If you’re looking for a Christmas gift that keeps on giving, a book by Jefferson County business owner Brian McKanna might be the answer.
McKanna, 27, of Pacific has written and self-published a book titled “How to Beat the Claw Machine: Tips and Tricks to Help You Win Big.”
“I know the enjoyment and the pleasure I’ve gotten out of playing claw machines, and if I can share that with just a couple of people, it will make me very happy,” he said.
The book, which he started writing in January 2020 and published in October, offers helpful hints for beating claw machine arcade games.
“Beating the claw machine is not a guarantee and it takes practice, but I’m giving everybody tips and tricks in this book that are going to increase your odds tenfold,” McKanna said. “There’s basic tricks you can implement that are going to allow you to win more often.”
One hint McKanna offers is to always go for prizes that are lying horizontally inside the machine.
“Because you are going to have more room to get underneath it and fully grab it, where if you try to have a vertical prize, (the claw is) not able to close all the way,” he said.
McKanna refers to the book as “claw school,” and it even includes a diploma, or certificate of graduation.
McKanna, who grew up in Wildwood and is a 2013 Lafayette High School graduate, said he has loved claw machines since he was 5 years old.
“I played and I don’t even remember exactly how it happened, but I know I won on my first shot,” he said.
McKanna said he won a teddy bear, and was hooked.
“I was the guy who if I was at the arcade with someone, they would give me money to go win them prizes,” he said. “It’s been a passion of mine for a long time.”
When he was 17, McKanna started his own business called Wildwood Vending Co. after purchasing his first claw machine off eBay for about $200.
He was working for Mr. Harry’s Carnival Foods in Ballwin at the time, and the owner let him place that first machine inside the restaurant.
“It was successful,” McKanna said.
After about nine years, McKanna had acquired about 25 machines, and had some of them stationed in various locations, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“It was hard on the claw machine biz if you can imagine,” he said.
McKanna said he sold all but one machine due to the pandemic, but he hopes to start buying machines again and build up the business again.
He estimates that he has spent more than $10,000 playing claw machines in his lifetime.
“My poor parents.”
McKanna said since he plays often and wins a lot of prizes, he often donates them to the Ronald McDonald House.
“In my lifetime I’ve probably donated 15-20 trash bags full of stuffed animals,” he said. “Sometimes if I win them and there’s someone there on the spot, a little girl, boy, I will just hand it to them.”
McKanna said he does keep one trash bag full of his greatest winnings.
“I have a Bugs Bunny and a bunny costume,” he said.
You can see some of McKanna’s claw machine skills on his TikTok account, which has more than 174,000 followers.
Six Flags
In June 2015, when he was 21, McKanna was hired at Six Flags as an arcade technician after someone saw him working on one of his machines at a gas station in Eureka.
The first day on the job he met his future wife, Kat McKanna, who grew up in Dittmer.
“I was smitten,” he said.
Kat said the two became fast friends.
“I think it might have been a month into a deep friendship when we officially became boyfriend and girlfriend,” she said. “He just seemed very mature and I liked that about him. He was always super easy to talk to. I felt comfortable. I think that’s what really drew me to him, but the arcade skills definitely helped.”
The pair married in May 2018.
The two have five cats together – Monkey, Chicken, Mama, Doodle and Bell.
Other business endeavors
McKanna has his own publishing company named Green Pines Group LLC, which is a nod to his former elementary school, Green Pines Elementary School in Wildwood.
He published his book about claw machine tips through the company.
McKanna also has written two children’s books he published through his company.
His first book, titled “The Big Beautiful Purple Tree,” was published in August 2021.
“Basically, it’s about a town in the Ozark Mountains that has this totally unique, big, beautiful purple tree on the top of a hill right outside of town, and the people love it, but the tree, all it wants is to live with the rest of the trees on the other side of town,” McKanna said.
At the end, the tree gets its wish “and the town is rewarded beautifully,” he said.
His second book is titled “The Very Bloated Butterfly,” which he wrote as a follow-up to “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. He published the book in September 2021.
McKanna said he is working on another book inspired by one of his cats, Doodle. He hopes to publish it in January.
His books may be purchased through Amazon.
McKanna also works as a salesperson for MR and Associates in Brentwood.
In addition, Kat and Brian own a property they rent through Airbnb – Twin River Cottage in the Jefferson County portion of Eureka, which opened in June.
The two also own a property – STL Brick House in St. Louis – that they will rent through Airbnb beginning in January.
Kat said she is proud of her husband’s hard work and ingenuity.
“It’s such an accomplishment because he had this idea and went with it and he worked really hard,” she said.