origin of the vending box?

[steve B]

The K mart near where I lived in Jr High had one of those machines. It was cool, but the cards were more expensive than buying packs. Plus it usually had non-sports in it and football cards well into summer.

I'm pretty sure the machines are still around as the machines that dispense stickers in a cardboard folder. The folder is about 2 cards thick. I don't recall how many cards we'd get but I think it was about 2-3 for a nickel.

Steve B

[frankbmd]

We still have a vending machine in town at the card shop. Several chase cards are added. The kids pump quarters into them. The parents empty their pockets. The owner smiles.

Question which is better? A $10 modern pack with nothing of value inside or a $10 roll of quarters put into the slot with the same result. I'm not sure, so I stick to vintage cards.

[GasHouseGang]

So were some of the earliest vending machines the Exhibit and Mutoscope machines? I bought a set of the Mutoscope pinup cards that came from a "vending" box. I assumed these cards were dispensed from a machine. Is that true?

[GasHouseGang]

Here's some pics of the exhibit machines being offered in Legendary's latest.
Was there anything before these?

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

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

[Jay Wolt]

Old vending & exhibit machines make a great display. The 2 merged in this refurbished one that I picked
up from Huggins & Scott auctions, it fits nicely into my crowded office.
Its about 5' tall and weighs over 50lbs

[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