Wheel of Fortune: Educate me please

[Bigcheeze]

When at the 2010 Fall Chicagoland show I saw what I believe to be a Wheel of Fortune.  I looked like the one that is now on Ebay.

I was discussing this machine with someone that I work with.  We discussed buying a pair of them so I began looking for information on them.  Information is all over the map!!  Everyone seems to like them but I read through a thread on NLG that implies they are extremely expensive and cannot be owned outside of a casino.  I see that there is one on Ebay for $1750 - $2000.  The one that I saw at Chicagoland looked like the one on Ebay and that one was $2200.  I didn't try to negotiate a lower price because I had promised the wife that I wouldn't get carried away with purchases at Chicagoland so I bought a Big Cheese for $650 and it is working fine.

So if someone has a few minutes, would you please educate me about the Wheel of Fortune slot.  Are there multiple versions/variations of them that is causing me confusion?  If so, do you have suggestions for choosing one model over another?  From the few photos that I have found so far it seems there different toppers?  I have no interest in a video slot version if there is one.  I want to know a bit more before I consider buying one, and encouraging my co-worker to buy one too. 

One more question.  I see the term 'wheel game' used.  Does this refer only to the Wheel of Fortune?


Thanks in advance for any information or guidance that you can provide.

BigCheese (mike)

[tacman]

BigCheese, I wish we would have known you were coming to the show, many NLG members met beforehand on Saturday and also attended the show afterwards. If there was a Wheel of Fortune machine there, it was either hidden or sold prior to me going through the buildings. I have added some pics of an IGT WOF machine and a Bally Cash Wheel/Monte Carlo machine. I did see a Bally wheel there and if you bought that CDS Big Cheese slot from the same dealer you saw the wheel at, then it was a Bally Cash Wheel or similar. If you read through the past threads about WOF machines, then you have an idea that if they were offered for sale, it would not be openly advertised (except for the video version) and would probably be a word of mouth type deal.

 Dan (tacman)

I have utilized previous pics from other members for this comparison.

[staz]

mike the machines on ebay are bally cash wheels those are not wheel of fortunes, you wont ever see a wheel of fortune on ebay in the near future becuase they are impossible to own and find..... very few have working wofs in there slot collection at home......and if you did find one it would be selling a lot higher then 2200 lol try more like 6 to 10 thousand range.....the wofs are leased games owned by igt.... igt rents them  to the casinos and once there  lease is up igt takes them back and destroys them..... they never make it to the secondary market.....  hope that helps your understanding of wheel of fortunes.......

[Bigcheeze]

Thanks Tacman...

Now I know that there is an IGT WOF and a Bally Cash Wheel.  I think you also answered the question about owning a WOF.  The WOF that I referred to at the show was likely a Cash Wheel then because he made no effort to hide it.  It was not the same vender that I bought the Big Cheese from.  The vendor that had it was in the corner of the main building and he had a a few slots, a bunch of Pachislos and a few Pachinkos.  He was nice enough to help me with a problem that I had with a Beast Sapp Pachislo I have.  He does owe me a few bulbs for my Pachislo, so if your reading this post please send the bulbs :-)

I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed to learn that a WOF might be either too expensive or too difficult to get.  I suspect that I am not the first to want a WOF and likely have to settle for a Cash Wheel.

My son and I try to get to each of the Chicagoland shows.  It's an 8 hour drive from St. Paul so we don't always get there.  My favorite part is trying to find a deal in the parking lot.  The rain didn't allow that this year.  I was only there on Saturday this time.  At the previous show we were there on Friday at noon and it seemed pretty quiet with only a couple of trailers in the parking lot selling.  Someone told me they aren't supposed to sell in the parking lot but that is my favorite part of the show.  It seems that everyone there is a dealer so I don't expect to find any real deals.  I just have to be satisfied with what I bought for the price I paid.  I'm not a dealer myself (as if that isn't already obvious) but each year I like to change something in my gameroom.  For those who know what a Bingo pinball machine is, this spring I found a Bally Tahiti, NEW in box on Ebay, made him an offer he couldn't refuse before the bidding got too high, and drove down to Louisville to get it.  He couldn't get it to work.  The problem was that the lubricants had turned to thick jelly and things weren't moving when they should.  There was also a broken plastic piece on a relay so some of the contacts weren't working right.  The Tahiti has a 1976 date stamp on it.  Ooops, getting off subject, but I like my bingo.

Well thanks again for the info.  If anyone else has info or opinions please join in.

I'm not sure where this post should have gone so I put it in the General forum, but it seems to be getting read.

BigCheese (mike)

[Bigcheeze]

It seems that Staz and I were writing replies to this post so it may seem my reply is out of sequence.

Thanks for the info Staz.  I think you have confirmed that I will need to redirect my attention to the Cash Wheel.  So are there different versions of the Cash Wheel and do they all come with the same topper?

BigCheese (mike)

[staz]

there is a ton of different versions of cash wheels.....i highely recomend a vendor on here..... if your interested in buying one id suggest you go through him.... he is probably one of the best people on here i done buisness with and very helpfull ....his names jim and this is his website......
http://www.bettorslots.com/

[knagl]

It's an 8 hour drive from St. Paul...

Hello to a fellow Twin Cities NLG member!   

[Bigcheeze]

Staz,  Thanks for the info.  I went to his website and it looks like he has 2 versions of Cash Wheel right now.  I see that he has a 5% discount when buying two.  I will see if my co-worker is willing to take the plunge.  If so, then it might be best to go get them instead of shipping.   I don't know why, but I don't feel comfortable shipping a machine, though I did use a shipper when I bought a pinball machine from Stern and the machine did arrive without damage.

Kevin,  Nice to know someone local.  If you ever find yourself with some excess time and and feel like heading to the suburbs, I'm in White Bear Lake.  I have a variety of machines to play, though mostly pinball.  I don't collect them, I play them.  I'd rather not put a phone number on a forum, but you can contact me at b36.peacemaker@gmail.com since I check email a couple of times a day during the week.

Thanks again for the posts.  I value advice though sometimes it's hard to get :-)

BigCheese (mike)

[knagl]

Mike-

Excellent.  I'm completely on the opposite end of the metro from you (I'm just down the street from Mystic Lake), but I'll have to make it up to your place sometime.  I love pinball too (I have a couple of machines myself).

I'll send you an e-mail now so I'll have your e-mail address.  You may want to edit your post to remove it so that the spambots crawling the web don't pick up on the address.  Another thing you can do is to go into your profile and un-hide your e-mail address.  Your address will only be visibile to registered, logged-in members of NLG, and won't be visible to spambots who visit the site.

-Kevin

[Bigcheeze]

Kevin,

I will edit my profile as suggested.  I use the b36.peacemaker email address whenever I post in a pubic place.  I have 5 email addresses that I use for a variety of situations.  Yes, you are on the opposite end of town, but at least you are near the casino with the best buffet.

BigCheese (Mike)