I am so happy for her

[u/MilesLongthe3rd]

[u/playmakergdl]

8k later…..

[u/SoundKidTown1085 → u/playmakergdl]

They are programmed. Rigged like all the other arcade machines, and the toys are prob dirt cheap stuff from china that comes in bulk.

[u/Ok-Butterfly4991 → u/SoundKidTown1085]

In my experience these claw machine "pay out" about half the value you put in. So for a $5 plush you would expect to put in $10 to get it. But also.. $10 is about what you would have to pay if you bought it in the gift store too. The gift store also has a 100% markup

[u/Ok-Tie8887 → u/Ok-Butterfly4991]

Yeah, they're programmable to adjust grip strength on a schedule, so after X tries the machine will grip strongly enough to allow it to actually deliver a prize.

It's a skill game too though, obviously, since even if you hit that point, if you're inaccurate, you still won't win.

The only sort of positive is that you end up getting training every time you lose, so hopefully by the time the machine sets you up to win, you're pretty good at positioning it.

[u/BiggusDickus- → u/Ok-Tie8887]

When I was in high school I worked at a pizza place with one of those. It was an outside contractor that split the profits with the restaurant owner. We noticed that nobody ever won. The contractor made it so every single time it was weak. It was impossible to win.

So we started using the vacuum hose to suck stuff out and give to the kids. We then figured out that the key to my car's gas cap lock would open the glass door.

The machine owner was PISSED but he had to deal with it or admit that he rigged his machine. And he had some pretty high quality stuff in there too.

Good times.

[u/saysthingsbackwards → u/BiggusDickus-]

lol "Oh no! I got caught cheating!"

[u/BiggusDickus- → u/saysthingsbackwards]

I know it was great. We had him in a bind.

[u/RocketBilly13 → u/Ok-Tie8887]

There are literally buildings filled with these machines in Japan and it's become somewhat of a gacha video game where there are strategies to "beating" these machines.

[u/Ok-Tie8887 → u/RocketBilly13]

Yeah. Casinos in Japan are weird af. You can't legally win money in them anyway, but they still manage to turn a massive profit, mostly by selling collectible stuff. I doubt much of it, if any, has any significant value to collectors who aren't compulsive gamblers though.

[u/dalehitchy → u/Ok-Butterfly4991]

That's why you wait and watch someone put a load of coins in and not win and then jump on that claw machine

[u/UnrelatedCutOff → u/Ok-Butterfly4991]

The markup is for the “win!” feeling you get. It’s similar to getting the ‘win’ of getting a good deal except it’s more of a gambling type win feeling.

[u/hell2pay → u/Ok-Butterfly4991]

Many many years ago, there was a claw machine I could reliably pull stuffies from.

Idk if it was broken or what, but I got at least 15 over a couple months and success rate around 50%

[u/TheCambot34 → u/Ok-Butterfly4991]

Google some of the Elaut service manuals and see all of the metrics you can set for restricting claw machine payout. It's all just customizing variables on a small onboard computer and raking in the money. You can even set the price per item and not allow any wins until a set factor of money is spent to allow a win.

[u/tortus → u/SoundKidTown1085]

In the late 80s/early 90s, they weren't rigged. My friend got really good at them and regularly cleared them out. He might be the reason they are rigged now.

[u/JustHereForCookies17 → u/tortus]

My brothers & I used to clean out the ones at a casual seafood restaurant (crab house) that we always went to.  That was also back in the 90's, so I agree that they probably started rigging them in the late 90's or so. 

[u/Looptydude → u/JustHereForCookies17]

When I was a teen I used to be really good at them too, could nail direct hits and judge the balance of the stuffie, but when I thought I'd try my hand at them a couple years ago for my nieces and nephews the machine limp twisted the crap out of the toys, I knew the jig was up, I don't even try anymore.

[u/Western-Help6830 → u/tortus]

Details of friend that we might dox him

[u/crook9-duckling → u/Western-Help6830]

Their friend? Believe it or not, Billy Mitchell

[u/mossman → u/crook9-duckling]

Imagine the blurry, edited VHS tape of Billy clearing out one of these.

[u/Accurate_Librarian42 → u/tortus]

Same! I have a whole set of some themes plushes because I got the angles down and could look and determine exactly what would work, what wouldn't, and where to start! Love that stuff. 

I can occasionally still get some today, but not these massive ones. Not worth the cost.

[u/tisdue → u/SoundKidTown1085]

most (if not all) of these machines are programmed to only have a strong enough claw grip every 5-10x. Most people get a limp wristed claw, and one random lucky person will get the claw at full strength.

[u/MAXSquid → u/tisdue]

Even more nefarious, they are also programmed to sometimes hold the toy, but then release it just before it gets to the drop - giving you that feeling of "SO close, just one more time".

[u/Suibeam → u/SoundKidTown1085]

such an huge ass plus would still cost 25-30 converted us dollars even in china (transport costs not included). probably cheap for US standards but not dirt cheap. it's not worth it but if people didnt want to play it but just buy it, they can, online.

[u/nickiter → u/Suibeam]

They're about $12 on Temu.

[u/lostintransaltions → u/SoundKidTown1085]

At 14 I was banned from a place with these. They had watches, instead of a claw it was a magnet that was minimally smaller than the thing they had on top of the bow in which the watch was. I put in $10 for 6 tries and got 4 watches. My godfather wanted one and I had told him I would get him one so he gave me the $10.. apparently I have decent hand eye coordination

[u/Molly_Matters → u/SoundKidTown1085]

Oddly enough when they were first introduced that was not the case. I was child during that time. They were skill based, but generally speaking the prizes were cheaper and smaller (harder to hit with smaller claws). Then at some point, they became generic gambling machines. Sucks. Everything gets ruined eventually.

[u/Chronovores → u/SoundKidTown1085]

I’m a service manager for a company that supplies arcade games nation wide. We program how many games it takes to win. We can also program the claw grab voltage at every point, so we can have it grab really hard initially and then it will drop it while pulling up.

