tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87163332348782570252024-02-07T06:21:24.164-08:00Claw Machine ReviewsI travel around the world playing claw machines when I see them. I will review these claw machines to let everyone know where the best ones are found.cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-5928883892105926332012-02-22T15:34:00.000-08:002012-02-22T15:34:52.782-08:00Tip: No Buried TreasureAs I shared with all of you claw machine enthusiasts <a href="http://clawmachinereviews.blogspot.com/2012/01/tip-whats-your-target.html">last</a>, the first trick to a successful claw is to want what you can get, not to get what you want. This will be the first in a series of tips on how to spot your easiest target.<br />
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I've never witnessed nor participated in the filling of a claw machine with its prizes. I have a suspicion that each Claw Machine Technician is trained not only in how the technology works, but also in the psychology of prize placement. Most often--especially with plush prizes--the items have been wedged between one another very purposefully. This is a strategy to make it difficult to just pluck your winnings from the pile.<br />
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To overcome the obstacle of the tight-squeeze, peel your eyes for animals that have come loose. Preferably if has such things, all four legs, the tail, the head, and the rump should all be freed from the other plushies. After spotting a claw machine and approaching it, this is the first thing I scope prior to inserting my money. If every single item is wedged against another, do not waste your money! While each claw is different and is programmed with its own grab strength, none are designed to do any kind of yanking. Don't be foolish, claw machine enthusiasts!<br />
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Keep an eye out for next time, when I explain why the prize's location in the chamber makes a difference. You can find all of my tips <a href="http://clawmachinereviews.blogspot.com/search/label/Tips">here</a>.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px;">My name is Brooke and I am fortunate enough to be named Claw Machine Review's Chicago correspondent. I was raised on both classic and modern arcade games, with a full-sized pinball machine in my home. My father trained me well on claw machines, and I currently have about a 50% claw machine success rate. Check out my life-style blog, <a href="http://thebrokebrog.blogspot.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">The Broke Brog</a>, and say hello!</i>Brokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065734307041689831noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-1524066715542460962012-02-13T17:17:00.000-08:002012-02-13T17:17:16.401-08:00Godfather's Pizza<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This special Saint Valentine's Day post was done at Godfather's Pizza in the Town & Country Shopping Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbkkS8-sTzipyVy7Qb4GFZrrc0dgdOyJlNP5pXZV7Del2lS_nhxP6V2QLeA4jwiZJ9lNo4py8bd9hDHjrUpaje2IqBTvFWiK0IAW41EjaYD4b42wUvq073hhANMkJ9R45rh3ZTXi0LA8/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbkkS8-sTzipyVy7Qb4GFZrrc0dgdOyJlNP5pXZV7Del2lS_nhxP6V2QLeA4jwiZJ9lNo4py8bd9hDHjrUpaje2IqBTvFWiK0IAW41EjaYD4b42wUvq073hhANMkJ9R45rh3ZTXi0LA8/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3647 1/2 1st Ave, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52402</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one was a Prize Time machine. It is a pretty standard machine. 50 cents, 3 claw style and full range of motion control.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-9c2wdhjatqM90wTAQqNZCESzEzpCNxtN-Ftla7JdKEId6UMPf6c-VWU5B1SjrUaPLifLqUCXP1QnX46mqhgz54OYXD9LC1szW8wFqukqsf0L85xwtcUmPU-WVIos_NVbcLYhHTw-0Q/s1600/2012-01-17_12-28-48_913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-9c2wdhjatqM90wTAQqNZCESzEzpCNxtN-Ftla7JdKEId6UMPf6c-VWU5B1SjrUaPLifLqUCXP1QnX46mqhgz54OYXD9LC1szW8wFqukqsf0L85xwtcUmPU-WVIos_NVbcLYhHTw-0Q/s400/2012-01-17_12-28-48_913.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Too many Toys?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see from the picture I got there right after they stuffed the machine. So there was full quantity of toys, but the quality was pretty poor. Slim pickings at the top at least. Oh well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="2" frame="VOID" rules="NONE"><colgroup><col width="95"></col><col width="86"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="95">Claw Grip</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="86">3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="10" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">10</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qlty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="5" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">5</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Price</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overall</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="7" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">7</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><br />
