These vending machine items will shock you! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 most bizarre and eyebrow-raising things you can find in vending machines throughout the world.
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00:00The world's first vending machine selling caviar.
00:04Seems like you can buy anything out of a machine anymore.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 most bizarre and eyebrow-raising things
00:13you can find in vending machines throughout the world.
00:15The gold-to-go ATM that has folks stopping, staring, and snapping pictures.
00:22Number 10, canned bread.
00:25Hold your SpongeBob quotes there for a minute, guys.
00:27This raises so many questions. Primarily, why canned bread?
00:32That bread is stuffed in there like a sleeping bag.
00:37Apparently, the concept of canned bread became popular sometime around 2004,
00:42when a video game called Clannad was released in Japan.
00:48In Clannad, the hero's parents run a bakery,
00:52and Clannad-themed canned bread became available a few years after the game's release.
00:55The bread even comes in different flavors, including blueberry, chocolate, and even green tea,
01:01which raises even more questions.
01:03Like, why is green tea bread a thing?
01:05Number 9, jeans.
01:15Well, we suppose everyone has emergencies,
01:18or an insatiable desire to purchase a new pair of jeans.
01:21What do you think?
01:22I don't know, man. Don't ask me, because I don't give a shit how pants look.
01:27Yeah, I need someone's opinion.
01:29Those are too tight.
01:30In 2009, a German company named Closed Jeans began testing out their jean vending machine prototype.
01:36The initial machine was placed in Florence, Italy,
01:39and it allowed busy or forgetful tourists to, yep, buy a new pair of jeans.
01:43If the vending machine proved to be successful,
01:46Closed Jeans had plans to place more of their machines in busy airports and train stations around Europe.
01:51What'd you get there?
01:51Yeah, I bought dumperies.
01:53Kramer? They're painted on!
01:57What if they're slim fit?
01:58Unfortunately, not much has been heard of their machine since,
02:01but other brands have adopted the idea.
02:04Number 8, caviar.
02:06Caviar has always been a symbol of wealth and success.
02:09What?
02:10You're really going to town on that caviar.
02:12It's the best caviar they could possibly get.
02:14It's unbelievable.
02:15I know, but I mean, you know,
02:16I think you're going over your allotment about a little bit, no?
02:19My allotment?
02:20You know.
02:21So it's kind of weird to see it coming out of a vending machine.
02:24The caviar vending machines, which also sell truffles and escargot,
02:28are maintained by Beverly Hills Caviar Automated Boutique.
02:31This is a caviar vending machine.
02:35Have you ever in your life?
02:39In 2013, the vending machines were placed in three malls in the Los Angeles area,
02:44Westfield Century City, Westfield Topanga, and Hollywood and Highland Center.
02:48So it's about making that accessible to people?
02:51It's very accessible, very convenient in every price point.
02:56Prices range from as little as $5 all the way to $500, which gets you one ounce of caviar.
03:02Number 7, hair irons.
03:05Sometimes you don't have the time to do your hair.
03:07Sometimes you do, and the wind ruins it.
03:10No problem.
03:11Beautiful vending has you covered.
03:12What is this?
03:13Okay, clubs and health clubs.
03:16You want your hair straightened.
03:18Right, you get a bad hair day, it's raining, it's humid out.
03:21You can just stick $2 in for two minutes.
03:23This guy heats up really fast.
03:26Beautiful vending is a company that distributes hair iron vending machines
03:29to gyms, nightclubs, and shopping malls.
03:33The gist of the machine is that you pay money to rent the hair iron
03:36so you can touch up your hair while on the go or out on the town.
03:39Amazing.
03:40It's so clever.
03:40It feels hot.
03:42Let's see.
03:42Well, I don't want to feel too hot.
03:43Yeah.
03:43Yeah, oh, wow.
03:43Fast, right?
03:44And you get two minutes and $5 for five minutes.
03:46Well, it depends how curly you are and how much straightening you need.
03:49A similar machine was installed at John Abbott College in Quebec, Canada
03:52by entrepreneur Robin Rollery.
03:54It has received a mixed reception, with some women praising the concept
03:58and others criticizing its supposedly superficial nature.
04:02Even after trying it free of charge, Jessica Flett isn't convinced.
04:06I don't know if I would personally use it.
04:09Number six, a novelty wedding.
04:11Ah, there's nothing like a good gimmick.
04:14Concept Shed's auto-wed wedding machine unofficially marries you and your partner.
04:17And we can't emphasize that enough.
04:26This is 100% not a legal wedding machine.
04:29The participants place a dollar in the machine and enter their names with a keyboard.
04:33A robotic voice then marries you and you receive a fancy wedding certificate
04:37and two rings from the dispenser.
04:39Do you take this person to heaven to cherish?
04:43I do.
04:43Only a few of these have popped up,
04:50one of which is inside Michigan's Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum,
04:53but the company hopes to produce more soon.
04:56Have you sold them in these machines?
04:57The first one we sold to a museum in the States.
04:59This one was going to the Camera Obscura in Edinburgh.
05:03They've also inquired already about buying another one
05:05because they're worried about the queues.
05:06I don't think they should worry about the queues.
05:11Number five, public health services.
05:13In the downtown east side area of Vancouver,
05:16many people deal with various social issues.
05:18There are not enough pipes being distributed,
05:21so this was an initiative to try and make more pipes be available to people that need them.
05:26To help with the substance use that occurs in the area,
05:29the non-profit Portland Hotel Society decided to install the vending machine stocked with pipes.
05:33We want them to live another day to get a chance to go to detox.
05:37They argue this hinders the black market on pipes and limits the spread of diseases
05:41that can occur from sharing old and damaged ones.
05:45Similar vending machines are in use in many American cities,
05:47such as Los Angeles, Detroit, and New York.
05:51In addition to pipes, they offer practical tools in dealing with substance use.
05:55But it is an important tool that says to New Yorkers,
05:59hey, we are going to bring the tools to save lives to you.
06:02Number four, rhinoceros beetles.
06:05Buying insects from vending machines?
06:07What a time to be alive!
06:09Maybe we're underestimating how many people enjoy having insects as pets.
06:12In Japan, you can buy rhinoceros beetles from various vending machines sprinkled throughout the city.
06:27When the Guardians first reported on this in 1999,
06:31they stated that many people in Japan like to collect beetles as pets.
06:34They also stated that many Japanese schoolchildren live in cities where beetles are not prevalent,
06:39so the sale of beetles can be helpful as a teaching tool.
06:47Although, not without a note of controversy,
06:50the vending machines were supposedly a huge success.
06:53Number three, live crabs.
06:55If you thought selling a rhinoceros beetle out of a vending machine was weird,
06:59you ain't seen nothing yet.
07:01In 2010, a vending machine that sold crabs appeared in the Nanjing subway station in China,
07:06which apparently sold up to 200 crabs a day.
07:16Another vending machine soon popped up in Hangzhou
07:19that sold Chinese mitten crabs, also known as Shanghai hairy crabs,
07:24which were a delicacy in eastern China.
07:26There it goes.
07:32There it is.
07:33There's a crab.
07:34It's still alive?
07:37Well, barely.
07:38Oh, yeah, it's still alive.
07:40The crabs go for the equivalent of $3
07:41and come with crab vinegar and ginger tea.
07:44The machine was set up to accommodate China's frenzy for hairy crab in the autumn months.
07:49Yeah, it's still alive.
07:50It's kicking.
07:51It's cold.
07:53It's a bit damp.
07:54Number two, gold bars.
07:57Anyone interested in investing in gold?
07:58Well, then, gold to go is your answer.
08:01Gold to go is a brand made by the TG Gold Supermarkt
08:04that dispenses pure gold from their vending machines.
08:11Potential investors buy the gold using cash or a credit card,
08:14and the machine can dispense over 300 items made of pure gold.
08:18Some people might be doing it for a gift, which has happened for hundreds of years,
08:22to just people buying a little bit of gold,
08:24socking some of their money away for that rainy day.
08:27Two of the most common items are gold coins and 24-karat gold bars,
08:31which range between 1 and 10 grams.
08:34Now, there are seven different gold and silver bars and coins to choose from.
08:37The most expensive is the one-ounce gold eagle coin that goes for nearly $1,400.
08:42The first machine popped up in Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace,
08:46while the first machine in America was placed in Boca Raton, Florida.
08:50Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
08:54Lobster.
08:56Oh, my God, I got it.
08:57I got it.
08:59Chris, I got it.
09:00A dog bath.
09:05Used items.
09:07While the vending machine is traditionally associated with instant gratification
09:11and convenient consumption,
09:13the Swab-O-Matic turns it into a vehicle for recycling, reusing, and trading.
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09:33Number one.
09:35Used undies.
09:36They're infamous, but did they ever exist?
09:38There it was.
09:40The panty machines of legend.
09:42Well, Ruru Serra, a fetish surrounding school uniforms and underwear,
09:47swept Japan in the 1990s.
09:49And it was during this craze that the alleged used undergarment machines existed.
09:54I just bought used underwear.
09:56I don't know how to feel about it.
09:59But, uh...
10:01A couple just walked by
10:03and giggled.
10:05In 2014,
10:07a journalist with Tech in Asia spoke to a local sex shop employee
10:10who admitted that the machines did exist in the back alleys of Akira Bada in the past.
10:15Police had begun to crack down on selling the underwear of anyone under 18,
10:19so the market dried up.
10:20Today's used panty machines sell faux-used underoos instead.
10:24But there's really...
10:25It's all just fantasy stuff.
10:28It's not real.
10:29But $30, $40, $50 for the fantasy.
10:32What's the strangest thing you've ever bought in a vending machine?
10:35Let us know in the comments.
10:37And inside that same machine, there's also...
10:39Grasshopper...
10:39And hornet larvae?
10:43Hornet larvae.
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