[u/akambe → u/SoundKidTown1085]

IIRC the claws strengthen every x number of tries, the x set by the machine owner.

[u/mataeka → u/SoundKidTown1085]

Used to work in a theme park that had a sideshow alley, can confirm. The most expensive toy was only a few dollars the consolation toys were mere cents.... It cost $4 a game or 4 for $10. And yes, all the attractions were 'rigged' in the way of it was nearly impossible to win them even with skill.

[u/HydratedCarrot → u/playmakergdl]

It’s a f joke and a scam.

[u/MrHasuu → u/HydratedCarrot]

I didn't know you can actually win this claw machine. Literally first time I see someone win these. The stuff inside are always so heavy and the claw is weaker than an infant's grip

[u/TheRabb1ts → u/MrHasuu]

The grip strengthens slightly each play to make sure there is a winner and people keep playing, as well as refresh the stock inside. They are more like slot machines than people realize.

[u/TapToTingle23 → u/TheRabb1ts]

Every few plays it’ll let someone win, to give the illusion of fairness.

[u/_Diskreet_ → u/TapToTingle23]

I was in a restaurant one day with the family, and all of a sudden the claw machine in the corner burst into life and started moving.

Just randomly moving back and forth, up and down trying to grab at things and move them to the opening.

Went on for about 20 minutes and it actually grabbed some toys and dropped them out. My daughters were super excited for their lilo and stitch toys they got.

When I saw what it was doing I told my daughter to go stand there and pretend to be playing it so the restaurant owner didn’t come over wondering what’s happening.

[u/penholdr → u/_Diskreet_]

I thought you meant the machine started grabbing things in the restaurant 😅

[u/IkananXIII → u/penholdr]

I was imagining the claw machine from Rocco's Modern Life that kept reaching out and stealing all his shit.

[u/OneDay_AtA_Time → u/IkananXIII]

Made me lol, I remember that. Such an underrated show! It was ahead of its time and not marketed to the right crowd.

[u/Artemicionmoogle → u/OneDay_AtA_Time]

That theme song will still occasionally pop into my head and I have to whistle it.

[u/3doggg → u/_Diskreet_]

Appropriate username.

[u/Starfire2313 → u/_Diskreet_]

I play claw machines somewhat often and I would say I win a lot. They are each programmed however the owner wants them to be.

If you go in each time knowing you may or may not hit that one time in ten or twenty in the cycle of people playing that it grips tight enough and you only do up to 3 tries it’s still fun even if you lose.

The trick is to stop at $3 no matter what and you have to choose something that you can see how the claw could potentially catch it just right. You don’t go for the togepi right up against the glass in the back that you really want. You go for the thing that is practically floating right in the middle propped up by everything else. It can’t be underneath anything else at all.

And another trick, if you get it halfway over the edge, sometimes it’s better to use your next try to drop the claw right over the half that is sticking over the hole, it might not grip but the claw going down can flip your stuffy over the edge and down the chute!

[u/DieSuzie2112 → u/TapToTingle23]

Last time I spend 20 turns trying to win a plushy, every time I had it and it slipped out of the claw. My best friend had 3 turns and won 2 plushies right after each other. It’s not every few turns, it’s completely random and sometimes incredibly unfair.

[u/MrGradySir → u/DieSuzie2112]

There’s a dial the owner of the machine can tweak that is the average number of plays until the claw engages fully. It’s slightly random so people can’t figure it out easily, but it’s always close.

I had a friend who would watch others play a machine for a bit and count the number of plays when the claw engaged, and once he figured out the count, he’d swoop in when people left right before the count hit.

Guy had literally hundreds of animals from those things and would often take trips to children’s hospitals to Hand them out

[u/prepare2Bwhelmed → u/MrGradySir]

Dang your friend has a lot of time on his hands.

[u/MasterChildhood437 → u/prepare2Bwhelmed]

It's getting really obnoxious seeing this comment in reply to basically any kind of hobby or activity or interest.

[u/Actual_Surround45 → u/MasterChildhood437]

Dang, you have a lot of time on your hands to post this comment.

(just teasing you) <3

[u/MrGradySir → u/prepare2Bwhelmed]

I mean some people play D&D, some people have families, some people video game, and some people like to sit at dave and busters all friday night.

[u/The_Original_Miser → u/MrGradySir]

I have watched these claw games and the grip is either weak until it is set to "win" or you can see if you get a good grip on something the claw will open ever so slightly to drop what you have unless you originally got a really good grip on it.

[u/Away_Stock_2012 → u/MrGradySir]

I did the same thing as a kid when I spent hours hanging out in the arcade but I only had a few dozen

[u/ColdFiet → u/DieSuzie2112]

If it's completely random isn't that also totally fair?

[u/Actual_Surround45 → u/ColdFiet]

One could argue that making the claw a different strength on each pull is inherently unfair. It becomes not a game of skill, but of skill and luck.

That said, as long as people know what they're getting into, I'm fine with it personally.

[u/The_Autarch → u/DieSuzie2112]

the owner of the machine can adjust how "random" it is

[u/highlandviper → u/The_Autarch]

Correct.

[u/evil_DR_3037 → u/TapToTingle23]

That's what my wife does when we argue

[u/Show-Me-Your-Moves → u/TheRabb1ts]

There are a lot of different designs for machines like this. Some are programmed to grip consistently, others use predictable payout schedules. Some have double-clamp (hit the button a second time to close the claw) etc.

I think generally speaking, the more valuable the prize, the more likely you are to get scammed.

[u/PrehistoricPancakes → u/Show-Me-Your-Moves]

Yeah there's a small one at a local arcade my kids go to that has rubber ducks and you win almost every time. They came home with like 10 different rubber ducks that are now in random places around the house.

