Anyone here have a crane machine in their arcade?

incrediblegamez

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So my kids are fascinated with crane machines. Everywhere we go that have them they must play and if we say NO they cry about it for the next half hour to hour.

I sat back and watched my kids 9 yr old and 7 yr old girls pump about $20 total into crane machines at the movie theater and decided it's time to buy one.

Fast forward today and i won a small one on ebay. Original auction 2 weeks ago was BIN for $300. Never sold. Relisted for $100 and i bid immediately and ended up winning yesterday. Now i just have to go pick it up! :)

Anyways do you guys have crane machines in your arcades/basement? My plan is to let my kids spend up to $2 of their weekly allowance on trying to win some prizes. We plan on stuffing it with stuffed animals or small items and even kicked around the idea of throwing an ipod or mp3 player in there. Do any of u crane machine owners do this? Figured i would let my kids pay "themselves" and playing crane games vs. spending tons of money while we are out on worthless items.
 
I have a crane in the basement. I thought the kids would get sick of it soon, but they still love it (12 and 8 years old). Every friend of theirs that comes over has to spend a half hour playing it. I have it on free play, and when it is empty we just throw all the stuffed animals from the house back into it. Mine is a cramer crane, and it has about 25 dip switches on the main pcb, and I have no idea what any of them do.
jim
 
I picked up a Grayhound Skill Crane a few months ago. Cleaned it up really nice, and have it set on freeplay. I like your idea of making it a bank for the kids! I'll have to think about it. Right now we just stuffed it with all the worthless stuffed animals that pile up over the years. Maybe I need to get some decent prizes in there.
 
I have an Americoin Junkyard, mid 70's Crane game, kids love it.
 
I would fill it with their stuff they leave laying around the house, and if they want it back they have to win it back.
 
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I've always noticed at the Arcades and Theatres that those prizes seem like they are wedged in there. Does anyone know if the Ops really cram them in tight or is it just normal for the claw to not have much force to grab the item?
 
I have one and my kids and their friends play it for hours.

The prize they all gravitate to in the machine is the $5 bills I put in small plastic containers.

I also got really lucky and picked up a case of new Pokemon plush off ebay for $35. :D
 
My local goodwill gets all new plush animals (still have tags), they know me as "the claw machine guy" The normal price on there stuffed animals is .50 to $2.00 however they hardly every sell and their back room is always piled up, so they give me a huge trash bag and whatever I can fit in is $5.00.. Can't beat it!!
 
I really want one. My kids are ALWAYS plopping money into them. I like the idea about putting their crap in one, and if they want it back, they have to win it back. Id put stuff in it like my wifes cell phone, and the mouse to the computer.
 
I've always noticed at the Arcades and Theatres that those prizes seem like they are wedged in there. Does anyone know if the Ops really cram them in tight or is it just normal for the claw to not have much force to grab the item?

Some cranes have more force on the claw than others. When a machine is stocked it is almost customary to pack it a bit tight (but not too tight). Once the claw loosens the toys up it is very easy to pick them up. It creates a buffer to make a bit of money first. If you pack it too tight people wont play the game. Think about it, do you play the crane with loose toys laying on top or the one with the packed inventory? When I worked for Namco we had to repack all of the cranes once a week. Not restock, just repack.

ps---never play a crane that has stuffed toys made with pleather. The pleather sticks together. We had a crane with a space gun theme made with pleather that no one could win at. Once a day we started just throwing loose ones on top so we could rid of them and order a different theme.
 
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