So the claw grip was pretty bad, but it was so full that you could just put your claw in the right spot and drag in a toy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncKJC5FihEwcwpZM8kTdKdhxjmYkm7Bxkd3FRqNV9o58KA_Ffyb8h_PXKucLpfOVEEvHnDSAkj7BR9TPnd-vq2jKf44SlApfG33r8yMVel8MkkQ9QlmuX6sPIi9QUDawr_7h0xbZRkjs/s1600/2012-01-17_12-28-41_608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncKJC5FihEwcwpZM8kTdKdhxjmYkm7Bxkd3FRqNV9o58KA_Ffyb8h_PXKucLpfOVEEvHnDSAkj7BR9TPnd-vq2jKf44SlApfG33r8yMVel8MkkQ9QlmuX6sPIi9QUDawr_7h0xbZRkjs/s400/2012-01-17_12-28-41_608.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Winner Winner Chicken Dinner</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>So I was able to get a win for the first time ever. Hopefully my girlfriend doesn't read this post before tomorrow to see what she is getting for Valentine's day, if she does...Happy Valentine's Day Sweetie. Anyway, I've had good luck on this machine, the second try I went for a more difficult thing to try out the claw's grasp, but it was weak at this time. But they have a fair amount of time it's tight so worth a play for sure.</span>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com03647 1st Ave SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402, USA42.0153268 -91.63502499999998542.0153263 -91.635036499999984 42.015327299999996 -91.635013499999985tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-83241548667757752622012-02-10T16:20:00.000-08:002012-02-10T16:20:24.830-08:00Westdale Mall Machine<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently I traveled across town to the bad mall. They had a claw machine to review.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTKAa8p7h2prvpH-kQ0IaVF9W5-8oRndH3eAKibcKMIhBdO0pXEgbNHz_QJ1av8Z7gXO9gbhVcuBCFyxWM-QLrxggSBr8ok4PzHLn2FWc9hX0y0K9uxy4YJ2IweNYuy5MMUkXeWbmvec/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag,NUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTKAa8p7h2prvpH-kQ0IaVF9W5-8oRndH3eAKibcKMIhBdO0pXEgbNHz_QJ1av8Z7gXO9gbhVcuBCFyxWM-QLrxggSBr8ok4PzHLn2FWc9hX0y0K9uxy4YJ2IweNYuy5MMUkXeWbmvec/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag,NUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="vertical-align: top;">2600 Edgewood Road Southwest, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fun thing about this blog is that I get to take extra risks to do it. This time I went wild and went for the side of the machine that has miniature basketballs. Normally I'd think sphere doesn't get picked up by the claw, but what if you got it perfectly around it? Wouldn't the sphere hold better?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-KPZdZQ4-ZC9Q7mgLo6kkY4tl4gFGElM8jbWwRGKbAHjXFnveOye6pyD3oVdOehkKH8yDiD1JHd_9BCupDqixYpP95waMUKyIg8PPc0UrfNWlvOqjoS4r9hz9xX3GXesVMX0Gw3jQA8/s1600/2011-12-26_13-37-19_617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-KPZdZQ4-ZC9Q7mgLo6kkY4tl4gFGElM8jbWwRGKbAHjXFnveOye6pyD3oVdOehkKH8yDiD1JHd_9BCupDqixYpP95waMUKyIg8PPc0UrfNWlvOqjoS4r9hz9xX3GXesVMX0Gw3jQA8/s400/2011-12-26_13-37-19_617.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Play it safe with the stuffed animals, or go for the glory of the balls?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now obviously this was going to be a challenge. But the game was 50 cents a play so not a rip off that way, and it had decent stuff. NBA and College themed basketballs. Not a bad officially licensed merchandise. Or what I assume was officially licensed. The problem though is that to get down low enough to get that perfect grip around the basketball you need some serious force behind the claw to wedge it's way between the other balls. Spheres are good for stacking surprisingly. This makes it tough to get the claw in. So my review on this machine won't come with a number because I don't think that's fair. Instead it will come with this warning. When trying for a ball, especially a rubber one and not a squishy one. Make sure there is enough squishy stuff around it so the claw can caress it's way underneath. This should allow it to get that optimal grip position. But unless it has that, you won't be able to break the rubbery surface to get the sweet prize inside.