Has anyone ever seen one of these before? 3 3

[Ken Aldred]

Has manga ever been sold this way in Japan? Use of such vending machines is far more diverse there.

[rakehell]

On 1/9/2024 at 7:58 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

"Once upon a time, you could get your favorite comic books from a machine!

It worked like a snack machine, putting a row of comics on a corkscrew instead of Twinkies.

There was one book in view at the top/front of each of the ten stacks and if you didn't see one you liked, you'd just come back later and there would be other ones showing.

You'd put a dime in one side and two pennies in the other side of a thing like the coin slots on washers and dryers.

Then you'd push it in and pull it back out, turning the corkscrew so that a single comic book would drop off and slide down to a little slot at the base of the unit.

In July of 1966, I saw one for the first time and bought Daredevil #32 and Avengers #44. I still have them!

Sorry to say the machines aren't around any more.

They were re-tooled in 1969 when comics raised their prices from 12¢ to 15¢ and again in 1971 when the price went up to 20¢.

After that, comic prices continued to skyrocket and changed faster than the machines could be retooled, so they were retired instead."

Well, that's me told. 

I'll just sit quietly in the corner...

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/10/2024 at 9:56 AM, rakehell said:

Well, that's me told. 

I'll just sit quietly in the corner...

With the rest of us. No one here's ever seen one!

[Point Five]

This vending machine is cool. Love it.

That said, I first saw this posted on Facebook a few days ago, and lots of guys in the comments were saying that back in the day, they put their money in and couldn't get the book they wanted and were bitter for life towards the machine. If you look at the coin-slots-with-goofy-arrows design for like two seconds you can easily see why that's the case.   

 

[Ken Aldred]

On 1/10/2024 at 1:44 PM, Point Five said:

and couldn't get the book they wanted and were bitter for life towards the machine.

Yup.  I've met more than a few in the hobby who can hold petty grudges like this.

[Point Five]

On 1/10/2024 at 9:44 AM, Ken Aldred said:

Yup.  I've met more than a few in the hobby who can hold petty grudges like this.

Luckily none of them have found their way to the CGC boards. 

 

[Cat]

That is absolutely the coolest thing I've seen today. I want one, practicality be damned. 

[Robot Man]

On 1/9/2024 at 2:13 AM, JollyComics said:

It's like a newspaper box out on the street.  I would not buy it because it drops and damages the book.

Might be hard to comprehend, but there was a time when people just bought comics to actually read. Roll it up in your back pocket and rode your bike home from the drug store…

And yeah, count me in on one of those. I’d figure a place to put it! 

Edited January 10 by Robot Man

[JollyComics]

On 1/10/2024 at 10:55 AM, Robot Man said:

Might be hard to comprehend, but there was a time when people just bought comics to actually read. Roll it up in your back pocket and rode your bike home from the drug store…

And yeah, count me in on one of those. I’d figure a place to put it! 

Yeah, I was a young boy and slept on the comic books on the car floor.  Those books were badly damaged so my parents had to throw them away.  My family was on the long road trip.  I didn't understand the value of the comic book at my age.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 1/10/2024 at 8:44 AM, Point Five said:

and lots of guys in the comments were saying that back in the day, they put their money in and couldn't get the book they wanted and were bitter for life towards the machine.

Some of the comments I read said you could give the machine a good hip check and comics would fall into the collection bin.

Edited January 10 by BlowUpTheMoon
greggy is a dork

[Dick Pontoon]

I'm not convinced. This looks more like a vending machine that was repainted and made to look like a comic vending machine. if I must eat crow somewhere down the road, so be it. I've never seen or heard of such a thing.

[Point Five]

On 1/10/2024 at 1:01 PM, Pontoon said:

I'm not convinced. This looks more like a vending machine that was repainted and made to look like a comic vending machine. if I must eat crow somewhere down the road, so be it. I've never seen or heard of such a thing.

FWIW, some folks on Facebook recognized it and remember using it. It seems like it was only around in the late 60s and early 70s, and at some point the constant price changes of comics were too much to keep up with. Maybe these machines only popped up in certain states that were underserved by regular comic distribution outlets...? No idea though.

 

[Dick Pontoon]

On 1/10/2024 at 2:16 PM, Point Five said:

FWIW, some folks on Facebook recognized it and remember using it. It seems like it was only around in the late 60s and early 70s, and at some point the constant price changes of comics were too much to keep up with. Maybe these machines only popped up in certain states that were underserved by regular comic distribution outlets...? No idea though.

 

I dunno, I'm still not buying it. A few Facebook randos don't cut the mustard, but if somebody like Moondog or Mr. Bedrock said they'd seen one I'd be satisfied. Certain states only does seem like a possibility though I'm still skeptical.

[Get Marwood & I]

https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/444063-comic-book-vending-machine/

[Ken Aldred]

On 1/10/2024 at 3:08 PM, Point Five said:

Luckily none of them have found their way to the CGC boards. 

 

Yup. Absolutely no evidence of that kind of misbehaviour here.

[Point Five]

On 1/10/2024 at 4:25 PM, Pontoon said:

I dunno, I'm still not buying it. A few Facebook randos don't cut the mustard, but if somebody like Moondog or Mr. Bedrock said they'd seen one I'd be satisfied. Certain states only does seem like a possibility though I'm still skeptical.

In the thread Marwood linked to above, @143ksk and @FlyingDonut both say they remember these machines. I think that's as close to board royalty as we're going to get!

 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 1/10/2024 at 11:40 AM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Some of the comments I read said you could give the machine a good hip check and comics would fall into the collection bin.

[Dick Pontoon]

On 1/10/2024 at 4:46 PM, Point Five said:

In the thread Marwood linked to above, @143ksk and @FlyingDonut both say they remember these machines. I think that's as close to board royalty as we're going to get!

 

I didn't see that link. Thanks!

Welp, time for dinner!

 

[grendel013]

They should make a vendo for slabbed comics.

[Lightning55]

On 1/10/2024 at 8:44 AM, Point Five said:

This vending machine is cool. Love it.

That said, I first saw this posted on Facebook a few days ago, and lots of guys in the comments were saying that back in the day, they put their money in and couldn't get the book they wanted and were bitter for life towards the machine. If you look at the coin-slots-with-goofy-arrows design for like two seconds you can easily see why that's the case.   

 

This was for sale on FB? How much was the asking price?