Strange and Wonderful Vending Machines



You name it, and somewhere there’s a place where you can buy it right out of a machine! Let’s take a look at some of the weirder vending machines you can stick your money into.

Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana can be purchased from a vending machine in California. Yes, you have to have a prescription. In order to use the machines, you have to have an ID card, and you’ll be fingerprinted and photographed by a security guard at the machine site. See a video report here.

Nathan’s Hot Dogs


Nathan’s Famous hot dogs in Coney Island is the site of the annual July 4th hot dog eating contest. Soon, New Yorkers will be able to get the famous dogs from a vending machine! They’ll be kosher, as the machines are run by Kosher Vending Industries, which already makes kosher pizza and other items available by machine. Only selected Nathan’s locations currently sell dogs with rabbinical oversight.

iPods

The Atlanta airport is home to a Zoom Shop machine that sells iPod Minis and Shuffles, along with batteries and digital cameras. There are similar machines at other airports. Have your credit card ready, this probably doesn’t take quarters! (image credit: sbisson)

Pet Supplies


The Hey Buddy! company makes vending machines that sell dog supplies, such as dog food, leashes, flea collars, chew toys, treats, waste bag holders and refills, and purified water. Check for a location near you.

Live Bait

Fishermen get up and go earlier than bait shop owners prefer, so the idea of a live bait vending machine makes sense, even if it seems weird. In 1993, fisherman Joe Meyer converted an old sandwich machine to a bait machine and sold it to a shop owner, who now has 30 machines and sells 10,000 night crawlers every week! Bait machines are refrigerated, and the bait is sealed in plastic bags with an oxygen tablet added.

Crow Food


They don’t expect you to buy food for crows; this machine is for the crows to use! The point of the experiment is to create a device that will train crows to pick up change dropped on the ground and exchange it for peanuts, using this specially-designed vending machine. See a video here.

Pornography, Beer, and Eggs


Japan is vending machine heaven. You can get pretty much anything you like from vending machines. Sometimes a row of vending machines will replace an entire store! There are vending machines that sell pornography, bread in a can, and even fresh eggs. There are reports of fetish items still for sale in Japanese vending machines, if you know where to look.

Cigarette for Adults Only


Cigarette machines are only seen in antique stores in America these days, but they are still used in japan, where the legal age to buy tobacco is twenty. New technology is being developed to keep underage smokers from using the machines. New machines require a “taspo” (tobacco passport) card, an ID issued by the Tobacco Institute of Japan. Manufacturer Fujitaka has another machine in development that uses face-recognition software to “see” how old the buyer is. The face recognition is around 90% accurate in judging a person’s age. It has yet to be approved for public use.

Toilet Paper

No, you don’t get to go for free everywhere. Some places still have coin-operated toilets. In Japan, you can use the facilities, but you’ll have to pay for the paper, at least in some public areas. But you might get lucky: Japanese businesses often hand out free samples as part of their advertising budget, since the individual packets have advertising printed on them.

Live Lobster Claw Game


This machine in Osaka is not exactly a vending machine -it’s a claw game! You pay your money and test your skills at catching a live lobster, which is also the prize. Have fun carrying it home!

Coke


Vending machines are so popular in Japan that they’ve been made into a popular toy, which in turn was the inspiration for these life size Coke Bots!


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Posted on June 2, 2008 at 5:42 am by Miss Cellania
Category: Gadget, Neatorama Only

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36 comments to "Strange and Wonderful Vending Machines"

  • Gormie
    June 2nd, 2008 at 6:18 am

    We have beer vending machines here in the Czech Republic. They are able to read personal ID cards to verify the buyer’s age. No special “beer pass” is needed.
    pic: http://www.lidovky.cz/foto.asp?r=ln_ekonomika&styl=zoom&foto1=SVO19b7f 3_ek5pivo.jpg

  • Austrian
    June 2nd, 2008 at 7:09 am

    Austria’s cigarette vending machines require age verification via your ATM card (which you can also use to pay).

  • Miss Cellania
    June 2nd, 2008 at 7:16 am

    Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t have an ATM card or a debit card. I just don’t like machines (or people) having access to my bank account. There are too many horror stories here in the US. I use a credit card for everything. Not only does it keep the transactions separate from my bank, but I also earn frequent flyer miles.

