The death of tokens?

[Cirrus]

I remember tokens. I'm sure most of you remember tokens... you put your dollar, or your five dollars in the machine and you got a handful of golden (or silver, probably always aluminum) specialized coins that you could use in machines.

Frankly, I don't even know why tokens existed... I mean, why not just use quarters. I guess it is just so you buy in early, and they don't offer refunds, so they get your money either way. (Even if you lose it, etc..)

When I was young, there was an arcade by my house (the only dedicated arcade I ever really knew.) It was called Funsville, USA. In fact, I found an old token from that place, which probably closed down around 15 years ago, and I have put it under the glass on the bezel of my MAME machine. I just think that tokens were amazing, and they really aren't that common anymore.

Maybe it's because arcades are going the way of the Dodo, but even the bigger, more successful arcades today are trending towards the "Game Credit Card" approach. Recently, I went down to a big mall in Kentucky and found a few games in a movie theater, and they actually had tokens for their games! They only had about 5 games, so I thought that was a little strange, but I decided to put in a dollar just so I could keep one.

Here is a picture of the coins: (anyone from the Northeast Ohio area will probably recognize the Funsville Coin. Let me know if you do!)

http://usera.imagecave.com/Cirrus/tokens.gif

Sorry for the bad picture! The one on the left is a NAMCO token, with a new looking Pac-man on the front, and just NAMCO on the back. The one on the right is a clown face, the symbol of the arcade in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, when I was a kid.

So, I started looking around for info on tokens on google, and came up with a website of a guy who actually collects them. (Not only arcade, but Chuck E. Cheese, Car Wash tokens, everything) He even has the Funsville token that I found recently.

His website is here: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/5858/tokentrading.html

Putting together my arcade machine was one way of remembering the joy of going to an arcade. Another way is actually collecting machines (possibly the best way). Going to arcades doesn't work so well, anymore, because if they actually have the games I played as a child, they are usually in crappy shape and barely work, or have been gutted and replaced with some frigging snowboarding game.

Another good way is holding onto a token whenever you get the chance. My Funsville token is probably the true centerpiece of my collection, and it was never worth more than a quarter, and is worthless to most anyone.

Did anyone else here save a token or two? Do you display them? Show me some pictures.

Also, show me some examples of other interesting websites on tokens if you can.

[gamergary]

I have some tokens from the pleasant beach arcade but they use the tokens for points and quarters to play the games.

[pacmanhat]

I have a couple bucks worth of Namco ones (the same as in your picture) that I found while I was rearranging my basement a few weeks ago. I might use a few of them, but I'm planning on holding to one or two for posterity. :)

[nik]

Yeah, collectors items for the true arcade fan!

I wouldn't mind a few Chuck-e-cheese ones!

[Uzi 9mm]

Yeah, sometimes I end up leaving a token or two after getting home from an Arcade, and I keep all of them in a box. Not much variety, but kinda cool I guess.

[o2william]

Wow, I'll have to get me one of those Atari Family Amusement Centers tokens shown on this page (http://www.geocities.com/btokens/tokapg.html). Awesome!

I think I still have an Aladdin's Castle token floating around somewhere. I remember buying a token specifically to keep it back in the early '80s. It's amazing that I didn't plunk it into the Kaos machine.

[yuppicide]

Tokens are still widely used today. Tokens were a way people could get you to put in $1 or $5 and make you have to use it all in the arcade.. meaning that $1 or $5 is gone. They didn't get $4.25 or $4.50.. they got the whole $5.

Another thing tokens allowed people to do is offer you savings.. spend $20 and we'll give you $22 in tokens. Incentive to plunk down more money.

Just sucks that a lot of places didn't maintain their games very well. So, it made me not want to go back to them places.

Sportspark USA was a place in New Jersey. They had a few locations. They were HUGE. They had batting cages and other sports stuff in the back. Up front they had video games and food. They required to to buy $5 in tokens just to get in the door. The layout was too spaced out for me. They probably had 40 or 50 games and pinballs, but they were too spaced out.

