Here are the two things I bought and one thing my mother bought, in their boxes. Interestingly, the two I bought had dated stickers on the back indicating they were stocked in 2008.
@mossygreen YAY! I love, love, love the mouse and the photos are kind of cool. That mobile lady ripped you off in my opinion. But then I don’t really understand art.
@RiotDemon@sammydog01 The hanging pieces are supposed to balance each other, which you can’t really tell because they hang lower than their base. I’ll see if I have a pencil to mount it better. Everything from the Art-O-Mat is purchased with a $5 token.
@mossygreen I realized after I asked that I could zoom in to see the price, oops.
I looked up the mobile person. Their last review on Etsy was 2015 and the last entry on their blog was 2014 when she had twins. So I suppose she isn’t making them anymore.
@llangley@sammydog01 Miami would be the closest for me, and that is still fairly far. I might make it to Tampa next year so maybe the West coast ones will be sort of close to my route.
@RiotDemon The Locations map can be horribly inaccurate. We were in Raleigh NC recently and went to a small coffee shop that was supposed to have one, but they had NO idea what we were talking about and it definitely wasn’t there. It kind of turns into a Scavenger Hunt in some cities we’ve visited, but that makes finding all the more fun!
@RiotDemon They usually are, but as we found on the NC Museum of Art a few weeks ago, it was in a really horrible location - inside of a conference room in the “Education” wing but luckily one of the staff knew it & led us to the room. Ask around if it’s not obvious, somebody will hopefully help!
@llangley@RiotDemon@sammydog01 None in my state, nor the one I just moved from. One in Houston not so far from MD Anderson Cancer center though. I can check it out when I next go. It’s 450ish miles away. That qualifies as a road trip. Right? I never knew these things existed.
A bar below my apt in S.F. had a local artist group vending machine like this (about 15 years ago). It was also $5/piece and I got a great painted wooden block piece.
Ahhhhh, Art-o-Mats!! We’ve been collecting them for 15+ years now I want to say. One of my wife’s cousins had a coffee shop in Charlotte, VA and it was the first place we saw a machine. We were totally hooked after that and now every vacation we take, we make sure to find (or try) the most Art-o-Mats available.
@RiotDemon Thanks, wish I could take credit but the previous owner built them for his shot glass collection. We knew as soon as we looked at the house the 1st time what we’d be using them to display!
@MrHappypants it looks like the display cases at the Hallmark card shop I worked at. It was full of precious moments and other breakables. I wish my house was big enough for built ins like that.
@MrHappypants A fiver for each of those? You’re after getting a bargain there. All three of those examples are worth more than five bucks! (although the teeth picture is maybe just a tiny bit creepy)
@ruouttaurmind I placed an order for a couple of the stockings, one for a friend who I think will go crazy over it, and one for a special someone who it looks like will be having a birthday sometime around Christmas (maybe).
Anyway, I was not charged postage, so that’s nice, although they seem to charge postage. Perhaps I live close enough to wherever these are sent from, that postage was cheap and was absorbed in the cost? Nah, postage is never cheap.
@Barney Apparently s&h are included in their pricing for stocking, art-by-the-carton, and artists materials.
BTW, I contacted them to inquire about their vending location placement process. The town where my office is located has a giant artist, gallery and arts & crafts presence, plus huge tourism traffic, so I’m curious if I could, with my contacts in this community, cultivate a location or two for these machines. Several galleries, arts & craft shops (creative merch in the a&c style, not supplies for the crafty soul), the library, visitor’s center, even the town halls (two different towns). There are 20 or 30 potential locations within a two mile strip which would be ideal for Art-o-Mat.
@Barney@ruouttaurmind Those are so cool! I want to choose my art though. I may do a field trip downtown to see if there really is one at the arts center. (Downtown is scary.)
@sammydog01 On the website you can see the actual machine which is placed in each location. Maybe helpful to find it if you actually know exactly what you’re looking for.
@ruouttaurmind The closest one to me is about a 90 minute drive and I don’t think the ol’ van would be too happy going out for that long of an excursion.
I do think, however, that Wichita has some cool places that would be super dandy for these machines, but I doubt if it will ever happen.
