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Well... after driving a total of 17 hrs, (25 if you count nap breaks, pee breaks and gas)  I went to the Chicago show, and I got in last night. (Even have a story to tell about black ice that I will post in General chit chat)

So, this being my first show, I wasnt sure of what to expect, and the whole drive down, hauling a uhal trailer, and spending 400 on gas, I just kept thinking... what if I dont find anything?
As much as I love the old signs, my walls are taken up with my Toronto Maple Leaf stuff, so no room for that... I love door pushes, as I have many, but my wife hates them, and I can't justify the cost of some of these pushes (300+) to her.
Im too young for juke boxes, and I can't start collecting anything new, cause then I'm a dead man lol....
So with that, I only was there to look at pop machines.  I prefer original ones to restored, yet I won't back out of a restored... I'm not ready to start restoring any machines yet, ($$ space and time, as I have 2 little guys) so any machine has to be original presentable, or restored.....
So at the show, I did my walk through, and had a blast looking at all the stuff (a great coke button caught my eye, but he wanted 1000 for it, and I wasnt ready to deal yet.
My wish list was a 39, 56, 72, 88, or even a 110 or a 81 (Vendo or VMC, even generec)  AGAIN, I didnt know what to expect at the show, but thats my list lol.
So I found a few 39's there.  2 of them were so poorly restored, the lettering looked like they used liquid paper lol.  The one was asking 1000, I guess knowing that the paint is not whats important, rather the body blah blah blah... and an original 39  that I saw (all red) guy wanted 1000 for that one... Drum was spray painted, and the paint looked well used.  Still was a solid machine, from what I know, but not what I was looking for in an original.
I found a VMC 88 coke, where it had been all painted red (like a dull red) MANY years ago, and again, the lettering was done with regular paint I think. (that machine ended up inside the show later) He wanted 1250, and I was gonna think on it, maybe this being my first restor project.
Then while walking around, I talked myself out of the Coke 88, casue I had my wifes voice in my head lol.
So I was now looking for what I could buy, and resell on Craigslist.  I mean, I spent about 500 on gas and the trailer, so I just wanted to get something!! ANYTHING lol...driving back empty would have sucked!
So I wanted to go inside the show, where they were kinda starting to get things set up (I was there at 6am) and my plan was to leave the show by 9am beacuse of the drive and the time change.
So I didnt want to add 50 bucks to the already cost of this trip, so I was ready to go home... but then walked in the back door where people were bringing in stuff, and no one asked for my band... so in I was lol.
And in there, I ended up meeting a good guy, and I bought this Restored VMC 88 off of him, and I am happy with it!  He gave me what I thought was a fair price, (i know what these sell for in original ruff shape, and lets just say that I think we both got what we wanted from the machine)  I got his card, and will be contacting him for my next machine, so getting a contact was great too!
Here is a pic of the machine, and my wife didnt say it was ugly, so its a win win lol

With regards to the show, it is what it is... if I lived closer I would be there 2x a year... but to go there for me, the time, distance, risking my life with black ice lol.. and not knowing if I would find anything... I think I gotta keep with Craigslist for now. (There are no shows like this here in Canada that I know of).
The prices outside were not that low, or what I was expecting from this site... I was thinking 39's would go for 500ish...and the signs outside didnt seem to be moving... maybe cause of the price?

OH ONE MORE THING! lol.. I was wearing my Leaf hat, and when I had the machine loaded up, and older guy told me, "With that hat you are allowed to park anywhere you want!"  He looked like an old Leaf player from the 60's but I thought.,,,.... NAW.. so being in Black Hawk land, I said, are you a fan of the LEafs?  He replied, I guess so as I played for them.,...   BANG.... I said I KNEW it was you (Bob Pulford) I mean this guy is a HOF guy!!!! 4 CUPS WITH MY LEAFS!!!! I was SO happy to have met him, and it just made my day that I now have a Pulford story! He asked me where I live, I asked him how he's doing, etc... he now lives in the area he told me..... So that was a thrill (another story with the machine lol)


Let me know what you all think of my new addition!

Nice machine.  I wanted to go myself.  I just could not make it happen.  Maybe next year I can hit both spring and fall shows. 

Sweet buy,  need to see more Pepsi machine........... Almost went this year but have to work

I like!

And i too will be there one day

Awesome story ! ! !
Congrats on the new acquisition too ! ! !

You should have had him autograph the back of the machine!
Great story to make it a worthwhile trip!

Congrats on your purchase (it looks beautiful) and for the nice story to go with it.  You could even put a small matching Maple Leafs decal on it to dress it up even more, and remind you of meeting a HOF'er.

I am definitely going to make it next year! 

Great looking machine and I am a Coke guy all the way!

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Great story, and too bad we didn't get to meet , but you where on a mission and looks like you accomplished it.. congrats on your purchase.. and too bad you had to be in an out fast... but I understand.

Congrats on the new machine Ed. Looks Great. I love the Pepsi stuff ,as that's what I grew up drinking.
 ,Johnny

Machine looks great.  Love the story too.  Glad to hear your trip was such a success.  I have never been a huge fan of Pepsi but love the look of their machines.  Now just how "old" do you have to be to want a jukebox?

Lol.... I know when I was writing that part about the jukeboxes I would get a reply or two.... and I thought after that here I am collecting machines that area of the same era as a juke box!  Sorry if I offended anyone with that remark  :smile:  I guess I just grew up in a different time, where juke boxes were not in ANY place that I have ever been to as a kid, and so I have no attachment to them.  Although there were never RT machines either in my childhood memories, there were Coke and Pepsi machines around, and I drink more soda that I do breath in air lol.

I can apprciate the jukes, I mean, the detail and workmanship that went into those machines is awesome!

I'm not even 40 yet (few more months lol) and yet I have grey hairs starting up... so I guess I've joined the club as an older guy lol.

 :happydrinkers:

Beautiful machine!!  Congrats!  I know my wife would love it as she's a Pepsi girl thru and thru.  I found an original machine just like that one, but the guy wants $1000 for it...a little out of my range at this point, although I wish I could get it.  Great story and congrats again!!

That  is a lovely machine.. I'm assuming it vends only the smaller bottles??

Dave

Dave,
The VMC88 will vend 6.5oz. and 12oz. bottles; however, it is still a single flavor machine.

Thanks Tom..

Thanks collecture...  :smile:

A fellow member here asked me to post some pics of the 88 next to my 81's just to visually see the difference in size...
So here there are:

Thanks for posting, all the machines look great.

Nice Collection there! :happydrinkers:

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Very nice!!
Thanks
Creighton

Great looking addition to the collection... Wow,, all that room in that basement and only one machine brought home?? we gotta help you fill that up! :biggrin:

That's a nice collection!  Looking good

Man I wish we had basements in Texas!!!   :darn:

Well with a little dynamite... :smile:

Haha, yes, that's what it would take too...a LOT of it.  Mostly solid rock (limestone) pretty much anywhere you go in central Texas.  There are some basements here, but not very many.

I wish we had the Dallas Cheerleaders  :jawdrop: