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ImmediateSympathy752 t1_jcpms70 wrote

Shoutout to NH toll tokens for being cheaper and working at funspot

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Andromeda321 t1_jcq3ltd wrote

Hah, it was your fault- when we were kids we were SO disappointed when we got those at Funspot as it never occurred to us to play them! Luckily my mom would trade us for the NH toll tokens for cash.

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beardmat87 t1_jcrdvdw wrote

Worked the opposite way as well. I had a friend who worked at fun spot in High school and stole a whole bucket of tokens. We used them in the toll baskets for years.

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fatnoah t1_jcybsc4 wrote

I worked at Funspot and token sorting was a crappy job, but I know people that volunteered for it so they could snag the highway tokens.

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Few-Afternoon-6276 t1_jcrb2c9 wrote

Chuck E. Cheese tokens worked in the toll booth.

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Fine-Pay6675 t1_jct8van wrote

Yes indeed a bunch of the tokens from places like that used to work haha my mom got mad at me for using the chuck e cheese tokens and in the same week caught my mom going to chuck e cheese for them

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Few-Afternoon-6276 t1_jct9lj5 wrote

She went to watch the King- she left with her leftover free pizza tokens!! šŸ¤£

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backohead t1_jcq02es wrote

I remember my tokens were always gold/copper in color. I don't remember silver. Of course, I was going there in the late eighties / early nineties so probably cheaper to switch to different metal later on. Cool souvenir, those were cool times.

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Jbecker82 OP t1_jcq2tf3 wrote

I remember green and red ones too

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Andromeda321 t1_jcq37oe wrote

I have a vague recollection that those were ā€œspecialā€ tokens worth more than just a single token. No idea if Iā€™m making this up.

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Jbecker82 OP t1_jcq47ba wrote

I could be wrong but if memory serves me they came out of a slot machine type of game.

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backohead t1_jcqszym wrote

They had those machines that had hundreds of tokens piled all around and you tried to get your token to land where the constantly moving back and forth sides could push a ton of tokens into the big slot. I think they were rigged lol

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AireTamStormer t1_jcromj1 wrote

I still have a big purple one! It's plastic instead of metal, it definitely dropped out of one of the token pushing games.

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IAmAn_Anne t1_jcq0cmm wrote

I found one of those (and some very very crumpled paper tickets) the last time I was at my moms too!!! :D a place of joy with the best truly awful pizza in the world.

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beyond_hatred t1_jcqclr2 wrote

Funworld in Nashua has a similar, too sweet, kind of bad but delicious kid's birthday party pizza.

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rikityrokityree t1_jctksag wrote

Yes! Funworld pizza was peculiarly good. Had many of my kidsā€™ bday parties there in the mid 90ā€™s

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beyond_hatred t1_jctqoiu wrote

I used to take my godson there so we could eat their (arguably) delicious pizza and spend $75 in tickets to get a cheap Chinese-made foot tall traffic light toy.

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rikityrokityree t1_jctzhlj wrote

Yes. The price for the fond memories you forged with him.. my kids are long grown but they still remember times at both funworld and funspot

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beyond_hatred t1_jctzqzz wrote

I hope so. His dad died when he was one year old, so I wanted to give him those memories.

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rikityrokityree t1_jcu03po wrote

That you were there for him is my best news from the internet today :)

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Apprehensive-Novel3 t1_jcqahvr wrote

I have memories of a Funspot tokens in an arcade. It was located at a roller skating place in concord NH called granite skates. It was in the 70's so I may be mis-remembering. Anyone remember?

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Jbecker82 OP t1_jcrb8pz wrote

If you look back in the history, there was a satellite location in Concord but closed by the 90s

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UNMENINU t1_jcrvjb3 wrote

I grew in Concord and my brain is CRANKING trying to bring up childhood memories I blacked out to try and see it I remember where it was.

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TJsName t1_jcqksbz wrote

They still use tokens

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ThunderheadsAhead t1_jcr9hht wrote

That was my first job back in the early '90s. Good times, great memories. It was pretty amazing that they trusted some goofy sixteen-year-old to carry around several hundred dollars in cash to make change.

We had to sort all those tokens by hand to filter out the highway tokens and other random things people would try in the machines. It was a nice break in a back room, away from all the noise. I used to hear the games in my sleep.