@ruouttaurmind I found mine! The photo is dated 2012 so I dunno. It’s maybe a mile from Penzey’s and I was heading there for free hot chocolate mix tomorrow so I’ll wear my comfy shoes and see if it’s still there.
I found my local Art-o-mat! The selection was limited, mostly little journals and poems and things, but I bought one of these:
It had a tiny little book full of scribbles like this:
There’s a note that says they’re “weakhand blind countour drawings” which means you draw with your bad hand without looking at the paper. He says “When drawing with my left hand blindly I’m freed from expectation, able to create work that is immediate, raw, and revealing.” And maybe crappy? I like it.
@sammydog01@RiotDemon I’m kinda liking my drawing. Maybe I should go out and look for an abandoned cigarette machine. I’ll call it something original like, uh, Meh Art.
Sensing how distraught I was due to a lack of Antsy in my life, @MrHappypants took pity on my wretched soul. After receiving a duplicate Antsy in his holiday Art-o-mat order, he very kindly offered to fill this void in my life. I received my very own Antsy in Tuesday’s post!
As if parting with this treasure wasn’t generous enough, he refused to accept any remuneration in exchange, not even permitting me to tender the cost of shipping!
Ladies and gentlemen, the sun shines a little brighter, water tastes a bit sweeter, and the birdsong from the trees is more melodic now that I have Antsy in my life. I am now whole.
I offer most humble, and heartfelt appreciation to my very generous benefactor, @MrHappypants. Truly a king among men.
So, without further prorogatio, I am pleased and proud to introduce, for the first time in public… ANTSY!
@Kidsandliz These little guys down in the tunnels really crack me up too. If they emerged to the surface they would be as large as a tractor. It’s like the giant ants in the Warner Studios 1954 classic Them!.
@sammydog01 I got a little ceramic birdhouse that is so small, I can no longer find it. My friend got a bird painted on a block of wood. We both got very stale candy in our Christmas stockings.
Moral of the story: I’ll probably order again next year. I’m such a sucker. Probably won’t be lucky enough to get an Antsy though.
Although not quite the same (although some are scenes in boxes) here is a collection of 144 scale (eg 6’ in real life is 1/2 inch) creations. You can buy kits for furniture, houses, etc. in that scale (most are laser cut). I make stuff in that scale (don’t use kits).
My LMR v1a (Lego-Mat replica prototype, first attempt):
I’ve made a couple modifications from @MrHappypants’ original since I’m not constricted by the size requirements of the Art-O-Mat vending system. Once I optimize the details and streamline the design, I plan to order individual bricks at Lego.com in specific sizes and colors.
@sammydog01 This is kluged up with miscellaneous bits from my Black Friday sale Classic assortment. Once I order the correct pieces in complementary colors, and print the display insert, I think it’ll look ok. Of course I’ll probably have about $10 invested in LEGOs, but I’m having fun, so that’s worth the extra fiver.
Once I’ve finalized the design I’ll post a parts list and brief assembly instructions in case anyone wants to do their own.
Seeing as I have never seen one of these (sans smokes)… I have a question… does someone buy the machine and make the little arty things themselves or do they purchase them from a distributor?
@lseeber The organizers at Art-o-Mat buy and refurb the machines, organize the independent artists and handle the distribution of the art, as well as marketing. Independent artists create the art, package it in Art-o-Mat approved packaging, and send it to the distribution channel. Art-o-Mat reps stock vending machines and collect the cash.
For their troubles, artists receive 50%. The businesses hosting the machine make 25%. Art-o-Mat retains the balance to pay for operating overhead. This sort of seems like a reasonable split… until you consider vend price for the art is fixed at $5. An artist gotta sell a ton of Lego-Mat machines to make a living wage.
@lseeber@ruouttaurmind The one here is at an art co-op so it seems to be stocked with local stuff. At least the one I got- I showed it to the guy at the desk and he knew the artist. I need to stop by this week- I have tokens left over.
@lseeber@sammydog01 The Art-oMat mission is written such that an artists work would be stocked in any location in the distribution channel based on the type of art and the local tastes of buyers. In practice though, I imagine Art-o-Mat cuts corners to save shipping and stocking costs and often stocks machines based on convenience rather than ideals.
