This is a new Record

Total count = 46

They thought they could beat me by putting in super small animals.  So the way I worked around it?  I was grabbing three at a time. :)

I'll showcase the video of this soon

Stuffed Animal Neglect

Saw this in passing at a gas station where they have one of those donation boxes.  It's a shame they didn't take the time to give these to a Goodwill donation center.  These were left out in the rain and probably now are mildewed.  Don't know if they would take them or simply throw them away.

If you plan to get rid of your stuffed animals, send them to an actual Goodwill or Salvation Army.  They'll find good homes and make some kids happy.

Along for the Ride

Won these guys yesterday.  The smaller claw machines are still stuffed too tightly together.  Because of that, I stayed with the big machine the whole time.  Still haven't found them homes but I'm sure I will.

Win Showcase: Maximum Animals

All animals went to good homes.

Win Showcase: The Iron Man Sports Cup

How cool is this?  It's about time the claw machine actually started to have things were actually USEFUL!

Win Showcase: Small Bunch

The yellow paraside thingie was the most popular

A Lovely Story

I'm sure you're all aware that Borders is closing out of business.  Sad but honestly, there are many factors to revolve around this.  The economy, the rise of eReaders and Amazon.com for one.  Truth be told, book purchasing is on the increase.  It's just some have chosen not to involve themselves in the bookstore enviroment.  I plan to contribute my money to getting whatever deals I can on the final days of Borders.  Now I'm sure you're asking, what does this have to do with Claw Machines?

I'm getting to that. :)

One of the former workers at Borders was a wonderful woman named Julie.  She and I would talk about my claw machine exploits whenever I got to the chance to see her.  She made it a habit of doing special time with kids and books and everything else.  I gave her some of my claw machine winnings to help with the children.  One was a giant blue monkey we named Buster (Because I won him at Dave and Busters :) )  Buster became an part of the story time to the point where the kids considered him a part of the group.  They'd even hug him and dress him up.  Recently Julie decided to retire to spend more time with her family.  Before she was going to leave, she wanted to make sure Buster was taken care of, and not collecting dust in her home.  She decided to give her to a little girl named Jordan who had been struggling with a debilitating disease.  Julie mentioned she even had a picture of Jordan sleeping in Buster's arms.  Yes, he's THAT big. :)

So, I wanted to share that story with you.  This is what my claw machine exploits are all about; making Kids happy.  I don't need the stuff I win, so if they get the enjoyment from it, then that makes me happy. :)

Six Angry Birds

I think I just found my new conquest.

Angry Birds is a very popular app game for IPHONES, Droids and the like.  Never played it personally; probaby will when I get an IPAD.  Anyway, I saw these in the claw machine and decided to give them a go.  As you can see, I scored six.  Six out of ten is not bad and let me tell you why; it's because they're BALL shaped. The torgue on a claw is perfect for balls and these guys qualify.  I'm only sad I didn't have my video with me. 

Thor Teddy Bear and Fuzzy Dice

How cool is this???

Every Marvel movie promotion seems to have something in the claw machines at various Wal Marts across town.  I finally found one that offered me a decent chance at getting some of these cool promotions.  Especially since my friend Corey wanted something along these lines anyway.  It was an awesome win to get these for him.  Plus, how many people can say they have Thor Fuzzy Dice???

Sick Monkeys

I thought this was funny so I made a picture out of it.  One monkey looks normal and the other monkey looks like he's about to hurl. :)

Another from Epic Fail

I decided to borrow this picture from the Fail Blog.  It's always funny when a kid is stuck in a claw machine.  Pictures are taken, laughs to follow.  However . . . . .Nine times out of ten, everytime I see an incident like this, it's usually because the kid is small and agile enough to climb into the claw machine from the pit.  But take another look at that pit entrance.  I don't even think a cat could have crawled through that.

which means he was PLACED inside that claw machine.

Hopefully they got him out in a decent amount of time. Sheesh!