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This trip to the mall also had an old lady mall walker wandering around and she talked to me, which distracted me quite a bit. Can't you see I'm busy here lady. But I'm a nice guy so I talked back and she said how she has never seen anyone win one of those damned machines. Oh how I wanted to win and rub it in her face. See totally a nice guy. But sadly dear readers, I wasn't able to pull off a win this time.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com0Cedar Rapids, IA, USA41.952174 -91.71932090000001441.848616 -91.831191900000007 42.055732 -91.60744990000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-91762674798860082782012-01-18T15:52:00.000-08:002012-01-18T15:52:46.889-08:00Wehrenberg Prize Game<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After checking out the Acme Crane Machine I traveled upstairs to see what other great prizes I would have won. And since I had wasted a quarter trying to play turned off machine I decided to just play some arcade games with my 75 cents.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ApXOHww3GN5OrimY4tVB0HblOuG2p16RQQWAdDTi8WxtGk3JyybcB0cPgfpujWbtUNOQqyN5k8feQGTgNNoDKpjtUoWXaQuj3XmrDlH8begKCQesJhIompsW_lttPZechbxSH51AxgA/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ApXOHww3GN5OrimY4tVB0HblOuG2p16RQQWAdDTi8WxtGk3JyybcB0cPgfpujWbtUNOQqyN5k8feQGTgNNoDKpjtUoWXaQuj3XmrDlH8begKCQesJhIompsW_lttPZechbxSH51AxgA/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Still at the same location</span></div> <span style="font-family: Arial;">But the disappointing thing nowadays is that it costs a full dollar to play time crisis, also what fun is time crisis alone. Not that I was alone or seeing a movie alone, that would be lame. But I digress.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhla_qwLv1NCY7ipjj-2LIp02gmg2JIPnPBTtND4OKgZtyG2f1F4jsx7ELU8KNECWt8AvOxV5QShTPNVwNCIxYDtuN2K7O_0UrwVIHMEChV2GQx08oGyRfv9R6W98jzpLIi0Y_uxLbOxEk/s1600/2011-12-22_13-55-40_336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhla_qwLv1NCY7ipjj-2LIp02gmg2JIPnPBTtND4OKgZtyG2f1F4jsx7ELU8KNECWt8AvOxV5QShTPNVwNCIxYDtuN2K7O_0UrwVIHMEChV2GQx08oGyRfv9R6W98jzpLIi0Y_uxLbOxEk/s400/2011-12-22_13-55-40_336.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Space Ship Prizes!</span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always been intrigued by these games, how exactly do you win them. It's a pretty simple concept, there is an arm with a post at the end that will swing out and hit the prizes which are rotating around in a circle. So all you have to do is hit one prize on the sweet spot and it will push it to the prize slot. Should be easy.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78g2tkXUCvNZENAZ_WSGoNR0UM57JTABA2mulN__LZzGlfBuasSuU5C8CLXMcEs2qtA60hPl9lxVZHOZTJPfUCJgSVTHkN9cvZJ8K-tdTqeZrcm4N7REPnVMRux45br4HsxN3FlB3znE/s1600/2011-12-22_13-55-47_907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78g2tkXUCvNZENAZ_WSGoNR0UM57JTABA2mulN__LZzGlfBuasSuU5C8CLXMcEs2qtA60hPl9lxVZHOZTJPfUCJgSVTHkN9cvZJ8K-tdTqeZrcm4N7REPnVMRux45br4HsxN3FlB3znE/s400/2011-12-22_13-55-47_907.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Prizes Moving at Warp Speed</span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I give it a try with my first quarter, not really caring what I get out of it. I just want something, so I see a cluster of prizes, but the arm doesn't move. What's the deal! I keep hitting the button, but it takes me awhile to figure out that first, this is a game where you have to hold the button, and second this is a game where the arm has a weird delay that you have to add into your timing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The arm also moves slow, which adds to the trouble of timing this thing. First quarter was a complete bust. Second one I think I have figured this out, and I learned a cheat move of you can go about halfway and stop and wait from that position until your prize comes along. I get my post in position, I push a prize to the hole but can't hit the sweet spot, so now I'm mad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Third and last quarter time, I really am feeling it, mostly because that Hannah Montana key chain or dog tag that I so desperately need is so close after pushing it to the hole. I set everything up, think I'm ready to go, and it spins it around the post and holds it in the prize door but then the post moves away and the prize goes back in the circle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I honestly don't know what to do to win this game anymore, you have it where you think it's dead on and you are pushing the prize to the hole and it just spins itself away when you get to the hole. Where is the actual prize hole? So frustrating. Anyway it was a fun change of pace but I'm sticking to my claw machines.