01 / The original machine, preserved at Lucky Tattoo Museum, Largo, Florida. Photograph: Lucky Supply / Lucky Tattoo Museum. Source & provenance ↗
2009The idea · Chicago
2012The debut · Taylor Street
2024The original · Museum collection
01 / The invention
A game of chance. A permanent story.
A familiar vending machine became a new way to experience an old craft.
Ricky Bird’s concept put tattoo flash inside capsules: buy a token, turn the handle, open the capsule, and discover the design. The suspense of the reveal became part of the tattoo’s story.
Bird dates the idea to 2009 and its public debut to November 15, 2012, at Taylor Street Tattoo in Chicago. His Master Historical Record supplies the concept date, and the supplied Taylor Street Tattoo launch-post screenshot displays November 15, 2012. The Chicago Sun-Times independently traces the idea to Bird and its introduction at Taylor Street in 2012. [1][2]
“Gamification” is this archive’s interpretive framework: a set of rules, a physical action, uncertainty, and a reveal turned design selection into a participatory ritual. It describes the experience, rather than a claim that games or chance began with this machine.
01
The invitation
A defined set of artist-selected flash gives the game its boundaries.
02
The suspense
A token and a turn place the selection in the hands of chance.
03
The reveal
A capsule opens. The unexpected design becomes a shared experience.
02 / The inventor
Ricky Bird Artist. Inventor. Keeper of the record.
Richard Bohnsak, known professionally as Ricky Bird, developed the Tattoo Gumball Machine out of the playful culture of tattooing in Chicago.
The Sun-Times describes early games among Bird and fellow tattooers: choosing a hand or a number to determine a design. The vending machine gave that spirit a repeatable physical form. [1]
His career connects the working tattoo shop with the museum collection. From Taylor Street Tattoo to Florida, Bird has continued practicing the craft while documenting how Get What You Get developed and spread.
Chicago
Taylor Street Tattoo — the setting of the machine’s 2012 introduction.
Florida
Bird’s later home, and the location of the original machine’s museum collection.
Living practice
Museum demonstrations reconnect the artifact with the artist and its original use.
Personal archive
Bird’s Master Historical Record preserves his account of the invention and its development.
03 / Chronology
From an idea to a cultural ritual.
Explore the invention, its wider adoption, and its preservation. Source labels identify personal accounts, independent reporting, and institutional records.
04 / Worldwide evolution
One ritual. Many interpretations.
These examples document geographic reach and variations in play. They do not imply a licensing relationship, a direct chain of influence, or a verified first-use date for each country. Undated studio pages were consulted November 2, 2026.
United States
From capsule to game format
Good Vibrations Ink in Orlando describes both gumball machines and related formats such as Plinko and wheels. The common thread is letting a game determine the design.
Forever True Tattoo in Liverpool describes a machine-selected number matched to numbered design books, showing how the capsule ritual can accommodate several possible designs.
Explicit Ink Tattoo in St Albans, Victoria, advertises a Get What You Get machine alongside its flash offerings—an example of the format’s presence beyond North America and Europe.
Preserving the object. Keeping its story attached.
GWYG–001 · Original Tattoo Gumball Machine Photograph published by Lucky Supply / Lucky Tattoo Museum. Date of photograph not stated. Collection record [3]
The original machine
Lucky Tattoo Museum’s December 4, 2024 announcement identifies this as the original Get What You Get Tattoo Gumball Machine, invented by Ricky Bird. It records the inclusion of early promotional photographs, documentation, and a launch-era flash sheet. [3]
Collection
Lucky Tattoo Museum, Largo, Florida
Object type
Capsule vending machine adapted for tattoo design selection
The museum announcement is the source for the acquisition and object identification. Its relative debut date and “patent” terminology are not used as authoritative dating or legal evidence here.
Taylor Street Tattoo / Chicago photographic collection
Where the game began.
The artist, the machine, and the people who took a chance.
Ten images supplied by Ricky Bird. Captions distinguish his identifications from dates visible in the source screenshots. Display crops remove social media controls where possible; complete supplied files remain available. Photographers are not yet identified. TST numbers are identifiers assigned by this archive.
TST–001 / November 15, 2012 · Launch post
First use in commerce
The Taylor Street Tattoo post announces the machine is fully operational and advertises a $50 token. The supplied screenshot visibly dates the post November 15, 2012. Identified by Ricky Bird as the first-use-in-commerce photograph.
