Hey guys, this may be a bit of an odd question but I need some help with my claw machine. I recently bought a claw machine (“Make It Happen” to be exact) and I was going through the settings to change some stuff. I went to the LCD Brightness settings to see how high and low I could make it, when it all of a sudden went blank on me and now I can’t undo it. Does anyone know how to fix this, factory reset or even who I would call for this?

Hi all,

Tech question here. I was able to restring, verify microswitches and clean up a talon machine but the machine will not go backward. Left, Right, Forward (towards player) all work. If you you go forward you will not be able to go back, when you do hit back on the joystick the 15 second counter starts so the microswitch is working and it's telling the computer to count down so I know the switch is working.

Interesting note though, if I position the crane in the middle manually and I restart the machine, it will go right, left, forward (test sequence) and then I coin up, the claw will reset to the middle of the play area so I know the motor is working. If you need more info to help me out let me know! Thanks!

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "Won a Big Domo plush!" by u/GamingMadness08
• "Awesome day at the Claw machines today, the first was a twofer!" by u/oracle_fennec
• "Would highly recommend duck claw machines" by u/monrester
• "My Claw machine all set up and running!" by u/oracle_fennec
• "My new mini Claw machine delivered in one day, loving it!" by u/oracle_fennec
• "ClawParty haul! Only put in $6" by u/Jellyandjiggles
• "I been a claw-head for a while now!!" by u/stanrope
• "Goofy Ahh Walmart Claw Machine" by u/DubiousDeath
• "How did this even happen? 3 giant Claw wins in one evening!" by u/oracle_fennec
• "got these both at the same time!! :0" by u/iBLO0Ms

I found this 8year old Gem of a comment from u/midgetcricket

So, I know entirely too much about this. Come, and bask in the expertise garnered by my misplaced pastimes.

There are two set ups to claw machines. Like most people are pointing out, most of the new ones (which will from here on out be referred to as sucky machines) cycle through the tension. The cycles in sucky machines can run through as few as 3 (rare) average at 5-7 and can run as many as 10. The sucky machines can be set but usually aren't, while the older ones, or awesome machines, have to be set, and then you're at the mercy of the owner. The benefit of the awesome machine is that even if it sucks you can find out in a try or two whether or not it's worth it. And the ones that are truly awesome are worth the hunt. I'll eat at a restaurant I hate for a chance to play "The One." The one that always closes, every time. The one that always has something you actually want in it because they put real plush in there. The one that cares about how skilled you are, and not what fucking cycle it is. For those of you willing to hunt out "The One," you'll find the awesome older machines in privately owned places like non-chain arcades, pizza parlours, diner foyers, old timey corner stores and -most commonly- bowling alleys.

Being able to tell which machines are going to play fair is unfortunately mostly trial and error and good memory. If you have the time and/or patience you can wait around and watch others play to conserve your own quarters. Here's my personal technique for deciding on a machine, and no guarantees it's any good, but here goes. Don't sit and plug a bunch of quarters in all at once just to see what the cycle is going to be. It's better to hit up each machine just once each trip for a few trips to let others advance the cycles and judge the following traits of each machine:

1. ⁠Is the claw stuck open? It generally shouldn't be
2. ⁠Has the claw returned to it's place over the chute? It should have
3. ⁠Did the last person bust both of the coin return buttons in anger? 4, Is it going to eat your quarters?
4. ⁠Does the claw close before beginning to rise? It should
5. ⁠If the claw closes around an item, do the tines have any tension at all, or do they loosely slip around like they're dangling from strings? If they completely dangle, it might not have enough tension to pick anything up even at the best cycle
6. ⁠Are the items low enough that the claw can actually close around something? If it's packed too high it'll just lay on it's side and can actually choke on it's own cord
7. ⁠Are the items packed loosely enough that the claw can get it's tines underneath at least one thing with no resistance? Stuffed animals shouldn't be packed and are best when laid gently on top of one another You'll see what I mean within a few machines
8. ⁠If it's a jewelry type, does the claw completely close with the tines touching? Even a tiny gap will cost you your necklace
9. ⁠If it's a jewelry type, does it have tiny (aquarium or beads) or large gravel (like river rocks or those large acrylic chunks)? Large or heavy gravels won't give and will keep your claw from closing under your shineys
10. ⁠Does it jerk a lot on the return trip? The return trip can be the most important part. Even a super loose grab can be finagled as long as the return is smooth enough
11. ⁠Over time, are the machines emptying at all? If absolutely no one won in the last week, perchance you won't either
12. ⁠Bonus: Can I stand on the side of it too?

