Gumball Machine and Pikachu (Valentine's Day Boxes 2023)

What a great dad! That gumball machine is catalog material, don’t you think?

8 Likes

It would be tough, it is designed for a specific plastic fish bowl and box size.

7 Likes

Family asks and you provide! Do the gum balls taste slightly of pg draft board? Enquiring minds want to know…

7 Likes

LOL

That was a concern I had, but no, they taste fine. No burnt smell or flavor transfered.

6 Likes

So do I! Now, I want one. Very cute and cool.

7 Likes

But could you submit the gear mechanism with something like a 5" sq box and maybe use a mason jar? Everyone has access to mason jars. :thinking: :grin:

7 Likes

So fun!

7 Likes

That would be interesting… Maybe I could try that. Jar openings are fairly consistent, I think?

And it would be smaller. But that might make it more difficult too…

6 Likes

Mason jars are standard regardless of brand, and have two sizes, “regular” and “wide-mouth.” Wide mouth would probably be easier and have much bigger openings. The jars themselves come in different sizes, from half-pint to gallon, but the mouth sizes are the same two sizes regardless of the size of jar.

If you need a “tester,” I’d be happy to help! :grinning:

7 Likes

Who wouldn’t love a gum ball machine?! Very fun project. Also, the Pikachu is adorable.

5 Likes

There is a plastic jar that is very standard which all sorts of things are sold so you could buy the jars or the products and use the products first and then use the jar.

4 Likes

My wife said she was going to take the gumball machine and keep it on her desk at work. My daughter said, “But it is mine!”

I just laughed. I will let them determine what happens with it now.

I probably do need to make at least one more…

8 Likes

Wow! Is that the first GF gum-ball machine? That is cool!

4 Likes

I would be surprised if it was first. I thought I heard of someone else doing one once.

Yep, here is one from 2015:

3 Likes

Awesome!!!

4 Likes

These are great! Those are some very lucky kids.

3 Likes

This idea of a mini gumball machine using a mason jar might work.

I will attempt to address some issues experienced with the original. Sometimes the gumballs get into a position where they won’t fall into the holes, so I am adding an “agitator” to keep the balls moving until they fall in.

If I can get this working, I will try to create detailed instructions and submit it to the catalog.

7 Likes

I found these small 10oz mason jars.

So I am going to try this out with these.

@ellencadwell I may have you test it out for me also, once I get some instructions and have finalized a few details. :wink:

4 Likes

For future reference - and if you ave them locally - Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Joann carry a variety. Also the canning section in Wally and the like…

4 Likes

Good to know! I will probably try out a variety of them.

I also noticed that these gumballs are about the size of the marbles for my marble machine, so maybe it could eventually evolve into a gumball-run dispenser…

5 Likes