Vend-O-Price is a grocery item game played on the turntable which debuted on September 25, 2015 (#7215K), during Season 44's Decades Week. As its name implies, a large vending machine is involved.
Gameplay[]
The contestant is given a coin to put in the slot of a giant vending machine. Three grocery items are displayed. A certain number of each grocery item appears in each row of the vending machine (example: 8 of one item, 6 of another item, and 3 of a third item). The contestant has to pick which row of items in the vending machine is the most expensive of all (the one with the biggest total price) to win the prize. They do this by pulling on the lever of their choice. All three rows have a different item in a different amount (blue is most, green is middle, orange is fewest), and they range in price from low (blue) to middle (green) to high (orange) - the contestant is also informed of this fact. Each item's price is revealed and then multiplied by the number of items to determine their total.
History/Trivia[]
- The original sound heard when revealing the total of each set of items was revived from the retired pricing game Penny Ante, and was only heard when revealing the total price. This was only heard the first three times it was played and also when played specifically in the CBS talk show The Talk. A rattling sound (mainly what vending machines do when dispensing a product) replaced it thereafter and is heard when revealing the unit price and the total price.
- After the contestant makes their decision, they check the prices like in Bullseye 'II' and Grocery Game to see how much each cost and hoping the contestant's choice is the highest of the bunch like Most Expensive.
- All the grocery items used in this game are food products, just like normal food products you would find in any vending machine. Talk about all those lunches Drew would’ve had with each contestant if his joke came true!
- Vend-O-Price is the newest pricing game to be played on the turntable since Coming or Going.
- The game was won on its first playing.
- On November 11, 2015 (#7283K), the game received its first loss, on its fourth playing.
- During a Big Money Week episode (aired on October 28, 2016, #7665K), Vend-O-Price was played for a cash prize of $10,000, but was lost.
- The game has been lost 69 times (excluding 1 primetime loss), most recently on June 19, 2024 (#0673L).
- Vend-O-Price has been played for a car ten times (excluding two primetime playings), most recently on January 19, 2023 (#0074L).
- Normally, Drew asks George Gray to describe the products in the vending machine before the contestant inserts the coin, and the machine opens up, revealing how many of each product there are. On at least one playing, the contestant was instructed to put their coin in first.
- Drew would often joke that the contestant has quit his/her previous job and now works at CBS. Then one day, he/she ran into Drew, who calls himself during this pricing game, the Big Shot Guy. He thanks the contestant for his/her hard work and decides to take him/her out to lunch as a reward. They get their lunch from the vending machine with an insert of the coin used in the game. On January 29, 2021 (#9285K, aired out of order on March 12), the joke disappeared but came back on March 17, 2021 (#9353K).
- On the Back To School special on August 21, 2017 (#8001K, aired out of order on September 8, originally rescheduled to air on August 25), the top shelf was 22 packages of ramen noodles (the other items being Red Bull energy drinks and frozen pizza, the theme being that the items were the staples of a college student's diet), the largest number of items on the top shelf. Despite being such a large number of items, the 22 packages of ramen noodles were the cheapest item in the game, coming out to only $5.50. (The 7 cans of Red Bull were by a wide margin the most expensive.)
- On November 22, 2017 (Thanksgiving College Rivals), a kitchen and cooking lessons were played by a boy named Adam Bourson (Michigan), but it was lost, and Megan Denison (Ohio State) gets $1,000.
- On February 19, 2018 (#8221K, aired out of order on February 22), during Big Money Week, Vend-O-Price was played for $40,000, but was lost.
- On March 6, 2018 (#8242K, aired out of order on January 9) during Publishers Clearing House week, contestant Nathan Crockett won a $20,000 bonus for being the first contestant on stage to win their pricing game during PCH week. It was played in the first slot.
- On April 27, 2018 (#8315K) during the Bachelor/Bachelorette Special, Vend-O-Price was played for a trip to the Bahamas worth $46,315, but was lost.
- On February 22, 2019 (#8635K, aired out of order on May 31), during Dream Car Week, Vend-O-Price was played for a Jeep Compass Latitude worth $26,340, and was won.
- Whenever the game is won, "Win" is displayed at the bottom of the vending machine.
- This game is created by co-executive producer/director Adam Sandler.
- The most number of times this game was played in any season was 18 (seasons 45 and 47), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 13 (season 49).
- On April 1, 2024 (#0561L), as part of the April Fools' theme, the highest-priced shelf only had a single unit quantity of its item - a $23.99 Oreo cake (breaking an unwritten rule that there must be at least two of the same item for each shelf). On the other hand, the lowest-priced shelf had 25 packets of Kool-Aid (at $0.50 each).
Appearances Outside of The Price Is Right[]
Vend-O-Price appeared on The Talk on October 17, 2016, with an audience member playing the game.
Gallery[]
To view the gallery, click here.
YouTube Videos[]
Vend-O-Price first playing (September 25, 2015, #7215K)
Vend-O-Price for a Car (October 14, 2015, #7243K, aired out of order on October 12)
Vend-O-Price for a trip to South Africa (October 20, 2015, #7252K)
Vend-O-Price first playing in Haven Studios (September 25, 2023, #0301L)
| 2010s Pricing Games |
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| Rat Race | Pay the Rent | Double Cross | Do The Math | Time is Money (2) | Vend-O-Price | Hot Seat | Gridlock! |