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Japanese UFO catchers give the best prizes – if you’re talented or lucky enough to grab them. (Personally, I think it’s all about luck because after many hours and probably hundreds of yen down the drain, I’m still not any better at winning.) But the euphoria of a win is usually quickly forgotten, and you’re left with one more piece of tat to cram into your room. So what about if UFO catchers actually dished out useful goodies? Wouldn’t that be a real win-win situation?!

People flock to game centres across Japan to try their hand at winning all manner of bright, fluffy, squishy, and adorable stuffed toys, models, and key chains. But what happens to all those cute little trinkets? They probably get left around the house to be tripped over in the morning rush out the door, or shoved into a dusty box under the bed along with your old tamagotchi and the letter from the weird boy down the road who thought he was a songwriter, and which you’re totally hanging on to just in case he does make it big.

▼ YOU REALLY REALLY NEED THESE.

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Surely people were crying out for something actually useful to come out of these money-gobbling machines? Well, whether they were or not, a game centre somewhere in Akita Prefecture now has the answer.

This claw grabber machine is filled with products you’d actually use around the house such as plastic saran wrap and laundry detergent, or little bottles of tea that you can drink after working up a sweat banging on the glass and swearing your lungs out.

The only problem is that these useful items aren’t particularly appealing. It’s kind of like being at the supermarket, only instead of grabbing something off the shelf in a second you have to spend about 20 minutes and the equivalent amount of cash to actually get anything.

▼ You might actually need this, but somehow you don’t really want it now, do you?

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Will this be taking off in game centers around the nation? Well according to Twitter users, these machines are a big hit with housewives! If they have a sneaky stop at the game centre on the way back from the supermarket no one at home will ever be the wiser for it. They’d just better make sure they don’t get hooked on the way there, or they might end up with no money left for groceries.

Now, dear readers, what’s the best or strangest thing you’ve ever won (or wished you’d won) from a UFO catcher?

Source: Hachima Kikou
Other images: RocketNews24