</span>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-79379627884000372222012-01-17T21:03:00.000-08:002012-01-17T21:03:06.185-08:00Acme Crane Company -Wehrenberg<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This review takes place at the Wehrenberg Galaxy 16 Theaters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLllwZwJGl6LLQakqVmhCyo1Km7HjmF8iw-mOzVtmlCpl_2Ddiff6G3Gyou-1A-CL_OJWJd6QlEtYkqb6dRBqOs5iUmmIz0FZqDFlZY2DeURr5ENuiC3eLXm7Syolc8CYhBN4R2pn_ak/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLllwZwJGl6LLQakqVmhCyo1Km7HjmF8iw-mOzVtmlCpl_2Ddiff6G3Gyou-1A-CL_OJWJd6QlEtYkqb6dRBqOs5iUmmIz0FZqDFlZY2DeURr5ENuiC3eLXm7Syolc8CYhBN4R2pn_ak/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">5340 Council Street NE Cedar Rapids IA </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This place had lots of claw machines to choose from but this was a rather disappointing outing. Mostly because the HUGE claw machine was turned off and yet I still put in quarters like a dummy when it wouldn't take my dollar. There is 50 cents wasted. So that might be a nice tip, make sure the machine is on. Anyway there was a wide variety and so I decided to pace myself with games and posts. Since I do imagine that movies aren't something I'll stop watching anytime soon.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxUqHrITRpOLxh_8y61AOyH71vj8VrLiODFfKlKPYY1BzSr8fuyIdK9xoMnE_jEStzWddl6ZLP88yB4yTJbaF4PAL6Ut4K1doRjZpNXPLYOFVU3XtQ1c2KNVPfjILGpALHXffWrUA_rA/s1600/2011-12-22_13-49-30_519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxUqHrITRpOLxh_8y61AOyH71vj8VrLiODFfKlKPYY1BzSr8fuyIdK9xoMnE_jEStzWddl6ZLP88yB4yTJbaF4PAL6Ut4K1doRjZpNXPLYOFVU3XtQ1c2KNVPfjILGpALHXffWrUA_rA/s400/2011-12-22_13-49-30_519.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Acme Claw Machine worked for me like Acme products work for Wile E. Coyote</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time I took a ride with the Acme Crane Machine. This machine had a decent amount of solid stuffed animals inside, nothing SUPER exciting or special, but solid quality animals. Nothing you would be really disappointed with if you followed the tip to avoid nice things and go for reasonable things. The interesting thing about this machine though was the claw.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV99zthLyyFVGDutJ-HdybESfyMloTuv96IjGDFCfoMpEEVTlg8ubQVU6l8GhClxVb3n58hyphenhyphenO0_gZBB5OoHIGMteocnAHdXFsdiJi7C8zqsJX0W-l50lji92U5OblR4CtrBPziEN_WxeQ/s1600/2011-12-22_13-49-39_353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV99zthLyyFVGDutJ-HdybESfyMloTuv96IjGDFCfoMpEEVTlg8ubQVU6l8GhClxVb3n58hyphenhyphenO0_gZBB5OoHIGMteocnAHdXFsdiJi7C8zqsJX0W-l50lji92U5OblR4CtrBPziEN_WxeQ/s400/2011-12-22_13-49-39_353.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Featuring Timer LED lights</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The timer LED lights aside since those don't really affect the game at all, this game came with a rotating panel so you could spin the claw around. This might help you get into that perfect spot between the arms of some bear, but really it seemed like just an added feature that in the long run won't help you. This was also one of those annoying games that will yell at you to make sure you know what you are doing. 10 Seconds left! Crap I better hit the button now before I'm good and ready. Take your time and ignore the yellings of a machine.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="2" frame="VOID" rules="NONE"><colgroup><col width="95"></col><col width="86"></col></colgroup> <tbody>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="95">Claw Grip</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="86">3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qlty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="5" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">5</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Price</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overall</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="5" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">5</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall this wasn't a terrible machine, but I'd avoid it unless there was something really good in the perfect spot there. The grip just wasn't there to get you a win to impress your lady friend.</span></div>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com05340 Council St NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402, USA42.032142 -91.65498742.0281575 -91.6622825 42.0361265 -91.647691500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-17707352999793071772012-01-17T09:17:00.000-08:002012-01-17T09:17:30.864-08:00Tip: What's Your Target?When engaging a claw machine, it's important to set a realistic goal for yourself. The object of your play cannot be to win a specific prize--say, the red Angry Bird plushie in the right corner or the licensed Chicago Bulls hat in the front. Claw machines are not about getting what you want, they are about getting <i>something</i>. <b>The most crucial tip I can share with you is to set your sights on what will be easiest to win, not what catches your fancy. </b>Your claw machine joy should come from your successes, not the prizes themselves.<br />
<br />
So maybe you've won an unsightly mouse plushie filled with what seems to be insulation, but at least you've won. The mark of a successful claw machine run is to first revel in your success, then examine your prize while shrugging, "Ugh, now what?"*<br />
<br />
Stay tuned for future tips on how to pinpoint the easiest targets in the machine!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Give them to a pet or child in your life, or look like a hero and offer it to a nearby child.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My name is Brooke and I am fortunate enough to be named Claw Machine Review's Chicago correspondent. I was raised on both classic and modern arcade games, with a full-sized pinball machine in my home. My father trained me well on claw machines, and I currently have about a 50% claw machine success rate. Check out my life-style blog, <a href="http://thebrokebrog.blogspot.com/">The Broke Brog</a>, and say hello!</i></span>Brokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065734307041689831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-56597160879753893022012-01-02T18:22:00.000-08:002012-01-02T18:22:48.030-08:00General Update<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may have noticed from the posts, that I don't win very often. There are a couple reasons for this. Reason one is that I'm not that great at claw machines, I just am a general enthusiast. Reason two is that I have been taking more risks in my play style to try out more machines than I normally would to have more material.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">To remedy this situation I have reached out to a dear friend of mine who is an expert at winning claw machine games. She will be adding posts occasionally about tips and tricks to winning the games, as well as the occasional machine review since she does live in a different part of the country from me. With her help, dear reader, you will soon be a claw machine ninja winning every stuffed toy your heart desires.</span>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-4498068077695867992012-01-02T18:18:00.000-08:002012-01-02T18:18:22.834-08:00Coral Ridge Mall Machine<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I'll be reviewing a claw machine I found in the Coral Ridge Mall, Coralville, Iowa.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdRDyInJfzMu1nA_HXjzQF5eNJycl8MDZn-G1t9vgFwYTxfsJrLW9IPiHyRLi_8QGm95y1kkRdVF4UVkSnbjNnofw6r8J8gEo61ZlfuiyZOlS58PPL4t0HU7edkuEcvYznnSDm82hwaY/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdRDyInJfzMu1nA_HXjzQF5eNJycl8MDZn-G1t9vgFwYTxfsJrLW9IPiHyRLi_8QGm95y1kkRdVF4UVkSnbjNnofw6r8J8gEo61ZlfuiyZOlS58PPL4t0HU7edkuEcvYznnSDm82hwaY/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1451 Coral Ridge Avenue Coralville, IA 52241</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The interesting thing about this machine was that it was a cylinder with three different sides to choose from.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31JPNP9tYED1c1i8VnCff086miioDkVHjxDTXGf_wt8R3YBSSPRfy2fck1j-_hzCJwOsM1IKLkZIgqWXZpbpd5HHguOjY8ZLDhtiSZykvLZqPZHejMNRRiRKE7kaaRv94nkFNzK8BH3g/s1600/2011-12-18_15-48-20_773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31JPNP9tYED1c1i8VnCff086miioDkVHjxDTXGf_wt8R3YBSSPRfy2fck1j-_hzCJwOsM1IKLkZIgqWXZpbpd5HHguOjY8ZLDhtiSZykvLZqPZHejMNRRiRKE7kaaRv94nkFNzK8BH3g/s400/2011-12-18_15-48-20_773.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Do I honestly have to explain why I picked this side?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two of the sides had claw games the third game in the machine was one of those scissor cutting games. I never liked those games, but eventually for this I probably will have to try one and branch out from claw machines. So I had to pick based on what was inside.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLjOdf18KrpKfrI3xVwWpqyWd5elXpCutvP0-NdPb6wCOoEJD82XwOB2OlpsUqpMnheHQt4EVqTahrrGaVXY-Xv9AZzNEb9Gpi2Q_linkj62Xm7p4DyNFs4xLg0Kx98vc1MBml4sRJDg/s1600/2011-12-18_15-48-29_480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLjOdf18KrpKfrI3xVwWpqyWd5elXpCutvP0-NdPb6wCOoEJD82XwOB2OlpsUqpMnheHQt4EVqTahrrGaVXY-Xv9AZzNEb9Gpi2Q_linkj62Xm7p4DyNFs4xLg0Kx98vc1MBml4sRJDg/s400/2011-12-18_15-48-29_480.