Posted in: Collectibles, Review | Tagged: coca cola, New Wave Toys

Review: Coca-Cola Classic Replica Vending Machine Mini Fridge

New Wave Toys sent us one of their new Coca-Cola Classic Replica Vending Machine Mini Fridges, which we tested out for review.

There's just something iconic about seeing a Coca-Cola machine in the wild these days. The machines were practically a staple of every business, gas station, and school cafeteria from the early 1980s all the way into the mid-2000s. Over time, they were slowly phased out as the company shifted to plastic bottles rather than just cans, and modified the design over time so that they came out slower and weren't instantly shaken up upon delivery. But when you see one, even with all of the buttons for options lit up orange to indicate it's empty, it still takes you back to a particular era.

The crew over at New Wave Toys have been gracious enough to send us mini arcade machines over the years to review, all of them bringing us back to a piece of nostalgia from the past. So it came as no shock to learn back in mid-2022 that they were going to be releasing a special replica vending machine that doubled as a mini fridge. We were sent one a short time ago to check out, and here is our full review.

First off, it should be noted that the company made two versions. The classic "Enjoy Coke" look that almost everyone can identify, and the rarer New Coke version that was released when they made the horrible/brilliant plan to change up the flavor, and ultimately led to Coca-Cola Classic being brought back to a surge of popularity. As you can see from the box, they are working 100% with the Coca-Cola Company to make a faithful recreation of both machines, of which we went with the normal Coke one when given the option because it's just more recognizable.

When you crank this thing out of the box, you'll immediately notice the detail that went into this. The front and sides of the fridge have all of the classic labelings that you come to expect from the machines of the past. The front panel has seven soda options, all of which are Coke because, of course, they are. It would have been fun to get some other options owned by the company for a little bit of realism, such as Diet Coke,  Sprite, Fanta, maybe throw in a Barq's Root Beer and a Minute Maid for authenticity. The coin slot and the dollar bill reader add to this, which we'll touch on in a moment, along with the typical ad you would see that's clearly been on the machine since 1986.

As far as the fridge aspect of all of this goes, as you can see here, it's a simple twin-fan setup with a metal interior, giving you the option of having a rack in the middle. This has been designed so that you can either put in one Coca-Cola bottle or two cans. It takes about an hour to properly refrigerate them when you first start it up, and if you keep it running you're looking at a 20-30 minute window to get them chilled enough to be crisp.

We decided to test this out a little, and indeed, you can put two perfectly normal Coke cans in the fridge, as well as a regular 20 oz. bottle. If you choose to get creative, you can fit four mini-cans in the fridge, but it's a tight squeeze. You can also fit a glass bottle Mexican Coke in here just fine. In fact, based on the dimensions, if you happen to be obsessed with the company and still clean and bottle your own Coke in any of the classic bottles, they'll all fit in here. Yes, even the one from the late 1800s that looks more like a medicine bottle.

Now, here's the fun part of all this that will make this a must-own for some. The fridge comes with a few accessories, as you can see here. You get six plastic quarters, two plastic $1 bills, and six small metal cans of Coca-Cola that are almost near-perfect dimensions of a can that would come out of one of these machines. The purpose of this is that this machine is interactive.

As you can see from the images here, the back of the fridge door has a slot in which you load up all of the cans. When you power the fridge on, which has the option to switch on the lights for the front marquee and the soda options, you can insert the money into the machine. When you put in two quarters or one of the dollar bills, you can hit any of the buttons on the machine, and it will spit out one of the tiny cans.

Just as a heads up: It does not have a built-in reader, so no, it won't spit out change or give you two cans for a dollar. It's just a toy in that regard; you'll have to deal with the fact that the company made you this glorious fridge but could not insert the tech to give you exact change back. It does collect the money in a side slot to the left of the cans, so you can keep doing this little show for anyone whom you want to show it off. And yes, in case your hands are too chubby to mess with the tiny change, it comes with a pair of tweezers to pick up the coins and bills.

Overall, I really dig the Coca-Cola Classic Replica Vending Machine Mini Fridge. This is one of those weird items that hits the nostalgia in the right spot. If you happen to be collecting items from the company, such as their many arcade machines or the Power Bank Change Machine, it fits right in at the same 1/6 scale. The only drawback to all of this is that it still requires a standard 110v AC power plug, so those of you who want to go modern and use USB power are out of luck (unless you get a converter). If this is something you want, it's currently selling for $160.

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