Year of Manufacture/Expiration Stickers

[thepachinkoman]

Hi everyone. I have been working on a photo index of pachinko machine expiration stickers to help folks determine how old their machine is. If you have time and could check out the work so far and let me know if there are any errors that would be great. Also I am missing some expiration stickers and have some that are unidentified so any help there would also be appreciated.

I wish I had more time to keep up with the board but with two jobs, wife, etc. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I hope everyone is doing well.

Thanks again.
Bill

Vintage Pachinko - Nishijin Models

[Moparformances]

thats great Bill

the one thing that took me forever to understand is where the numbers on the stickers were located.. i may have jsut been slow to understand but it took me a few days of reading posts hear and the information on your site and i finaly got it..

would it be possable to photo shop your pictures and either circle the date code or underline it or something like that??

jsut my 2 cents

[johnnynormal510]

I have to agree with Mopar.

I am looking at some of those picutes, and i still cant figure out where the year is located at.

[thepachinkoman]

OK. thanks for the feedback. I circled the location of the numbers on the pictures.

Since the numbers are so very small and hard to find/read, I was thinking people could use this as a visual guide to age their machine. without having to get our a magnifying glass.

Thanks again.

Here is the link with the updated title tag.
Pachinko Machine Expiration Stickers

[wrkey]

Hey Bill,

I had read elsewhere that the expiration duration was three years and your site says one year. Just so I can be most accurate, where did you get your information on the expiration duration? I only know what I've read on the internet so obviously my information is questionable. I would feel much better know the RIGHT answer and knowing the source of that answer.

Can you enlighten us please! Thanks!

[Cystic]

I sent a pic of one of mine to you. You may add it to the unknown pile.


Thanks for this service to the Vintage Pachinko Community.

[Moparformances]

having them circled likethat is a huge help

two huge thumbs up

that makes the learing curve allmost painless

and by the way

Great site

[thepachinkoman]

I too have seen various numbers for years of service for pachinko machines: 12 months, 18 months and 36 months. It is possible that at various times all of these might be right.

I believe that for vintage machines in the late 60s and 1970s the service was probably a year for the following three reasons:

First) 12 months sticks out in my mind from a few years ago. I can’t remember where I got that information but at the time I felt it was a good source.

Second) The playfield laminate of most Nishijin pachinko machines are stamped with a number. Actually the number is embedded in the laminate just like the design so it isn’t stamped after the fact but during production.

There is a different number for each design. The number begins with the imperial year followed by other numbers or letters (for example 47S-W or 51-53). This is usually found behind the playfield door and may be obscured by the door latch or other parts.

I believe that this number sequence indicates the year the laminate is made along with a sequence identifying the design. I’m working up a page on this and will let you know when I publish it.

The expiration stickers for all our machines have all been 1 year after the year on the playfield laminate. So for 47S-W the expiration sticker was 48.

Third) There was one machine where the expiration sticker also had a patent number on it. That patent number started with the imperial year which was 1 year before the expiration date. (I am trying to track down that sticker. I had it translated for a customer and was corresponding with them through email but haven’t located it yet).

...end or three reasons...

Based on my recent work of documenting expiration stickers, I noticed that at least during the 1970s, the expirations were always in March, June, September and December. I doubt seriously that machines were only put in service during those months. More likely new machines were continuously being put into service every month. Therefore a machine with an expiration date of December 1975 was likely put in service sometime between October 1,, 1974 and December 31, 1974 meaning the machine could have been in service for as long as 12 to 15 months.

The catch here is this only gives you an idea of when the machine was put into service. It doesn’t tell you for certain when it was made. While the majority of machines were likely assembled a short time before arriving on location (I’m guessing a month or less) I have run across a couple exceptions. I have seen a two Nishijin A model machines that were clearly made in the late 1960s or early 1970s but they had a late 1970s expiration sticker on it. My guess is that these were made, but not put on location immediately for whatever reason and then years later they were found and put into service.