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Obvious Choice</span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the caption says, there was a very obvious choice. Cleveland Show stuffed animals. Duh, you could win a Rollo, Cleveland, or that bear. And no I'm not going to look up how to spell Rollo, not worth it. There were also a few Stewies thrown in to get the casual fan over to this game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The game itself was pretty interesting, because it was built in a cylinder the game play was based off that. Moving the stick towards you would move the claw towards you but moving left and right was trickier because the track it was on fit the cylinder. It didn't make lining it up much more difficult, just was a new dimension to worry about. The game itself was only 50 cents per play, which is nice since I have been getting trapped by dollar per play games, and that Cleveland doll was ripe for the picking, sadly I couldn't get him. The claw was even plenty grippy, I just couldn't find the right balance in my two goes to snag Cleveland Brown.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="2" frame="VOID" rules="NONE"><colgroup><col width="95"></col><col width="86"></col></colgroup> <tbody>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="95">Claw Grip</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="86">6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qlty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="8" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">8</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Price</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overall</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">6</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><br />
Overall this was one machine worth checking out. It wasn't a rip off, but it wasn't easy to win either, the nice level of challenge that makes it worth another go, but not a home run machine.</span>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com01451 Coral Ridge Ave, Coralville, IA 52241, USA41.6920301 -91.608371141.6880241 -91.6156666 41.696036099999993 -91.6010756tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-72444034504456377602011-12-21T16:01:00.000-08:002011-12-21T16:01:24.816-08:00Oakmont - Lindale Mall<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I went to Lindale Mall, similar to most malls they have lots of varieties of claw machines.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1ADJsFO806TQXg9D54mZ89SRkymAYonhCZl3bs_2UhJrqgJZGtI2btwJKU7WHEIbIhL9mZpNUOadGPgui48nMGn_C096ypkmR1md0-rdgTCaugIw49C_JW1kpphCycTVml9SYnieke0/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1ADJsFO806TQXg9D54mZ89SRkymAYonhCZl3bs_2UhJrqgJZGtI2btwJKU7WHEIbIhL9mZpNUOadGPgui48nMGn_C096ypkmR1md0-rdgTCaugIw49C_JW1kpphCycTVml9SYnieke0/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">4444 1st Avenue NE Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402</span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This claw machine is located in the food court of the mall, so you have to contend with lots of teens getting their Sbarro after shopping at Hot Topic. This distraction aside you will find the Oakmont Claw Machine.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntPXpJB5Z-RZzeqF2bcOiX3vpnLhmUI2PIJnXodrqJK8P8Z1EqGllm05t7rlpyXG7GpBWnr93ch1VWmukUfd23n2k_oJHgjNGDiakIbteG4pTGOUdKknizlsokH5yyvV_7Dck8GCEJBo/s1600/2011-12-16_12-50-30_55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntPXpJB5Z-RZzeqF2bcOiX3vpnLhmUI2PIJnXodrqJK8P8Z1EqGllm05t7rlpyXG7GpBWnr93ch1VWmukUfd23n2k_oJHgjNGDiakIbteG4pTGOUdKknizlsokH5yyvV_7Dck8GCEJBo/s400/2011-12-16_12-50-30_55.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Featuring Angry Birds!</span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In this machine there was a sign saying that it features Angry Birds. But there was only one angry bird in the whole machine and it was squished against the wall. That being said there were some crazy colored, but officially licensed Scooby Doo toys, and a few other random cartoon characters from cartoons I've never actually watched. So a decent haul if you could get it out of there. Which is the problem with this one. Once again the claw was terrible. You couldn't even move the animals around to free them up. And this one was again 1 dollar per play.