I remember the closest location to me had pinballs and newer games out front, then under this overhang they had a bunch of older games, then towards the back by the batting cages they had some arm wrestling machine, etc. I remember this ass Dave did the arm wrestling machine and he hit it so hard it broke! The machine turned off if I remember correctly.

The coolest thing is they had a Super Mario pinball up front and the volume was turned up to max. My friend used to like going there when nobody was there because it was loud as hell. LOL.

[Cirrus]

Tokens are still widely used today. Tokens were a way people could get you to put in $1 or $5 and make you have to use it all in the arcade.. meaning that $1 or $5 is gone. They didn't get $4.25 or $4.50.. they got the whole $5.


Yeah, but places like Dave & Busters and GameWorks pretty much use little credit cards. I think it's just cheaper for them. Kinda kills it for me.

I also thought of another pretty obvious reason for tokens: who wants to break open a Bad Dudes machine just to steal tokens?

Well, ME, but most criminals are probably more interested in cash.

[AFGiant]

There's an arcade and a Chuck E. Cheese near me that still use tokens. I wonder if I could get one of my cousins to go to Chuck E. Cheese's and bring me back $5 worth of tokens to keep :P
Anyway, I didn't know tokens were so scarce nowadays. I'll be sure to grab a handfull next time I go to the arcade to add the the small stack that has been sitting in the corner of a box on my dresser.

[Aussie2B]

The arcade at my college still uses tokens.

[kainemaxwell]

I prefer quarters myself. Arcade at my mall has a new system now where you get more tokens per alloted amount you put in. I forget all the math for it outside the lowest but $1 = 3 tokens now. I'll make a note to write them down tommorrow if I head to the mall.

[drwily008]

I love tokens, I have quite a collection. They are lost somewhere (possibly up at my Mom & Dad's house 1400 miles away in Ohio). But, I do still have them. I've got every Alladin's castle token and believe me there are at least 20 or more different ones. I've got quite afew different Chuck E. Cheese ones. I also have dozens of different ones from Geneva-on-the-Lake.

BTW Cirrus, if you ever want something different and fun to do go to Geneva-on-the-Lake (GOTL). It's like 2 hours away from you and has about 5 different large arcades. It also has lot of places to eat and several bars. There are alot of things to do if you've never been there. Also Joe Hatcher (a member here) owns "World of Games" which is a great little store with lots of retro stuff! Make a weekend out of it, grab a cheap motel and spend 2 days there! You have to go in the summer, as it is pretty closed up now.

[Flack]

I know I have Namco, Chuck E. Cheese and Aladdin tokens around here just from the local arcades. I can't remember what kind Cactus Jack's uses but I know they are unique as well.

About a year ago I bought an arcade machine from a local auction and when I got it home and opened it up I found a few Malibu Speedway tokens. I think that place closed down in the late 80's or early 90's, and I kinda got a kick knowing those things have been down there for over a decade.

[Tony Montana]

I love tokens.

I used to manage an arcade and we used to get tokens in bags by the 1000s. One time we got a bag that had all these wierd tokens with Astrological signs on one side and then some revealing pics on the other of certain matching positions. I picked out as many and kept a few for good times sake. I always wondered what place would use those, I have an idea but still want to know. ;)

[Pop Culture Portal]

Tokens are great! I have a huge amount of tokens in a nice album...lots of old ones, quite a few Aladdin and Namco and several from amusement parks all around the country. Tokens are actually pretty cheap on ebay...they usually sell them in bulk/by the pound. And they're not a bucket-full of the same thing, either. Usually a pretty nice selection. I don't have access to my camera right now, but here's a list of some of the places I see on the tokens I've got:

Mr. Gatti's
Funtasia (Gatlingurg, TN)
Steel City
Doodles
Showbiz
Chuck E. Cheese
Star Castle Arcade
Jolly Time
Pocket Change
Putt-Putt Fun and Games
Tilt
Namco
Bally's

Interestingly, I have three different Chuck E. Cheese tokens, all of which are dated like real coins. I've got alot more loose somewhere :/ .