So as you can tell, I can’t say for certain that it was 1 year versus 3 years but I feel more confident that it is 1 year. This is an exciting hobby and as we all uncover new information who knows what we will find out!

thanks again for the compliments on our site.

link to expiration stickers
Pachinko Machine Expiration Stickers

[MrGneiss]

Great post, thanks!!

[hanabi]

Aging of vintages is a question that is regularly posed here,

and I have myself, always wondered just how the age of pachinkos were determined and the discrepancies with the 1 year or 3 year ageing from expiration dates on stickers

Super post, your explanation seems perfectly logical especially with the date coding on the playfield laminates!!

[Cystic]

Your theory about the date being printed on the laminate is one that I had as well. The Nishijin "B" I just finished restoring has a marking 51 - 26 in the lower left corner and a front tag date of 53 6. I started thinking maybe year 51 and week 26. I then with much excitement went to my other Nishijin "B" popped open the doors and it is marked 9S - 05, front tag is 51 3.

So what year is 9S?

I now think maybe it is the cell design number.

Anyone have any machines with a matching cells like mine that can open it and see what theirs says? I had to remove the balltray latch to read the first one.

Thanks for the help.

[wrkey]

Hey Cystic,

I have a machine with the same cell. It's the Crab machine that belongs to my cousin that I have restored. Photo attached. I will open the door later and see what if there is a number stamp on it. (I'm at work right now.)

Bill, I think your arguments are very pursuasive for the 1 year vs 3 question. I guess it was difficult for me to believe that machines were only used for one year. The quality of the mechanics and the cost of replacing every machine each year seem to indicated a longer design life. However, I have no defendable argument that would make me hold to the 3 year 'guess'. Great job, great explaination and I look forward to learning more from you!

[Moparformances]

sticky i see a sticky

great info

[thepachinkoman]

Cystic, the 9S-05 is likely 49S-05 with the 4 covered or cut off.

Wrkey, yeah I really don't understand how the pachinko parlors could get rid of machines so quickly either but here is a story for you. I talked with slot-pachinko and they import machines from 6 parlors. The machines they get are often only on the pachinko floor for 45 days. yep you heard me right. he said that the key is to continuously have new machines so they are always being played. For example they bring in 100 star wars machines. 45 days later they may drop that number to 60 machines and introduce another new machine. Then they will drop down to 40 star wars machines, then 20. He said that the parlors he deals with try to have a person on every machine 24/7 and when machines don't work they pull them out. I also talked with another importer who said they will pull a mchine within a couple days if it isn't "hot".

Thanks again everyone. I'll be posting more on this in the upcoming weeks as I complete my playfield laminate design number research.

[thepachinkoman]

correction: by "...machines don't work they pull them out" I didn't mean phyically not working but "machines not occupied frequently enough they pull them out".

FYI,I also just added to the excellent sticky on vintage vs modern with a pictoral guide for determining rough age of a machine. Modern vs Vintage Pachinko Machines

[JACKSJE4]

I have seen a two Nishijin A model machines that were clearly made in the late 1960s or early 1970s but they had a late 1970s expiration sticker on it. My guess is that these were made, but not put on location immediately for whatever reason and then years later they were found and put into service.

That finding would clarify my confusion regarding the expiration date stickers vs. the production date of the machine. I had two mechanically identical 'B' series Nishijin machines that I restored and one had an expiration tag of 1975, where the other had an expiration tag of 1979.

If your findings above are correct, then we must assume that the expiration sticker does not indicate the true age of the machine; it simply indicates the date it was placed into service. I guess I will need to begin checking the cell of each machine for the date code you mentioned in your post.

Thanks for your research and perspective into this hot topic. We really appreciate it! Please keep us posted with any new information you learn about dating these wonderful machines!

Jeff

[compirate]

Wrkey, yeah I really don't understand how the pachinko parlors could get rid of machines so quickly either but here is a story for you. I talked with slot-pachinko and they import machines from 6 parlors. The machines they get are often only on the pachinko floor for 45 days. yep you heard me right. he said that the key is to continuously have new machines so they are always being played. For example they bring in 100 star wars machines. 45 days later they may drop that number to 60 machines and introduce another new machine. Then they will drop down to 40 star wars machines, then 20. He said that the parlors he deals with try to have a person on every machine 24/7 and when machines don't work they pull them out. I also talked with another importer who said they will pull a machine within a couple days if it isn't "hot".