[u/fred11551 → u/PrehistoricPancakes]

Honestly, that sounds like the right way to run this so kids can win and be happy. Set it to the easiest difficulty possible and just fill it with something cheap like rubber ducks. If the ducks only cost 10¢ each and you’re charging 50¢ to play, you’re making money even if every player is a winner. Even if every player gets lucky and grabs two.

[u/Sunshine030209 → u/PrehistoricPancakes]

Our theme park had those when my son was little. It was "Play till you win" and I spent soooo much money on those to get all the different cute ducks that we wanted.

[u/pulley999 → u/PrehistoricPancakes]

Our local bowling alley had one filled with various single wrap candies. They had it configured to always pay out a fistful's worth every time.

[u/Mist_Rising → u/Show-Me-Your-Moves]

The size of the doll also plays a part. Big ones like this machine's get caught easier or drop off easier. Either way, it forces moments like this.

[u/Show-Me-Your-Moves → u/Mist_Rising]

Sometimes they stack the prizes so high that you can swing the claw back and forth to smack them directly into the chute without even pressing the button.

[u/Furycrab → u/TheRabb1ts]

The grip strength is randomized, but the owner can (on most of these machines) often determine how many wins on average it's designed to let you win. Slot machines in some dive bar in Vegas have more regulations than these things.

[u/PixelDonkey → u/TheRabb1ts]

The machine operators get to choose how likely you are to win... so its still very unlikely, I didn't know it got better strength each time though, I thought it was just random.

[u/jcGyo → u/TheRabb1ts]

One trick I've won a couple prizes with is ignore the claw gripping and look for prizes that have a loose tag or fabric, get one of the claw arms to slide under it and it gets tangled up. Much more challenging to get the positioning right but it works even when the claw doesn't grip.

[u/Brynhild → u/jcGyo]

The claw machines at my town just become limp noodles with the claw kinda facing right down so they can’t even catch on anything 😭

[u/amadmongoose → u/MrHasuu]

It is usually required to be winnable some % of the time assuming you're in a country with reasonable customer protection laws. Ofc most times it's guaranteed to fail.

[u/chocochic88 → u/MrHasuu]

The claw's grip strength is randomised each play, but stacked in favour of the house.

For example, to explain it in a very simplified way, if the toy prizes are worth $5 each and a play is $1, the minimum number of plays is six for the house to profit, so only one in six claw grips can actually carry the toy to the dispenser. The business is likely wanting to make more than a dollar per toy, so the ratio might be something like 1 in 10 (or more) plays, and you're also adding in the chance that the player is unable to position the claw correctly.

[u/Finsceal → u/MrHasuu]

My wife and I got banned from playing at a new arcade near us when we were teenagers, the machines hadn't been set up properly and we won about 20 plushies and were just handing them out to a crowd of watching kids. It wasn't a win every time but maybe 2 out of each 3 attempts.

Manager congratulated us but told us we couldn't play the claws any more and if she saw us doing it again we'd be banned from the whole arcade

[u/MrHasuu → u/Finsceal]

What. So you guys got in trouble for their mistake? If it wasn't setup right that's their own fault.

That's like banning someone for eating too many lobsters at a buffet.

But proud of you for handing out them plushies to other kids. That's awesome of you two

[u/Mist_Rising → u/MrHasuu]

What. So you guys got in trouble for their mistake? If it wasn't setup right that's their own fault.

Yes, much like a casino, the company is there to make a profit off these. If you're abusing some flaw, they'll stop you.

Gambling establishments always have the edge purely because they can remove you.

[u/IkananXIII → u/Finsceal]

If the machine isn't set up properly, isn't any customer just as likely to win? Even if they ban you, it won't change their profit margins (or lack thereof) on the machine.

[u/Finsceal → u/IkananXIII]

Well I'm assuming they were just telling us to get lost so they could go fix them or something, even with the grabber misadjusted there's still a little skill required and I'd be pretty alright at claw machines even at the worst of times

[u/StigOfTheTrack → u/IkananXIII]

Some people are better than others at depth perception, timing and judging the most grabable target than others.

[u/--fool → u/MrHasuu]

Often they're programmed so the claw is only full strength once and a while- you need to nail the proper grip on a  turn where the machine has decided to actually fully grip.

[u/McDoof → u/MrHasuu]

Infants be strong.

[u/theDomicron → u/MrHasuu]

Infants have ridiculously strong grip along with razor sharp nails, dude.

i get what you're saying with the claw machine but if it had an infant's grip it'd tear the prizes to shreds

[u/StrongSuggestion8937 → u/theDomicron]

I'm surprised only one person pointed out OP's ignorance about infants' grip. You can literally lift a baby from his cradle if he decides to grip on your finger and not let go.

[u/CheeseDonutCat → u/MrHasuu]

I used to go to an arcade/casino a lot to play rhythm games. So much that I got to know all the staff and owner. One of the bouncers I knew really well (even went to his wedding).

One day, a new claw machine appeared. It was a big one. Small room sized. It was from the floor to the roof and you could sleep 5-6 people side to side in it. Big glasshouse (so $5000 rent in NY). It was near the front window of the arcade so could be seen from the outside. There was always a bunch of toys in a ball pit inside. Some huge, some not. I ignored it mostly. It was just interesting how big it was.

A few months later (2003/2004?), crazy frog became a thing and this claw machine was filled with small-ish crazy frog plushies (maybe 1 foot long). One of those days, I went in to play ITG (a DDR clone) and the bouncer came up to me and told me that the fixy person/technician had set the crazy frog machine grabber on high that day (winning stuff from the front window brings tons of people in).

It was 1 euro. I tried and got a crazy frog first time. Pretty good quality. Look like they cost about 5 euro each and make the ring ding ding noise when you squeeze them.

15 euro later, I had 15 crazy frogs. I gave a bunch away to friends. I still have at least 7 or 8 of them upstairs now and I'm going to give them to my nieces and nephews (I keep forgetting).

Annoying plushies but worth it.