I’ve been trying for a few months to arrange a vending location with them, but they are difficult to communicate with. Slow to respond and unresponsive to my questions. I’ve reached the conclusion that “they” is really one guy, Clark Whittington, and maybe Clark is overwhelmed with workload, or possibly has lost the vision, or real life has derailed his interest and intentions.
@ruouttaurmind Thanks. I’m presuming the location gets 25% of profit, not gross. That’s the norm anyway for a larger machine. I ask because my dad still has a lot of older machines stored away somewhere and there may be (hopefully) some old cig machines. I would presume that there is nothing preventing someone from doing the same thing independently with a different name. He can trademark the name, not the concept.
Most likely it is one guy or maybe 2. That’s the usual wizard behind the curtain.
WHen you are saying that you are trying to arrange a location with them, are you saying that you have a business that you would like them to put a machine in?
I knew a guy yrs ago that had a few countertop snack machines but what he did was placed them in locations near schools where a lot of the kids stopped by after classes and he put baseball cards, pokemon, cabbage patch… whatever was popular at the time and he could barely keep the machines filled they were so popular. A little ingenuity goes a long ways sometimes. Thanks for the info!
are you saying that you have a business that you would like them to put a machine in?
The community where my office is located has a very strong gallery and artist presence. It’s a popular shopping and tourist destination for art (among other draws). I thought it would be an ideal area for one or two Art-o-Mat vending locations.
My own office isn’t ideal, but there are several galleries and shops, and a couple museums any of which would be perfectly suited. In my position I’m well connected with the community leaders and business owners and wanted to broker a relationship between the community and Art-o-Mat.
Unfortunately my interest seems to exceed that of the Art-o-Mat folks.
Oh, and my understanding is the hosting business gets 25% gross. $1.25 per sale.
@lseeber@ruouttaurmind The doggies I got in Winston-Salem were done by an artist in Winston-Salem. I hope my kid gets into school there so I can go buy more.
@ruouttaurmind Oh, ok. 25% of gross is actually a pretty good deal then. Usually it’s of the profit. If it’s 1 or 2 guys (they should at least contact you back) they may have to wait until they have one or an installer (locator) in your area (if they don’t already) in order to do that. I would think they’d be scrambling to get one in otherwise.
It’s actually a pretty cool idea for recycling those machines. I know a few places around here that would be good too.
I would have bought more pocket friends but the lever was broken- that little guy popped out with the earrings. I love him. The Easter Island necklace was in the random slot.
@ruouttaurmind Yep, he’s painted. I really like him. He’s by a guy named Brandon from Albuquerque that adds an anarchy sign to his name. He’s a “punked-up spirit penguin”. I found the twitter account of the person who made the cat thing and she makes the cutest stuff, mostly for the Art-O-Mat.
@ruouttaurmind I know, I’ve seen the one at the British Museum. It was surprisingly emotional for me. But it’s hard to shake the habits of youth. No excuse, just an explanation.
@mossygreen I only learned of the buried torsos after reading a Nat Geo article about 7 or 8 years ago. I was amazed. But more shocking was the fact that archeologists knew about the buried bits since 1919. TMYK…
Did you buy anything? Please tell me you bought something!
@sammydog01 Of COURSE I did!
Here are the two things I bought and one thing my mother bought, in their boxes. Interestingly, the two I bought had dated stickers on the back indicating they were stocked in 2008.
@mossygreen Digital prints of pinhole camera photos of shoes.
@mossygreen A tiny felt mobile that really needs a longer stand than will fit in a cigarette pack-sized box.
@mossygreen And my mother got an extra tiny porcelain mouse with a piece of foam cheese.
@mossygreen YAY! I love, love, love the mouse and the photos are kind of cool. That mobile lady ripped you off in my opinion. But then I don’t really understand art.
@sammydog01 I actually like the mobile a lot, it just needs a better display. I should stick it in a pencil or something.
@mossygreen @sammydog01 I don’t understand the mobile. What are the bits hanging on it? How much do these things cost?
@RiotDemon @sammydog01 The hanging pieces are supposed to balance each other, which you can’t really tell because they hang lower than their base. I’ll see if I have a pencil to mount it better. Everything from the Art-O-Mat is purchased with a $5 token.
