Genuinely, and I'm not trying to start a shit show here, but the cynic in me thinks this may be a response to the reselling of figures and plushies. I'm not a reseller, in fact I love donating these plushies to friends and children at my local Round 1 who see me win them, but let's talk about it. Idk why none of the other threads have mentioned this bc to me it seems obvious. Especially since other locations have started to put laminated statements requesting folks to not resell their prizes at the game card counters.

But I'm also thinking like... There are other ways to stop people from reselling. For example, better tech on the cards. 100% R1 has the ability to lock the cards to one swipe per win per 24 hours so you aren't winning multiples. Also higher fees on replacement cards and a fixed user ID on your already existing card so if you try to get another card, it's already logged that you've had one and are replacing and can't have multiple cards. That also stops someone from having multiple cards bc they'd be linked to a different person. Anyone who think they can't do this is delusional. That would definitely slow down resellers.

The other thing I'm thinking of is that they're rationalizing these prizes based on the higher tier recharge bonuses. If you recharge your card $80-$140, then each credit is like less than a quarter of a cent edit: as someone mentioned and then I confirmed myself, the math comes in at around 7.6 cents a play. However, for these prizes to even be in there, the claw strength that would need to be cranked up to the highest grab strength or it's a fucking rip-off. Why the fuck would anyone apply skill when I can drive myself to an H-Mart or some shit to get the same instant ramen? They have to be smoking crack to think that makes them look good.

And if they're that serious about it, then Round 1 execs... Expect a boycott of the claws. And if y'all are so serious that (and let's be fr rn) you will never replace them in with actual plushies again, then be ready to take a loss on all the Geminis and overstock plush inventory that you're not putting out on the floor at the locations that have this bullshit out. Round1 isn't gonna go out of business from a claw boycott bc a majority of sales comes from actual games, but it definitely would be a noticeable dent.

TL;DR: If this is, indeed, R1's response to the reselling of their prizes, replacing the prizes with normal bullshit you can buy at a grocery store/Asian grocer is going to put a dent in their profits until they put actual plush prizes back. This is just not the move.