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="2" frame="VOID" rules="NONE"><colgroup><col width="95"></col><col width="86"></col></colgroup> <tbody>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="95">Claw Grip</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="1" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="86">1</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="5" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">5</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qlty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="8" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">8</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Price</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overall</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="2" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">2</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The only redeeming thing about this machine is the great stuff inside it. One day I saw a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in there, and it was on top. Optimal position for the grabbing. I went for it twice but came up empty each time. With not even a wiggle to show for it, I gave up. But the promise of getting that stuffed animal upset me to the core. So really what I'm trying to say is that this machine is even worse than it should be, because it teases you and hurts your soul to lose on something so cool. Avoid at all costs.</span></div>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com04444 1st Ave NE, Lindale Mall, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402, USA42.0254959 -91.62721299999998342.0095559 -91.656395499999988 42.0414359 -91.598030499999979tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-36867149863184631862011-12-19T13:26:00.000-08:002011-12-19T13:26:14.842-08:00Super Shoppe - Walmart<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I went to the Walmart in Marion, Iowa.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulZp2QBWc5vLoSPjLfbCGO8vCSiD3mFaIFtu_ztJKLEHTr2u470IZ0ILVVaZEdClOngZFG_HrUFghHvtDxVMGKPnQ4IPH1SzMzRkOCPjkDlmE75ZPrjSA3CWr8JzSzb8tOukqXeTprbw/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulZp2QBWc5vLoSPjLfbCGO8vCSiD3mFaIFtu_ztJKLEHTr2u470IZ0ILVVaZEdClOngZFG_HrUFghHvtDxVMGKPnQ4IPH1SzMzRkOCPjkDlmE75ZPrjSA3CWr8JzSzb8tOukqXeTprbw/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span>Walmart 5491 Highway 151 </span><span>Marion</span></span></div><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walmarts in general are filled with claw machines, so I'm sure on future trips to Walmart I will dip back into this well, but I did the one in the main entrance, not the food entrance or the garden entrance. There were also two options, the one with the gold watches and stuff and those weird black rocks in the bottom, or the one I ended up playing.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXFelry2z1usL49Cjd2NK3abkMqmCA6x-X5syA6rVEE4H8Js4-Gva51Fb6yF3cHJL8jWz6zMEmlk5iiCkKoeunY9NsC87rHSd6rzy7_lDKLywKhg-S3q_djKFtF_gaYOUpKsawZr_uXs/s1600/2011-12-16_08-46-03_399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXFelry2z1usL49Cjd2NK3abkMqmCA6x-X5syA6rVEE4H8Js4-Gva51Fb6yF3cHJL8jWz6zMEmlk5iiCkKoeunY9NsC87rHSd6rzy7_lDKLywKhg-S3q_djKFtF_gaYOUpKsawZr_uXs/s400/2011-12-16_08-46-03_399.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Completely stuffed with lovable toys</span></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now this particular machine was well stocked with decently usable stuffed animals. Most on top are snowmen which seem more fit for a mom to decorate the house with than a little kid to have, but that's ok, still a decent quality plush toy. An interesting thing to note about this machine is the ad in the back of the machine which shows a very sad bear getting rescued from the claw machine and a slogan. Now I'm not a good blogger so I didn't write down that slogan or even remember it, but it was something like Play to Win. Might have even had the word me in it, as if the bear needs you to win it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Down to the brass tax of things. Overall this machine was pretty terrible, I mean yeah look at all those quality toys, but let's be honest. They are all too big. Machines like this have toys that are too big and the claw is too loose, even though there is the illusion you could win because the toys are teasing you on top. You get around the sweet spot between the head and the arms with the claw and it just breaks grip and comes up empty without even lifting the bear out of place. Now where is the fun of that, I don't even feel like I could win. This particular machine was 1 dollar to play as well, so poor grip, and 1 dollar to play. It was a pretty standard machine, unlimited moves, but a timer set to 30 seconds, so plenty of time to get from one end to the other.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="2" frame="VOID" rules="NONE"><colgroup><col width="95"></col><col width="86"></col></colgroup> <tbody>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="95">Claw Grip</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="86">3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="7" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">7</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="18" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qlty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="6" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Price</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overall</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">3</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bottom line is, I wouldn't waste my time with this game again. The bigger prizes are usually not worth trying for, they are just too heavy for the claw to support, it needs some serious grip to get around those bad boys.