@mossygreen I realized after I asked that I could zoom in to see the price, oops.
I looked up the mobile person. Their last review on Etsy was 2015 and the last entry on their blog was 2014 when she had twins. So I suppose she isn’t making them anymore.
@RiotDemon Here’s an action shot!
@mossygreen @RiotDemon That looks much better.
@mossygreen so random!
http://www.artomat.org/locations/
None near me.
/giphy I has a sad
@RiotDemon I see Ocala, St. Pete, Lakeland but not sure if they’re display only… I’ve never heard of this before! Sounds interesting
@llangley @RiotDemon ROAD TRIP!
@llangley @sammydog01 Miami would be the closest for me, and that is still fairly far. I might make it to Tampa next year so maybe the West coast ones will be sort of close to my route.
@llangley @RiotDemon My daughter is looking at a college in a city with at least 20. I kind of hope she goes there.
@RiotDemon The Locations map can be horribly inaccurate. We were in Raleigh NC recently and went to a small coffee shop that was supposed to have one, but they had NO idea what we were talking about and it definitely wasn’t there. It kind of turns into a Scavenger Hunt in some cities we’ve visited, but that makes finding all the more fun!
@MrHappypants good to know. The ones in Florida are in museums so I’d hope those were accurate.
@RiotDemon They usually are, but as we found on the NC Museum of Art a few weeks ago, it was in a really horrible location - inside of a conference room in the “Education” wing but luckily one of the staff knew it & led us to the room. Ask around if it’s not obvious, somebody will hopefully help!
@MrHappypants what a weird place to put it.
@llangley @RiotDemon @sammydog01 None in my state, nor the one I just moved from. One in Houston not so far from MD Anderson Cancer center though. I can check it out when I next go. It’s 450ish miles away. That qualifies as a road trip. Right? I never knew these things existed.
Huh. The only one in the state is just down the street.
@blaineg short road trip!
@RiotDemon VERY short! I might as well walk.
@blaineg @RiotDemon Take $5 and report back, OK?
@blaineg @sammydog01 we will live vicariously through you!
@RiotDemon @sammydog01 I live to serve.
A bar below my apt in S.F. had a local artist group vending machine like this (about 15 years ago). It was also $5/piece and I got a great painted wooden block piece.
Always loved this idea of easy access to art.
We have these at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. Last time I got an awesome metal scorpion!
@Starblind I love that!
Ahhhhh, Art-o-Mats!! We’ve been collecting them for 15+ years now I want to say. One of my wife’s cousins had a coffee shop in Charlotte, VA and it was the first place we saw a machine. We were totally hooked after that and now every vacation we take, we make sure to find (or try) the most Art-o-Mats available.
Here’s our current collection:
@MrHappypants I love the display case. Fancy!
@RiotDemon Thanks, wish I could take credit but the previous owner built them for his shot glass collection. We knew as soon as we looked at the house the 1st time what we’d be using them to display!
@MrHappypants A few of our favorites:
@MrHappypants wow. Very creative. The teeth one is so odd. I wonder why the choice of Daddy Moneybucks as the background.
@MrHappypants it looks like the display cases at the Hallmark card shop I worked at. It was full of precious moments and other breakables. I wish my house was big enough for built ins like that.
@MrHappypants A fiver for each of those? You’re after getting a bargain there. All three of those examples are worth more than five bucks! (although the teeth picture is maybe just a tiny bit creepy)
@MrHappypants @RiotDemon @ruouttaurmind
I love the ‘LEGOmat’!
@compunaut The LEGOmart and the ant farm are to die for. But Gene Simmons and the teeth each have their own brand of charm.
The website says there are 3 locations here within about a 45 minute drive. Next weekend I’m gonna go on a art hunt.
@MrHappypants I’m going to go ahead and assume the Legomat contains another, even tinier replica, which contains another, even tinier replica.
@mossygreen @MrHappypants That’s exactly what I was thinking
@compunaut @MrHappypants Then it’s definitely true! As long as MrHappypants never checks.
@compunaut @ruouttaurmind That ant farm was so unexpected too. Having had them as a kid this one was a nice memory jogger. So cool!
@mossygreen @MrHappypants Would that make it a Fractalmat?
