Information by J. Poole:
It was manufactured in the middle to late 1980s
by a company called Atlas Coin based in Edgware in north west London.
It’s main markets were France, where it was distributed by Sadima-Phonex base in
St. Ouen in Northern Paris, Belgium where it was distributed by Apollo in
Brussels and French speaking Switzerland where it was distributed by a company
in Sion. I was part of the team that designed it and the for technical support,
training etc. in the above countries.
Information Gert Almind:
Atlas Coin (parent
company of Sound and Light Ltd.), Atlas House, High Street, Edgware.
The company was established 1983 in Australia (→1987) by Jim Donovan and
Peter Clarke, two ex-directors of Aristocrat Automatics Ltd, the European
subsidiary of the Australian slot machine manufacturer Ainsworth Leisure (founded
1933).
The LFM was developed in-house with the design of the microprocessor based
control board subcontracted to a company called Pentica Ltd., Brighton Road,
Croydon, established 1979 (→2012). The upper section of the LFM video box
was in fact the Playmate Escort wallbox developed by Hazel Grove Music Co. Ltd.
in Cheadle near Manchester.
The LFM video jukeboxes produced in Edgware and later Croydon were operated in
UK pubs by Grand Metropolitan.
Atlas Coin later marketed a cheaper video jukebox, using modified domestic video
recorders developed by Kegmatics Automation Ltd. owned by Kenneth Edward Groves
(☼1927, †2019), and based in Titchfield in Hampshire (later Panache
Automation Ltd.).
The French connection: J.-A. Phonex = Élysée (1977-2019) and Sadima (1983-2019),
rue Godefroy, Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, established by Yves-Joel Mony (☼1930).
The company Phonex was for many years a major importer and distributor of coin
amusement machines in France, and in 2012 Ets. Phonex SA moved its HQ to
rue de Clignancourt in Paris.
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