Crane Game Gag

We have all seen them, either at arcades or children's entertainment centers. You see the machine with toys, often with a coin slot or a card to swipe for arcade credits. All you have to do is fork over a quarter. Just point the claw, press the button, and get a toy. Easy, right?

Wrong.

The Crane Game Gag is when a character has drama ensuing from engaging with an arcade game. It's fifty-fifty if you either get the toy or not. Only a specialist or someone who rigs the game can win. If the person wins, they usually have a system or a method. If they lose, Hilarity Ensues. They may become addicted to trying to win a toy. In the extreme case, they may either attack the machine or break the bank trying to win a particular toy.

This trope is very Truth in Television, as many crane or claw games are rigged to encourage people to put in as much money as possible. Some governments have labeled them as a Gambling Game and restrict them accordingly.

This is a Sister Trope to Collectible Cloney Babies.

Examples of Crane Game Gag include:

Anime and Manga

Cardcaptor Sakura in the anime features this in the Freaky Friday Flip episode. After the latest card makes Syaoran and Kero switch bodies, Syaoran ends up trapped in an arcade crane game machine. Turns out that Kero is the only one with the skills, owing to his many hours spent gaming. He gets frustrated when the first few attempts go south.
In Romantic Killer, Hijiri asks how a game like this is fun when he follows Anzu to an arcade after their work shift ends. He says that with his wealth, he could buy all the toys in the arcade. Anzu tells him part of the fun is not knowing what you will get.
Sailor Moon:
- Crane Game Joe has one as his Establishing Character Moment. He uses telekinesis to win toys from crane arcade games, so as to bypass the established rigging. The DiC dub tries to handwave that he donates the toys to charity, but in the original anime and Viz dub, he keeps it for himself.
- During episode 109 of S where Minako gets her heart stolen, she's playing a crane game while talking to Usagi about making herself worthy. Usagi, flashing back to when Minako and the Senshi died in season one as well as everyone getting their hearts stolen, starts banging her against the machine, begging her not to risk her life. As a result, Minako wins twenty toys, which she proceeds to give to everyone. When her heart gets removed and she runs off with it, the Senshi toss the toys at the daimon to distract it.
Yu-Gi-Oh!: the season 0 manga shows a variant with Capmon, Capsule Monsters. Kids collect these monsters from vending machines and then use them for battle. You get random capsules from a machine and thus do not know what levels you will get, making the odds high-stakes. Yugi nearly tears apart a machine when he only gets level one monsters, asking why it isn't working. (Turns out it was rigged.)
One episode of Lucky Star shows Kagami having so much trouble getting a particular toy from a crane game that the montage includes a shot of her getting more change in order to keep playing.

Fan Works

In order to take his mind off of being Trapped in Another World, the protagonist of Isekai by Moonlight plays the crane game at the arcade, using a ridiculously-small amount of money to win a full set (at the time) of Sailor Moon dolls. It's only after the fact that he realizes that he must have been using some sort of power to win.
This multi-part story from DeviantART; the game is, in fact, a jail used to hold people who insulted or cheated the girl who is describing it (implied to be a witch). It is possible to save one of the inmates by using the claw, but failing to do so three times will get the would-be rescuer put there with her. Unless, of course, the rescuer pays the 25-cent fee, in which case it can be used safely any number of times. There's even a cash changer in the same room, seems a lot of folks can be such cheapskates...

Film

Toy Story features Sid getting into a battle with a crane game machine at Pizza Planet. He already won an LGM but sees a Buzz Lightyear in there. Woody tries to save Buzz, but Sid's more stubborn and better equipped with the machine. The LGMs believe the "Claw" takes you to a better place.
- This trope comes back as a Brick Joke in Toy Story 3 when the LGMs weaponize a larger "Claw" at the garbage dump to save the main characters.

Literature

In The Boxcar Children, a variant exists with gumballs in The Pizza Mystery. Benny uses pennies to get a silver gumball at a gas station. A silver gumball can be traded in for a free treat. He ends up not getting any on the first four, but gets the fifth when a random stranger puts in a penny and shoves his inside. Because said stranger is a jerk, however, Benny refuses to get a treat, looking upset. At the end of the book, he wins a gumball on his first try, but insists on keeping it as his treat and souvenir for the trip.

Live-Action TV

In Squid Game, a crane game toy fumble caps off the terrible day Gi-hun is having. When he's pickpocketed by Sae-byeok and coerced by loan sharks just as he earns enough money from betting on horse races to treat his daughter for his birthday, he's reduced to winning her a prize from a crane game. Though a child kindly helps him acquire one, the gift ends up being a gun-shaped cigarette lighter. Ga-yeong takes it well. TV Sins pointed out how dumb Gi-hun was since the next crane game had Stitch plushies in them.
In The Good Place, Eleanor when distracting Michael shows him the joy of a crane game machine. He wins a Minion prize and mentions he doesn't know why he is so happy he got it, but he is.

Video Games

In Yakuza 0, one sidequest involves Majima helping a little girl to win a prize from a crane game.

Web Original

The YouTube channel Claw Craziness is entirely about an expert's experiences with crane games, ranging from simply documenting his attempts at beating machines to explaining tips and tricks to use yourself.

Western Animation

In Bluey, Bluey and Bingo get frustrated after failing to get a toy from a claw machine. Their parents cheer them up by replicating the machine at home, using chopsticks, their toys, and sound effects.
In Clarence, the titular character pretend to get trapped in a claw machine. He "helps" his friend Voo win a toy dinosaur while saying he is trapped forever.
SpongeBob SquarePants has an episode called "Skill Crane" where Squidward becomes addicted to a crane game that his boss Mr. Krabs installs. Mr. Krabs further enables the addiction so he can get more quarters from his employee. Ironically, Spongebob keeps winning toys without even trying. In the climax, Squidward gets so addicted that he hijacks a real crane that rapidly goes out of control.

Real Life

This trope is very much Truth In Television. Anyone who has tried to master a crane game will more than likely use their quarters or arcade credits long before they can even win a toy.
It was because of this trope that some countries strictly regulate or ban claw or crane games altogether. Alberta, Canada bans claw machines unless the player can win a prize no matter how many times they play.
Some versions of crane games have candy in them instead, so that you get a prize regardless of how many times that you try. The candy tends to be cheap.