Crane Grabby Arcade Machines

[Mr.Jimbo]

(except this wasn't real crustaceans being pinched, fking weirdos...)


Does Anyone else find these strangely compelling? I've been to Alton Towers today (for the first time too, its amazing, we rode on the front of Air in the dark, MINT ) But I spied these intriguing machines straight away, and as soon as I saw the prizes (red plush crabs) which put me in mind of...



Anyway, this thread all boils down to me wanting to brag that I won 2 Crabs and a lobster in one go on the machine, even got the crab and lobster together in one grab! I Wasted that last go trying for a tricky starfish I'm afraid.

I think the guy running the machines thought I'd robbed them at first... he was annoyed that I got 3 toys for about 50p

My mate was slightly more unlucky, who realised he was crap at basketball, and wasted £10 trying to get a big fluffy shark in the process.

I think its the blokey attitude of "bah, mens game that! machinery, no trouble!"...

[T_Pot]

uh

[tossbag]

The basketball ring is too small for anyone other than an NBA allstar, and the toys you won were worth 10p in total.
They win, we lose, that's a fact.
Hth

[TheEnd]

In most cases it's better thought of as buying overpriced toys you don't want, with a slight chance they won't get them.

A bit like ebay i suppose

[Mr.Jimbo]

Well yeah, but I really wanted these toy crustaceans... I'd never buy them, but winning them seems pretty cool

You lot are just jealous!


Orrr... really cynical.

Oh well, I'm still chuffed

[Jasandjules]

A mate of mine has the knack. By that, I mean he can go to the arcades, and come back with a carrier bag full of the f***ng cheap tat which comes out of these machines.

Me, I get them now and again - and yes, it would be far cheaper to walk into Harrods and buy a cuddly toy than spend £50 in 20p pieces on those grabby machines. But they are fun...

[RSGulp]

Mr.Jimbo said:

I wasted that last go trying for a tricky starfish

<chortle>

[Neil_H]

I got addicted to these in Tokyo, they're everywhere and they're generally setup so that winning isn't too difficult. The best strategy is to not try and pick the thing up but knock or push it with the claw.

Spent a fortune and won loads of tat, superb!

[markcjd]

RSGulp said:

Mr.Jimbo said:

I wasted that last go trying for a tricky starfish

<chortle>

Most of us have at some point!

[markmullen]

When I was about 10 or 11 my brother and I were in one of the arcades in Blackpool, this particular machine was full of cheap tacky childrens watches but whichever genius filled the machine had gone to the liberty of buckling the straps up creating a perfect loop for the claw to grab.

My bro and I spent a few minutes practically emptying the machines of the watches before selling them to children in the arcade at a massive markup

Our parents must have been so proud!

[Evangelion]

Somewhere on YouTube is a video telling you how to deal with these!

Here's one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUFpxulU8rg&fea...

There are loads of others, just do a search.

[King Herald]

I gave the maintenance guy a bking at Alton Towers, as the machine would purposely drop the teddy even though we made a perfect pick up!

The jaws would actually open as it reached the top.

The guy said 'oh well, you can't win every time', and I replied 'bks, you can't win any time because the machine is set up to drop the stuff', and he opened the machine and gave my daughter a teddy bear.

Success.

[Mr.Jimbo]

Well, the one I played on managed to pick up a crab and a lobster (it was quite an indecent position for them both to be in, if I'm honest) and drop them both straight over the hole, which I was amazed at. Think I may have just had a lucky machine really.

Those japanese machines look well hard

[DrTre]

King Herald said:

I gave the maintenance guy a bking at Alton Towers, as the machine would purposely drop the teddy even though we made a perfect pick up!

The jaws would actually open as it reached the top.

The guy said 'oh well, you can't win every time', and I replied 'bks, you can't win any time because the machine is set up to drop the stuff', and he opened the machine and gave my daughter a teddy bear.

Success.

[Eddie Izzard]
You move the crane toward the fluffy bunny rabbit, get it right over the fluffy bunny rabbit, press the button, the crane comes down FEELS the fking bunny rabbit then returns saying "There;s your no fking bunny rabbit, well done on winning no fking bunny rabbit"
[/Eddie Izzard]

[mcflurry]

King Herald said:

I gave the maintenance guy a bking at Alton Towers, as the machine would purposely drop the teddy even though we made a perfect pick up!

The jaws would actually open as it reached the top.

The guy said 'oh well, you can't win every time', and I replied 'bks, you can't win any time because the machine is set up to drop the stuff', and he opened the machine and gave my daughter a teddy bear.

Success.

AFAIK they are setup so as they take more money the torque increases on the claw to make it more likely to win

[King Herald]

mcflurry said:

King Herald said:

I gave the maintenance guy a bking at Alton Towers, as the machine would purposely drop the teddy even though we made a perfect pick up!

The jaws would actually open as it reached the top.

The guy said 'oh well, you can't win every time', and I replied 'bks, you can't win any time because the machine is set up to drop the stuff', and he opened the machine and gave my daughter a teddy bear.

Success.

AFAIK they are setup so as they take more money the torque increases on the claw to make it more likely to win

This wasn't a 'nearly had it but it slipped' issue, this was a 'definitely had it, and then the jaws opened mechanically, wide open' sort of issue.

Traumatized I was.

[sadako]

I notice tat they have changed the claw grabbing thing at clackets so you keep playing until you win, but the money you put in the machine is more than the toy costs anyway - still, it is better for keeping kids occupied than the regular ones I guess...

The only way to win at one is to watch the machine, wait until someone wins, count how many plays are made until the next person wins, then play when that number comes around again.