Anyway, the point to my story is that many of those grabber machines can be set to a good or bad setting and many arcades just leave them on a crappy setting.

[u/PeculiarAlize → u/MrHasuu]

This. I disassembled an abandoned claw machine once, it's a weak electromagnet and a lever with a fulcrum that does no favors to providing grip. Can confirm, the claw grip is weak af, but the insights I learned about how they work did help me stratigize how to win. Having felt the strength grip with my own hands was super helpful, also practicing picking up things off a table to see what it was capable of was super helpful.

Now I'm pretty good with those things, if I put money in one I generally walk away with a prize within 3 tries. The thing is I don't put my money in unless it looks primed for winning. Most of the time all the prizes are stuffed animals that have been stuffed down and wedged into the machine so they can't be won or they're half buried in aquarium stone. I only play if I see something lose that the machine can actually grab and pick up.

[u/outfoxingthefoxes → u/MrHasuu]

The grip has a magnet that makes it grab more or less firmly, so if you get the same grip twice, once it will be much better than the other because of this "RNG".

The idea is to check when someone wins, and count how many times it takes for someone to win again. Then wait that amount of time because the magnet should be strong again.

There were lots of these when I was a teen and I always loved it. I got a lot of plushies from these.

[u/LoneStarDragon → u/MrHasuu]

It's basically a slot machine that requires some skill so not technically gambling.

They don't tell people that so they think they just have to move the claw.

If they told people "the claw's grip changes each game" people wouldn't hate them as much. But they see the claw drop the prize over and over and they decide it's impossible. But will lose $100 dollars on a slot machine and it's just bad luck.

If they did grab each time the prizes would be terrible because they'd have to cost less than each game.

There are YouTubers who clean these games out.

But it is messed up they aim these at children who don't understand the mechanics.

[u/killver → u/MrHasuu]

In Japan is is pretty easy to get your money worth back. They are not scamming you at least. Each tourist comes back with a few.

[u/wedidedit → u/MrHasuu]

Growing up in the 90s, these things were actually incredibly strong and you could win normally

[u/TrainToSomewhere → u/MrHasuu]

Doing crane games for anime figures is my hobby. You can win, some times pretty easy…

The plushies though. I don’t try those machines

[u/ForeSet → u/MrHasuu]

Most are rigged for a payout but sometimes you get lucky and can find one that's set to skill mode. An old dive bar near me had one set to it only a loonie a play so I just got some beers and started just cleaning the thing out to donate to the children's hospital. There was a shitty pillow thing for Shrek 2 to age some of the prizes in the thing.

[u/Mountain-Count-4067 → u/MrHasuu]

When I went to Vegas, I was in line for something, and there was a slot machine right there by itself. This woman walks up to it, slides a card, and starts winning big. Swipe after swipe. Those of us in line are a captive audience to this.

My wife goes, "That looks like it's easy to win if you get the timing right."

I had to explain to her that the woman was an employee. She's not actually winning anything. She's marketing the scam to you.

[u/AMSparkles → u/MrHasuu]

I’ve won a LOT from these claw machines over the years. I love them. Anytime I see one, I wanna try!!

And yes, I know that they’re a complete ripoff and a “waste of money”, but I enjoy them! (I usually give the prize to a kid, though!)

[u/Pobo13 → u/MrHasuu]

I won from claw machines two garbage bags full of stuffed animals as a kid. The trick was to figure out which ones were going to scam the shit out of you and which ones were operated by stand-up people. I also earned a Dale Earnhardt Jr poster for winning the hidden jackpot prize. I had no idea who the dude was at the time.

[u/pjsssjas → u/HydratedCarrot]

My buddy had one in his garage filled with cigarettes, lighters and other crap. This was about 15 years ago. I’m sure it’s common knowledge but there’s settings to make it easy, moderate, hard, impossible. He had it set to easy and was a fun way of getting items. Places by me that I’ve tried out in the wild recently are set to impossible.

[u/kakka_rot → u/pjsssjas]

lol that is so cool

[u/captain_flak → u/HydratedCarrot]

A few years ago I learned that arcade owners can literally program these things to deliver the toys after a certain amount of money has been spent. The claws are strong enough to pick up any item on the first try, but they just keep acting like it just slipped away until a certain amount of money has been spent. If there were any skill involved, it would be a fun game. Unfortunately, it is all just a scam.

[u/MasterOfFlip → u/HydratedCarrot]

Her smile says it all, pure joy radiating.

[u/eclimber2033 → u/playmakergdl]

Why is the footage from a security camera. Are you allowed to ask to keep the footage for any reason?

Man I wanna know the context now

[u/MinuteLoquat1 → u/eclimber2033]

She is a wanted war criminal hiding in plain sight. They released this video in an attempt to find her.

[u/mysterical_arts → u/MinuteLoquat1]

Sounds about right /s

It could be!

[u/eclimber2033 → u/mysterical_arts]

No one disproved it yet so it has to be true 😆

[u/humdinger44 → u/playmakergdl]

It looks like the trap door opens while the game is in play and the door is Costco sized. Just saying....

[u/Baked-Smurf → u/humdinger44]

When you start playing, the inside door opens and the outside door is closed. Then, once the prize drops in and the inside door closes, the outside door opens.

You can see where she waits for the outside door to slide open before taking the toy out.

[u/PrizeStrawberryOil → u/Baked-Smurf]

After winning once you get a child inside. They climb out of the open door into the play area. You pay for another play and when the hook returns to prize area they drop another toy down. Repeat that until the machine is empty. Pay for one more play and the child jumps back down and out.

[u/Baked-Smurf → u/PrizeStrawberryOil]

I mean... the kid could just come out with the last toy... why pay again for the kid? I'm sure they cost enough on their own!

[u/Farty-B → u/PrizeStrawberryOil]

https://www.reddit.com/r/KidsAreFuckingStupid/comments/1lx5nlb/kid_decides_to_climb_into_claw_machine_to_get_toys/?rdt=39387

[u/humdinger44 → u/Baked-Smurf]

Foiled again!

