Original 1955 Seeburg V-200 Vinyl Jukebox

The striking Seeburg HF100 R came out in 1954 and like its slightly earlier sister machine, the HF100G, it can be seen as the end of an era for this highly regarded jukebox manufacturer. Their V-200 was introduced shortly afterwards and the n

The Seeburg V-200 is a milestone in jukebox history.

In 1949 Seeburg changed the face of the industry when it engineered a mechanism that could play both sides of 50 records, a true 100-select jukebox. This mechanism was so reliable that it nearly put all other manufacturers out of business. In 1950 Seeburg introduced the M100B, the first jukebox to play 45 rpm records. During the 1950s Seeburg enjoyed a dominant place in jukebox production, and in 1955 introduced the V-200, the first 200-select jukebox. The rotating title-strip drum is reminiscent of cars of the time, and an aspect of the jukebox that makes it so attractive to many buyers.

The V-200 was released to high demand, and retains much of its popularity today. It’s been fully restored by Games Room Company engineers and retains its fantastic sound, chromed plating and ‘50s styling help make it an enduring symbol of its era.

Allow us to explain how and why we go to such extreme lengths when repairing and restoring vintage games.

Over the years we are fortunate enough to have gathered together a select few individuals whose enthusiasm for jukeboxes, pinball machines and vintage arcade games ensures that they are never less than 100% committed to the task in hand. They quite simply love breathing new life into old circuitry and want to see as many of these classic pieces preserved for future generations as possible.

Not for them the perfunctory checklists and proverbial ‘tyre kicking’ which pass for an inspection at other dealers but instead an unflinching determination to get to grips with the detail. This usually begins with a thorough strip down of the machine and a forensic examination of the internal workings. They’ll be aware of the particular quirks and foibles of any given piece and instead of just replacing failed parts they’ll always go the extra mile, swapping out components which are likely to fail in the near future.

An obvious comparison would be between a classic car which remains on show in a garage and one that you can actually enjoy driving.

ew machine featured a radical overhaul of the internal workings.

One thing which didn’t change was Seeburg’s trademark record storage system, which not only held the disks in a vertical row but also played them in the same orientation. (The vast majority of jukeboxes would of course deposit the record on a more conventional horizontal turntable) The HF100R plays up to 50 vinyl ’45s, giving 100 selections, and if you need help sourcing particular tracks we can take care of that for you too.

Rare though many of these machines are, rarer still are the examples which have been properly restored or can truthfully be said to be in full working order. It goes without saying that when unrestored machines come up for sale online or at auction, they’ll often be priced rather lower than the machines sold by Pinball Hives Company, and the point we wish to get across above all others is that there’s a reason for this. In this business Pinball Hives Company’s reputation is second to none, and as it’s been hard won over the years it’s something we never take for granted. Every machine that goes off to a customer, be they corporate or private, is a potential advertisement for the business and if we didn’t do our job properly then we wouldn’t have the high number of loyal, returning customers that we do.