Super Wild Cat by GAMES INC. 1960 Upright Flasher repairs

 Super Wild Cat by Games INC. 1960 Upright Flasher

In the previous post,  you may have seen a video of the Super Wild Cat in action. Here's the promised background information about the game.

Why did I get this game? Because...  

I like slot machines, but not all slot machines. I don't give a crap about pure mechanical slot machines, no matter how elegant they are and I don't give a crap about electronic slot machines.

That leaves the electromechanical slot machines. From electric consoles to the Money Honey and all it's variations basically.  Why do I like electromechanical slot machines: Bueschel summarised it beautifully...

Richard Bueschel wrote:

"The Arrival of the uprights and their circuitry-based play features brought something to slot machine play that had not been there before: multiple coin, double-up, hold-and-draw, multiplier, multiple line payoffs and other advanced features were exciting play generating ideas that the mechanical slot machines of the past could never hope to handle."

More specifically, I like upright flasher slot machines. Flasher slot machines only exist because of a definition of what was a slot machine in the Johnson Act:

(1) any so-called "slot machine" or any other machine or mechanical device an essential part of which is a drum or reel with insignia thereon, and (A) which when operated may deliver, as the result of the application of an element of chance, any money or property, or (B) by the operation of which a person may become entitled to receive, as a result of the application of an element of chance, any money or property...

So what did the coin-op engineers do: they created slot machines with no reels.

It was some sort of cat and mouse game between the LAW and ingenuity that lasted a few years and that gave rise to a bunch of interesting electromechanical games along the way.

I got the Super Wild Cat about a year ago from my "favorite" coin operated amusement equipment reseller in ville Saint-Laurent (Montreal). Here's another game that sat in their warehouse for years.

The business owner kept the game as a keepsake from the good old days in New Brunswick where the game was operated for a number of years. Apparently Super Wild Cat was a great money maker. Over the years I was offered the game a number of times but the price was exorbitant. In the end they were cleaning out the warehouse and I got the game for the right price along with a Midway SAMI.

The fit was tight in the Sienna. The purchase of SWC was unplanned.

I dropped the game off at my Freundin's house and forgot about it for about a year. I just didn't feel like working on it.

The repairs

I eventually got around to working on Super Wild Cat.

All the electromechanical bits are on a insert that can be removed for service, making it easier to work on.

First thing I did was check all the relays and switch points. I look for broken switch blades, pitted points, broken wires, missing insulators on the stack. I manually actuate the switches and make sure the switches open and close properly. I clean all the switch points and check the switch stack screws to make sure they are nice and tight.

Then I clean all the stepper units. Clean off the old congealed grease. Clean the solenoid plungers, change worn out coil stops. Clean the contact dics and wipers. lightly lube the metal on metal pivot points and check the step-up and reset arm for smooth actuation. Making sure the unit can step up all the way and swiftly resets back to zero.

Then I cleaned the flasher units. I had to completely take the units apart to clean and relube the leather clutch washers.

Then I reassembled everything, played a few games, and discovered that the flasher units did not index properly. That's because of excessive gameplay: After years of continuous use the edges of the index cams had mushroomed over narrowing the gap of the slots. The index arm would not index in a number of slots. I had to take the flasher units apart again and go over every cam and give it a quick zip with a small file. Nothing excessive, just a little kiss with the file.

Gameplay impressions:

There's not much to say on gameplay impressions. It's a 4 "reel" slot machine with no holds. Pretty basic.

The super WILD Cat is for the fact that the Wild Cat is a "wild symbol", meaning it can replace any other symbol to make a winning combination. That's why it has all the other animal symbols around the cat. That's why the ad claims 115 ways to score.

Ad for Super Wild Cat from the February 8th 1960 issue of Billboard. Page 76

You might be here looking only for the value of one of these games? Basically these games have no value. They frequently dont sell at auction. One or Two hundred Canuckistan dollars max. depending on condition.

Old School webpage about Games INC.

Super Wild Cat schematics on archive.org

My other upright flasher posts