The crane machine—also known as claw machines, crane games and, in Japan, as “UFO catchers” due to their proclivity for aerial abductions—first gripped the public imagination in the early 1900s. Even ...

What kid is not hoping his or her parents will give just 50 cents to play the claw machine that is sitting in the lobby of a restaurant, store or arcade? Really, it’s the kids who are most sensible ...

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who, at some point in their lives, has not been done dirty by a claw machine—most are designed with a too-weak grip that drops or barely caresses the prizes ...