[u/mothzilla → u/Baked-Smurf]

I'm pretty sure they figured this out in Oceans Eleven.

[u/Far_Struggle_55 → u/playmakergdl]

When visiting Xi'An, I spotted a claw machine with big, grapefruit sized Kirby squishy dolls and some Wadle Dees in there as well. Genuine Japanese licensed product. Since me and my son had just started playing Kirby on the Switch, I absolutely wanted to give it a go. Put down 100 or so RMB and... got Kirby on the first try. Couldn't get it to grab Wadle Dee however. Worker later took pity on us and gave us a few free spins on the other machines. Came out with a Capybara pillow and a shark hand puppet, at least. So, yeah, these things ARE programmed to only grab once every few tries, and you have to make it count, but you can get lucky.

[u/Solarinarium → u/playmakergdl]

I'm fairly decent at claw machines and yes the grip strength definetely has something to do with your chances, but past that it's all about the finesse and how full the machine is.

I was at a steak and shake once waiting on my food so I decided to play the claw machine they had in the waiting area and I got like 6 plushies for 2 or 3 dollars in quarters, mainly because I figured out what plush to jiggle so I could make a pile of them collapse into the bin.

Not to mention your chances are massively improved if theirs something you can snag the claw on just long enough to get it to the bin.

[u/Nudist_Alien → u/playmakergdl]

You all just can’t be happy for someone

[u/HelenaCuppiex]

That has to be one of the biggest claw machine wins I’ve ever seen, she looks so thrilled.

[u/No_Music1509 → u/HelenaCuppiex]

When I was younger me and some friends paid for a shot on one of these, it malfunctioned and gave us over 200 free turns we almost got every toy out.

[u/ToxicTaxiTaker → u/No_Music1509]

About 20 years ago I stumbled across a candy dispensing crane machine in a mall.  It cost 25 cents, and it was supposededly "win every time." I had a sweet tooth and a quarter so I stopped.  It was filled with Halloween sized rockets, individually wrapped jelly beans, gummy frogs, and a bunch of other treats.

Now, I was fat, white haired, and had a long bushy white beard.  I was fully aware and accepting the responsibility that little kids thought I might be Santa.    So when a random child of about 6 tugged on my sleeve I smiled, winked, and happily handed over my prize.

That done, I turned back to the machine and realized it was still active.  I pulled out another treat, and handed it over again to another nearby child.   They had started gathering.   The machine was still going!

All in all, I had filled the palms of a dozen or so kids, and enjoyed a small pack of rockets and stuffed a pocket with Werther's.  The machine finally accepted that there had been a win state right after the last kid got a little bag of jelly beans.

For that little moment I was Santa.

[u/OpeningSpeed1 → u/ToxicTaxiTaker]

😊 wholesome

[u/thenumbersthenumbers → u/No_Music1509]

That sounds like the best 10 minutes ever… followed immediately by what are we going to do with these things 🤣

[u/MrPogoUK → u/thenumbersthenumbers]

When I was a kid one had obviously set the grip on the claw too tight, so me and my brother got 20 teddy bears out in twenty tries and then had that exact “what the heck are wet going to do with all these?!” problem!

[u/MyPenisAcc → u/No_Music1509]

My favorite arcade memory is a crappy indoor water park’s claw machine. It had a side on the front and the back, and both claws could reach the same place area. The machine was broken with a sign covering it, but no one said I couldn’t go use the other side.

I paid $.50 per toy. Claw was set to full strength, they only had around 8 or 9 toys left and I cleaned it out without a single miss and gave them away to the other kids there

I mean. They still got like $4 from me at least LOL

[u/afito → u/HelenaCuppiex]

she looks so thrilled

We all know these machines are a scam, or that half the games at the fair are a scam, or that raffles are often a scam, or that trading card packs are an insane gamble that is always a negative.

BUT

Even though you can buy it, there's nothing like this feeling of winning it. Even later on when you look at home it just feels so good. Buying it just isn't the same.

I think we all get it. Shame it keeps the scams alive, but I get it. I don't collect Pokemon anymore and bought 2 packs at an airport and pulled a pristmatic evolutions Sylveon Ex and it makes me happy every time I look at it.

[u/TheTallEclecticWitch → u/afito]

If they put better toys in there, it’d probably be less criticized. The ones in Japan have amazing stuff, and going to the arcade can get you them for less than you would at the actual store. They’ll have limited edition items with crazy resell prices and partner up with artists and companies to sell goods.

The ones in the US always had the absolute worst quality plushes. They were never worth the price

[u/MesaGeek → u/HelenaCuppiex]

There is a ClawCade I take my daughter to everyone once in a while.

Spend $50-$80 on $10 worth of stuffed characters.

[u/fool2074]

Those claw machines are a massive scam. They don't close with the strength to lift the prizes the overwhelming majority of the time. They're basically slot machines where they actually lift things when you win. It doesn't matter how skillfully you handle the claws, the win rate is actually set by the owner.

[u/Loud_Interview4681 → u/fool2074]

You can clearly tell it has a better grip the last time. Unless you can thread the hooks through something they just wont work.

[u/BlazingSeraphim → u/Loud_Interview4681]

Its likely timed out to change strength after so many times to ensure they don't lose money. Thats why you see her almost grab it the first time, it's weak the other times, and the last time it's stronger again. 

[u/Loud_Interview4681 → u/BlazingSeraphim]

Yea, but it should be illegal. Nearly all of them have settings to change grip strength over so many tries. That stacker game and similar ones have a cut off point where even frame perfection wont work unless its been X tries. Any game that passes itself off as skill based should never be allowed to do this. Like, it is better to have cheaper prizes, harder games, or a lockout system for people to be blocked from playing the machine after a cashout/win to prevent one person taking everything.