/giphy fractal
@2many2no Schrödinger’s Mat?
@MrHappypants I gotta say, this is incredible. So very cool. Thank you for sharing.
@MrHappypants I see a new hobby in my future.
I used to fill machines like that when they held cigarettes. I like the art a lot better.
WAIT!
It comes in cartons?
And stockings?
@ruouttaurmind I placed an order for a couple of the stockings, one for a friend who I think will go crazy over it, and one for a special someone who it looks like will be having a birthday sometime around Christmas (maybe).
Anyway, I was not charged postage, so that’s nice, although they seem to charge postage. Perhaps I live close enough to wherever these are sent from, that postage was cheap and was absorbed in the cost? Nah, postage is never cheap.
@Barney Apparently s&h are included in their pricing for stocking, art-by-the-carton, and artists materials.
BTW, I contacted them to inquire about their vending location placement process. The town where my office is located has a giant artist, gallery and arts & crafts presence, plus huge tourism traffic, so I’m curious if I could, with my contacts in this community, cultivate a location or two for these machines. Several galleries, arts & craft shops (creative merch in the a&c style, not supplies for the crafty soul), the library, visitor’s center, even the town halls (two different towns). There are 20 or 30 potential locations within a two mile strip which would be ideal for Art-o-Mat.
@Barney @ruouttaurmind Those are so cool! I want to choose my art though. I may do a field trip downtown to see if there really is one at the arts center. (Downtown is scary.)
@sammydog01 On the website you can see the actual machine which is placed in each location. Maybe helpful to find it if you actually know exactly what you’re looking for.
@ruouttaurmind The closest one to me is about a 90 minute drive and I don’t think the ol’ van would be too happy going out for that long of an excursion.
I do think, however, that Wichita has some cool places that would be super dandy for these machines, but I doubt if it will ever happen.
@ruouttaurmind I found mine! The photo is dated 2012 so I dunno. It’s maybe a mile from Penzey’s and I was heading there for free hot chocolate mix tomorrow so I’ll wear my comfy shoes and see if it’s still there.
I found my local Art-o-mat! The selection was limited, mostly little journals and poems and things, but I bought one of these:
It had a tiny little book full of scribbles like this:
There’s a note that says they’re “weakhand blind countour drawings” which means you draw with your bad hand without looking at the paper. He says “When drawing with my left hand blindly I’m freed from expectation, able to create work that is immediate, raw, and revealing.” And maybe crappy? I like it.
@sammydog01 weird!
@RiotDemon @sammydog01 Hmm…
@Barney @RiotDemon I found a dirty one.
Translation: Rip Off
@Barney I’m also pretty sure they’re xeroxed and probably reduced in size. I will ask my son the genius artist know it all.
@RiotDemon @sammydog01 Dirty is in the eye of the beholder. Ask @mfladd.
@Barney Well, @mfladd, is it a dirty drawing?
@mfladd @sammydog01 Unfortunately, @mfladd will probably not see this. He doesn’t have his notifications turned on.
@Barney @mfladd I should go put it in the electronics thread then. Here’s the thing I got at the last art-o-mat. I like it better.
@sammydog01 @RiotDemon I’m kinda liking my drawing. Maybe I should go out and look for an abandoned cigarette machine. I’ll call it something original like, uh, Meh Art.
@sammydog01 Aw, that pooch has Lady’s eyes (eye).
@Barney but did you draw it with your left hand and closed eyes?
@RiotDemon Yes, I did. Do you think that’s the normal way I write?
@Barney thanks. I laughed.
@RiotDemon Maybe you’d enjoy some cursive?
I wonder if @sammydog01 sees anything dirty in my picture. I think I see angels.
@Barney @RiotDemon The one on the right looks like an angel. The one on the left is definitely dirty.
@Barney @RiotDemon Here is a photo of the other doggie ones we picked up- these belong to my daughter.
@sammydog01 nice!
@sammydog01
You are one sick puppy. Hahaha, Barney just made a joke.
This machine is about 30 minutes from my house. A good friend lives within a 10 minute walk. I’m gettin’ art on Saturday morning!
I have seen the Antsy. And it was… phenomenal.
Sensing how distraught I was due to a lack of Antsy in my life, @MrHappypants took pity on my wretched soul. After receiving a duplicate Antsy in his holiday Art-o-mat order, he very kindly offered to fill this void in my life. I received my very own Antsy in Tuesday’s post!
As if parting with this treasure wasn’t generous enough, he refused to accept any remuneration in exchange, not even permitting me to tender the cost of shipping!
Ladies and gentlemen, the sun shines a little brighter, water tastes a bit sweeter, and the birdsong from the trees is more melodic now that I have Antsy in my life. I am now whole.
I offer most humble, and heartfelt appreciation to my very generous benefactor, @MrHappypants. Truly a king among men.
So, without further prorogatio, I am pleased and proud to introduce, for the first time in public… ANTSY!
@ruouttaurmind Incredible! Congratulations! And kudos to @MrHappypants!
@ruouttaurmind That is so amazing! Way to go @MrHappypants!
@ruouttaurmind gosh that so looks like the ant farm we had as a kid, including the barn. @MrHappypants was generous.
@Kidsandliz These little guys down in the tunnels really crack me up too. If they emerged to the surface they would be as large as a tractor. It’s like the giant ants in the Warner Studios 1954 classic Them!.
@ruouttaurmind You lucky bum. I think Antsy is the bestest of them all.
@Barney Didn’t you order some of those things at Christmas? Get anything good?
@sammydog01 I got a little ceramic birdhouse that is so small, I can no longer find it. My friend got a bird painted on a block of wood. We both got very stale candy in our Christmas stockings.
Moral of the story: I’ll probably order again next year. I’m such a sucker. Probably won’t be lucky enough to get an Antsy though.
@Barney I wish I had a hundred bucks to buy one of those art cartons. Guess I should have bought fewer robots.
@sammydog01 But…But… But your robots are cool.
@sammydog01 or program your robots to make you a box??
The website has (or at least had) directions to make the box into which you put the artwork.
@ruouttaurmind Delayed, but you’re very welcome! Loving the prototype posted below too, can’t wait to see the final version!
I have never seen one of these things. Pretty neat!
At first I was wondering if a cigarette machine was art.
Although not quite the same (although some are scenes in boxes) here is a collection of 144 scale (eg 6’ in real life is 1/2 inch) creations. You can buy kits for furniture, houses, etc. in that scale (most are laser cut). I make stuff in that scale (don’t use kits).
https://www.pinterest.com/minimimi18/miniatures-1-144-scale/?lp=true
Here is something really cool carved on a match stick (on the pinterest page posted above).
@Kidsandliz What if I light it up by accident?
@ELUNO @Kidsandliz tragic. Maybe a good PSA about wildfires?
My LMR v1a (Lego-Mat replica prototype, first attempt):
I’ve made a couple modifications from @MrHappypants’ original since I’m not constricted by the size requirements of the Art-O-Mat vending system. Once I optimize the details and streamline the design, I plan to order individual bricks at Lego.com in specific sizes and colors.
@ruouttaurmind I would pay $5 for that.
@sammydog01 This is kluged up with miscellaneous bits from my Black Friday sale Classic assortment. Once I order the correct pieces in complementary colors, and print the display insert, I think it’ll look ok. Of course I’ll probably have about $10 invested in LEGOs, but I’m having fun, so that’s worth the extra fiver.
Once I’ve finalized the design I’ll post a parts list and brief assembly instructions in case anyone wants to do their own.
@sammydog01 @ruouttaurmind
$2.50$2@Barney This is not the art you’re looking for…
@ruouttaurmind
Seeing as I have never seen one of these (sans smokes)… I have a question… does someone buy the machine and make the little arty things themselves or do they purchase them from a distributor?
@lseeber The organizers at Art-o-Mat buy and refurb the machines, organize the independent artists and handle the distribution of the art, as well as marketing. Independent artists create the art, package it in Art-o-Mat approved packaging, and send it to the distribution channel. Art-o-Mat reps stock vending machines and collect the cash.
For their troubles, artists receive 50%. The businesses hosting the machine make 25%. Art-o-Mat retains the balance to pay for operating overhead. This sort of seems like a reasonable split… until you consider vend price for the art is fixed at $5. An artist gotta sell a ton of Lego-Mat machines to make a living wage.