Two Domo's and a Spongebob

sounds like the beginings of a bad joke. :)

decided to play the new claw machine before breakfast.  You can see the results.  I'm sure these guys will find nice homes.  However, a thought occured to me this morning about this particular claw machine.

Long ago, when my skills were at their peak, there was a claw machine at Discover Mills that always paid out.  I could easily walk away with five to seven stuffed animals at a time.  Then WHOOSH, it was gone.  Now, the lady has replaced two of the spinning machines with these two claw machines and so far, one particular one is holding out./

I wonder if it's the same one.

Toys R Us in the Mall of Georgia Area

My friend Jared made a passing comment that I should try the claw machine in the Toys R Us out at the Mall of Georgia area.  You got to pass through the mall to get to the Buford area which I was originally headed to.  So on the time I was heading back, I stopped off at the toy store to give it a try.  Once I saw it, I knew I'd have zero percent success and none of it would be my fault.

Look below. :)

There is No Claw

I'm pretty sure Jared wasn't playing a joke on me.  Although I find it strange that they would leave it like this.  For instance, look at the lights.  THE POWER IS ON!  Why would they turn on the power if there was no claw?  I guess they aren't even aware of it.  Cause there was no, "broken" sign or nothing.

I'll double back and check it then next time I'm in that part of town.

Aw, man. Dom is going to be upset

Believe it or not, we weren't even sure the Cleveland Stuffed "animals" even existed.  And when I find it?  I can't even grab it.
'
'Ugh

A Giant Claw Machine With Giant Mice

This photo came courtesty of my friend Shelley.  She sent it to me, pretty much saying, "Where are you when I need you?"  "sigh" I know, Shelley.  You're a great friend and I hope to one day showcase my claw machine skills for you. 

Judging from this photo, I'm not sure retrieveal was possible.  The Jerrys look very huge.  Not to mention that claw is one of those thin wire variety.  Haven't had the oppurtunity to go head-2-head with one but i look forward to one day. 

We'll see . . . .  .

The Pissed Off Chicken

It's from that movie HOP.  Never saw it but apparently this chick's name is Carlos.

I gave it to my friend Gary because when he's pissed off . . . . . he looks just like this chick. :)

Minor Showcase of my last Round Up

Total animals removed from claw machine = 29

North Lake Claw Machine Part 1

On my last vacation, I went to Northlake Mall.  Hadn't been there in years.  They use to have a Goodwill Book Sale every year.  I loved to go browse them.  Sadly, they stopped having it so I had no more need to go there.

So I went back to see if there were any claw machines I could tackle.  They were but they were rigged.  I'm not sure if they were ALL rigged but the odds are they were.  Especially the last one.  It was so rigged it was disgusting.  Read part 3 to know more

North Lake Claw Machine Part 2

I probably should have tried this one but I suspect it was rigged just like the other ones.  Read Part 3 to know what happened that day

North Lake Claw Machines Part 3

This one was so rigged it was disgusting.  I popped in five bucks and I couldn't grab a single thing.  I tried to film it but I was so upset with how badly I was doing, the video didn't turn out that great.

Five bucks offically wasted.

Where are you now, Aquaman???

What can I say?  I had the Albino Shark and I was bored.

Winning: The Bling Machine

I just got a bunch of stuffed toys for the kids in Haiti and I had a few more points left on my card.  So I went ahead and had my fun at the bling machine. 

Like any claw machine, they are mostly rigged.  Once you pick one you know has good tension on the claw, you stay with it permanently.  And the results speak for themselves. :)

Showcase: The World Domination Watch

Pretty pimp, huh? :)

It's pretty heavy and most of my friends who tried to wear it, it could have fit TWO arms in the watch band.  I dropped it on to the guy sitting next to Deborah.  I didn't want him to feel overwhelmed due to the stuff I gave her. :)

Ziggy's Dog

Did you know Ziggy's dog was named Fuzz?  I didn't know that.  Thanks to the tag on his left ear, I now do.  I got him easy out of the big machine.  He's rigid and the claw holds onto them better.  Definitely stay away from the floppy ones, kids

Stuffed Animals for Haiti

My friends Mary and Dawnya will soon be taking a trip to Haiti for their church.  I'm assuming they'll be doing various mission work.  I wanted to help out when I heard so I figured I'd rustle them up some toys to take with them.  I even found a nice backpack to carry it all in.  And when they get down there, they can give the backpack to a kid who needs it as well.
That's what it's all about.  Helping the kids.

