At many stores and restaurants you can usually find one of those "claw" games where you move a mechanical claw with a joystick and drop it on a stuffed animal.  It then (in theory) moves the stuffed animal to a chute and you can collect your prize.

I grew up believing that it was impossible to actually win prizes from one of those "Claw" games, and they were there only to take your money.  But my wife Kathy continues to defy my theory by constantly winning prizes from this machine by never spending more than $2.00.

Here is a picture of her last four prizes.  The rest have become "garage sale fodder" over time. (The elephant on the left cost her only $.50).