I need some advice...or, share your own addiction stories!

I've...

got a habit.

Maybe an addiction...

And It's not smoking. Not sex. Not drugs. Not alcohol. Not caffeine either. And it's not video games.

Get this...

...It's crane games. The claw ones where you win an animal.

...i think this week I've put in over 40 dollars into them.

Granted, I win. A LOT. Today I put 20 dollars in and I got 4 plush toys out of it.

Yesterday I put a couple bucks in and got a doll too.

The other day, i got 3 after putting 13 in.

I can get a lot of the prizes, most the ones i get after one or two tries. It's the fact that I can wiggle some, or just miss it by a little bit that motivates me for more....

Habits?

Addictions?

How to kick them?

 

When you realize that $20 is too much for $4 worth of stuff is when you should kick the habit. I cant say anything because I got a WH40K Bloodthirster model for an insane price...including paint and brushes and crap.

$40? Damn dude. I'm not too good on breaking habits, I would just suggest thinking about how much money you are wasting, that's how I stopped myself from buying almost every PS2 JRPG just because of the cover.

 

How about having a go at building your own crane cabinet at home and filling it with the prizes you have already won, then you can play it all day long

 

well, unlike with the arcade games most of us collect...

...this is different. It nullifies the point. Granted...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NWT-Spiderman-3-Venom-Black-HANGING-PLUSH-TOY-L1_W0QQitemZ160261963074QQihZ006QQcategoryZ2481QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Justice-League-Unlimited-Batman-plush-toy_W0QQitemZ330018422546QQihZ014QQcategoryZ2480QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

I won those two plus a Thor today alone for 20 bucks....

so...it kinda evens out? because buying them would cost more...

 

Just go back to masturbating and you'll be alright.

And give me the batman.

 

Take up simultaneous smoking and wanking. Fun, with a bit of danger thrown in.

 

4 plushies for $20 sounds like a good deal to me.

nothing beats you playing the crane games at Denny's though. maybe it was because we hadn't slept all night and it was like 7am but it was just hilarious the way you played them. xD

EDIT: good times...

 

yeah in retrospect it seems like a good deal

i dunno, maybe it's because i took so many turns to me it feels like i messe dup...

i mean, it's not like i see a crane game and go AH MUST HAVE ONE and freak out.

but when i start, i can't stop until i win something.

...like when we were at Denny's. I dunno what was funny about how I played them... we were all getting into it. Cheering and yelling. the waitress was staring at us. and the crap we screamed "THE PINK BLOB! GET THE BLOB! YEAH! GO FOR THE SILVER RING! NO THE BLACK FUZZY THING!"

The funniest part though

ME:"DAMMIT OUT OF CASH"
BROTHER: I HAVE LIKE...8 BUCKS
ME: LEMME USE IT
BROTHER: I WAS GUNNA USE IT FOR SOMETHING ELSE...
ME: DAMMIT RAYMOND I HAVE MONEY AT THE HOUSE I'LL PAY YOU BACK!

for the record; the plush ball and chain and metallic purple tweety bird were worth it. especially that ball and chain since the excitement when it pulled out and we were like "WHOA ITS ATTACHED TO SOMETHING...OMG THE BLACK FUZZY THING IS ATTACHED TO THE SILVER RING!"

 

rofl

 

I'll spend less than that in a week for drugs... Maybe I'm just not dedicated.

 

There was a crane machine at the store I used to work at. Whoever owned it (they rented the space from the store) used every cheap carnie trick in the book to get the most amount of cash. Loose claw, pack the prizes too tight to grab, difficult size prizes for the claw, ect. Anyways one time after collecting the cash they put it into a test mode where it would let you try again and again until you got one. And then they forgot to turn it off... Big Mistake.
As you have probably guessed by now I spent all night cleaning that fucker bone dry. I carted off at least fifteen bags of stuffed animals for no more than $25.00. I wasn't there when they came in to restock it but I heard the person about went ballistic when he saw the machine. I bet they never made that mistake again.

 

LOL! there is justice in this world!

 

Yeah I got addicted to Crane Games recently as well.

It all started when I got a Space Invaders MP3 player for 200 yen and now I can't help playing them whenever I go past. It does not even matter if I really want the prize. I got a Evangelion wallet which I will never ever use! I just like to beat the game, it is just like gambling, except very low risk.

So I don't care about it too much. I just set a limit of tries and never exceed it. Just like drinking or coffee. Place a limit on it before you start.

Though this went out the way for the Hokuto no Ken anniversary items that came out a couple of months ago. I just had to have everything...

 

Last time I won something in a crane machine, my friend somehow popped it back into the machine. It was funny but retarded.

 

i tried that. i set 9 bucks today at work. went home. went to a bowling alley.

spent 25 there.

 

Your so fucking rad. Holy Shit. h:

 

lol, omg...

you should be saving your moneys for PAX! OH:

 

hey, i got money for pax.

It's not like i'm putting myself into debt with this.

what I need to save for is my MMPR Red Ranger suit...

 

Were those premium prizes, or were they cheap small ones?

 

I have a claw machine story.

When I first got with my current girlfriend (about 5 years ago) I took her for a weekend away to Blackpool. We were out through the day going on the rides and playing in the arcades when she spotted this claw machine full of 'Bagpuss' cats. 'I want one of those, win me one of those!'

Trying to impress I casually walked over and started filling this machine with 50p after 50p after 50p, no joy. I said to her we would have to leave it for today as we had booked a meal for 7 P.M. that night and it was close to 5 P.M. and we were at least 30 minutes walk back to the hotel. She agreed and off we went.
The next day we returned to win one! I started again, 50p in no teddy out, 50p in..... 50p in..... you get the idea.

I worked out that I had stuck £38 into this machine and nothing! She looked so glum and I was fast running out of cash (too tight to break into yet another note). I turned and looked at her face and said 'this is the last £2, if we don't win one now we are going to leave it'

She looked so disappointed and I felt like a total asshole.

50p and nothing!

50p........... Sure enough I hooked the little fucker and up it started coming.......... 2 of them!!!! The joy on her face was awesome and I was the 'Bagpuss' hero once again, we even had a spare to give to her neice.

Moral of the story - Winning a Bagpuss sure gets you plenty of good loving!