I take anything slot-pachinko says with a grain of salt (sometimes a large grain). I don't know of any parlor that opens before 10am or is open later than 11pm. And if they're getting stuff that's only been in the parlors 45 days or less, it sure must be taking a long time to get here as a lot of their April container is machines from last year and before (Star Wars 2 - 11/2008, Tomb Raider - 11/2007, Marvel Super Heros - 2/2007, Mummy Returns - 4/2007, Star Trek - 10/2006, Batman Begins - 12/2007). Is anything on their list from 2009?

If the parlor is large enough and busy enough, the machine can be paid for rather quickly. Lets assume a machine doesn't pay out at all (if people would accept this, the parlors would be thrilled!), and it's open for a 13 hr day and played that entire time:

13 hrs = 46800 seconds x 2 balls shot per second x 4 yen rent per ball = 374400Y / 98 yen to the $ = $3820.41 (machine price $2500-3500, just cells - cheaper)

So if you assume some wins over 45 days, the income is substantial. The parlor's computers know how many balls have been loaned, how many balls the machine has paid out and how many balls have gone through the machine so they know exactly in real time how well a machine is doing. They can tell if a player is using those expensive loaned balls or the cheaper won balls.

It's a difficult balancing act, keep the machines fresh enough to keep players interested, but don't keep them so long that the players figure them out too well. I guess when the income graph starts to look bad, that's when they're pulled.

Ok, now back to the topic at hand

[Cystic]

OK Txcanoeman you are absolutely right. I just removed the balltray latch and sure enough 49S - 05 staring right at me. Good call. I wasn't looking for another number as the kerning was just far enough apart to make it look like that was all of the number.

I really think you are on to something here. So what does the "S" mean? Any guess?


I can understand these machines only lasting a short time in a parlor as they are gambling machines. There one purpose is to get people to scurry in, empty their pockets and scuttle off. I imagine they pay for themselves rather quickly.



Has anyone ever tried calling Nishijin directly and asking some of these questions? Most Japanese people can speak passable English or so I am told.
And on the same note why have we not found someone that worked in the industry from say 1960 to 1980 to answer some of these questions. Granted they might be 70 years old or so but I know lots of people around that age that are online.

<thead drift>

So this may clear up some info for the Nishijin 'B' but what of the 'A' (and 'C')? I have 2 model 'A' machines but find no numbers like that on them unless they are behind the wood. Speaking of the type 'A' one I have is a GI bring back so I can date it as made no later than Feb-1970 alas it has no front tag as he was told it must be removed before sale. That may have been a local regulation. Another friend of mine bought one a few months earlier than the one I have and it was identical in style but that machine has since been lost. The guy that brought back that machine was on his way back home from Vietnam(as was my friend), he and three friends all bought pachinkos to take home and he thinks he may have a pic of all of them and the four machines. I hope he finds it. I will post pictures and a full story at a later date.

[compirate]

I'd say have someone write that guy that runs the pachinko museum in Japan, I would think he would know better than anyone.

[Bigdog]

Has anyone ever tried calling Nishijin directly and asking some of these questions? Most Japanese people can speak passable English or so I am told.
And on the same note why have we not found someone that worked in the industry from say 1960 to 1980 to answer some of these questions. Granted they might be 70 years old or so but I know lots of people around that age that are online.

I was just about to ask the same question...there must be a ton of Japanese who know the answers to these questions...of course I am relying on someone else to do the dirty work here...aren't there a couple of folks on this board who LIVE in Japan? Their assistance in asking around the neighborhood would be greatly appreciated by all here...since we aren't asking for the equivalent to the secret ingredient of Coca-Cola, I'd think that some answers to our questions would flow quite nicely once the right person is located.