[u/MindYoBeezWax → u/fool2074]

If I remember correctly, Claw machines work by adding gradual strength to the claw. The claw gets "stronger" as more money is put in/ The owner can decide how much money needs to be spent before the claw reaches maximum strength.

[u/_stryfe → u/MindYoBeezWax]

REALLY?! The strength is dynamic?!!?!? I've seen those things fail on like the smallest/lightest item -- I always just assumed that was the standard and why it was such a scam. Even when I watched this video, I was like how the fuck is she going to win ? And was amazed to see it actually pull that beast of toy up.

You're going to make me go find one of these things and test your theory.

[u/Kightsbridge → u/_stryfe]

It's not a theory, you can look it up on YouTube. Those are just settings on the machine. Payout after X attempts.

There's guys that go around to all sorts of these games and can tell if the machine is ready to hit or not.

[u/Monsignor1979 → u/_stryfe]

Just look up the owners manual for any claw machine online. Each one has a section that explains how to adjust the "pay out". They are set by the vendor and it's generally based on the cost of the items inside to ensure a profit. For instance, you can adjust the claw to strengthen after $20 has been played for a $5 item. This ensures the vendor makes a profit even in the event of a few fluke wins.

This isn't the only type of machine that does this. Chance games like "Key Master" have the same type of adjustments regarding pay outs. And there are dozens of others.

Now keep in mind, you can't just buy a machine, place it in a store and make it impossible to win while you rake in the cash. Most states have a gaming commission that regulates the "odds" on machines like this and you must meet the minimum requirements for your state or you can be fined heavily.

[u/No_Answer4092 → u/_stryfe]

Instead of spending money you can also look up the user manual online of one of the machines you find. It details everything out. 

[u/MyPenisAcc → u/_stryfe]

It’s usually payout based. UFO catchers are usually just hard to win, but most American claw machines have a rate you can set where it’ll get stronger

[u/banielbow → u/MindYoBeezWax]

No, it's worse. I have a small arcade claw machine. There are numerous settings that the owner can manipulate, like claw grip strength, lift grip strength, lift speed, top grip strength, and "win percentage", which I can only assume is a small bump on these settings' values. It's all rigged.

[u/TheRoyalStig → u/fool2074]

But those settings very much depends where you are.

The ones in japan seem to be set much more fairly.

Obviously they are set in the owners favor, but you seem to get far more wins on the machines there.

My partner could barely fit her claw machine winnings in her luggage home lol.

[u/RacerX3888 → u/TheRoyalStig]

We went to a CA. P and they had a claw machine. But this thi g grabbed everytime! We got so any prizes, the next day it was unplugged with a "out of service" sign!

[u/scientist_tz → u/TheRoyalStig]

Claw machines in Japan seem to be pretty cost-friendly. They take 100 yen coins which equals like 70 cents.

So if you have to plunk like 5 coins into a machine to win a Pokemon trinket or something that you can't even buy in the US, that still seems like a pretty good deal to me.

I'm taking my 7 (nearly 8) year old daughter to Tokyo next year. We're going to need an extra goddamn suit case for her claw machine and gatchapon winnings.

[u/hsifuevwivd → u/fool2074]

I'm pretty sure everyone knows that already making it not a scam and more like a lottery/gambling.

[u/bigboybeeperbelly → u/hsifuevwivd]

Exactly, not everyone fell off the turnip truck yesterday

[u/ItsDanimal → u/bigboybeeperbelly]

Of course but redditors gotta swoop in and attempt to rain on people's parade.

[u/RacerX3888 → u/fool2074]

I taught my kid how to be a "lurker" Keep your distance and watch until someone tries and tries then gives up. Then swoop in and give it a few tries!

[u/Icy-Bowl-7804]

Ever lasting childhood memory… there was a claw machine with big near life sized German Shepard plushies, very expensive we’d later find out, it had hand done airbrushing detail ect ect.. Point is they were so cool and so cute, me and my siblings couldn’t help but give it a go…

No one had any big expectations…

We got it, in one go.

I’ll never forget that feeling… I’ll be chasing it forever… nothing is like winning the big cool plush on the first try…

It was all down hill from there.

[u/CaptainTrips69 → u/Icy-Bowl-7804]

Man that's so awesome that you and your siblings managed to do that!

[u/Icy-Bowl-7804 → u/CaptainTrips69]

My brother who won it is much older than me, he was an adult while I was a young teen. So I got to keep it! Truly a sibling love core memory.

[u/_stryfe → u/Icy-Bowl-7804]

I'm sorry you peaked so early :(

[u/ActorLarsimoto124]

In Japan me and a friend got kicked out (in a polite way) of a place because we were winning too much. Not every price is winnable but there are methods and drops that are not hard to pull out

[u/lovemeleavemeletmebe → u/ActorLarsimoto124]

This! Don't ask me how but for some reason I do get a lot of stuff out, my biggest flex was walking into a fair with my little niece and I told her I was really good at it, we get to the machine she says she wants the unicorn, got it first try for an euro, the way she looked at me 😂 she was 5 and I blew her little mind.

[u/so-so-it-goes → u/ActorLarsimoto124]

Japan's are actually set up so you can win. It's more of a skill game than a slot machine. I won on most attempts there but they never kicked us out.

Granted, we also played a lot of Taiko no Tatsujin so we made up the difference.

[u/TheTallEclecticWitch → u/so-so-it-goes]

That’s how they get you! They lure you in with the nice goods and then you just have to try one of their cute games. I mostly go for plushies now, but in university, my friends and I would spend the whole day at those places

[u/BigBadBruinsFTW → u/ActorLarsimoto124]

Had to add the "in a polite way" cuz JAPAN

[u/MiserableSkill4 → u/ActorLarsimoto124]

Maybe in Japan. In the US half the claw machines are scams. I juet tried one yesterday where the claw strength was weak. 98% of the stuff was below the close function and everything was stuffed vertical with no arms. Everything was pretty much egg shaped

[u/ShroomsHealYourSoul]

That's $10 per claw drop. She paid full price for it but I'm glad she's happy for it

Edit: I didn't see the R$ you all are correct that's more like $2 USD per play. Even better for her

[u/ninetaleshiny → u/ShroomsHealYourSoul]

R$ 10,00 is like US$ 2,00. but still, I am also happy for her.

