Penny Press #8 - Great Wolf Lodge

Penny Press #7 - - Penny Press #6 - - Penny Press #5
Penny Press #4
Penny Press #3  - - Penny Press #2 - - Penny Press #1

A weekend trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TXbrought about another penny smashing opportunity.  This one even has its own penny pinching mascot:

As far as design choices go, we have a couple of the GWL characters, a magic dragon and what looks like a grazing longhorn.  Maybe just as a Texas thing?

We went with Violet:

Vintage Vending at Mickey's

While we were in Minnesota we had to stop and eat at the world famous Mickey's Dining Car in St. Paul.  They've got a great greasy breakfast that we highly recommend.

Inside the vintage trappings of the Art Deco diner we found a few vintage treasures.  At the booth was a Seeburg Wall-O-Matic tabletop jukebox:

And right behind where we sat was an old Watling Scale Co. scale.  For two cents you can get what might be your accurate weight:

Penny Press #7 - Soudan Underground Mine

Penny Press #6 - - Penny Press #5 - - Penny Press #4
Penny Press #3  - - Penny Press #2 - - Penny Press #1

It's always a good idea to take some change with you when you travel.  You never know when a penny smashing opportunity will present itself.  A recent trip to Minnesota provided some squashed penny goodness.

This beauty was waiting for me at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park.  Even if you aren't looking for a new flattened penny, I still recommend stopping by and taking the tour.  

Options include a generic Minnesota State Park campfire, the mine elevator and a bat.  I went with the location specific elevator design:

 

Sausage Fest

I'm surprised that it took so long for society to produce a hot dog vending machine.  Sure, I only recently found out they exist, but apparently they are more common then you'd think.  Look at how many I found:

Found in Toronto via this blog with an insanely long name

via Whatever Dee Dee Wants

Found in New York via PopSugar

Found in Berlin via Head Injury Theater

via Delish.com

Pick n Mix

Another cool new candy machine:

'Stache Stash

If you find yourself hairless and in need of a quick makeover the Mustache Vending Machine will help you bring out your inner swankiness:

Penny Press #6 - Sea Life Aquarium

 Penny Press #5 - - Penny Press #4 - - Penny Press #3 

Penny Press #2 - - Penny Press #1

Once again it's penny smashin' time!  Our latest smash happened at the Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine.  At the end of the fishiness one finds this beauty:

Today's choices are shark, octopus, starfish or stingray.  We went with the starfish.

And here is the end result:

Another day, another smashed penny.

Fast Key

Good news: your key copying needs can now be served "vending machine style"!  Introducing the Fast Key:

This was spotted in a North Texas Walmart.

Beer Pong Arcade Machine

Beer Pong is a thing that a lot of people do apparently.  In related news, the Beer Pong Arcade Game now exists:

It's made by Bay Tek Games and the good folks FoodBeast.com took the time to videotape a little game play:

Penny Press #5 - Fort Worth Zoo

Penny Press #4 - - Penny Press #3 

Penny Press #2 - - Penny Press #1

A trip to the Fort Worth Zoo leads to another opportunity to smash a penny!  This is one of several machines around the exhibits:

Of the choices available I went with the lion:

Which I assume is loosely based on this sleepy lion at the zoo:

Doctor Who Soda Machine

Why not celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who with a cold beverage?  Here's a custom Tardis soda vending machine:

This beauty can be found at Epic Comics in Orlando, FL.  You can see more pictures (including construction) at ObviousWinner.com.

Wonka Machine

I stumbled across this guy in a mall in Jackson, MS:

I didn't have any cash on me so I couldn't give it a spin but fortunately I found this video online:

Scrumdiddlyumptious!