A win from Steak & Shake? I just wouldn't believe it!

Whenever I go to steak and shake, the only good thing to come out of that visit is that I've had a good meal.  I''ll play the claw machine but only part of me is ever expecting to win.  Low and behold, I finally do.

It was the perfect circumstances.  The Carebear was facing down and it was loose and on top of the piles.  I got it on the first try.  I tried it again but there was no other animals retrievable.  This bear went to a good home with Sandi.  She always gets first dibs on Carebears.

Several Big Ones

I don't know what the hell they were thinking.

I had been gone from Dave and Busters for two weeks.  When I return, I went to play the big claw machine and low and behold, THREE stuffed toys were loose and on top.  Amazing.  I got the yellow cat and the pink cat plus the frog man very easily.  They all went to good homes.

The Brian from Family Guy in his banana suit was won at the Winners Circle.  What can I say?  I'm good at retrieveing tickets too.

Totoro

A gift from my very good friend Louise.  She won this out of a claw machine (very difficulty, as what she told me) when she was traveling overseas.  This is Totoro for those who don't know.  He's a wood land spirit who continues the growth of the forest.  As you can tell from the small pouch of seeds on his left arm.  In Japan, he's the equivalent of Winnie The Pooh over there. 

thanks for this awesome gift, Louise

Last Claw Machine win = 32 Prizes

That was a good day.  All the toys went to good homes.  I continued to pass them around in my quest to give everyboyd at my work place at least 1 item from me.  :)

Toy Close Ups

Patty Corn

I was just leisurely checking out a claw machine that had this green corn . . .things.  One was lingering into the pitt. It was begging me to take it. 

so I did. :)

I got it on the first try.  I named it Patty Corn because 1, it's shaped like a corn stock, despite the rasta hair.  2, it's green and I gave it away to one of my friends on St. Patricks Day. 

Bad Brand Marketing

I think they are serious. :)

I captured this picture off of Fail Blog.  I've heard of these kinds of claw machines.  For some reason, they're very popular in the Middle East and Korea.  However, if they are going to be THAT serious about it, they need to create a claw machine brand, not re-use an old one

I'm Tired

I just spent the bulk of the morning passing out the remaining toys.  I have a small goal to give everybody in my business at least one item.  That brings my total of toys dispersed  at 261.

Now I know why Santa needs the other 350 days off a year. :)

Showcasing the Premier Additions of my Last Round

All of them went to good homes.

A real "bleeping" dead alien body if I ever saw one

Not really. :)

Saw this guy in a Thrift Store I stumbled onto in Snellville.  As you can see from it's tag, it's one of the big ones that you win at Six Flags.  I was temped to buy him cause I dig aliens but my adult side of me made me realize what the hell was I going to do with him?

Oh, to be young again.

:)

What is this?

No really, what is this?

The shape suggests it's a monkey but it has whiskers.  It has no ears so that rules out a bunny or a cat.  Huh.

The Claw Machine at The Super H Mart in Suwanne Part 2

I went back to the Super H Mart to see if they fixed it.  They did.  There was no ball stuck in the machine.  I gave it a try and actually won some prizes.  See below.

However, I wasn't able to win as much as i would have thought.  Especially with me getting some angles right.  It's like the machine is rigged on a time sensor.  I'll still have to work it another time, especially if I want that Micheal Vick football or the headphones that were also in there.

Speaking of which, I apologize for the glare off the window.  Had I know I would have taken another picture.