Columbus A Gumball

[Eric]

Well it isn't a mint 56 or a RC 81.. '>
But I picked this up off the Craiglist.... $175
so it wasn't a steal but was a good deal...
I will eventually repaint to original color red and put the right decals on.
All there... and works.. from the 1920s... Oldest
working coin-op I have....

[Bob K]

Sweeeeet, Eric!

That will be a fun one to restore.  Will you paint or powdercoat?

Bob

[BrianB]

That's pretty cool! Do you own any other gumball machines? I've recently started to take an interest in them as well.......(not sure if that's good or bad!) I'm still in learning mode and haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet.

Any advice?

[Eric]

Thanks guys!.. I'll just use a good spray paint brand and spray bomb it...
Something this old I don't know if powder coating would hurt the
value...
Brian.. just buy what you like... I started out buying a 1950s/60s OAK,
common for $15 at a swap meet it didn't have a globe and WOW!
gobes are about $45 bucks... so the only advice I would give is make sure it
has a globe... I prefer glass globe models... thought the Comet models of the 60s are pretty cool look'n.
I have a couple Northwesterns, 6 OAKs (too many but they were cheap)
a Atlas Ace... again globe cracked but I thought it was a deal at that time...
till I saw the price of that replacement globe $150!!! Ahhh so it's gonna stay cracked for a while, and a Silver King....
Can't keep up with Bob K! So I'm about done with these...maybe....
a lot cheaper than a soda machine easy to restore (a couple cork gaskets,
decals and spray paint) and just nice
to find something I can afford while waiting... yes waiting... for that
Quikold to appear and buy. :'>

So if you see one and aren't sure just post it.... there are quite a few guys here that have these too... and would give you good advice on what is a deal or not... Like Bobs Northwestern he ALMOST PASSED up! Whew! That
was close!

[Eric]

Also there is a great little hand book for about $17 on these little guys..
It's on eBay all the time.. can't recall the authors name... John something...I think a few guys here have it too... would get that for sure... There are some great, rare machines out there.

[Bob K]

Heed Eric's advice about glass globes!  I bought a bunch of complete Oak Acorn bodies (no globes) for next to nothing just to practice powdercoating.  Now they look real nice but getting globes for them is not cheap - especially if you want the globe with embossed acorn.  So these bodies may stay headless for a while!

I did just grab this non-embossed globe (and body):

ebay acorn

Sounds cheap for $19.95 but shipping was another $19.95, and with insurance it cost me $41.20!!!!!!!!!

It's fun stuff, though.  '>

Bob

[BrianB]

Great advice, thanks guys! I'm pretty sure that I'm more partial to glass globe machines. The few gumball/peanut machines that I have come across at antique stores have all been a mixture of plastic globes and plexi/plastic chutes. They just feel cheep.

One machine that I think is really sharp is the Asco (sp?) Hot Nut Vendor with the cup dispenser on the side. I love the red light on top and the styling of the machine is awesome.