Name: Strike A Lucky Token
Year: 1966
Company: 太東貿易 (Taito Trading) & パシフィック工業 (Pacific Industries) [presumed]
Lucky Token, as it is commonly referred, is a slot machine that was unveiled at the 22nd A.T. E. Exhibition in the UK in 1966. It was brought by Taito Trading, and the full title on the marquee is "Strike A Lucky Token". Like most Sega slot machines of the time, it appears to be made specifically for export.
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| Cash Box 1966-02-12 |
F. Dennis Dent, Managing Director of Shipgoods Ltd., the agents for Taito Trading Company of Japan, is seen here (left) explaining the mechanism of the Lucky Token Fruit machine to Neville Marten (CASH BOX).
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| Cash Box 1966-02-12 |
Also exhibiting for the first time Taito Trading Company of Tokyo, Japan on the stand of their U.K. importers and distributors, Shipgoods Ltd. Managing Director Mr. F. Dennis Denton reported that the Lucky Token two plays for 6d 'pub' slot machine created tremendous interest, as did the Casey Jones kiddie train ride.
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| Coin Slot 1966-01-29 |
REGENT Automatic Supply demonstrated the Japanese fruit Strike a Lucky Token, which is on two pulls for 6d, and which pays out two coins in cash or a 5/- award. When the jackpot is won a buzzer sounds and a red light flashes next to the coin entry.
An innovation on this machine is a special panel which can he unlocked by the site owner and through it he can load the award tube which might be in danger of emptying.
A special light goes on when this may happen and goes out again when the tube in refilled. Thus the key can be safely left on site without any threat of unlawful access being gained to any other part of the machine.
This was Taito's first A.T.E. Exhibition. They also exhibited Amosco [アモスコ by アオシマ・モウカル・オカネ・シコタマ・カンパニー (Aoshima Moukaru Okane Shikotama Company)] and ホイホイテスト (Hoi Hoi Test) by 日本遊園設備 (Japan amusement park equipment).
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| Billboard 1966-02-12 |
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Coin Slot 1966-01-22
ad from Regent Automatic Supply |
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| Coin Slot 1966-02-05 |
Relevant text from the bottom, highlighting the feature of a special locked slot that allows the location owner to restock the payouts without gaining access to the cashbox or internals.
Bottom centre: Messrs. T. and A. Manzi, of Regent Automatic Supply, introduced the Japanese-made Lucky Token fruit machine. A feature of this fruit is that by unlocking a small plate on the front the site owner can restock the token tube without gaining admittance to the rest of the machine.
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Coin Slot 1966-02-05
Zooming in on the Lucky Token photo |
Lucky Token appears to be based on Royal Crown slot machines.
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| Royal Crown machine with the mounted marquee |
Photos of a Lucky Token machine, taken from an Ebay auction (archive):
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| where the price is listed as 6D there is a key hole. I assume this is where the "lucky tokens" can be refilled by the location operator. |
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| note the dual payout tray, one for the 2-coin payouts, and one for the lucky tokens |
It says "Imperial Crown" here. Crown was a brand utilized by Taito as early as 1965. Unsure if that's a solid connection though since the original model design was Royal Crown.
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| is that "T" for Taito? On the Royal Crown machine this is instead a plastic circle with 'JP' on it. It probably just means "T" for "Token", as it lights when it pays them out. | |
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| inspection card! Inspected by T. Kaburagi on 1966-06-13 |
For comparison, a friend sent me a similar inspection card from the same era, this one from a Sega Mad Money machine:
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| 1969-02-04 inspection date, this one is 110 Volts and 50 Watts, so for the Japanese market |
The chevron on the Royal Crown and Lucky Token machines remind me of the one that would appear on サニー東京 (Sunny Tokyo) / Sunic machines
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| chevron from Royal Crown |
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| chevron from Mercado Electrica - メリカー ドエレクトリカ by サニー東京 (Sunny Tokyo) |
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| chevron from Wander 69 - ワンダー69 by サニー東京 (Sunny Tokyo) |
Perhaps it was just stylish? But perhaps they saw Lucky Token and/or Royal Crown and were inspired. :)
One more advertisement, also from Regent Automatic Supply:
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| Coin Slot 1966-03-26 |
There does not seem to be any mention of their geographic origin in the ad copy, though the first ad did say "Introducing to England".