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Jbecker82 OP t1_jcrabxk wrote

Afterburner was my favorite game there

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ThunderheadsAhead t1_jcrb32t wrote

When I worked there, Afterburner was on the 3rd floor, above the bowling center. Before they put in the bar and indoor driving range. The game got played frequently (it was rare for it to be empty of tokens). I wasn't very good at it, but I agree, fun to play!

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UNMENINU t1_jcrvmuo wrote

Sit in star wars x wing game for me. Death star didnt stand a chance.

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Solid_Information_66 t1_jcsrjhj wrote

The last time we went, I got one with the my birth year printed on it. I kept it just because I liked the idea of having a Funspot token as old as I was.

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Huge_Badger_4810 t1_jcq1939 wrote

Im assuming its an arcade but is it still open and where is it

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OfficialObserver t1_jcq2y77 wrote

Fun Spot is not just an arcade. It is by their definition, the world's largest arcade. It is in Laconia. And yes, it is still open.

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UNMENINU t1_jcrw733 wrote

And it is apparently a very famous staple in early gamers history. I believe it was because it held the donkey kong cabinet which early gamers would try for the world record. I believe it was because the circuit board was unique an allowed for some time to be shaved off. It was a major destination and the epicenter of the DK World Record scandal I believe.

Look on YouTube for Billy Mitchell and Donkey Kong. I believe thereā€™s a documentary and has lots of vintage NH video. I thought it was fascinating.

Had no clue until I was like 35.

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Dukes159 t1_jcy7v72 wrote

My sister in law met him there a few years ago. She was star struck and he offered to show her the tricks to DK. I personally find that a bit creepy....she was 18 at the time and he would have been 52. Also he's a douche nozzle.

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UNMENINU t1_jcyunif wrote

Yeaā€¦ He doesnā€™t do himself any favors with his look. I imagine he wears so much Brut. He used to stream on Twitch for a hot second. I couldnā€™t resist.

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AMC4x4 t1_jcq2g1o wrote

Yes, it's still open. Home of the American Classic Arcade Museum. I grew up in the '70s and '80s so I try to get back at least once during my annual summer White Mtn vacation, but usually a number of the games I love to play are broken. Gotta be tough maintaining decades-old machines.

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bassboat1 t1_jcq84od wrote

Used to play at the one on Amherst Street/101.

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JeremyMorel t1_jct0o66 wrote

I think that one was called Fun World. It had the carousel you could see from the outside, right? I never got to go and always resented my parents for not taking me. :-p

FunSpot, on the other hand I did go to once. It was a core memory and I kinda ruined it when I took my kids there this past summer and realized it was kinda rundown. They did add a bowling alley which was fun. Also, my younger son could not be pried off the bumper carsā€¦ I wish I still had kid blinders!

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bassboat1 t1_jcucquc wrote

No, it was a Funspot for sure. I used to do the token hack too back then (half-price when you bought them by the roll). Right on the corner of 101 and N. Hollis/S. Merrimack in the unit on the left end

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JeremyMorel t1_jcvbmau wrote

Huh. I guess I stand corrected. Never knew about that one. I heard they had a few satellites- maybe one in Concord? Never went to any but the OG. Thanks for setting me straight (and not being a dick about it, haha.)

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bassboat1 t1_jcy39d8 wrote

Lol - no prob. I think there might have been one in Dover too? Up near a traffic circle back in the ... '80s? I set my personal best Galaga score there - screen 272 and it stopped sending guys down - only time I ever beat the game.

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UNMENINU t1_jcrv4xn wrote

Spent all my childhood going. Had no clue it was super famous until like 3 years ago.

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projectvenus11 t1_jcrtd76 wrote

Recently revisited as an adult and the tokens are still alive and well. Funspot is untouched by time.

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sheila9165milo t1_jctoy7i wrote

šŸ’– Funspot at Weirs, had some good times there.

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radiodjs t1_jctrd5r wrote

Looks like a relic from the 80's. I was a big Pacman guy at Funspot in Dover, NH in 1982.

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New-Vegetable-1274 t1_jcudm22 wrote

What a nice memory. When I was a kid you had to go to a beach town to find arcades. Worcester had a few in the 80s, one on Cambridge St and one on James St. Are kids so different now that arcades will disappear like so many other things?

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