Just saw one of these today, and it brought back a world of flashbacks and emotions. Funny how sometimes just an image or one thing can trigger a whole set of memories.
When I was a young child, I used to have random quarters, which I obviously used on these random sticker or toy capsule machines (it spit out a pretty cheap toy). I guess this was our version of getting Happy Meal toys as a kid. Whenever I went to the grocery store or swapmeet with my mom, my siblings and I would ask for a quarter or 2 just to buy some of these random toys.
Was it worth it? Probably not. The pokemon cards we got were also probably fake. And yet, for the small price of 25 cents, it was worth it for the memories. It brought a little light of joy into what would otherwise be a very gift-less upbringing. That was good, because it made our entire family not materialistic at all, and more frugal for the long-term.
I’m sad these machines are slowly disappearing, but I imagine the profit margins are too thin to justify the costs. People are also carrying around cash and coins much less, making these vending machines less feasible in 2023.
