Vintage collectibles are a popular hobby and a big business as well, and many collectors specialize on quite a few different things, many of them related to soda pop. Many prefer to make collections of vintage soda bottles often sticking to one brand. Other prefer signs or clocks, wearing apparel, jewelry or in some cases vending machines.

Finding a Pepsi vending machine is far more difficult as few were ever made. Pepsi positioned their beverage as a bargain product and sold a larger bottle at the same price as their competition. The larger bottles would not fit in the standard vending machine and Pepsi did not opt to have custom machines built for their bottles.

Different shapes and sizes of bottles requires manufacturers of vending machines to make many different models which drives up costs. Pepsi was focused on cutting costs and operating at thin profit margins and consequently the company opted not to invest as much in vending machines. Thus few were made and even fewer survived to the present which makes a Pepsi vending machine quite rare.

The very first vending machines were nothing more than a self-service bin with a container for payment which worked on the honor system. Next came automated machines that dispensed bottles of Pepsi after a nickel was dropped into a coin slot. The next big innovation were machines that could make change for a dime.

The next big breakthrough was the electronic machines that could change many coins and eventually even currency. Currently, these include small computer systems to operate and collect machine sales and other data. Some of these will go on to be collectible someday, strange as that seems to us now. Machines in the future may vend a soda by swiping a card or even by reading your thumbprint or retina pattern.

A few rare machines dispensed a fountain style drink in a paper cup and a working model of that would be a big prize for a collector. You don't necessarily need a huge amount of space to collect machines, since some earlier models were very compact, holding 20 sodas or so and are small enough to place on a small table or counter space. Some do prefer the huge old machines and simply make room for them.

Other Pepsi vending machine models dispense cans, of course, and the modern 20 ounce size unbreakable bottles. A few of these later models are unusual enough to be collectible, but most people get these for home use just for fun or as part of their entertainment area decor. Some people with pools just like to have their own soda machine near the pool.

Soda-Pop-Collectibles.com features antique Coke and Pepsi vending machines, as well as hundreds of vintage soda bottles from Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7UP, and many other soft drink makers. Vintage soda pop collectibles added every day!