so i was at walmart buying dinner for tonight yes? yes. and i pass the crane games on the way out when something catches my eye... an adorable little green christmas penguin with a santa hat. there's just something about him that says "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" so i spend my pocket change. which is usually a no for me. i stash all my change in my change jar so i can save up for a baby applejack. well i couldn't get him!! he's so close to the edge and i used up all my pocket change. so i go home and i do the unthinkable. i break into my baby applejack fund. OHNO... i'm headed back to try to get him again. has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them? a toy from a crane game? i think i only ever won 1 stuffed toy from a machine. i just have no skill. but i'm about $5 in at this point, i just can't walk away from him now. he's so close!

I don't do crane games for that very reason. LOL I get too invested in trying to get the toy I'm after.

However, my sister is AMAZING at those things. If she sees one with a toy she thinks she can get, she'll play. I often keep a few quarters at the bottom of my purse just for this purpose. Her skill is legendary. though usually she wants the challenge, not the toy. She'll frequently donate the toy to a charity or just give it to the nearest kid she sees.

i wish i had her talent!!! lol i ran out of quarters and still didn't get him poo.
i don't know how some people can be so amazing at those games!

I have an uncanny skill with crane games, but here's the thing - there's no real "strategy" to them that I could ever document. I guess it's just your level of hand/eye coordination. That said, I haven't lost to a crane game in 14 years. I wish I was around to get your penguin. <3

Only one time I've ever managed to get a stuffed animal in a crane game... and this was a crane game at a bowling alley where my school has an After Prom party back in my senior year in high school. Rest of the time, I have such poor luck winning anything.

I wish you luck on getting that cute Christmas penguin from the crane game.

Is there any way to get crane game plushies without having to play a crane game?

Wardah wrote:

Is there any way to get crane game plushies without having to play a crane game?

When I lived in Houston, I'd see them in bulk sometimes at shops in the Asian district.

I'm pretty good at crane games, though haven't played them in a bit as I'm not often too interested in the plushies themselves so much as the win(re: those plushies I was only halfway interested in tend to pile up). Though I do have one I won from a crane game that's my favorite, a penguin that when you push his belly he makes this weird 'penguin?' gurgling noise and says 'Howdy Partner, my name is Tux Rux(sp?).' It's so weird.

Good luck in getting your penguin though, it sounds cute!

Eviecorn wrote:

Wardah wrote: Is there any way to get crane game plushies without having to play a crane game? When I lived in Houston, I'd see them in bulk sometimes at shops in the Asian district.

Heh, when I was visiting my cousin in Guangzhou I'd often go shopping around Haizhu Square and there's this one big mall-type thing there(blanking on the name) and one of the lower floors of it is nothing but shops filled to the brim with plushies, the majority of which are the types you'd win in crane games, lol.

I'm really good at these games, I've always got what i'm after, i've actually snagged two prizes at once before and gave the extra to the first kid i've seen.

It's weird with me. When I was a little kid, I was really bad at them and tended to lose every time I tried. When I was a teenager, I magically had skill. Now as an adult, that skill is gone.

I'm like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight. I know how you feel though. When I took a school trip to Japan back in 2007 I spent so much money trying to get Disney and Pokemon toys.

Here's a clip from a British show called Brainiac: Science Abuse -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JejiJ-RgLVc

Hopefully that will help some!

Saiko wrote:

Here's a clip from a British show called Brainiac: Science Abuse - www.youtube.com/watch?v=JejiJ-RgLVc Hopefully that will help some!

so to win i have to pay $100 to wait for it to be able to grab, or i have to break into it and change the box XD
poor penguin >.< i'm tempted to try one last time. he didn't even budge when grabbed at him. the claw was perfectly around him, if it were a little stronger grasp i might of had a chance, but its like it doesn't even try to close, its too weak.

Saiko wrote:

Here's a clip from a British show called Brainiac: Science Abuse - www.youtube.com/watch?v=JejiJ-RgLVc Hopefully that will help some!

Yepp I learned this a long time ago. When everyone says they're rigged, yes, they actually are. Most stores keep theirs on the loosest claw setting , so winning anythnig is virtually impossible.

One machine at a bowling alley I used to go to had their claw on the highest grip, and I won every time. Then the bowling alley burned down no more stuffies for me!

Gahhh I know how you feel. I've never gone back to a crane machine, but I've spent more money than I should trying to get what I want. Once I've used a couple dollars, I usually won't quit unless it starts getting really ridiculous. I'm not bad at them, but I'm not the best. I remember once I was at a Denny's (or some similar breakfast place?) and I wanted this neon green rhino plushie...I got him, PLUS another plushie was snagged onto his tag, so I got two prizes. I was ecstatic. :'D

Despite all the wasted money and usually low quality prizes, I LOVE CLAW MACHINES. They're just fun.

gargoylekitty wrote:

Though I do have one I won from a crane game that's my favorite, a penguin that when you push his belly he makes this weird 'penguin?' gurgling noise and says 'Howdy Partner, my name is Tux Rux(sp?).' It's so weird.

This made me giggle. What a strange toy. XD

I've never had any luck at crane games, I swear the ones I try are rigged as the grabber doesn't even seem to try and grab things properly and they don't seem to go the right way.