Do you let kids use your machine?

I have several coin operated machines in addition to my coke machine (Pinball, Snack Machine, Payphone), and have had my share of problems with kids.  You see, I have a 12-year-old daughter and she has neighborhood friends - some of them much younger than her - that come over to play.  Of course, their favorite hangout is the gameroom.

One kid dropped a quarter in the payphone to make a call - but he dropped it "before" lifting the receiver.  My phone requires that the receiver be lifted first, so the coin just sat there.  He then proceeded to try it again, and again - 8 times total.  It took me 30 minutes to pull the jammed quarters out, one at a time - I used tweezers.

Another day, I walked downstairs to see about 15 cokes on the card table - and a 4-year-old girl was happily pulling a dime out of the cup (I provide cups of change next to each machine), inserting it into the slot, pulling the crank, getting a coke, and setting it on the table . . . over and over.  No damage, but it was a bit unnerving to see that.

Another kid put a dime in my "quarters only" snack machine - then when he realized what he had done, used some type of tool to try and extricate the dime, and bent the metal around the slot.

I am considering making my machines off-limits to children.  Unfortunately, they are the ones that have the most fun with the machines.  It's a catch-22 decision.

Do you guys have such a rule, or do you just live with the problems that kids can cause?  At 5 to 7 grand per machine, it seems a tad risky to let them use it.  On the other hand, watching them play with the games down there and seeing the beaming look on their face when they realize that they can get their own pop and candy bar from the machines, and use money  . . . well, they really get a kick out of it !!!

By the way - the board has a problem - pics are obliterating the posts below them !!!

ls

[Jim]

I personally let my kids enjoy things in my collection!  It's when the friends come over that I have to monitor things because kids get very abusive!

My V-81 hasn't been restored yet as yours is so this could be a problem with your daughter's friends.  You might consider locating a reasonably priced 60's machine that EVERYONE can use so the 81 will stay pristine...

I've also included a few snapshots of my old gameroom from a few years back... We've since moved and have sold some of the stuff, but it was a fun place to reminisce...

Jim,
Is that a Wurly 1700 I see?  I picked one up about a year ago, but sold it before I ever got around to restoring it.  

[Jim]

Yep, it's a 1700!
This 1700 was my first juke, but I sold it and it went Germany...

The other one is a Seeburg V-200 w/ microphone system!

Funny that your 1700 went to Germany, mine went to the Netherlands.