Peppy The Clown Lives!

I was so delighted to find another one of the coin operated machines that made such an impact on my as a little kid. When I was a youngin' I loved me some puppets. I was obsessed with puppets and hoped to one day become a professional puppetter. Well, that didn't happen - but I've always had a special place in my heart for puppets. One of my favorite things to stumble upon in an arcade back in my youth was a machine that let you push buttons and opperate a marionette. Marionettes were like the cadalac of puppets to a kid with no money. It wasn't until I was in the fourth grade that I ever laid my hands on a marionette, but before then the coin-op puppet machine was just about the next best thing.

The machine consisted of a puppet on a stage, his mouth was controlled automatically to lip synch with a song, but through four buttons you could control the left and right hands and feet. I found one of these machines recently in my off-beat travels. I was thrilled that it still worked. My kids thought I was crazy for being so obsessed with such a simple concept, but 15 seconds after I dropped the quarter in the slot, the kids were pushing me out of the way to have a go at it. I was glad to see it brought good old fashioned smiles to their faces.

One of the feet didn't work but it was still great to see the machine again, Here's a video I took:


There were several different versions of this idea floating around arcades back in the day. I remember this one most vividly along with one only found at Walt Disney World (and I assume Disneyland) which featured a marionette of one of the bears from The Country Bear Jamboree. Good times!

Herbie Coin-Op Ride

spotted in Rehoboth Beach, DE

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Do You Have Change For a Dollar?

If I worked anywhere near a Pizza Vending Machine I would probably single-handedly empty out the entire machine within a week. It's one thing to get a Coke or a bag of chips out of a vending machine, but to be delivered fresh hot pizza - right to your kneecaps - that's something special! The other day while I was researching another post, I came across some vending machines that were either awesome or strange. I've assembled some photos here for your approval.


One of my favorite vending machines has always been the one with the different rotating shelves of food. The top shelves always have some bigger food items like burgers or a little tray of meatloaf and potatoes. Then, there's usually a small matching microwave nearby where you can heat up your vend-o meal in under a minute! That's all good eatin' right there. This pizza machine cooks and dispenses your pie in under two minutes. I'm serious, I would really like to see one of these machines in action...especially around lunch time!



I would also totally flip out if I ever cross paths with one of these hot dog machines. I'd imagine opening that little door and having the aroma of a warm, delicious hot dog grilled by a robot hitting your nose would be one of the top 5 scents of all time! I wonder if you can get chili and cheese on those dogs?

How many times have you been out and about and suddenly found yourself needing some Legos. I'd say it's safe to say that most people are in the habit of walking out the front door without a pack of Legos. I guess that's where this machine comes in!? Actually, this photo was taken in an airport overseas. I suppose it is kind of nice to be able to grab some Legos for your kids before a long flight, but really you should have thought about that before you got to the airport.

This is an iPod machine. It sells iPods. How strange is that?

...not as strange as a machine where you can grab your own lobster! I've actually seen one of these machines in a restaurant in Florida. If you can manage to pick up one of those pinchy suckers and deposit it in the hole, the restaurant will cook it up and serve it to ya at no extra charge. I'm sure this game was invented by someone who really has something against PETA.

And last but not least, I bring you - all the way from California - the marijuana vending machine! As you may know, in good ol' CA you can actually get a prescription from your doctor to legally smoke the ganja. There are places where you can go to buy your stash, but these vending machines have been popping up recently to serve the need. You have to get a prescription code from your doctor to be able to purchase the weed, your average Joe Schmoe can purchase the other tobacco products in the machine with no problem. The actual machine has an extra metal case around it. You can't see any of the products and it helps protect against theft. Either way, it's probably not a bad idea to put a Dorittos machine right next to every one of these pot machines.

Hey Kids, Hurricane!

It's been a while since we've talked coin-op fun. We stumbled upon a machine this weekend that really takes the cake. It first I thought it was one of those machines they have at the grand opening of car dealerships where you step inside and the money blows all around and you try to grab as much as you can in 30 seconds. But nope, It's a 78 MPH Hurricane Simulator. This kind of thing wouldn't be so odd if it were at a science center or maybe even some sort of Family Entertainment Center (like a go-cart track) but this thing was just sitting right in the middle of a mall!?! It's just sitting there, with no sign or instructions or anything...just a bill collector slot and a sticker that reads "$2".

Hurricanes kill people, uproot homes, destroy lives and property...even one of the darkest moments in recent American history involves a hurricane...and someone somewhere decided that it would be the perfect basis for an arcade ride!?! Bizarre! Maybe soon in malls all across the country kids will stop begging Mommy and Daddy for loose change to ride Elmo's Helicopter or a race car and instead will ask for some cold hard cash to ride the 78 MPH winds of terror.

My guinea pig...I mean, stepson Joey was more than happy to step into the machine and give it a try. He thought it was kind of cool but also kind of lame at the same time. As soon as he stepped into the machine, a rather large crowd (for such an uncrowded mall) gathered around to witness Joey's personal Storm of the Century. The machine went on to make four more bucks in the next few minutes. I wasn't able to get my cell phone video up on the blog here, but here's a link to the video of Joey in the Hurricane Simulator at the mall. Enjoy!

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He Sure Plays A Mean Pinball

I've always wanted to go to a Coin-op Show, where people buy and sell coin-operated amusement machines. I would love to own a coin-op kiddie ride and I think it would be cool to get one while I've got little kids who could enjoy riding on it. Well, today I made it to The White Rose Game Room Show which was kind of what I was looking for but it was mostly pinball machines. It was still cool, because I've always enjoyed pinball not only as a game but some of the machines are real works of pop art. The main attraction at this show was the main room which was made up of hundreds of pinball machines that you could play without quarters. Your admission to the show included unlimited play on tons of pinballs, a few video games, and other electronic wonders. It was a real blast playing some of the older machines from the 60's and 70's with their mechanical sounds and bells and low-tech game play. Of course, I brought alone the ol' WWOB camera and took a few photos for ya'll...

Great machine from the 60's with some nice bikini girl artwork.

This Power Play machine has a great red, white and blue color scheme that screams mid-70's!

I started to play this machine but then the game went on for too long and it didn't make any sense and...oh yeah, the movie Waterworld sucked!

Sadly, the machine did not feature the voice of Mr. Bill Shatner

Before she owned an amusement park, Dolly Parton was a pinball table.

Take a look at some more of my pictures at the WWoB Photo Album.

Fred Flintstone Lays an Egg

Last summer I did a post about coin-operated Egg Machines. You remember the machine: you put a quarter in, a chicken spins and clucks and then gives you a plastic egg filled with a plastic surprise!? There's many variations on this novelty machine but of course my favorite was the Flintstones version where you get Fred yelling "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" instead of a chicken doing her thing! Well, seeing as how WWoB is the internet's leading authority on the Chicken Laying an Egg Machine, a nice reader from Ohio sent me this photo of the totally awesome Fred Flintstone Laying and Egg Machine (or Lucky Eggs) which she found in a grocery store up there. Oh, how I yearn to see Fred spin and hear the scratchy recording of Yabba-Dabba-Doo!

It's rare to find anything Flintstones related where all the character's colors are correct. Here, in the picture at the top of the machine Fred's tie is the wrong color and Barney's tunic is also the wrong color. On the front glass of the machine Dino's face is not correctly colored either. Also, Dino proclaims via a word balloon that the eggs are from him! I didn't know male dinosaurs laid eggs. I also didn't know that monkeys could operate traffic lights so I guess anything is possible!