@lseeber @ruouttaurmind The one here is at an art co-op so it seems to be stocked with local stuff. At least the one I got- I showed it to the guy at the desk and he knew the artist. I need to stop by this week- I have tokens left over.
@lseeber @sammydog01 The Art-oMat mission is written such that an artists work would be stocked in any location in the distribution channel based on the type of art and the local tastes of buyers. In practice though, I imagine Art-o-Mat cuts corners to save shipping and stocking costs and often stocks machines based on convenience rather than ideals.
I’ve been trying for a few months to arrange a vending location with them, but they are difficult to communicate with. Slow to respond and unresponsive to my questions. I’ve reached the conclusion that “they” is really one guy, Clark Whittington, and maybe Clark is overwhelmed with workload, or possibly has lost the vision, or real life has derailed his interest and intentions.
@ruouttaurmind Thanks. I’m presuming the location gets 25% of profit, not gross. That’s the norm anyway for a larger machine. I ask because my dad still has a lot of older machines stored away somewhere and there may be (hopefully) some old cig machines. I would presume that there is nothing preventing someone from doing the same thing independently with a different name. He can trademark the name, not the concept.
Most likely it is one guy or maybe 2. That’s the usual wizard behind the curtain.
WHen you are saying that you are trying to arrange a location with them, are you saying that you have a business that you would like them to put a machine in?
I knew a guy yrs ago that had a few countertop snack machines but what he did was placed them in locations near schools where a lot of the kids stopped by after classes and he put baseball cards, pokemon, cabbage patch… whatever was popular at the time and he could barely keep the machines filled they were so popular. A little ingenuity goes a long ways sometimes. Thanks for the info!
@lseeber
The community where my office is located has a very strong gallery and artist presence. It’s a popular shopping and tourist destination for art (among other draws). I thought it would be an ideal area for one or two Art-o-Mat vending locations.
My own office isn’t ideal, but there are several galleries and shops, and a couple museums any of which would be perfectly suited. In my position I’m well connected with the community leaders and business owners and wanted to broker a relationship between the community and Art-o-Mat.
Unfortunately my interest seems to exceed that of the Art-o-Mat folks.
Oh, and my understanding is the hosting business gets 25% gross. $1.25 per sale.
@lseeber @ruouttaurmind The doggies I got in Winston-Salem were done by an artist in Winston-Salem. I hope my kid gets into school there so I can go buy more.
@ruouttaurmind Oh, ok. 25% of gross is actually a pretty good deal then. Usually it’s of the profit. If it’s 1 or 2 guys (they should at least contact you back) they may have to wait until they have one or an installer (locator) in your area (if they don’t already) in order to do that. I would think they’d be scrambling to get one in otherwise.
It’s actually a pretty cool idea for recycling those machines. I know a few places around here that would be good too.
@ruouttaurmind @sammydog01 hahaha. Good a reason as any to pick a school!
Today was a Pokemon event plus a freebie at Penzeys so I was in the neighborhood of our Art-O-Mat.
I would have bought more pocket friends but the lever was broken- that little guy popped out with the earrings. I love him. The Easter Island necklace was in the random slot.
@sammydog01 earrings are really pretty
@tinamarie1974 I don’t wear earrings like that. Want them?
@sammydog01 The moai is fun too. What’s the little penguin guy? Painting on block? It’s interesting as well.
@sammydog01 The Easter Island head is COOL!
@ruouttaurmind Yep, he’s painted. I really like him. He’s by a guy named Brandon from Albuquerque that adds an anarchy sign to his name. He’s a “punked-up spirit penguin”. I found the twitter account of the person who made the cat thing and she makes the cutest stuff, mostly for the Art-O-Mat.
@mossygreen He has a four leafed clover stamped on the back.
@sammydog01 As he should.
@mossygreen By now I’m pretty sure most people are aware, but didja know…
@ruouttaurmind I know, I’ve seen the one at the British Museum. It was surprisingly emotional for me. But it’s hard to shake the habits of youth. No excuse, just an explanation.
@mossygreen I only learned of the buried torsos after reading a Nat Geo article about 7 or 8 years ago. I was amazed. But more shocking was the fact that archeologists knew about the buried bits since 1919. TMYK…