelming!
As with most identification guides, this book gives you a photo of the machine, its value, date of manufacture, and name of manufacturer. What is especially useful, however, is that it also gives you information on the rarity of each machine. Tom assigns one of three letters, A, B, or C to designate its rarity.
- "A" means that there is less than 5 machines in existence;
- "B" means that there is less than 25 machines in existence; and
- "C" means that there are more than 25 machines in existence.
To me, the rarity guide is more valuable than the price guide. If a machine is rare, it is more likely to go up quickly in price if the machine becomes popular. If less than 5 machines are in existence, you don't need very many people to bid up the price. On the other hand, a widely available machine that is high priced can drop quickly in value if it loses its popularity.
At the end of the book are illustrations of Tom's most wanted list. (I suppose that means that Tom is still actively collecting.) The most wanted list shows 24 counter games that have appeared in ads and catalogs, but thus far, have never been found.
Finally, the book provides a listing of about 2,000 different amusement games that were made between 1931 and 1940. This large number gives an idea of how popular counter games were in the 1930s.
One of the neat aspects of collecting counter games and this new book is that there is something for everyone. There are machines for those who want to spend more than $10,000, and machines for those who want to spend less than $500.
For Amusement Only is a 250 page hardcover book..
To order, go to go to: Slot Machine Books Web Page
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Copyright: 2003 Ken Durham
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Slot Machines For Sale
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Copyright 2003: Ken Durham
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