The live lobster vending machine (in Japan of course)

You can buy almost anything from a vending machine in Japan. So it's no surprise to find a machine fashioned after the old UFO catcher crane-and-claw-based arcade games vending live lobsters in Sapporo. 100 yen (less than a buck) is a bargain price for a potentially tasty dinner — not to mention the hearty guffaws to be had watching children (and Alec Baldwin) scream in horror.

[Bigpicnic @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

This site:

http://www.lobstergame.com/

seems to be an american distributor of same.

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I like how I'm reading this while in Japan.

Haven't seen anything like this tho.. but I'll say one thing, the fries in the vending machine are soggy as hell.

[unsupported @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I won a lobster from one of these machines like 10 years ago! It was not a bad one either. ;)

-un

[J. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

The one in Japan is a bargain. I've seen one here in the US. It's at the Weathervane restaurant in Kittery, Maine. They get a healthy $2 per try. And it's not as easy as it looks. The lobsters usually squirm their way out of the claws.

[QUANTUMPHYSICS - XboxLive @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Technically, I don't think it is a "vending machine" since you are not guarranteed a lobster.
I think you should call this a "game"

[puddy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

There's one at a wing place in Jacksonville FL. $2 a try. Buffalo's http://www.buffaloscafe.com

[Dave @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

The claw chooses who will stay and who will go.

[Chs @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Dicks Last Resort in San Diego has one of these machines. It's 2$ a shot, and one time I actually got two lobsters in one go. It's awesome. A week ago when I was there last I didn't manage to win, but if you do they will cook it for you and serve it up with complimentary fries.

[Phil Oye @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

#11, J,

Which NYC bar?

[Killian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

It's spelled "Sapporo."

[Seth @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I saw one of these in a restaurant in Boston on Boylston Street a few years ago. I have no idea if it's there anymore. It was fairly expensive to play ($5 or so) but if you caught one, they would cook it for free.

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

The have one of these at Tug Boat Annies in Dania Florida, after you catch it (if you catch it) they will cook it for you.

[Thomas Ricker @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Oops, thx killian.

[key @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

You certainly don't have to go to Japan to find weird food machines, just check out these babies: http://kasparius.com/kasblah/?p=6

[john ford @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

The Bluefish on Fort Lauderdale Beach has one. 2 bucks a shot, and if you get it, they cook it. One hint is to drop the claw one time to get the bugs movin and agitated, then go for a second shot on an individual. 4 bucks for a lobster ain't bad.

[koz @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I'm in the coin-op game biz, we had this machine show up at a trade show about 8 years ago so it's been around a while.

I've seen stories of people dropping $200 into it just to win a $25 lobster dinner.

There are also machines in japan that let you try to catch a goldfish. If you can scoop one up with the joystick, the game bags it for you and you can take it home. We tested a model here in the states, the kids broke into the game and stole all the goldfish. Plus it gets REAL stinky after a while.

[Torin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

They had one of these a few years ago @ Whiskies in Boston. It's gone now.

Disclaimer: I know Whiskies sucks. My friend likes it... ya, that's it my friend likes it.

[SteveNYC @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Saw one in Boston years ago in a bar where we were watching the Yankees beat up the Red Sox. Don't know how we avoided getting into a fight.

But we laughed our asses off. If you caught a lobster before 11 PM, they would cook it for you. I don't know what the heck they did after 11 though!!

It IS cruel, but it IS funny.

[Bradley G @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

There is one at Dick's Last Resort in San Antonio as well. Great place, they serve Mad Dog 20/20!

[alindy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Seen one at a local seafood resteraunt in Okoboji, Iowa. The owner claimed that with all the customers trying to win the lobster, he was able to finance his daughter's college education.

[brownopher @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Ha ha #12.
Great quote.

[Josh @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I'm in Jacksonville, FL. There are at least four places I know of around here that have these (including the landing). I've seen them in action plenty of times, but I've never seen anybody catch one. I'm pretty skeptical that one of those claws could actually grab a lobster.

