origin of the vending box?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by bowlingshoegiverouterguy

I personally don't remember those vending machines showing up until the late 80's and the vending cases were printed much earlier than that.

It sure would be nice to now how and why these vending cases were made. Did Topps have vending machine that they controled and sent out to hold the cards, otherwise seems strange that they would package the cards such as this with out having a way of knowing they would sell as vending cases.

It wasn't til the late 80's when I started seeing vending machines that offered sportscards and they were made by independent companies.

I think it would be fun to know the exact reason why vending cases were made. Is there a forum that is heavy into Topps?

Lee

The one at a K mart I mentioned above would have been 74-77.

The machines could sell other stuff in the folders, so they weren't always card vending machines, and I'm pretty sure weren't controlled by Topps.

Typically someone would buy the machine, either a store owner or more often a person or company that operated the machines. The machine operator would find places to set the machines up and the owner of the location would get a cut, usually 50%.

A difficult business to get into, as most operators guarded their territory somewhat agressively. By the late 70's many of the same places were doing videogames too. And some operators had ....ahem... connections.

Most of the gumball machine trinkets etc came from wholesalers, and they were probably the primary customers for vending boxes.

I remember going to a wholesaler with dad to get prizes for a church fair game. A whole business built on thousands of plastic kazoos, spider rings, etc.
They're still out there. One of the card shops I used to go to had a primary business of selling that sort of stuff.

Somewhere I have an empty vending box from the 60's. I've wondered sometimes if the vending companies were the reason behind smaller cards in 57.

Steve B

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

Interesting stuff guys, I knew the Exhibits were out of vending machines but had never seen or hears of Topps cards coming out of vending machines until the late 80's.

Steve, Those type of vending machines have been around as long as I remember but usually had stickers in them. It would be cool to see a picture of the inside of a store from the 60's with one of these machines dispensing the cars.

Lee

[Jay Wolt]

Here is a card from a vending machine w/ a bonus vending star stamp.
When disbursed, it could be cashed in at the store for a prize, probably an ice cream, candy bar or a pack of cards.
SGC wasn't familiar w/ it to label it as such, so they lowered the grade because of the stamping.

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

Neat stuff Jay, but how do you know it is not some childs stamp? Is there an article or anything that tells about these vending machines in stores?

Not to question what you have offered, this subject just has perked my interest.

Lee

[Jay Wolt]

Lee, that's the thing, there is no definitive proof, and even if there was.
Anyone can replicate the stamp and create their own. I won it in a Sterling lot
for low $ because I've heard about those vending stamps years ago and thought it would be cool to have.
I have not seen any listed anywhere since. If legit (which it probably is) the majority would have been cashed in to the retailer.

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

Thanks for the input, Jay. The story makes sense.

lee

[steve B]

And I'll bet most of the prize cards got reused.

When a place had a vending machine/videogame onsite there would be occasional problems with a machine not accepting a quarter, especially one that was badly worn or damaged. Later on with videogames the game could have a problem and need to be restarted.

And the business would usually have a handful of marked quarters as replacements. Usually painted or covered with nail polish. The machine operator would remove these and return them to the shop and not count them as part of the take the machine made. Good operators would also use it as a way of telling if the machine had problems.

Steve B

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Lee, that's the thing, there is no definitive proof, and even if there was.
Anyone can replicate the stamp and create their own. I won it in a Sterling lot
for low $ because I've heard about those vending stamps years ago and thought it would be cool to have.
I have not seen any listed anywhere since. If legit (which it probably is) the majority would have been cashed in to the retailer.

[steve B]

And I'll bet most of the prize cards got reused.

When a place had a vending machine/videogame onsite there would be occasional problems with a machine not accepting a quarter, especially one that was badly worn or damaged. Later on with videogames the game could have a problem and need to be restarted.

And the business would usually have a handful of marked quarters as replacements. Usually painted or covered with nail polish. The machine operator would remove these and return them to the shop and not count them as part of the take the machine made. Good operators would also use it as a way of telling if the machine had problems.

Steve B

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Lee, that's the thing, there is no definitive proof, and even if there was.
Anyone can replicate the stamp and create their own. I won it in a Sterling lot
for low $ because I've heard about those vending stamps years ago and thought it would be cool to have.
I have not seen any listed anywhere since. If legit (which it probably is) the majority would have been cashed in to the retailer.

[toppcat]

I can tell you that vending was every bit as big a part of the marketing for Topps as retail when they started selling gum and then cards in the 1930's and 40's. After WW2, when raw materials and distribution networks were flowing again, around mid 1949, vending machines and distribution for them (automatic merchandising in the parlance of the time) were proliferating at exponential rates.

There are known Topps vending packs from as early as 1949 and as pointed out above, other companies, especially ESCO, were into this for a long, long time. The market though started to change only a few years after once nickel gum packs began supplanting penny packs and the single card penny venders were deemed not as profitable, although vending still was a big piece of the pie for many years after. Then vending in the 1960's started to cater more to after market dealers.

I certainly remember buying cards from vending machines in 1970-72.