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com2Marion, IA, USA42.028534716623611 -91.55624669287107141.98993121662361 -91.608698692871073 42.067138216623611 -91.503794692871068tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716333234878257025.post-65738912186829401062011-12-14T15:05:00.000-08:002011-12-14T15:06:37.031-08:00Toy Soldier: Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first claw machine review comes to us from Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar. 1100 Blairs Ferry Road #101 Cedar Rapids, IA 52402-1276</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgyXjXMP4GgmqjnCZvklVND55WpzbzX5HvdBdqAgPI6fLh8HPmyytcNfFlFJBNUwT74aTu6zOljJdJuZRNae2dCcs4FoG3MsGteMoVSUBPE4E3ZkLznIBA1kNIqth2RmPwMgnU4SANQI/s1600/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgyXjXMP4GgmqjnCZvklVND55WpzbzX5HvdBdqAgPI6fLh8HPmyytcNfFlFJBNUwT74aTu6zOljJdJuZRNae2dCcs4FoG3MsGteMoVSUBPE4E3ZkLznIBA1kNIqth2RmPwMgnU4SANQI/s400/XxvZu9XwJ55OX7Ag%252CNUk7jFLY7vcr9nlwmKDNhpBzdzlBMhjV2cRHpc0-Ku1uKgqJQluUUss6RdPAePFLsY8e-VJZqTL3GrJub60A92MURG6C2wE1UG7i1Qj8wwG5vdFhHUdYW3FK9qBvygtsElKopA.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Location of claw machine</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
This machine is called the Toy Soldier. It's a pretty standard claw machine, three pronged claw grip. It had a timer feature, but movement wasn't limited. The toy selection was sparse, and the remaining toys were very weak. Overall very bad stocking and selection in the machine. I mean who wants bears wearing Buffalo Wild Wings gear? Nobody. Another thing about this machine, it was 1 dollar per play. That's ridiculous for non-name brand toys. Throw a damn Smurf in the mix or something to make me think like it's worth my 1 dollar.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYE10GJIrF_-ivLUn8RfS0cDrYMF2rCqpmzY9R7XNnhmONLJ8HAZZxQXxXJDfT2aEpqHO5IJhyphenhyphenGTcoQOTPKk4N2pFioi_hcd3gsZO0IxASK5eLikPjIPjcaHr9j50ghtV4uX3HYO7Dc0/s1600/2011-12-11_13-51-15_576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYE10GJIrF_-ivLUn8RfS0cDrYMF2rCqpmzY9R7XNnhmONLJ8HAZZxQXxXJDfT2aEpqHO5IJhyphenhyphenGTcoQOTPKk4N2pFioi_hcd3gsZO0IxASK5eLikPjIPjcaHr9j50ghtV4uX3HYO7Dc0/s640/2011-12-11_13-51-15_576.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Green spots on a cow with blue eyes? Now I've seen everything!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I gave the game a go, despite not having any open animals to grab at. I was able to dislodge a stuck bear, so the grip on the claw must have been above average, which would explain the lack of stock in the machine. Whoever came in after me had a very good chance to win themselves a Buffalo Wild Wings cheerleader bear. You had to be there. Is that even their slogan? I just went to their official website and it was littered with so much garbage going off whenever I moved my mouse I gave up.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="2" frame="VOID" rules="NONE"><colgroup><col width="95"></col><col width="86"></col></colgroup> <tbody>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="95">Claw Grip</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="9" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="86">9</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="4" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">4</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="18" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stocking Qlty</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Price</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="LEFT" height="17" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overall</td> <td align="RIGHT" sdnum="1033;" sdval="5" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);">5</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">My overall assessment of this machine is that it's not worth while. Ok it's decent because there is a very high chance you would win if you saw something floating above the packed down animals. So it's not something I'd rule out playing again. But I'm not going out of my way to play it with it's stocking quantity or quality. Let them get better stuff in there and more stuff, or just less dense packed stuff, and I might come back.</span></div></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>cleenelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05542624331216503822noreply@blogger.com1