REVIEW – Moj Moj Claw Machine / Surprise Egg Grabber

#ad – Items gifted in exchange for review

Who doesn’t love a trip to the arcade? Even as a young child I remember going to the arcades with my parents when I was on holiday and BEGGING them to try and win me a toy from the grabber machines. After numerous attempts where my parents tried (and failed) to win a specific cuddly toy I had set my sights on they would either a) succeed and become my ultimate hero or b) admit defeat and try and distract me with some alternative game. Wouldn’t it be great if you could replicate the fun of the arcades at home and with the chances of winning, for free, pretty much guaranteed? Well now you can, with the Moj Moj Claw Machine / grabber machine, filled with not one, not two but SIX Moj Moj Surprise Eggs.

Just like a real working claw machine / grabber machine you would find at your local fairground or arcade, the Moj Moj Claw Machine is a large Moj branded box and with a clear front and a hole in the back so eggs can be inserted before play. The small plastic eggs come sealed with surprises hidden inside, so for the first use there is a bit of additional unboxing to be had.

With three moveable joy sticks (one to go up and down, backwards and forwards and left or right), the aim of the gameplay in the Moj Moj Claw Machine is to use the claw machine to direct the claw grabber to your egg, catch hold of it and manoeuvre it safely to the shoot, where you can retrieve and open your surprise egg. My daughter has just turned 6 and needed no assistance whatsoever to work the controls, very quickly figuring out how the joysticks worked and being able to do so without any help from Mum or Dad.

To play with the Moj Moj Claw Machine, you simply insert one of the small plastic coins (a large number are provided) into the coin slow and the machine springs to life, with lights on the sides and a traditional fairground music tune starting to play. You have around a minute to try and grab an egg before your time runs out, with the music increasing in speed the closer to your deadline you get.

The added element of pressure can make you feel a bit flustered so you really have to concentrate! The inserted coins go into a little well underneath the box and can easily be removed by opening the cover once you have used them all up.

We did find that the coins tended to get a bit stuck (it looks like our coin hole had a bit of excess plastic inside that stopped them from slotting in cleanly), and as such, at times we would insert a coin and it wouldn’t fully drop down into the box. I am fairly confident here that this was a specific flaw with our device, and that under normal circumstances this wouldn’t be a problem.

There are six Moj Moj surprises inside housed in little plastic eggs within the Moj Moj Claw Machine, and the best part is that these can be reused and filled with other surprises once the initial novelty element of the Moj Moj reveal has worn off. The girls absolutely loved the surprise element of removing their egg from the shoot and opening it up to reveal the super cute Moj Moj characters inside. The specific characters included in the Moj Moj Claw Machine are rare and only available with the Moj Moj Claw Machine, and as such, you aren’t going to get any duplicates if your child has already amassed quite the collection.

If you haven’t had Moj Moj before, one thing to be aware of is that the cute Moj Moj characters are very soft and squishy, however being a bit squidgy they do attract dirt and fluff very quickly, which is almost inevitable when they are played with on the carpet or floor.

The Moj Moj Claw Machine was a big hit with the girls overall and even Mike started to show his competitive side and enjoyed having a play with it too. The grabber is fairly easy to use, and the odds of successfully grabbing are MUCH higher than at the real arcade. It is always good to know you actually have a hope in hells chance of winning and that it’s not going to end up with tears! The Moj Moj Claw Machine would make a fun Russian roulette game too, where only one egg contains a prize.

The Moj Moj Claw Machine retails at £44.99. Whilst I do think this is on the expensive side for the product, it has been used a LOT since we first had it and the fact it can be refilled and reused definitely helps increase the longevity of its use. It is also worth noting that individual blind bags of Moj Moj are priced at £3.99 each, and you get 6 in the set, therefore you have £24 worth of toys included in the pack.

If you’re looking for a fun game for children who love a surprise reveal and trip to the arcade, then this might just be the ideal gift.

*We were sent the Moj Moj Claw Machine in exchange for our honest review, and as always all thoughts and opinions are my own*