What's so cool about it?
After months of work and collaborating with at least 20 artists, Marco Tovar ended up creating (what’s probably) Fresno’s coolest vending machine.
Marco Tovar was around 9 years old at a Modesto swap meet when he first came across a switchblade comb. He had never seen anything like it.
With the press of a button, a fine-tooth plastic comb snapped out. It was so cool to him as a kid in the 1980s.
“The fact that you could hit a button — and just hwa-chsh,” Tovar said, imitating the crisp snap of the comb locking in place. “That was really intriguing to a lot of kids growing up.”
It’s not complicated. It’s analog. You hit a button and something cool happens.
That kind of simple joy has stuck with Tovar his whole life — and it’s why he spent the last eight months trying to bring about his latest creative pursuit.
What if a taste of Fresno’s art scene was bottled up inside a vending machine?
The JoyStick Vending machine is a real thing, and it stands out as a bright fixture in an otherwise dimly lit corner inside Goldstein’s Mortuary and Deli in the Tower District.
The vending machine’s rows are lined up with Fresno-themed items like enamel pins and stickers, along with vintage and novelty items like a special deck of UNO cards, mystery gifts and the switchblade combs of Tovar’s childhood.
Most of the items are a few dollars, and a few others are at most $20.
“Fresno is very willing to support the art community — and just the community in general — but also just like colorful, vibrant things that are new,” Tovar said. “Whether it’s like a mural on a building, or something like this (vending machine), or someone selling their goods, like a coffee shop.”
Tovar said the concept — a vending machine stocked with local art and vintage items — was hard to explain to people at first. But his vision was embraced by 20 local artists who jumped at the opportunity to have their art be featured inside the vending machine.
“I was worried it would be hard to find artists, but people have seen this, and they’re like, ‘I want to be a part of that,’” Tovar said. “So I think that’s the point where I really reflected, and it was like, ‘OK, this is cooler than I originally thought.’”
While the vending machine started out as a new creative pursuit for Tovar, he also considered how it could uplift Fresno’s local art scene. Tovar, a film and photography teacher at Fresno High School, is known locally for the tintype portraits he makes inside his Tower District photo studio.
“There’s a lot of creatives who want to get their work out and, aside from ArtHop, it’s like where do they do that?” Tovar said.
Artists get 70% of revenue from the vending machine, and Tovar holds onto the remaining 30%, he said. For the more popular items, he buys them wholesale from artists. While no one involved with the vending machine is making a ton of money — including himself — Tovar said the exposure can make a difference.
“Let’s say they’re only making like $20 off of whatever they’re selling, it’s still giving them exposure and a reason to keep creating,” Tovar said.
In the beginning, Tovar was worried people wouldn’t understand what he was trying to make. But in the two weeks since JoyStick Vending went live, it has sold over 200 items.
From the stickers and photo prints to even the more obscure items like acrylic cigarette earrings — people are intrigued by the zany vending machine. The same weekend he set up inside Goldstein’s, he bumped into a man excited about buying the earrings for his daughter.
“Well, I’m going to buy these for my daughter because when she drinks, she likes to smoke!” Tovar recounted the man’s explanation, chuckling. “That’s been kind of fun, to see the artist stuff being sold, and to see the silly stuff sold, too.”
Silly stuff and child-like curiosity
Tovar tries to not take everything so seriously. The vending machine, he said, is a reminder to keep doing that.
“My approach is not to make a joke out of everything, but in this machine, you can have a really cool piece of art next to something that’s not serious,” Tovar said. “It’s fun to see that contrast, and people still enjoy both sides of it.”
Tovar grew up in the 1980s, before the Internet changed what free time looked like for kids. That meant watching action movies, becoming obsessed with Bruce Lee and Rambo and holding onto whatever toys or gadgets he could get his hands on.
The satisfaction that came with hitting that button on the switchblade comb is a part of that, too. While it could be childish or silly, it’s important to Tovar to hold onto that.
Every few years, Tovar rewatches Big, a 1988 film about a 13-year-old named Josh whose wish to turn big comes true. Josh, now suddenly in the body of an adult — played by Tom Hanks — goes through a myriad of emotions and experiences after having to confront adulthood.
“I think it’s a story about the fears of growing up, and then also the importance of keeping a childlike spirit as an adult,” Tovar said.
To this day, Tovar finds himself, at the very least, amused by the things he used to be obsessed with as a kid. It doesn’t seem like he’s alone.
The switchblade combs — it turns out — are one of the best-selling items in the vending machine.
This is the latest in a regular series called “Around Fresnoland” where we profile people fueling our neighborhoods and communities with heart, grit and creativity. Know a person with an interesting backstory? Send them our way to tips@fresnoland.org.
