Wizard Gumball Machine

[hello]

I havent seen allot of talk about the Wizard 5 foot gumball machines. I was wondering if anyone uses them here?

They seem to be a good profit maker as they vend low cost gumballs, but they have been very difficult to place (because of the size).

1. Any advice out there on placing these? what sort of locations would be good?

2. Also if anyone has these, I'm trying to figure out how to take it apart to get to the spiral to clean it.....

3. Has anyone had sucess with these machines?

thanks all.

[that1dude]

I don't have any of these machines personally, but I saw one just like this in our local Blockbuster, so it's possible.

[T BIRD]

Welcome aboard hello. I have seen them in supermarkets here on Long Island. I dont have experience with them though.

Where in New York are you?

[hello]

Hey T-Bird, I actually lived in Long Beach for a few years, Shore Road, on the east side...

Now im closer to Manhattan, trying to build a route around here...

[BluePlate]

I just bought a route and there was one on site at a restaurant.  On my first service, the owner told me to get rid of it.  It had been months since the person I bought it from serviced it.  (This was sort of a bonus location, which was not considered in the value of the route.) 

Anyways from the little experience I have, I bet this thing takes over 2 cases of gumballs - The gumballs where EXTREMELY stale.  The collection is on the bottom, was hard to get the quarters out, but I think you could come up with a collection bucket that would fit.  I have not tried yet to locate it, I do need to clean it.  It will need to go in a high volume location to prevent the gumballs from going stale.  I'm going to try to test and see if bouncy balls will work. By the way, the restaurant owner said it was 5 months since the last service and there was $97 in the machine, and this seemed like a slow restaurant. I'm going to try to clean it this week and see if I can get it on a ski area.

[T BIRD]

Hey T-Bird, I actually lived in Long Beach for a few years, Shore Road, on the east side...

Now im closer to Manhattan, trying to build a route around here...

That's a nice spot there hello by the ocean.  Good luck to you with the vending.  Let us know how we can help along the way.

[hello]

thanks, I'll keep you all posted when I find my 5 foot friend a home.

[formula81]

I've got some of those 7' tall antique gas pump gumball machines in convenient store type locations and they do well. they hold about 3000 gumballs, but they don't go stale in a good location. at .02 per vend they are profitable. get that thing cleaned up and located and report back.

[shvend]

I have one of those machines out on location in a super market. They do very well in high traffic locations. They are also in my experience hard to clean as far as getting into the spiral. Good luck with it!

[hello]

yeah. I was unable to get to the spiral. i didnt want to disassemble the entire machine trying...

I'm loading it with at least 1700 gumballs (2 850 packs). 1700 gumballs will fill the globe about half way (anything less would look silly) . How long do gumbals last anyway before they go stale/bad? I figure its better to have the gumballs stay in the machine (moving or not moving) then sitting in my house (waiting). So what is gumball expiration? anyone? I'm using 1 inch Double Bubble gumballs.

[AmuseStar Vending Co]

I keep mine up to a year in sealed containers.

Kyle

[dperry]

I'm loading it with at least 1700 gumballs (2 850 packs). 1700 gumballs will fill the globe about half way (anything less would look silly) .

I never had a wizard, but I did have a thought about it.  What if you took a child's 8"-10" plastic/rubber ball, cut holes in the top and bottom and fit it over the thread rod.  Position it so the globe and the ball had the same center.  That way it would take up some room in the globe, and make it look like you had more gumballs in there than you did.  The ball would be nice and colorful so it looks like it belongs in there.

Anyways, if you put in a full case of gumballs instead of 2 of them, it would look like it was filled up more than half way.  You could then stretch your service to 2 months.  Gumballs last that long at least.

[shvend]

I never had a wizard, but I did have a thought about it.  What if you took a child's 8"-10" plastic/rubber ball, cut holes in the top and bottom and fit it over the thread rod.  Position it so the globe and the ball had the same center.

What an excelent idea.  Less product waste this away!!!

[hello]

Darryl, good thinking outside the box, I like how we're bouncing ideas off eachother (get it).

I may look into that. But I do wonder if the rubber smell of the ball would taint the gumballs somehow, making them smell/taste differently.

[dperry]

Darryl, good thinking outside the box, I like how we're bouncing ideas off eachother (get it).

I may look into that. But I do wonder if the rubber smell of the ball would taint the gumballs somehow, making them smell/taste differently.

Try a different option.  Go to Michaels and get a large styrofoam ball and paint it with acrylic spray paint.  I don't think it will smell like a rubber ball would.

Or try something else.  Put in large plastic toys or stuffed animals.  They won't vend but they will take up the room just like the ball.  It might also attract the attention of the kids.  

Heck!  Why not just put in a whole bunch of balls like you find ball pit at chucky cheese.  Get a bunch of those, put them in the dishwasher to clean and sterilize them, and then put them in the globe with the gumballs.  They look like large gumballs, they won't vend; they will just sit in there, and they shouldn't interfere with the vending of the real gumballs.

But don't let them have the impression that they would get the 'toys' if they put a quarter in the machine.  That could be considered false advertising.

[dperry]

I've often thought about doing something similar for candy vending.  As you know, a NW Super60 has a LARGE globe and i don't know of any vender who fills up a whole globe with candy.  Yet it looks so silly to have only about 2"-3" inches of candy in the machine, no matter how slowly it moves.

The idea of putting one of those toy balls on the center rod of a Super60 might also work for candy vending.  Or maybe 3-4 of the ball pit balls would work too.  Just thread them on the center rod like a k-bob.

Or, you can go to Lowes or Home Depot, and get a few lengths of 4" PVC pipe like they use for drainage ditches.  Cut it to lenght where it will sit in a globe, then drill holes around one end.  The holes should be big enough to allow the product to fit through them, so figure at least 1-1/4 inches.  Put one or two rings of those holes round one end of the pipe and paint it.  Put it in the globe so that the holes are in the bottom.

This should cut the globe volume by almost half and make it look like you have more product in there than you really do.

[dperry]

I'm thinking of something like this, with the small toy balls skewered on the center rod.

[hello]

wow nice ideas everyone...

I like the toy (ballpit) balls idea on the center rod like a k-bob.

Maybe also with a larger ball placed at the bottom to take up greater space.

I also think this would look interesting, attract customers, and hide that ugly rod in the middle.

[hello]

o yea also nice picture Darryl

[dperry]

wow nice ideas everyone...

I like the toy (ballpit) balls idea on the center rod like a k-bob.

Maybe also with a larger ball placed at the bottom to take up greater space.

I also think this would look interesting, attract customers, and hide that ugly rod in the middle.

I generally use oak vista 300's for my candy vending.  I measured it and it looks like a single 6" ball will work well for this.  With the holidays coming up, maybe I can find one that looks like an xmas tree ornimant.

This sounds like a whole new cottage industry for vending, much like the guy who makes and sells 2for1 gumball wheels.  Make several items that will take up space in a vending globe.. how about a xmas tree or snowman for the holiday seasons, or single 6" toy ball that looks like a basket ball, baseball, or football?  How about a spaceship, or a monster eyeball, or a clown head?  Anything that will take up space in the head and make it look more attractive to young buyers would prolly do well.

[AmuseStar Vending Co]

Darryl,

I like your creative thinking.

However, I am going to have to give you a thumbs down. Its not that I don't think that your idea is bad, it is just that I for one think it would look so very tacky. I would like to see your idea inside on of your machines before I really judge it.

Kyle

[dperry]

Darryl,

I like your creative thinking.

However, I am going to have to give you a thumbs down. Its not that I don't think that your idea is bad, it is just that I for one think it would look so very tacky. I would like to see your idea inside on of your machines before I really judge it.

Kyle

On my next cycle the weekend after this one, I will be making doubles out singles at 2 locations.  I will be adding a skittles head to an existing gumball head at those locations.  I will do some shopping for some possible 'volume expanders' during this time.  I'll take some pictures and show my findings.

[ButlersVending]

What if you took a child's 8"-10" plastic/rubber ball, cut holes in the top and bottom and fit it over the thread rod.  Position it so the globe and the ball had the same center. 

Darryl,

With a similar machine I took a large plascit peanut butter jar, with a plastic lid. After washing it in my wife's dishwasher, I drilled 1/4" in the top and bottom of it, then spray painted it the same color as the machine. I used it as you'd mentioned. It had the effect of making the machine look fuller than it really was, and consequently kept the product fresher, too.

Bob

[T BIRD]

A helpful thread like this is why this this site rocks!

[dperry]

What if you took a child's 8"-10" plastic/rubber ball, cut holes in the top and bottom and fit it over the thread rod.  Position it so the globe and the ball had the same center. 

Darryl,

With a similar machine I took a large plascit peanut butter jar, with a plastic lid. After washing it in my wife's dishwasher, I drilled 1/4" in the top and bottom of it, then spray painted it the same color as the machine. I used it as you'd mentioned. It had the effect of making the machine look fuller than it really was, and consequently kept the product fresher, too.

Bob

Thank you Bob!  That is exactly the reason I was considering this action.  Like I said, I'm planning to branch off from single gumballs and will start selling other candy items and soon will have racks too.  One of the main reasons I pulled back initially to doing only gumballs and dropping candy was the awful spoilage that occurs with candy.  Anything I can do to reduce the amount of candy in a globe yet make it still look nice and full will make me feel much better about this transition of mine.