[davidbrit2]

Yeah, I've kind of got a thing for tokens too. So much in fact that I have a collection of a few dozen different tokens, labeled and mounted in a coin collecting book. I should probably check it and see if I'm lacking any from arcades I visit... Maybe I should start another binder for Gameworks/Dave and Busters cards, and cards from Sega games like Derby Owner's Club, Initial D, and F-Zero. Heh.

[Richter Belmount]

There's an arcade and a Chuck E. Cheese near me that still use tokens. I wonder if I could get one of my cousins to go to Chuck E. Cheese's and bring me back $5 worth of tokens to keep :P
Anyway, I didn't know tokens were so scarce nowadays. I'll be sure to grab a handfull next time I go to the arcade to add the the small stack that has been sitting in the corner of a box on my dresser.
I know you love chucky cheese =P afgiant = )

[rayearthknight]

I recall an arcade in Birmingham, Alabama, A Diamond Jim's, that used tokens that had ridges on the back...now, the coin slots on the machines will only let a token slide in when you line up the token so the ridges fit in the grooves of the coin slot. Okay, now, imagine that you're playing Super Contra (back in the days it was in the arcade) you're fighting the boss and you die...and you have to insert 2 tokens to continue.
Did I fail to mention the arcade is dark and you have to try and fit the coins in the machine in under ten seconds?

[felix]

I think tokens are slowly going the way of the buffalo... same thing with arcades in general ...

But anyways, I used to work at a Peter Piper Pizza, which was nothing but tokens.. in fact im trying to find a few tokens for my journal because the PPP shut down since I worked there..

[SuperNES]

i still have one of those namco ones.. i honestly can't remember where i got it... i also have one with an eagle on it that says "no cash value" somewhere.

[Cirrus]

Thanks for all of the replies. When I get off of work here pretty soon I am going to post more interesting links about tokens I have found. If any of you are willing to put up pics of your tokens, I'd appreciate it.

[neuropolitique]

I used to have a small collection of chuck E cheese tokens years and years ago. As was already said, they are dated like real coins. I had about 12 years worth, if i remember correctly. no idea what happened to them. It'd be sweet to tour the US, stopping in at arcades and keeping a token from each. See how many different varieties are still in use.

[Aboliax]

I've still got like 10 Chuck-e-cheese ones from the very early ninties in my room somewhere. I think I have som peter-piper-pizza ones somewhere too.

[InsaneDavid]

Frankly, I don't even know why tokens existed... I mean, why not just use quarters. I guess it is just so you buy in early, and they don't offer refunds, so they get your money either way. (Even if you lose it, etc..)

Well from my experence working in arcades it was for three reasons...

First was so that refunds for "eaten" tokens could be instant, the money was already in the token dispenser.

Second was so that there was no real money in the machines, the arcade's employees could mess around with the machines if there were problems (which we did a lot) and there was no fear of actual currency leaving the premesis. Also when it was time for collection and deposit of actual money there were only two machines to empty (the token machines) instead of going to each game. We usually emptied the tokens out of the games in three day rotations but that was probably just for the arcades I was at (owned by the same person).

Third .. well, it's basically a business card. You see that token, the logo on it, and you remember your experence. No better way for return business than to find a token in your pocket days later. :)


Wow, I'll have to get me one of those Atari Family Amusement Centers tokens shown on this page (http://www.geocities.com/btokens/tokapg.html). Awesome!

They're actually the smallest tokens I've ever had...
http://www.classicplastic.info/DP-ataritoken.jpg
They're even smaller and lighter than an Aladdin's Castle token. This perticular pair of Atari Family Amusement Center tokens is from the Cyberexpo that was at Westgate Mall in San Jose - long since gone (of course) but that's where I played Starblade for the first time. :D

[InsaneDavid]

Almost forgot, does anyone have one of these tokens?
http://www.classicplastic.info/DP-bulltoken.jpg
It's from Bullwinkles Family, Food & Fun - somewhat of a San Jose tradition and a slap in the face to Chuck E. Cheese. Was basically a big arcade and a pneumatic stage with the characters from The Bullwinkle Show - they would do comedy routines and sing songs - which were actually pretty funny and heaps better than those horrible Chuck E. Cheese robots.

