Pinballing #3 - Big Fun

Pinballing #1: Doctor Who - Pinballing #2: Gas Attack

There's a lot of great pinball machines out there but there's only one that can claim to be the World's Largest.  Ok, so these were commercially produced so there's technically several of them out there but we found one and faced the "Hercules":

This particular specimen was found at Pinballz Kingdom in Buda, TX (just south of Austin).  The place is full of tons of retro (and newish) pinball and arcade games but this one is the arcade's pride and joy and is positioned right in the center of the action.  Here are a couple of closer angles:

          

 A little Googling also led us to this promotional poster:

Hopefully one day you'll get to experience the Hercules yourself in all its glory!

Penny Press #10 - Bass Pro Shop in Garland, TX

Penny Press #9 - -  Penny Press #8 - -  Penny Press #7 - - Penny Press #6

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

 

The holiday shopping season brought us to the Bass Pro Shop.  And like all places should, they had a Penny Pressing Machine.  Here are the options:

It lloks like they've got a wolf and a goat which definitely goes along with the outdoor theme.  Of course they have the logo but what really stands out is the Anteater.  I assume that's an anteater.  Despite the temptation, I went with the logo:

It has the town name too which will help when I procure more Bass Pro Shop pennies from different locations.

 

Fresh Fare

Who says vending machine food isn't healthy?

CLTV Reports:

Penny Press #9 - Charlotte, NC

 Penny Press #8 - -  Penny Press #7 - - Penny Press #6

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

 Our recent trip to Charlotte, NC was yet another opportunity to smash a penny.  This smash happened at the Discovery Place kid's science museum.

The options included Einstein, some sharks (I think), the Charlotte skyline and a parrot:

Normally I'd go for something that specifically relates to the place where I smash but this time I went for the skyline.  I'm not sure if I'll see another penny smasher while I'm here so that should cover me for my whole Charlotte stay.

Health Scare

CNN Reports:

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: