7-year-old gets stuck in stuffed animal game machine

January 4, 2004 11:33 PM

7-year-old gets stuck in stuffed animal game machine
posted by mantid (27 comments total)

Wow, totally awesome FPP! I think it's safe to say that the boys down at Mefi will be wrapping their heads around this one for weeks to come.
posted by crazy finger at 11:44 PM on January 4, 2004

If someone had managed to get him out with the claw-crane-thingy, would they have been legally entitled to keep him?
posted by bdk3clash at 11:51 PM on January 4, 2004

Skip the kid; go for the crab harmonica.
posted by squirrel at 12:18 AM on January 5, 2004

Been there, done that
posted by PrinceValium at 12:24 AM on January 5, 2004

But rescuers hadn't figured out how the boy was able to crawl into the game

Umm...he's all of 7 years old. You can ask him.

Also, anyone else notice that in the picture the "claw" seems to be positioned around his head?
posted by vacapinta at 12:25 AM on January 5, 2004

Why didn't they take the top off?
posted by drezdn at 12:34 AM on January 5, 2004

FPPs like this make me wonder why I ever defended NewsFilter.
posted by mischief at 12:36 AM on January 5, 2004

user 665?
posted by quonsar at 12:59 AM on January 5, 2004

Local nerds have been summoned and issued one roll of quarters each. Firefighters are hoping hardened PS2 reflexes will allow these chubby champions to pull the boy to safety using the claw.

>user 665?

Cross-street neighbor of the beast.
posted by skallas at 1:06 AM on January 5, 2004

>Skip the kid; go for the crab harmonica.

Or the Harvard diploma.
posted by bdk3clash at 1:51 AM on January 5, 2004

FPPs like this make me wonder why I ever defended NewsFilter.

Some posts transcend the genre ;) If anything, this story proves just how impossible it is to win on these damn things. They need a locksmith because they don't know where the key is to open the hatch and fill the machine back up: they've never had to.
posted by nthdegx at 2:39 AM on January 5, 2004

Geez, post something about the war or the election or something. Like, get with the program!
posted by adampsyche at 4:20 AM on January 5, 2004

I won a stuffed purple eggplant in two tries once. It can be done.
posted by konolia at 4:32 AM on January 5, 2004

This could only happen at a place called "Piggly Wiggly." There is something deeply Jungian going on here. Are we all collectively stuck in a box of wonderful prizes, disillusioned, waiting to be freed?
posted by moonbird at 5:02 AM on January 5, 2004

Sir, this is not Fark. Thank you.
posted by phylum sinter at 5:03 AM on January 5, 2004

"Claw is our master."
posted by grabbingsand at 5:23 AM on January 5, 2004

grabbingsand, I was thinking much the same thing. "Farewell my friends! I go on to a better place."

And on the way into Sid's house: "The mystic portal awaits."
posted by alumshubby at 5:28 AM on January 5, 2004

The kid squeezed himself through and 8X10 inch hole? His father needs to start his own chimney sweep business.

He'll use the kid as the chicken.
posted by troutfishing at 7:33 AM on January 5, 2004

The boy was not injured or traumatized but desperately had to go to the bathroom, he said.
Sure the kid enjoyed having that publicize.
posted by thomcatspike at 7:52 AM on January 5, 2004

The claw game sucks. I prefer the "drop the quarter in the machine and hope that when it's added to the pile of other quarters, some of them are forced over the edge into the prize bucket" game. Whatever that's called.
posted by Witty at 7:52 AM on January 5, 2004

Witty: Didn't that game ever make you wanna go rob a bank?
posted by mischief at 8:02 AM on January 5, 2004

Zing!
posted by mnology at 8:27 AM on January 5, 2004

Cute.
posted by Witty at 8:49 AM on January 5, 2004

Nice FPP, you do realize that this is metafilter?!?!?1 don't you?!?!?
posted by the_ill_gino at 9:25 AM on January 5, 2004

I won a stuffed purple eggplant in two tries once. It can be done.

You must have struck a malfunctioning machine. Probably something wrong with the claw mechanism. /sceptic who has can't walk past said machine without losing money.
posted by lucien at 2:19 PM on January 5, 2004

Good God. My son loves those cranes, and for some reason, I am one of those "lucky guys" who can pull a stuffed animal out of the damn thing every time. I'm also good at carnival and amusement park games.

You have no idea how many useless stuffed animals my son owns.
posted by bradth27 at 8:54 PM on January 5, 2004

Some posts transcend the genre

I support this post too. Thanks mantid. Why complain about eight words on the front page, beautifully summed up, and easy enough to pass by if you're not interested? I don't follow Fark or NewsFilter or any of those other sites (or watch TV news). And I definitely don't follow the news from Sheboygan. So MeFi is all I've got to remind me about how stupid the world is.
posted by lelilo at 9:43 AM on January 7, 2004