[John Blacksheep @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Yes this is nothing new. Had went out with a bunch of friends to a place down here (south florida) called Tzers Lounge I think. They had one. In any case, a friend and another guy both won one. We all made a circle on the would be dance floor of this place, and pitted the lobsters against each other in a duel to the death. It was 0 and 0 by the end of it with neither lobster emerging victorious. Here is a pic..though I have more of the machine and winning em somewhere.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=63545&imageID=194448498&Mytoken=9D2C061F-3DFA-4DB9-BA8807D072C607F51660784500

As far as "vending machines" and live creatures are concerned. I was visiting someone in Arkansas and we stopped at a gas station/food mart and they had a bait vending machine outside with all kinds of squirmy, slimy, alive things in it from minnows to crickets to worms.

[Bryan Price @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Well, my local place to play this game is http://www.whiteysfishcamp.com/

$5 a pop, I believe, although they do have a big one there for the grabbing.

[some dude @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

The bar with one of these in lower Manhattan that J referred to above is the Dakota Roadhouse:

http://www.google.com/local?q=dakota+roadhouse&hl=en&hs=2Gc&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=X&near=New+York,+NY&radius=0&latlng=40714167,-74006389,1919375683411162414

[Pureboy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Saw one in 2000 in Kobe, Japan. Freaked me out.

[Ben @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I saw this in Japan in Kyoto in 2000 and it cracked me up. We took a couple of pics but did not see anyone play it.

[Joe Smithy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I just need to wait for some girl's skirt that turns into a lobster vending machine!

[Ben @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

They had one of these at "Grille 93" outside Boston a few years back.. after seeing a comedy show there and having a few drinks, I had to try my luck at this.. When the game starts, music and flashing lights begin, and to all of our horror, the lobsters all shot to the corners of the tank as if they knew what was coming.. a truly disturbing experience.

[Jeff D @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

We've had these in Hawaii for a while.....and there sure is nothin like clawing you a good dinner....MWAHAHAHA!

[Robb @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Big Whoop... I was in Humperdinks in the late 90s and they had one of these... $2 a shot and if you won, they'd cook the little darling and add a potato and a side or $7.

[homer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

what? there is one of those machine here in jacksonville, florida. (in the landing)
it costs $2-3.

So... (in Japan of course) but (Usa too).

where's the animal rights association???

[bob @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I want one with cats inside.
I want a caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

[Josh @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I saw one at a resturant in Portland Maine this summer. It was $5. It had an out of order sign on it, which my stepmother theorized was placed by the lobsters in the hope of living longer.

[Ana @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I saw one of these while visiting a friend in Pittsbugh, Pa.

[d @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Don't get the Alec Baldwin reference... could someone please explain?

[John Williams @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I saw something like this at least 7 years ago at a restaurant called Barnacles in Atlanta, GA

[SR @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

when i was in osaka on transit just overnight my japanese experience was hella freaky. i get out of the airport and this guy comes up to me, claims to be a police officer and then starts asking me questions...

i get to the hotel room... it's tiny!! :lol: good pr0n though was available on the pay-per-view.

oh, we were talking about vending machines. i got one of those rice-and-curry deals, where you pull some strings and a few minutes later the whole container is like boiling. i was like, :wow:

[Varroa @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I saw one of these in Jacksonville Florida!

[Lababidi @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Try the landings at Jacksonville, FL. Paticularly during the Annual Florida/Georgia Weekend where lots of drunks drop plenty of money on this.

[Kabir @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Whiskey's in Boston has this; I'm sure lots of places around the US do. I had a friend play just for fun, but he finds anything with an exoskeleton overwhelmingly gross, so he put the lobster back after winning.

[mandolinsrock @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

I actually caught one at a restaurant in florida once. I don't remember the restaurant, but they cook it for you if you win. The best way is to hope for one in the front left corner, because the drop box makes a little hallway there. I actually found it easier than the regular crane games with the stuffed toys.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

My brother-in-law won one in a bar in South Florida a few years ago. I'd be wary of something like this, it seems as though they would be way more likely to be swimming with their own filth.

[Tim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

This isn't new at all. At the superbowl last year almost everyone in Jacksonville saw they at the landing. It was a good chance to win a cheap lobster dinner.

[Blue Balloon @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

American have one.... here in Texas at Humpdinks where I see vending of lobster in Irving, TX.

[JYU @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

This is friggin' awesome! Anyone have a clue as to how much it costs for one of these machines?

Thanks,
John
http://www.deliveryblog.com/

[J @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

There is one of these at a bar in the financial district in Manhattan, NYC.

If you catch a lobster they steam it for you and serve it with butter.