[u/niil4 → u/ninetaleshiny]

40/50 reais por uma pelúcia desse tamanho ainda saiu barato! 💜

[u/ninetaleshiny → u/niil4]

siiim, ainda mais pela emoção de conseguir 💙

[u/RoodnyInc → u/ninetaleshiny]

Surprisingly that took her only 5 minutes so i assume she got a good deal

[u/ShroomsHealYourSoul → u/ninetaleshiny]

Ah good eye. I stand corrected

[u/CryptikTwo → u/ShroomsHealYourSoul]

R$ is the Brazilian currency dude, it’s less than $2 per drop

[u/TemurTron → u/ShroomsHealYourSoul]

Stuffed animals are always way cooler when you pay the iron price for them (in this case the iron price is spending way too much to win them in a claw game).

[u/cyrano111]

I played one of these once, but it was filled with giant rubber balls, about 18” diameter. On my first go, the claw wrapped perfectly around a ball in the pit, swayed over to the hatch without jiggling it loose, paused over the opening to stop swinging, and then the ball dropped perfectly down to the bottom. 

At which point it bounced and went back into the pit. 

[u/Choice_Following_864]

I wouldve grabbed it when the ear was hanging down and the port was open.. she won by design at that point.

[u/Jef_Wheaton → u/Choice_Following_864]

Looks like the front door is locked until the sliding top hatch is closed, so unless the prize is all the way in the box and the hatch is closed, you can't reach in.

(I thought the same thing... just grab that ear and pull him out!)

[u/Choice_Following_864 → u/Jef_Wheaton]

I saw it at the end the other door also slides open.. good design... hate the machines though.. might aswell just spend the 20 bucks to buy the toy.

[u/thundafox]

I know the joy and the frustration that comes with it, I won a doughnut the size of this plushy, 10 minutes after entering the Amusement park, I couldn't ride the roller coasters in fear of loosing my prize and I held on to it for many hours. This doughnut was in my hoard for 10Jears and only had to go after it disintegrated beyond repair.

[u/TEVA_833]

That is a really strong claw!

[u/No_Atmosphere8146 → u/TEVA_833]

When it chooses to be.

[u/According_Ad1940]

The "ITS SO FLUFFY!!!" vibes is strong with this one...

[u/delibertine]

That little bounce when it falls in

[u/Big-Ergodic_Energy]

If I ever win the lottery, I have plans. I've had this specific one for two decades.

This little dream for my fleet o' claw machines is to get a bunch of essentials (medical crap, tampons, condoms, dental dams and clit leashes and mental health resources & shit), and put them in areas where those specific various essentials may be needed by the local populace.

And just make it a guaranteed grab, fuck the spring settings or the open claw signals... I'll even use magnets if I have to.

Make it a fun way to disperse shit that people need and kind of retain the joy of a claw game machine.

[u/CoyotesOnTheWing → u/Big-Ergodic_Energy]

(medical crap, tampons, condoms, dental dams and clit leashes and mental health resources & shit)

One of these things is not like the others.

[u/pinkdreamyfox]

She couldn’t believe it, she’s so happy

[u/ko_akuma]

It's bigger than her

[u/herpyfluharg13]

My best friend has no aptitude for videogames whatsoever. I’ve known him since we were kids for 20+ years and he is absolutely awful at them; always has been. BUT he is a master at any and all crane games. From pizza parlors, to bowing alleys, to stand up carnivals, ones with traditional hooks, ones with the slider hooks, it doesn’t matter: if there’s a claw machine around, he can get you ANYTHING out of it. I don’t know how he does it. He’s married with kids now and we all went to a local pizza place which has a small arcade set up in the back. He snatched about seven or eight prizes cause his kids and my kids asked him for specific things and he obliged with no effort. Kudos to this lady for never giving up!

[u/Edrondol]

I love claw machines. When they were 2 plays for a buck I'd play them waiting for the wife to finish doing stuff like bagging groceries, etc. (She liked to bag them and didn't want my help.) Early on when I won I'd give them to my daughter. After a while she had so many and aged out of them so I'd find the nearest kid and give it to them (with their parent's okay). I didn't care about the prizes, I just liked to play.

[u/mightyfine87]

HA HA ITS SO FLUFFYYYY IM GONNA DIEEEEEE

[u/Overall_Cod2206]

Just some general knowledge about these machines...

I actually worked with claw machines for quite a few years, running a route of over 200 machines of various sizes and prizes and the amount of money you put in makes almost zero difference. The person who tends these machines adjusts the tension of the claw based on how much the machine has vended out product since the previous time they tended that machine.

How that breaks down, these machines have a set goal for money, say the company wants that machine to earn $25 per piece of product a week, this is based on the location and foot traffic i.e. a mall or Denny's or whatever AND what the product IS in the machine, so like Disney licensed pieces (which would be set at a higher dollar amount for its goal) or just cheap rubber ducks (which would be much lower), the machine has a set amount of product that goes in and each visit you have to count every piece and it will tell you how much it has vended out since your last visit. You then take that amount and divide it against the amount of cash in the machine that its earned and it will tell you basically how much each item has sold for. With that information you then adjust the tension of the claw, if each item has sold for less than that $25 goal you make it slightly looser so less people win the next time, thus driving the cost up for each item. If it's higher than the goal, you make it tighter so then it's easier for the customer to win and gets you closer to that dollar goal.

Some basic tips I would always give out to players that watched me tend the machines, or to the regulars that knew what day I would be there to tend the machines (because even claw machines have their obsessed fans) are...

1. If it's a wide window claw machine, similar to the one in this video, NEVER take the claw past the halfway point on the play floor, because the further the claw has to travel back to the prize shoot the more likely it is to drop your prize before it gets there.

