What is this?

[jgastonl]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1950s-Victor-Half-Cabinet-Coca-Cola-Coke-Themed-Gumball-Vending-Machine-/110929156447?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d3e4995f

I have no idea about gumball machines but I want to restore one to look similar to this.  Any leads?

[Kilroy]

They show up on Ebay and CL fairly regularly.

[MaineT]

Its a Victor gumball machine that someone made into a fantasy machine. Paint it red and white, put coca cola on it, and you can get money for anything.

[pinballdude]

Wasn't it P.T. Barnum who said "there's a sucker born every minute"? Or something like that.
Seen these done in many, many designs. They look good and bring in the dough.
My question...are the machines very old? Seems to be an endless supply.

[Kilroy]

Machines are mostly 1950-70's.  The style didn't change a lot through the years, there really wasn't a need. And think back to supermarket or corner store, how many  were at each store? There's tins of machines out there but i wouldn't pay more than $20-60

[jgastonl]

I like the coke inspired one and since my painter has some of my coke red left over....I think you get the idea.

Is the coke bottle just a normal 8oz bottle with a hole drilled in it?

[Kilroy]

Looks to be a 6 oz bottle. didn't even notice it before. I saw the auction up to $300 for a  $40 machine and was blown away

[jgastonl]

Yes I noticed that too and was like wow.  I definitely need to do a couple of those.

[halehouse]

Looks to be a 6 oz bottle. didn't even notice it before. I saw the auction up to $300 for a  $40 machine and was blown away

Wow. That's a lot of money for something that doesn't even make sense to me. Drink Coke, buy some gum?

[MaineT]

These guys are masters of the shill bid. Do the exact same machine with the same quality and you will not get that many bids that early.... its ebay... everyone waits til the last hour unless its rare.

[Slapshot42]

I bought some locally 2 Accorn machines with 10 cents glass globes on a stand.   I bought the pair for 100.00.  Sanded them repainted the rattled canned and sold them for 180.  They were kinda fun, and super easy.  

The Victors always seem to bring a steady price, the Oak / Accorns are around 45-65.  The Northwestern's seem to bewtween 65-90.  The trick is to make sure they are glass globes, and they are not chipped at the bottom.  I had one shatter in my face when re installing a new lock at the top.  They come in 6 and 8oz globes.  A great site for parts is www.gumballdirect.com

I agree with Halehouse how does gum correlate with coke?  And lastly look for them locally and dont pay much for them.  Fun for the kids, I gave an extra one to a neighbor kid and a 1950 coke ad.  He was so excited to go home and restore it!