July 1986 [2)
STAR*TECH Journal
Adjust Your Crane
by Frank ''lhe Crank' Seninsky
Alpha--Qnega Arnuserrents & Sales
Edison, NJ 08817
In last rronth's section, I reco:rranended
setting your crane up to award 25% to 30%,
bas~ solely on keeping an average price
per item of around 80 cents. To further
refine your percentages (or make them work
for a perticular item), there are a few
adjustrrents that you must be aware of.
'lhese adjustrrents are detailed for the BIG
CTIOICE crane, but also apply in general to
other makes of cranes that have well made
claw rrechanisms.
"Crazy Balls" -Sorre operators have gone
crazy with this nationally advertised item
and have corrpletely filled up three bays
of a triple crane with them. "CrazyBalls"
sell for about $11/dz and can be loaded
e~ther bagged, in their clear wrapper, or
without the wrapper.
Adjustrrents:
1) 'I\lrn the ':r;ot' on the :r;ower supply
board to the "weak" :r;osition
(counter-clockwise); 2) Set the 'claw
opening' to the smallest opening using the
cam adjustrrent; 3) Adjust the collar
"upwards" on the claw coil cylinder which
makes the claw tension still weaker yet.
Now, the crane will work for you! The claw
ITUst be able to slip around these very
light weight large balls.
"Puff Gun" -i~. a 'nerf' ball on a 5 foot
string that is shot from a gun. A 'Puff
Gm' costs about 40 cents, but it is so
light in weight, that the claw rrust be set
up special to handle this item correctly:
Adjustrrents:
1) Set the :r;ot to "weak"; 2) Adjust the
claw ~pening cam setting to "half-way";
3) AdJust the collar on the coil cylinder
to a "medium" :r;osition, which is about a
1/2" above the bottom stop.
"Pound Puppies" - These are also
nationally advertised and can be ordered
fr~m Roset~e Doll Co. (215/668-8392),
Philadelphia, PA. and Smile International
(617/869-7100), Framingham, MA.
Adjustrrents:
All the claw settings can be put on
'medium' for this item. A "Pound Puppy"
comes in 'sit-up' and 'lay down' rrooels,
and in different sizes ranging in cost
from $2.00 to over $5.00 each. I reco:rranend
using the 'sit-up' type because it's a
little bit harder for the claw to grab
these then the 'lay down' kind. Due to the
high price of this item, operators have
been able, in sorre areas of the country,
to get 50 cents per play on their cranes
by using the higher priced "Pound
Puppies".
arHER 'Im' CRANE ITEMS: "Tootsie Footsie"
($9/dz); "Silly Snake" ($9/dz); 3"
"Wrestlers" ($8.25 dz); "Unicorns" (25
cents to $2 each). Dan Brechner and Nancy
Sales have these items (see Jun86 S*TJ).
In general, the public goes for animal
figures in cranes (dogs, cats, birds,
etc.) and usually doesn't like objects
such as stars or cones, unless you can use
a nationally known novelty. 'lhe main
exception to this is "Dice", which
probably is the all tirre best selling
crane item.
SKIL-0-BIIG)
If you are searching for rederrption
equiprrent to corrplirrent skee-ball,
"WHAC-A-IDLE", and "POP-A-SHOI'" (all
ticket dispensing garres), next take a good
look at "SKIL-
Controls and distributed by Betson (I have
40 units on location so far).
Models are available with either token
hoppers or ticket dispensers. Everyone
seems to know how to play Bingo but this
garre attracts mainly worren. Maybe it has
sorrething to do with the 'stool' that Mom
can use to rest and play for awhile, as
her family plays video garres for hours.
There are dozens of skill feature
a~justrrent~ (speed of flipping card deck,
time to skill stop, nurrber of skills
token or ticket award for each of 14'
d~fferent ways to win). I reco:rranend going
with the hopper rrooel just because the
'sound of the tokens splashing out' down
the front glass panel is an attraction by
itself.