Collector Fantasies, Mechelen 2005
Next spring, march 2005, we were invited by the organization of Collector Fantasies to show our Bally Bingo's on their fair. As it was rather unique to have those machines in working order and in this condition. As we were working on our own bingo's we weren't able to bring many special bingo's. So we brought only 5 machines: A Hawaii, Dixieland, Miss America Supreme, Galaxy, Mystic Gate and a Lido. That Lido was from a Belgium friend of us. He asked us to do his machine for him and we asked him to show the Lido on the fair. This was a nice apportunity to test the Lido during the weekend. And the Lido became very successful. Many visitors played it, and many people wantede to buy it, but again and again we had to explain that this bingo was not for sale.
It became very striking that in short notice we got many regular visitors on our stand. These people knew that arriving early they could play for hours on different bingo's. And however the bingo's were completely original (with a coinmechnism) it was not the meaning to put money in them, so we had to warn people not to do so and we put again some credits on the register.
It was obvious who played a bingo in the past. Time and again a couple approached our stand and the man discoverd an old bingo. Carfully he tried to explain the game to his wife, but most of the times ladies are not very keen on bingo's. And after a while the man was playing the bingo, forgetting his wife. Till she got enough of waiting and drew her husband from the machine. The man once looked back, there was a nice combination for an extra ball, watched me with regret and walked on with his wife.
I think the man just felt something of the old times when he was with his friend in the pub, but understood that times had been changed and that he had nothing to say anymore!
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It's no Bally employee, but Ed supervising
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Many visitors knew that they could play for free
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The Lido is one of the best for home use
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The Lido stayed in Belgium, with the proud owner
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