They say if you have three of something, you have a collection. Well, crud. I guess I have a gumball machine collection now. (Seriously spellcheck, you don’t like “gumball” but want me to write about “gumboils” instead? That would be an entirely different article.) I didn’t mean for this happen, it’s just that when I am presented with the opportunity to buy something really cool, for a great price, I sometimes can’t help myself.
Last night, much to the delight of my kids, I came home with this large vending machine filled with plastic treasure balls. It even came with an extra bag of prizes that probably cost more than I spent on the whole thing — $10. That’s right, I got this beauty for a mere ten bucks, along with a few GameCube games that I had waiting in a box in the basement for just such an opportunity. To paraphrase the great Hannibal Smith, “I love it when a trade comes together!”
I do love the gumball machines for what they are, but I REALLY love how you can use them to display other items. This was my first gumball machine — a generic cheap version that is holding my collection of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures (and some dragons apparently).
The second vending machine I got was this restored beauty. It has a fresh coat of paint and new vinyl stickers, and it looks amazing, especially when it’s filled with vintage Archer space men.
Don’t turn the crank, or you’ll most likely decapitate one of those astronauts.
My new gumball machine is much larger than the other two, so I’ll have to come up with something cool to place inside it. My youngest son wants me to convert it to a fish tank so he can get a new fish every time he gets his allowance. Good idea but not very practical. I’m leaning towards putting LEGO minifigs inside all those plastic balls, but I’m not entirely sold on that idea yet. It would be fun to put something really bizarre in there, like a taxidermy raccoon, but I don’t have any of those — yet.
I’m open to ideas — and will trade for a raccoon.
Definitely like the LEGO minifig idea.
You always turn up the coolest stuff!
Oh darn. And I just traded off my last stuffed raccoon too.
I spent a lot of money in gumball machines during my formative years. For a while, it was an everyday thing on the way home from school. I had a ton of those knockoff MUSCLE figures, as well as a handful of cheap watches that lasted at most a few days before they fell apart or died.
Yep, I was a sucker for the foil sticker machines.
Too sweet!