The Pinkie Pie That Was Almost Mine (AKA Starry vs a crane grabber)

[glitter the unicorn]

I don't think all the claw games are rigged though, because I was able to get a tails the fox plushie from a game at winco. He was buried pretty deep too, and he is ginormous, which makes him a little heavier than other plushies. So I would say that machine had a pretty good grip

[Dludnerad]

All the claw machines I've seen lately are rigged.
They have a trigger at the top that opens the claws when it goes back up.
I caught an angry bird as well as it possibly could be. It lifted it up with no trouble at all, not slipping or wobbling at all. as soon as the claw raised up to the top, BOING open and dropped it.
RIGGED!!!

there are never ponies in the machines here. Hardly any ponies anywhere at all. The stores all have empty shelves!
Ponies come back! I miss you!!!

[Baby Sugarberry]

Many of the modern claw machines are computer controlled for payouts, sadly.
They're set to have "weak" grabs for X number of times then a decent grab every so often, to ensure the machine operator makes good profit.  They still require "skill"; even if you get a good grab, poor aim will prevent you from scoring a prize, but more often than not the game is set up so you won't win on skill alone.  I never play those machines because of it.