During this period [During
the1990's per previous paragraph - Jay], an idea was developed to alter
old, existing bingo machines such that they could generate additional
revenue. Armstrong testified that he came up with the idea when he
noticed that the supreme court’s opinion in Joytime excluded Class
III Bingo machines. Although the licensing fee for Class III Bingo
machines was $2000 per year,Armstrong discovered that older machines could
be modified and licensed under a different class that had only a $100 per
year licensing fee.
Armstrong testified that he
discussed his idea with Collins, who was unconvinced at first.
Collins allowed Armstrong to use some old machines that Collins owned
personally to construct working models. Armstrong worked on the
project during hours that he was not working for Collins
Entertainment. Armstrong stated that he made four modifications to
the machines, including adding an
electronic circuit board, a flipper to bring the machine within the “game
of skill” requirement for the lower licensing fee, and a printer to
print tickets showing credits won which would be redeemable for
merchandise. Armstrong applied for a patent for the new Skillpins
machine.
I do have this ebay
seller's permission to show his pics on the IPDB. I was mistaken when
earlier I said this ebay playfield did not have a flipper on it. It
certainly does have one.
Ok, so I am prepared to identify this ebay game, for now, as a
conversion of an unknown WIMI bingo game (this accounts for the WIMI on the
coin door), with a new game name of Euro Star that is not mentioned
on the backglass, the conversion done by Collins Entertainment, Inc. of
Greenville, South Carolina dba Skillpins (one word), circa 1990's,
and that added a flipper to classify the game for a much reduced licensing
fee.
I will make specific mention that the conversion
games done by this company can be expected to have a white sticker at the
top front of the backbox having the words SKILL FLIPPER on it. That way, our users will realize to not view the
words SKILL FLIPPER as the actual name of the game.
The legal distinction between Collins and Skillpins was the major topic of
your link but since the coin box lid says 'Collins' while the backglass and
apron both say 'Skillpins', I had better allow for both names in my
listing. In fact, your link said this, in effect "marrying" the
two company names:
Skillpins, Inc., purchased all
the Skillpins machines. However, Collins Entertainment paid for the
machines and booked all the machines as Collins Entertainment assets.
What do you think of how I prepare to
identify it on the IPDB?
I cannot conclude that the PR738 circuit board is the board that Collins
added, as it may be a board installed by WIMI, and I could not see in the
ebay pics where the Collins printer would be.
Jay
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