Real Life Super Mario Coin Block

mario_coin_block

Instructables user [Bruno] recently constructed a fun little toy that brings a bit of the Mario nostalgia out of the video game universe and into ours. His Super Mario coin block is instantly recognizable from the first Mario game and performs just as you would expect it to. Punching or tapping the bottom of the block releases coins one at a time, complete with sounds straight from the game.

The coin block is constructed from thick cardboard and wrapped in color mock ups of the in-game block. Inside, a spring-loaded tube of coins is placed above a launch arm which is also connected to a spring. A servo actuated arm pulls the launch arm down, dropping a coin from its tube on to the launch arm which is then flung from the top of the box once the servo arm rotates far enough. When this occurs, the built-in MP3 player is triggered to play the “coin sound” from the game. A 555 timer is used to ensure the servo actuated arm rotates once per activation, and a LM386-based amplifier is used to increase the output volume of the MP3 player, both of which operate using rechargeable batteries.

Be sure to check out some of the inner workings as well as the final product in the videos embedded below.

[Thanks, Samjc3]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5yEQWhpZiI&w=470]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXYyJfUzODM&w=470]

15 thoughts on “Real Life Super Mario Coin Block

  1. I love it! Only improvement I can think of is to have the servo starting position be with the spring already tensioned. That way the response to a punch is more instantaneous. Once again, I love this thing.

  2. While i agree that this is very cool, It hurts me to see such complicated hardware for such a simple problem.
    I think that the servo is completely unnecessary. Its just acting as an actuator moving something in response to a signal in response to a motion.
    Surely the signal stage could be eliminated and just have the motion of the block being moved up triggering a spring mechanism to suit.
    I agree that the electronics for the sound are require.

  3. the guy seems to be from Argentina, as that coin is a 25 cents (silver variant) of a peso from Argentina (The picture in the back is the “Cabildo” wich is in Buenos Aires

  4. At a post at an Argentine site, the guy says he had to use the servo only to “reload” because it was too slow –he just wanted to create the thing with the stuff he already had at his workshop– and this way it was better.

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