I have been on the road since Tuesday morning and by the time I go home today, I had logged about 1400 miles this week. My travels took me to Canton, OH, Baltimore OH, Columbus, OH and a nice long 45 minute delay
in Kenton, OH while I waited for a stopped freight train to move. Also, all over west and northern Michigan. My detour to Baltimore, OH was to check out a machine that I spotted on CL over the weekend. I was pretty certain that I was going to buy it and was able to get the seller to pull the ad. I was willing to pay his asking price--not as good of a deal a MaineT got on the Pepsi but a very fair price given the rarity of this machine.
Well, I added another rare Stoner to my collection. This one is an older restoration and the machine if fully functional except for it is missing the coin mech but I can pick one of those up. In any event, say hello to my newest little friend--1950 Stoner Junior (technically a 120 according to Slider Bob) complete with gum/mint wheel! The guy I bought it from builds custom chassis' for hot rods and older model restorations. He had a lot of cool stuff at his shop and was a very nice guy. As the story goes, he got the machine from a friend who had bought a batch of Stoners about 20+ years ago. He did a pretty nice restoration and had the machine on display in his shop. It has a couple of minor dings but overall, I would put it at about an 8.5 out of 10. It is a little dusty but with a quick wiping down, it will be ready to move right into the game room and fill with candy. I may remove the mirror from the base which is actually plexi and not glass--to me that addition of a mirror is like the Coke bottle with the hand on an overdone soda machine restoration.
He did an interesting job restoring the mirror for the top. That is the original mirror because he could not find anyone local to cut a custom mirror for him. So he removed all of the old silver from the old mirror and then placed a piece of polished stainless behind the glass! You can actually see yourself in it but it looks a bit hazy--kind of like an old miror. The rest of the machine is straight and working. This makes two of this particular model in my collection. My other one is a 1949 but the exact same machine. I am pretty stoked about this one because it is ready to display and use!
On to the pictures. Too tired to bring it in to the house. Will post a better one when I get it into the house and put together.
Apologies to the Ohio Underground for picking one out of your backyard as I do not wish for there to be trouble between the families!
You talk about vengance. Is vengance going to bring a Stoner back to you or my Stoner to me? I forgo the vengance of my Stoner. But my youngest Stoner had to leave this country because of this Sollozzo business. So now I have to make arrangments to bring it back safely cleared of all these false charges. But I'm a supersticious man. And if some unlucky accident should befall it, if it should be shot in the mirror by a police officer, or if it should hang itself in it's jail cell, or if it is struck by a bolt of lightning... *then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room*... and that, I do not forgive. But, that aside, let say that I swear, on the souls of my grandchildren, that I will not be the one to break the peace we have made here today.
Tim