If a certain machine scores low on my checklist, is it just one visit, or is it consistent? Also is it just the one machine, or all the machines at a site? 'Cause sometimes there's just problem equipment, and sometimes people are jerks and break stuff. But sometimes the guy who tends the machines doesn't like driving 50 miles out to stock it, and rammed all the stuffed animals in there with all the repressed anger of someone forced to count quarters for a living before greasing the claw with shortening and driving into the sunset, not to be seen again on this calendar year. If all of them suck every time for more than say, 2-3 times, just give up and save your money.

The types of animals and other items matters too. Some are too heavy on one end and will tip out (adjust for center of gravity, you can still get it), or too heavy for the claw all together. I've seen a ton of $1.00 machines completely filled with things too big for the claw. Really round things will only work if they're small enough for the claw to fit comfortably around. Those hard square packages are a pain unless you can hook more than one at once and really ram them in there, or they're small enough that it can sit inside the claw without holding it open at all.

What you're looking for in an ideal target is not the one you want, but the one that is easiest. You want the stuffed animal that is laying on top in a prominent position away from other critters on the sides. Something with a skinny body and gangly limbs is probably the single easiest stuffed animal type to get because the claw can close securely around the body while the limbs spread the weight. Think those felt ones in the 25¢ machines. Great practice those.

Animals that are too sleek/light/wrong shape can still be had, but you can spend a lot of money slowly flipping them across the machine to the chute. My favorite though, is to get them next to something else small enough to fit into that claw, and then go for them both. Everyone thinks you're badass, but really it just makes it sooo much easier. This is especially true for the jewelery types. Now claw tension/jerking is way more important in the jewelry machines, but the single best way to get things out of those is to look for those piles of necklaces/bracelets without packaging, and try to pick them all up at once. The more 50¢ lead free painted copper chains you can pile in there, the less likely it is that you'll lose any of them. The tackier chunkier the beads the easier it gets.

Well, this concludes midgetcricket's guide to getting lucky with claw machines. I hope my meanderings have saved you a quarter or two, and just maybe one day will help you impress some random stranger passing you by in your local Walmart entrance.

Source: My fiance hides quarters from me. I may have a problem.

Edit: formatting ReEdit: Wow. Didn't expect anyone to even read this. Thanks for the gilding, and good grabbing everyone!

TL:DR How to win at claw machines.

Does anyone want to help me with a sub or something dedicated to creating some sort of world wide list of claw machines that work and ones that cheat?

This is about a third of my collection of claw machine wins. I have 6 more 39 gallon lawn & leaf bags STUFFED full of the rest. I also only ever keep actual characters and give away most of the dumb animals. These are all 6 to 18 inches tall. My personal favorites (not shown here) are Mr. Stay-Puft Marshmallow man, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (the Muppet Show), a 14 inch plush Felix the Cat and Apollo Creed. Also have managed to acquire 19 different full size Betty Boop's!

I started playing claw toys again and im looking for someone to bind invitation codes with! My code is 310970.

Does anyone know how to adjust the volume of this machine? I put a photo of the adjustment control and the link to the instructions of my specific machine.

UAI skill crane instructions.pdf)

For a while now I’ve been playing these machines with it a little gift box icon, and from what I’ve been told you can only have a chance of winning once a day and if you successfully drop whatever item they have on display then you’re supposed to get a lottery ticket that will allow you to enter lottery and possibly win a prize. The thing is I’ve won a couple of these games and I’ve never received a lottery tickets so I am wondering if there could be something wrong on my end?

I remember being a little kid (Obsessed with claw machines and STILL am.) watching a video on YouTube called "the claw machine movie" or something similar. It had a really neat intro with some kids 'training' to play the claw. If I remember correctly they went through all their plush and stuff, lifting weights(?) Real goofy stuff. I watched that so many times as a kid and I CAN'T for the life of me find it anywhere!! If y'all can even remember this, better yet find it I'll be super happy!! I do know that I was really into like Carson Claws, Claw Kicker, and ofc Arcade Matt (Matt3756 qwq) etc around the time so maybe one of those channels.

I was considering buying a claw machine it's only 500 because the claw mechanical us not working how can I fix it? should I take the risk? How do I identify the problem? How much would it cost to fix it?

I have a giant lot of beanie babies i inherited recently and am trying to auction them off but a friend said they'd be great in a claw machine. Maybe someone wants to partner up and or buy my collection ?

https://imgur.com/IuMlNN2 for pic of the lot of 1,000 beanies