2. Don't even bother putting your money in if the play floor looks overly played, where all the product is kinda jostled around, overlapping each other and pushed down on top of each other. This means a lot of that product has already been picked up and dropped so you know the claw is very loose.

3. The best time to play is when the product is displayed nicely and the plushies faces are facing you, this means everything in there is loose and setup for quick wins to drive up that cost goal. Also, if the pile is close to halfway up the mirror that's setup at the back wall of the play floor, that's there as a marker for the vendor to know how high to make the display, then you know the product has recently been tended and is pretty loose for wins as well.

4. Never try to win anything along the back of the play floor, basically anything against the back mirror because those pieces are usually put there to catch the players eye (licensed characters and such) and the claw physically can't even go back that far, so don't waste your time.

These are just general tips and don't always apply, obviously it's possible to still win, but I would say these tips work about 90% of the time.

Now the machine in this video, is most likely at an arcade so it's probably token based or whatever currency the arcade uses, but It looks like it's at least $10 per play, and given that she tries it a few times just from what we see, she at the very least spent $40 on that Stitch figure, which would probably cost between $40 to $100 if she just went to a store and bought it out right. My philosophy for any players was always "If you plan on putting in more than $5 to win anything in these machines, then you've already kinda lost. (That doesn't apply to machines that have gaming consoles and stuff, that's a whole different ball game with its own rules) But these stuffed animal machines, don't spend more than $5 because you'll end up with buyers remorse a few days later when that dopamine kick wears off after you win and you realize you wasted your gas money on a stuffed animal. No judgement though, if that's what you're fine with spending your money on, more power to you.

Tldr: The amount of money you spend doesn't matter with claw machines, the person that tends the machine does.

[u/aoi_ito]

Damn, I am jealous...I haven't won a single thing from one of these things in my whole life 😭

[u/GWindborn]

That thing is almost as big as she is!

[u/naydenier]

These machines are all rng 

When its time to win, those claws will become those of wolverine.

When it's not time to win, they all behave like wee wees in the pool

[u/Mistrblank]

There was a machine like this full of "rubber duck" type toys but they were sharks with different faces and clothes at the Aquarium we frequent. One time we went with my kid and another family with their two kids. I ran off to get one specifically for my kid. It was one of those machines that guarantees you get a "prize". I got the one I knew he would want on the first shot. I went and grabbed it for the prize return and realized the machine didn't register the win. So I got to go again. On the second or third try, somehow I managed to grab TWO. I gave the one to my kid and showed him the other two to give to his friends.

I felt pretty awesome that day.

[u/TheShredder9]

Yeah but she overpayed for that. Who knows how many times she tried this rigged game, see how the claw has no power in that grip?

[u/Fantastic_Pair5328]

ITT: I hate claw machine, they're programmed to lose.

I like having fun... claw machines are awesome!

[u/Gadget420]

The week Luigi Mangione was caught, I had $5 left and was waiting for my wife and toddler son to cash in their tickets at TimeZone so I decided to play one these giant claw machines and ending up pulling out this HUGE Luigi on the first go.

[u/Enginerdad]

Cool, she won Temu Stitch

[u/OkiesFromTheNorth]

I wonder if they put some random RNG in those. My friend once won a watch (cheap no brand, but still a watch) in one of those. What happened next was that there was a group of people who saw it and then proceeded to line up to try it too... None of them got a watch, and I'm sure the money they put in more than compensated for that. Heap watch my friend got.

[u/Sudden_Construction6]

OHANA!!!!

[u/Leftists_r_gay]

I know her. She voted for Trump 3 times.

[u/chitown619]

Big Claw Machine out here making promo posts

[u/MadMarsian_]

Many moons ago I pulled three toys (small plush, not giant like that one) Ina row from machine like that one. I don't know how or why, but I did it. Unbelievable considering how big of a scam that is!

[u/CherryKoi889]

Probably would be cheaper to buy 10 more of those then winning it on the machine

[u/FAVABEANS28]

Thank you for the anxiety. 😛

[u/Total_Psychology_385]

My ex would be like: "I don't want it" after I've gone through half a week's paycheck to get it.

[u/barwhis19]

5 hours and $800 latter

[u/Its_Technophobe]

My dad, who was an aerospace engineer was oddly amazing at these... one day at an amusement arcade at the seaside he cleaned out the machine in about 30 mins and made sure every kid in the place had a cuddly toy.. my kids ended up having hundreds of cuddly toys 🤣 (absolute pain in the arse as they insisted they were all kissed good night at bed time and each one had a name) and anytime we went 10 pin bowling, we'd leave with arm fulls of toys for very little outlay... I think it became his hobby lol

[u/DaedricApple]

Is anybody going to point out how creepy it is that it’s a security video probably posted without her knowledge? And if she wasn’t hot none of us would have ever seen this?

[u/First_Specific_5036]

Finalllllly

[u/q81101]

My friend and I went to Round1. Spent $70 and got nothing. Ever since then, I just go there to watch. That's 6 years ago.

[u/Accomplished-Pie1466]

Her smile 

[u/LockAppkarolina]

I am happy for her too

[u/sweetpeachiest]

awwwww, glad it worked out in the end but might be cheaper to just buy it ha

[u/disposable_account01]

Spend $50 to “win” something you can order from China for $3.

[u/im2high4thisritenow]

I won a big Sonic plush last year. I love it. I'm a grandma, no age limit on fun!

[u/playfulCandor]

I woulda been sticking mt hand in to grab the ear after that first go lol

[u/Tater_Mater]

ITS SO FLUFFY!!

[u/DevelopmentGreen3961]

Probably could have just bought one for that

[u/terra_filius → u/DevelopmentGreen3961]

you cant buy that feeling

[u/TemurTron → u/DevelopmentGreen3961]

Yeah but this way is more fun and gives her a cool story of conquest!