How To Age a Vintage Pachinko machine?

[Brewmaster]

Is there a way to determine the age of a vintage Pachinko machine?

I read some information on a website by "Pachinkoman" that tries to explain how to age a vintage machine - based on the manufacturer registration/expiration stickers on the front of the machine.
Determine Age of your Pachinko Machine

According to his explanation my machine was manufactured in 1975. However, I received my pachinko machine as a gift from my folks when I was a kid. By 1975 I had served in the military, been to college and was married. So there is obviously some disconnect between pachinkoman's documentation of the aging process using the sticker dates and the information on the manufacturer's stickers on my machine.

Any other suggestions how to tell the actual age of a pachinko machine?

Thanks in advance for your help,

[JACKSJE4]

Welcome to PachiTalk, Brewmaster!! We are glad to have you here.

This has been a topic of significant debate in recent months on this site. Members here also have found evidence to dispute the method of determining the machines age that is posted on Pachinkoman's website. Bill (aka Pachinkoman) has been involved with the discussion.

In essence, we have all agreed that the date sticker aging method on Bill's site reflects the "in service" date, not necessarily the date of manufacture. As for determining the date of manufacture, well... your guess is as good as ours at this point.

I'm sure others will chime in here and add the therories we came up with for determining age (there are several).

Jeff

[Moparformances]

knowing the date a machine was truly maid is somthing we may never know..

my thought is the machines were used for a year or so... 18 months?? then pulled and replaced onece the stickers expire..

but who is to say another smaller mom and pop parlor wasent out there buying used machines?? have them (dont know what u would call it) re inspected?? re certified?? whatever.. and used in there parlor for 12 to 18 more months.. then shiped to the states..

that is y when i post i only use the date on the sticker... a parlor with a small staff of small ball handling system may have needed to keep the Model "A" around allot longer then a bigger parlor

[Brewmaster]

I understand your comments, and it makes sense that the machines might have been used in one or more parlors.

I am still confused - if everyone agrees the pachinkoman conversion method is not right, and the date is actually an "in service" date; the sticker date (51) on my machine still makes no sense.

If the Japanese conversion to Anglican date is accurate, then the sticker is still showing that it was "in service" years after I received the machine as a gift. (or even manufactured after I received it as a gift).

Is it possible that the Japanese to Anglican date conversion table is flawed?

Thanks for all your great information and help, it is really appreciated.

[Brewmaster]

I withdraw my comment about the date conversion table possibly being flawed - I did a little research on the web and the conversion table from the Japanese Showa calendar to the Gregorian calendar is well documented.

Perhaps it is something as simple as the guy who stamped my machine hit one wrong number and printed 51 instead of 41 ? That would be much more accurate based on the date when I received the machine.

Thanks again,

[mudfud]

hi there. did you have a closeup of the sticker with the 51 on it? just thinking that maybe this number means something else... my daiichi this old does not have readable dating sticker on it.

if you know what year you received the pachinko as a present, then probably it was manufactured 1-2 years before that. seems that they get rid of the old machines quickly in japan (no space for storage), and it probably got imported to the US right after that.

that's a nice machine. I like the daiichi angled front design. I have one that needs to be cleaned up (not nice like yours yet)... maybe this will encourage me.

if you start to play with the machine, you might just get addicted, like most of us here. it's a great hobby (though the wives may not think so).

welcome!

[Moparformances]

also there is nothing that says the machine may pulled befor its expiration sticker..

if the industry as a whole throws the machines in the trash when there done with them pulling one early cause its not a popular model could make sense???

the problem is there are so many things that can could and or did happen.. thats what is making a date so hard to nail down

[Brewmaster]

mudfud - I posted a picture of the registration labels, but the numbers are so small I had to use a magnifying glass to read them. I will try to take and post a better picture using a macro lens in the next day or so.


Moparformances - I understand your comments re: difficulty to age. When I originally asked about the age process I was simply confused by the pachinkoman dating process which does not fit my personal ownership. What the age of the machine may be is not really a critical issue - I know it is fairly old and still getting older (just like me!)

[luckydog]

maybe your folks trashed your orginal pachinko and picked up a replacement for it later

[Brewmaster]

Nah - By 1975 I had served in the military, been to college and was married. By then I had not lived with my folks for years.

[digital1]

Has anyone tried to contact someone in Japan that might know? Museam or historian?