My husband's 50th birthday is coming up and I know he would love to have one of those soda cup vending machines. Specifically, I'm looking for the type that he seems most fond of, I've seen them, too, back in the 80's but the machines would have been considered aged by then. I believe they were square topped, so probably newer, 1970's maybe? Push button selection for the soda, cup comes out (I remember the cups with the playing cards), fills with crushed ice, then soda. You slide the little door to retrieve it.
I've actually spent quite a bit of time looking around the web for these and there seems to be some pretty limited information about any availability. So I wasn't sure if no one cared for them and they were mostly destroyed, or if they are so collectible that everyone already snatched them all up.
I hope it's not the latter. He would love to have one because it reminds him of childhood days, so we're really not looking for an "antique" but I suppose it is considered obsolete.
Restored is fine, but I'd rather keep it within budget, so he could probably fool around with his own little restoration project if it's not in too bad of condition. He's a disabled veteran and a little tinkering project might be nice.
I've emailed a fellow on here that seemed to be a collector of the cup machines and was selling some of his collection off earlier this year, but haven't heard back yet but it's only been a day. Don't know if he's still active or not.
I'm in the Northeast, don't know if that matters or not as far as getting anything delivered. Road trips in the Northeast are definitely a possibility, but if shipping isn't too bad then I'd go that route I guess.
Please let me know if you can direct me to any for sale. Thank you!