There was a pneumatic water show synchronized to lights and music in between the "show" parts, kinda like the stuff at the Bellagio in Las Vegas albeit at a smaller scale and with a lot more movement. They had pizza, salad, like a sports room, your typical kids pizza type thing but they didn't cut corners and the food was pretty good. It still stood up until about eight years ago when the building became a health club or something.

Anyway, the tokens were unique as they have three grooves on the back - all the coin mechs were outfited with teeth so that only the grooved tokens could be inserted. I've never come across another set up like this and it's my prized token... man that sounds corny.

I also have five or six prize tickets from the Atari Family Amusement Center where the tokens in my previous post came from as well.

[Big Papa Husker]

Family Fun Center, in Omaha, NE still uses tokens. After reading this topic I went through my old change container and found a really OLD "Showbiz Pizza" token (before it was Chuck E Cheese). :)

[Cirrus]

Just some more interesting token links:

This is one from a guy who got 18000 pounds of random tokens and is selling them in mixed unsorted lots in 5/10/or 20 pound bags. It's strange.

http://www.exonumia.com/video.htm

Here is the only book really written on this, published in 1984. "Amusement Tokens of the United States and Canada." Sort of a prize for token collectors, which I'm not. There is one on Amazon, used.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0934422206/qid=1113338391/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i7_xgl14/002-7447330-9770426?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Here's a manufacturer of tokens:
http://www.osbornecoin.com/catalog.htm#requestForm

That link is actually a request for a catalog from them, but you can reach the rest of their site from that link.

You'll find some pretty interesting stuff on eBay, too.

[SuperNES]

here are the 3 i have. i just found a 20-year old chuck-e-cheese token (1984) which came from my mom's old coin collection which she gave me. also i found the eagle one with 'no cash value' on the back. if anyone knows where the eagle one is from i would love to know. sorry for the blurriness on the second pic, but you get the idea of it.
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Nuhvok-2000/VideoGames/back-front.jpg

[Cirrus]

The ones that say "No Cash Value" aren't from anywhere in particular. Check the link of the manufacturer above and you will probably find that coin available.

Basically, a lot of places don't have the cash to get a press made just for them, so they buy generic Amusement Tokens. Like that. So it could have come from anywhere.

[SoulBlazer]

Funspot in NH still uses tokens.

Me, I'm not sad to see them go. Much easier for me just to put money on a card when I go to D&B and then swipe it into the machines. Who wants to mess with all that change and hassle?

[SoulBlazer]

Funspot in NH still uses tokens.

Me, I'm not sad to see them go. Much easier for me just to put money on a card when I go to D&B and then swipe it into the machines. Who wants to mess with all that change and hassle?

[Bluteg]

Who in the hell did Chuck E. Cheese buy out in the early 90's? This was in Houston if that means anything. I would do anything for a coin from there and Mr. Gatti's. Damn I loved Mr. Gatti's. That "Eagle/No Cash Value" coin is the one I've seen the most in my days and I still have a few somewhere because the place I used them at switched to quarters. When I was a youngen it was a big thing to save tokens with a few friends and save enough to beat a co-op. "Sunset Riders" and "TMNT:Arcade" come to mind. I never saved any of the coins as I always wanted to spend them all playing games.

[Nz17]

I can't believe you guys, what with talking about tokens and not even mentioning our dear friends over at Good Deal Games. Yes, those kind souls who published nearly-forgotten games on the SEGA CD, with plans for many more releases on classic systems in the future.

GDG has several pages full of token scans, both front and back. GDG uses a nice Javascript applet to change the image when your mouse pointer overlays the image, changing it from the front's scan to the back's scan. Enjoy!

http://www.gooddealgames.com/Token_Museum.html