Mechelen 2006
November 2005 we got the invitation of Collectors Fantasies in Mechelen to visit their fair in Mechelen in 2006. So now we did have more time to restorate a few bingo's and we could bring some more. We borrowed a truck and we could stow 8 bingo's.
As we brought all kinds of bingo's, people could play with machines from various periods. The Key West with the magic squares, the Sea Island and Ballerina with the magic screen, the County Fair with the extra OK, the Bali with three cards, the Venice with the extra odds/even game and a Miss America de Luxe. You can't go to a fair without a Miss America, as it was the most popular bingo in Belgium. It was a lot of work to prepare 7 machines for the fair. We did not restorate the second Ballerina, so that the differnce between found as and fully restorated would be obvious.
The organization of Collector Fantasies did comply with our request for a place without light from the windows, so that the bingo's looked very nice and were ready to play.
And again we could welcome our regular players. Some of them did have an own collection and consulted us, but other persons played a bingo they never saw before.
We brought a Venice from 1968 with an extra game in it. You have to know this bingo very well, before you can really judge it. That applied for a player who did not like the bingo as he said, but he never played it, so I persuaded him to try a few games. Time after time he returned to the Venice and finally he succeeded in registering a high score with the odds/even game. This was his reaction: " Hmm, a very nice bingo, but I really prefer a woodrail." However he insisted to have his photo taken after his score!
Fortunately we did not have to take all machines back home. We gave away the Sea Island and Miss America de Luxe to the organization of Collector Fantasies as a token of our friendship.
Just one year later we met the Sea Island again in London, but that's another story.
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fltr Bali, Venice, Sea Island, Miss America de Luxe
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fltr Key West, County Fair, Ballerina and a unrestorated Ballerina
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One of the regular players
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Finally a big score on the Venice
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The Key West was very popular
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