I have put what seems like millions of dollars since my kids were born and have yet to get anything out of these machines. You know the ones with the 3 finger claw that you move from left to right, front to back and then hit the botton. The clamp cones down over the toy and has absolutlely no grasping power to pull the toy up. Am I doning something wrong? Is there a trick? I choose toys that look light and are no held down by other toys. Who has the solution?

A bent coat hanger, when nobody is looking.

no solution they jam them in so it's hard to get with the claw strenth .i'm hooked on that machine they have one at the bar i go to .i'll spend 20 bucks to get a 2$ stuffed animal .there is some thing wrong with me .i know better .it's a addiction just like my chevelle . good luck

If he was still alive I could ask my brother. Big, cowboy-ish type with a long handle bar moustache, not the type you would expect to have about 200 little stuffed animals around his house...

This kid figured it out. ;) :D

Boy in vending machine (http://www.mixed-up.com/markb/notebook/20050527a/)

My dad taught me how to play these. I always as a kid wanted him to win me something. He would just look at the machine and say, " you can't win anything from that one." Sometimes he'd play, and occasionally win (He's a truck driver and plays them all the time at truck stops.) The trick is to just look at the animals in the machine, some are packed tight, others are a little loose. Or it is possible to win three or four times if the machine has just been filled. Also the crane craw will grip better at the top of the machine.

P.S. if you want to play when their aren't many animals, aim for the ones near the chute. Nothing says you have to pick up the animal, just grab for the outer part of the animal and flip it into the chute!!

Was sitting at a truck stop one day and a driver had his 8-10 year old son with him. This kid had pulled so many animals out of the machine they had to get a trash bag to carry them all. I am still waiting to win my first one.

The only thing I ever got out of one of those machines was a Bevis & Butthead T-shirt. I used t get mad and kick the machine.

You beat them by keeping your money in your pocket. ;)

after you have deposited $200 in quarters,,smash glass and take wat you want,you earned it and, they are rigged

I'll ask my 8 yr. old daughter.. she has the Magic touch when it comes to those machines.. seriously, wherever we are, if she sees one of those machines... she asks to play... and almost always wins and never uses more than a dollar to do so., I have no idea how she does it :confused:

I've got a 20 year old niece that's the same way, Mike.
She'll clean a machine out...I've seen her win numerous items dozens of times. :cool:

Sadly, I'm pretty sure I know of a trick to those dreaded machines..The glass tends to make the items appear in a slightly different place. I have found that if you position the claw right ontop of the item you are after then look in from the side and move it foward or back til its center, you can actually grab the item. But hey maybe its just me and the..."skill":P. just kidding...good hunting guys.


-Dan