Pingu

 The Pingu kiddie ride was manufactured by OMC Electronics, and released in January 1995.  There were 159 of these machines made in total.


Many thanks to Amy Brook for this video.  Unfortunately, this particular unit has obviously seen better days.  The ride has been badly modified by an amateur for home use.  In Amy's words:  "It feels very melancholic to say that my ride is in devastatingly poor condition.  I received it for £85 from a guy in Stoke-on-Trent who just wanted it gone.  At first glance, it was obvious that the fibreglass Pingu figure had been sawed clean off the ride and replace with a handmade wooden bench, so I thought the aesthetics were the only problem  It turned out it was a lot worse: whoever has done the alterations - if I dare call the mess an alterations - has unplugged the audio and coin-operated mechanics to make it a simple "switch and motor" machine, then glued down the entrance to the mechanics with putty glue.  Basically, they've inputted a switch, you turn it on and off.  That's that.  Not what I was expecting at all."  However, the ride is so rare nowadays that I am just pleased to have a video of it in action at all.  Until the day when a better example shows up, at least we have this record of its existence.