Author Topic: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)  (Read 19674 times)

Superully

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this weekend, i picked up another gameroom gadget i had wanted for a long time - a gumball machine. but not one of those tiny ones you screw to the wall or put on the table, i had been on the lookout for a full upright version. those machines don't show up very often - and when they do, they go for a lot of money (and are very far out). here's an example of one which was on ebay a little more than one moth ago. i seriously considered bidding on it (because of the condition it was in), but 200 euros was out of my league at that time - so i had to let it go!



those machines are from the usa (manufactured in canada) from a firm called BEAVER who specialize in different types of vending machines. it is an older model called THE MAGICIAN :arrow:



doesn't it just look fabulous?



anyway, only recently a later model called THE WIZARD by the same manufacturer popped up on ebay with a starting bid of 50 euros. i immediately contacted the seller (who was new to ebay) and asked him for a BUY-IT-NOW deal. he got back to me one day later telling me he had had a lot of request of the same nature, but since i was the first guy to ask him and because he wants the machine gone asap, he told me we had a deal ;D

even better, he told me he had another machine of the same type (if i wanted it) along with a lot of spare parts which he was going to throw in as well - of course i couldn't resist (although this meant a lot of hours on the road again). so we made an appointment for the weekend and the gumball rally was on its way ... :)

the seller was located in the southernmost part of germany very close to the swiss border, here's what's coming up :arrow:



the roadtrip starts to an icy morning



MINUS two degress - damn, this is really cold!



the view through the windshield (note that the pinocchio figure from my joust 2 roadtrip to tuscany is still there :-*)



one of the good things about my home town lauda is the fact that the autobahn is nearby - a mere 10 kilometers



speaking of which, right at the beginning there's a straight stretch of autobahn which adolf hitler had planned to use as a landing field for airplanes during world war ii



of course, the typical road constructions must not be missing



but here's something that's new: while i'm driving along the german autobahn, in the distance i spot a field on the right side of the road where something is running towards the road fast. i count three moving objects! my first idea is horses, but as i'm getting closer i realize that those are wild boars in a stampede :o. i also realize that the boars will "hit the autobahn" directly in front of my car if i continue at the same speed, so i push down the gas pedal and manage to "overtake" the boars just it time. i also manage to grab my camera and take one photo through the passenger's window :arrow:



i put down the camera, look in the rear view mirror and of course the inevitable happens: the three boars rush onto the autobahn :shock: :shock: :shock:!!! cars are slowing down behind me, but from what i can tell, nothing happens. the boars panic and leave the road as quickly as they came. you can imagine that i couldn't take any more picture, but believe me: my heart was pounding fast :ghost:

time to take a break at one of the motorway service stations near the french border (where germany's biggest amusement park, the europa park, is located) and guess what: there's a beaver vending machine (selling bouncing balls) waiting in the lobby. what a coincidence!



here it is again - i like the yellow color of it



as i'm getting closer to the swiss border ...



... the temperature rises as well. i'm in an area of germany called the upper rhine valley which - because of its benificial geographical position between two mountain ranges - gets the highest temperatures during the warm seasons!



enough driving done, i'm almost there



here's the seller's location - somehow it fits the roadtrip's gumball theme!



waiting in the cellar of the house are two THE WIZARD gumball machines. they are a little bit dirty and could use some cleaning, but look great next to each other!



much easier to handle than an arcade cabinet - and much lighter. those a high quality products made out of fibreglass, not plastic!



as i've said before, i also get a lot of spare parts





here they are, loaded up in my car. the seller was extremely friendly and told me he had tried to get a third (yellow) gumball machine for me from his ex-girlfriend, but she wouldn't let go of it - damn! :P



on my way back, i pass by wonderful castles high up on hills



after some more hours on the road, the sun is already setting



back home



here's what you've all been waiting for ;)



one country, one county, 739 kilometers, 8 hours 39minutes on the road - this roadtrip is OFFICIALLY OVER!

the next morning, i'm carrying the two gumball machines up into my apartment where they will undergo a thorough cleaning and some restoration work as well.



i've read on the manufacturer's homepage that you can add rope lights into the spiral (where the gumball rolls down the center spine) to make the machine even more attractive to the "audience" - let's see if i can upgrade my machine. i'm also going to convert it either to accept tokens or to free spin - not sure yet what to do. and of course there's a choice to be made on the type of gums i'm going to put in there ...



i was told about 2,500 gumballs fit into the plastic globe on top - so expect some serious gum chewing going on in my gameroom 8).



p.s.: in case you're wondering what i'm going to do with two machines: right now my plan is to clean it up and put it back on ebay. i'm pretty sure i can make all the money back which i spent on my machine and on the roadtrip. of course, if there's someone from this forum who wants to have it, i could consider selling it IF the price is right! 8) ;D
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2011, 12:46:14 PM »
Those are so cool !

why not keep both of them, and position them like guards on each side of the entrance like my "zacc-guards"  ;D


Belike

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2011, 01:58:42 PM »
Ully, you are crazy, but I love these machines!. ;D
I'm just wondering where are these machines atm., maybe behind that curtain? ;D ;D ;D

Superully

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2011, 10:08:41 PM »
Ully, you are crazy, but I love these machines!. ;D

wait till you see my next gameroom gadget ;D
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Vnera

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2011, 12:29:47 PM »
alwees loved gumball machines. i got my first one on a age of 9. If you need parts there is a operator in my town who i help whit fixing up machines.

Superully

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2011, 04:49:31 PM »

before i'm going to use my gumball machine, it's going to get a proper cleaning - along with some adjustments. so let's disassemble it! the first thing you realize when removing the top cover is that the machine is not made of cheap plastic (aka china crap), but of fiberglass!



inside, a lot of old gum!





to remove the front plate with the coin mechanism, you need a special type of screwdriver (also provided by the seller)



more gum in the coin mech ...



... and around the base of the machine!



everything disassembled and labeled in bags



i feel like neil armstrong! 8) ;D



two important adjustments have to be done: the coin mech and the gum eject mechanism (or whatever it is called). let's start with the latter!

at the moment the machine is set to dispense two chewing gums when inserting 50 cents. therefore it uses a mechanism with 6 slots and with each turn of the front lever two of those slots are being emptied. here's a simulation with marbles to give you an idea :arrow:



what i want to do is cover up three of these holes so that only one gum is being dispensed with each turn. in order to do so, i'm creating a paper template ...



... which is then copied on a piece of plexi, cut out with a jigsaw ...



... and finally sanded down!



fits nicely :)



after creating two more of these, i'm using exopy glue ...



... to firmly attach the three pieces of plexi to the metal piece!



i'm doing a couple of test runs to make sure it's working as it's supposed to be and while it serves its purpose most of the time, my modification is not a 100% success. rarely, but from time to time, a marble gets stuck underneath the plexi. of course i can easily pull the marble out now, but imagine a gumball machine filled with thousands of gumballs and one getting stuck. i won't take that risk and therefore decide to fill up the parts underneath the plexi with bondo!



with that adjustment, the mechanism works like a charm, dispenses only one marble and doesn't get stuck stuck anymore!



bring on those gumballs!
« Last Edit: March 16, 2011, 04:54:40 PM by Superully »
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Reinhold

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2011, 05:37:45 PM »
bring on those gumballs!

Here you go... ;)


I found those at the place where i buy my popcorn ;) and all my Big-Bulk sized items, and i thought this picture would fit nicely into your roadtrip thread ;)

Superully

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2011, 06:06:42 PM »
Here you go... ;)


thanks a lot reinhold, but ... ;) (stay tuned)
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Superully

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2011, 06:09:53 PM »

let me quote myself :D :arrow:

bring on those gumballs!

i wanted it, i got it: two huge packages arrived at my doorstep!



inside: "some" gum :P











the money shot! man, that is a lot of gum!!!



a sample of all the gums i have (unfortunately, i later found out i wouldn't be able to use the camel balls and the strawberries because while the role down the spiral, they won't drop into the chute at the bottom :'()



i'm doing a test run of my modified gum eject mechanism with some tennis balls - works exactly like i had hoped it would!



one more thing to do before re-assembly: adjusting the coin mechanism to accept my tokens. i had first planned to set the machine on free spin, but i prefer this feeling of paying for what you get in return. the way the coin mechanisms operate is that there is a special disk which accepts only one currency because other coins are either to thin, thick, big or small to allow the spinning of the lever. the coin has to fit in EXACTLY, otherwise it's going to jam the mechanism. here's the 50 cent disk which was installed :arrow:



fortunately, i also got a lot of spare disks from the seller (mostly 50 pfennig and 1 german mark). i'm trying to sand down / adjust one of those disks to make my tokens fit in nicely. for that, i'm "hijacking" my neighbours grinding machine



pretty rough work at the beginning ...



.. but after some manual work with various rasps i'm there!



it ain't a beauty, but works flawlessly! :spaceace:



i created a custom token sticker which matches the original 50 cent sticker in size and (font) style

all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Superully

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2011, 06:19:22 PM »

all that's left to do is fill up the globe, but i have some serious unpacking to do before that :o



fruit salad - or sporting equipment!



because the chewing gums are "only" 2 centimeters in diameter, they don't fill up the entire globe, but that's not important, i l-o-v-e that sight! :-*







some final shots of the (cleaned) machine









i might add some more gums later (e.g. reinhold's golf balls), but for now it's time to chew :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #10 on: March 16, 2011, 08:07:04 PM »



Pic of the year for now Ully !

Brilliant !

Did i count correctly if i say +- 2000 balls in there ?

PS. you are a handy SOB my friend  ;D
very creative and solutionfull on the hoppermech!

Well done !


2e PS. my WTF moment of today:



"Camelballs"... "Liquid filled"....  "extra sour"....  :o :o :o  ;D  :lol: ;D
« Last Edit: March 16, 2011, 08:11:10 PM by Etienne »

Muerto

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #11 on: March 16, 2011, 08:10:28 PM »
looking damn nice ully!!!  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

Superully

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Re: chewing its way into my gameroom - The Wizard Gumball Machine(s)
« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2011, 08:49:02 PM »
Pic of the year for now Ully !

thx, i'm a fan of it as well (credits go to charlotte for taking it)

Did i count correctly if i say +- 2000 balls in there ?

a little less, must be around 1800! i might bring it to eurocade, otherwise it will never get empty ;)

PS. you are a handy SOB my friend  ;D
very creative and solutionfull on the hoppermech!

thx a lot, it was a lot of fun to experiment with something different than an arcade coin mech for a change - i was surprised myself that it worked out that flawlessly!

"Camelballs"... "Liquid filled"....  "extra sour"....  :o :o :o  ;D  :lol: ;D

yeah, those are my favorites as well - they are somewhat nasty (if you know what they are supposed to be), but the taste it great. my favorites so far are the destroyers - very sour!

all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!