Claw Snack Attacker - New project

[wrkey]

I picked up this machine today for free. The gentleman that owned it had removed the claw mechanism and sent it in to be repaired. The repair shop went out of business and he never received the stuff back, fixed or broke. The pizzia place it was at was on him to get it out of the store if it didn't work so he offered it to anyone who would come pick it up.

Yours truly did.

Now I have this machine and hopefully someone can help me out here. It is a Snack Attacker crane/claw machine made by AGE. It has a multi-use computer board in it. It is missing the coin mechs and the crane assembly. When plugged in it makes it's start up sound and then after a few minutes is say 'Claw Fault Error, Claw Fault Error' and a VERY SCARY voice. Well, obviously there's a fault with the claw because it ain't there. But what this does tell me (I think) is that the machine is functional otherwise.

So, can anyone here help me out? There is a company called SandB Candy (www.sandbsales.com) that repairs these machines and may have the assembly.. but they want like $400 for that puppy. I haven't been able to find anyone else yet that has the parts I need.

The original owner said he would try to contact one of the techs that used to work at the place that went out of business to see if he could get the assembly back and if so, he would give it to me. I have my fingers crossed but not holding my breath.

If all else fails, I will either part it out (the computer board sells for $450 alone) or possibly make something else cool out of it... maybe a Fortune Teller machine or a good halloween prop.

So... if anyone can help, I'd love to hear from ya!