VMC-81 Manufacture Listings & Paint Schemes Sought

[coke_and_stuff]

Just cut up a coke, a lot more easier to find than a generic. Find you a embossed VMC square and VMC bezel and your in business.

[coke_and_stuff]

Here is another neat paint scheme

[SIGNGUY]

Gosh, Sell me a Rust Bucket Like That Any Day!!! 

So John, were the sides all white or were there some decal graphics applied?
Thanks for the photo.

The sides are just white... I don't recall if logos, and its' buried away now... won't have access to till spring when I can back out the Vette.

[mojorob]

Just cut up a coke, a lot more easier to find than a generic. Find you a embossed VMC square and VMC bezel and your in business.

Please excuse my ignorance on this as I mentioned above, I'm a total newbie at this.
Only been at it, for about a month now.

So are you saying that you can find a Coke Vendo-81, cut the Coke Embossing Section Out and replace it with smooth sheetmetal,
then find a VMC logo and cut that out and weld it on to the lower front?
Do I have this fairly accurate?
Thanks guys, for putting up with these questions, I appreciate it!

Coke_and_stuff,
Great Looking Machine!!
Is that an example of welding an Embossed Dr. Pepper Name Plate on the front?

[coke_and_stuff]

No I am not saying cut in a flat piece of metal and making a coke into a generic although I guess It could be easily done.

What a lot of restorers are doing is getting generic 81s and putting embossed panels off of other coolers onto them. My question is why not just use a coke? Yes a little more welding but a coke 81 is a lot easier to find than a generic.

The DP I posted is original unrestored, sign on the front is porcelain.

[mojorob]

No I am not saying cut in a flat piece of metal and making a coke into a generic although I guess It could be easily done.

What a lot of restorers are doing is getting generic 81s and putting embossed panels off of other coolers onto them. My question is why not just use a coke? Yes a little more welding but a coke 81 is a lot easier to find than a generic.

The DP I posted is original unrestored, sign on the front is porcelain.

Well .... like I said, I'm a Total Rookie on this stuff.
Thanks for the explanation and patients.
I appreciate it!

[Blind1968]

Here are a few examples:

http://soda-machines.com/discussions/index.php/topic,14513.0.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VMC-Orange-Crush-81-Vendo-Coca-Cola-Coke-machine-Pepsi-RC-Cola-7UP-Professional-/151136688573?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item233072d9bd

[mojorob]

Thanks Blind1968.

I'm a custom home designer and builder by trade, and after breaking a Vendo-81 machine down this past week for restoration
I am honestly a bit taken back with all the parts, pieces etc. that will need to be addressed.

In looking at that Absolutely Gorgeous Orange Crush machine and where that started from and where it ended up
and the "Journey" it had to travel to get there .... I honestly don't know quite what to think.
I really don't.

I've only really been exposed to this hobby a few months now, but when I look at the process it took to rebuild that
Orange CRUSH machine all I can think of is that "someone" ultimately got a Tremendous deal on it.
I mean REALLY !!!!!
5,700.00 for that piece of Art Work and ebay takes roughly 10-11% so the seller ends up with a hair over 5K.
The original machine itself has to be worth 2Kish and you throw another 2-3K in it with materials as he didn't scrimp
on anthing, as its absolutely beautiful.

What am I missing here?
A machine like that, has to be worth 7.5K minimum, doesn't it or shouldn't it?
Sorry guys, I'm just kind of scratching my head over this.

So when you do a Fantasy machine like this ...... is it just a total money burn?
I pose these questions, as I really don't know the answers and I certainly mean not one ounce of disrespect to the member
that did such a very fine restore on this piece.
Had I been in the hobby back a year or so ago, I probably would have been all over this machine.
In my mind, it's absolutely gorgeous and had to be huge bargin for someone!
Wasn't It?

Apparently, I have a lot more to learn here.
Oh well, all part of the fun.

[MoonDawg]

      Like you, we all admire this creative artwork but ...............we do not see this as investment potential.

      Most guys will search for years for just 1 Vendo 81 to keep their pop and beer cold.

      But then comes the challenge of collecting the entire set of embossed 81's and that's sort of like trying to outbid Donald Trump.

      Fantasy machines may all hold a place in collecting, but pricing will never be as solid as the original embossed versions.

[mojorob]

I guess the part that I'm having trouble reconciling is that you take that same generic VMC-81
and make a Dr. Pepper Machine out of it, now all of a sudden you can ask double what the CRUSH Machine sold for, because it actually
did exist in real form.
It just seems to me that the final value of the two is a bit out of portion, because neither one .... really started out as original
to begin with.

Just attempting to understand the thinking and philosophy behind the hobby here a little bit on my end.

Moondog writes:
"we do not see this as investment potential."

I can certainly appreciate that. Not really looking at it like that either.
I guess my main concern would be, to go to all the work of restoration and then have the finished product possibly be worth less
than what you have into it.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I guess that is a very real possibility that always has to be weighed, unless you
are lucky enough to have obtained your original machine at a bargin price.

Again I apologize, if I'm perhaps veering a little too far off the original topic here.
Bottom line:  I just don't know squat about this stuff!