  • LisaL
    June 2nd, 2008 at 7:49 am

    Oh I had the pleasure of going into a pay toilet in Verona Italy. Nastiest experience ever.
    It’s clean, but everything gets hosed down after each use… and being a girl, and there being no seat on the extremely high stool… my ass got completely wet. That’s not bad though… the freaking toilet paper only allowed you like 4 sheets of that sandpaper crap that doesn’t soak of anything. AWFUL.
    We learned our lesson after that. Did what everyone else did, located the closest McDonalds and used their toilets.. even though those weren’t any better…but at least they were free.

  • Aeris
    June 2nd, 2008 at 8:27 am

    Hmm, I am a bit surprised about cigarette vending machines being special or rare, they’re everywhere around here. Just like condom machines or those for personal hygiene articles….

  • Lauren
    June 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 am

    You totally missed out on the Art-O-Mat!
    http://www.artomat.org

    “Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art. There are 82 active machines in various locations throughout the country.”

  • PeteRepeat
    June 2nd, 2008 at 9:30 am

    Besides the Atlanta airport, the Las Vegas airport also has electronic vending machines. They also have slot machines, but that’s expected from Las Vegas.

  • Grok
    June 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 am

    What? No mention of the elusive Used Panties Machine? Ah, Japan… my quirk-o-meter overflows from thy bounty!

  • radams
    June 2nd, 2008 at 9:52 am

    Here’s a picture i took of an art vending machine in Buenos Aires:
    http://flickr.com/photos/cyberobin/981014135/in/set-72157601168297997/

  • Ry
    June 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am

    Live bait vending machines were around well before 1993. As a kid in the 70’s and 80’s I can remember buying many a syrofoam cup of worms from them. It didn’t seem odd at all at the time.

  • librarystein
    June 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 am

    http://www.hollywoodriot.com/2008/04/25/zoinks-the-pot-vending-machine -has-been-stolen-by-the-feds/
    Sadly, the marijuana vending machine was removed by force by the DEA in April. They just can’t let us enjoy a good thing. *sigh*

  • Thomas
    June 2nd, 2008 at 11:44 am

    Hmm… No Art-o-mats here in Ga. I am sad.

  • kid_icarus
    June 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm

    i’m surprised no one has mentioned the vending machines at the top of mt. fuji here. it was a bit of a shocker to climb to the top carrying a victory beer and then realizing i could have just bought one from the vending machines up there. they were even mt fuji branded.

  • SenorMysterioso
    June 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    I remember buying cigarettes from a machine in a pool hall as a kid, ahh the good ol’ days :)

    I still see them around but now only at clubs and bars where you have to be at least 18 or 21 to get in anyway

  • Stolen Name
    June 2nd, 2008 at 12:46 pm

    Are cigarette vending machines really that rare in the states? I live in Atlanta and almost all of the bars have them.

  • ukanduit
    June 2nd, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    I wonder if the crows will end up stealing from buskers and beggars

  • MoniA
    June 2nd, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    the rows vending was cool. I also thought the coke bot was cute

  • DOJ
    June 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 am

    the crow one made me smile
    also, i’m pretty sure youtube has a vid of the lobster claw game in action

  • Santi
    June 3rd, 2008 at 3:28 am

    Hi everybody!

    In Pals, nothern spain there is a medieval curch with a candle vending machine, so the priest can be resting at home (in spanish)

    http://www.nopuedocreer.com/quelohayaninventado/5908/maquina-expendedo ra-cirios-pals-girona/

  • O_o
    June 3rd, 2008 at 5:30 am

    I’ve seen the lobster machine here in the states. There’s a pier in Norfolk, VA that has the same one.

  • Kateri
    June 3rd, 2008 at 6:02 am

    we used to have a lobster claw machine in one of the korean shopping center on Oahu. By the time I went back to try it, it was gone. But evidently people won things, since their pictures were up right near the machine.

  • Sath770
    June 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 am

    you forgot about the vending machines tokyo like pants, jelly, and lots more…

  • gnarley
    June 3rd, 2008 at 2:47 pm

    In Israel there are cigarette vending machines all over. Plus quite a few machines for videos and DVDs. Both in English and in Hebrew.

  • Celeste
    June 4th, 2008 at 12:35 am

    I remember seeing the cigarette machines everywhere when I was growing up (80s/90s). They were mostly in the entrances to restaurants and in hotels and stuff. But I haven’t seen one in forever. I don’t go to bars but I guess it makes sense that they’d be there if anywhere. In Florida that’s the only public place you can smoke anyway (I’m not sure which other states are the same but I know there are several). I imagine this is part of the reason for the change as well as, of course, liability of giving minors easy access to tobacco.

    The crow vending machine is truly awesome.

  • Rebellus
    June 4th, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    Hah!
    In my neighborhood in Rome there are 3 gorgeous cigarette vending machines, and that’s only counting the once I know of. None of those require anything more than a few Euros! (no IDs, nothing) I have upped my cigarette intake by a 100%! God bless those crazy Romans, they honestly don’t give a rat’s culo when it comes to these things.

    Other terrible practices they have done away with a)Paying for public transport b)Driving Sober.

    Brings tears of joy to my eyes, just thinking about it.

  • econobiker
    June 6th, 2008 at 3:21 am

    And nobody here mentioned the pet spa pet cleaning machine? You guys are so soft…

    http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1738258

  • Tyler
    June 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    There’s a live lobster claw machine at Happy Endings in Hollywood (its a bar/restaurant, not a “massage parlor”). If you win one, the chef will cook it for you for free! My buddy won one, and it was delish. Although the whole concept is kinda disturbing to me.

  • vega
    June 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am

    i wonder if the coke bots move around?

  • Melissa
    June 20th, 2008 at 11:22 am

    I work at a casino in South Dakota, and there are cigarette vending machines at many of them, which do not require age verification. If you’ve got $5, you can get a pack of ciggys.

  • Rabbit
    June 20th, 2008 at 11:29 am

    “Cigarette machines are only seen in antique stores in America these days, but they are still used in japan”

    Well that’s not true is it.
    They’re in almost every pub I’ve been in (I live in England) and from what I’ve heard they’re not too rare in America either - I haven’t got first hand experience of that though.

    And you just put your money in, no cards needed, if you’re in the pub it’s just taken for granted that you’re 18. And it used to be 16 but the age is just going up for everything now which is ridiculous and if the drinking age goes up to 21 I will be the first to protest, even if it will only affect me for a few months.

    Anyway I’m rambling and digressing. So yeah, cigarette machines shouldn’t be on the “strange and wonderful vending machines” list.

  • Silander
    June 25th, 2008 at 4:28 am

    There’s an Apple Vending machine INSIDE a Macy’s in the Staten Island Mall. But why anyone would buy from a vending machine, inside a store, inside a mall WITH actual electronics stores, however, is beyond me. Half the time my Diet Coke doesn’t come out, I’ll be danged if I take a chance on a $500 iPhone.

  • Michelle
    June 26th, 2008 at 9:17 am

    I loved the “Coke Bot”. It was cute. I should also mention the “Crow Food” was interesting. But, are crows really smart enough to learn how to operate a vending machine? Also, I think the “Cigarette Machines” was not worthy of the list, because you see them in airports, bars, gas stations, and elsewhere. For you see, they are very common.

  • Miss Cellania
    June 26th, 2008 at 9:24 am

    I didn’t include the cigarette machines because they are rare; I included them because of two stories on how Japan is enforcing age limits with new technology.

  • tsiatko
    July 4th, 2008 at 12:45 pm

    Here in Portland, OR there are “Gumball Poetry” machines, used candy vending machines (the kind that have plastic containers) where you get a random poem and a gumball.

  • sarah4759
    July 4th, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    on kodiak island in alaska, there is one cigarette vending machine located in the cafeteria of a local fish processing plant [cannery, baby!] the trick was to go lateish at night, when very few souls were around.

    this was extraordinarily frightening, given the fairly long journey through brightly-lit hallways to get to the cafeteria, and the ancient machine’s inability to accept anything except quarters, and the loud crashing jangle the change machine next to the cig machine made.

    ahh, memories. glad it didnt have age-verification. it even gave you free captain’s keg-printed matchbooks if you pressed the button hard enough, even though the captain’s keg closed twenty years earlier.

  • Vending
    July 27th, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    These pictures of random vending machines are great! I have seen the porn vending machines all over Japan.

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