The shop’s dated announcement places the capsule machine, tattoo flash and tokens together in one commercial offer. It is the first-use-in-commerce image identified by Ricky Bird.
The post describes a $50 token and invites customers to try the machine. Its date now accompanies the 2012 milestone in this archive.
A sidewalk board advertises $50 “Get What You Get” tattoos. The supplied Taylor Street Tattoo screenshot shows a July 25, 2013 post date; the photograph’s capture date is unconfirmed.
A Taylor Street Tattoo interior promotion shows the capsule machine beside the counter and walls of tattoo flash. The screenshot dates the post July 25, 2014.
A still from a Taylor Street Tattoo social media post shows three capsule machines marked $120, $60 and $180. No post date is visible in the supplied screenshot.
Service members seated outside the shop, as described by Ricky Bird. The visible May 25, 2020 date belongs to the post; the photograph may have been taken earlier.
A customer turning the machine’s handle, identified by Ricky Bird as Taylor Street Tattoo. The September 19, 2017 date near the top belongs to the preceding post and is not used to date this image. The visible geotag is not used as a verified location.
The supplied Taylor Street Tattoo post announces the machine’s guest appearance at the Chicago tattoo convention. Its photograph shows the capsule machine alongside the familiar yellow flash board.
The post also says customers at the shop could participate via FaceTime while the machine was at the convention—an early example of extending the game beyond the machine’s physical location.
Source: screenshot supplied by Ricky Bird. March 17, 2017 is the visible publication date. Navy Pier identification is supplied by Bird. People pictured are not individually identified in this record.
Taylor Street Tattoo / Client reactions · 2012–2020
The people. The reveal. The story they took home.
A turn of the handle, an opened capsule, and a design to show the room.
Nine client images supplied and located at Taylor Street Tattoo, Chicago, by Ricky Bird. The 2012–2020 date range is supplied by Bird; individual capture dates are not established. Display crops remove interface text and controls while retaining the photographic content. The complete supplied files remain linked below each image.
TST–011 / 2012–2020
Space Whale revealed
A client holds up the Space Whale design beside the shop’s capsule machines.
The Get What You Get experience continues at Ricky Bird’s Florida studio.
From the Chicago shop counter to Weeki Wachee Tattoo, the central ritual remains recognizable: turn the handle, retrieve a capsule, and reveal the design.
Collection supplied by Ricky Bird. The 2020–Present range identifies this chapter of the archive; individual recording and photograph dates are not established. Promotional pieces are labelled separately from client footage. Original overlays remain in the video files.
Select play to watch. Videos retain their supplied portrait framing, with sound controlled by the viewer. Descriptions below summarize visible activity; they are not dialogue transcripts.
WWT–V001 / Client footage / 14 seconds
A turn at the counter
A client turns the handle and retrieves a capsule at Weeki Wachee Tattoo.
A red gumball machine, a rocket, and cartoon celestial characters frame the Get What You Get name. The artwork connects the capsule game with a playful cosmic identity.
A framed copy of Mary Norkol’s article, photographed and supplied by Ricky Bird. The page is dated Sunday, October 8, 2023, page 13. This is distinct from the October 6 online publication date; the date and location of this photograph are not established.
The framed newspaper page preserves the print presentation of the Sun-Times feature on chance-based tattoo selection, including its account of Richard Bohnsak, known professionally as Ricky Bird, and the machine’s introduction at Taylor Street Tattoo.
The online article is dated October 6, 2023. The supplied print page is dated October 8, 2023. These are two publication formats of the reporting, not two separate origin events.
The supplied promotional post lists Ink Mania Fest on April 25–27, 2025, and advertises Ricky Bird tattooing from the Lucky Museum booth on Saturday, April 26. Bird identifies this as part of his 2025 live-demonstration tour with Lucky Tattoo Museum.
Festival dates and advertised appearance are taken from the supplied post. The booth photograph is supplied with this event; its exact capture date and photographer credit are not established.
LTM–TP001 / Promotional post · 2025
The Tampa announcement
Ricky Bird, the Get What You Get machine, and Lucky Supply and museum branding appear in the Ink Mania Fest promotional composition. The full source preserves the caption with the event and appearance dates.
An instant-print-style photograph shows Ricky Bird seated behind the demonstration table beside the capsule machine. Supplied in the Tampa 2025 event batch.
The supplied clip shows Lucky Tattoo Museum banners and the convention hall. It is grouped with the Tampa 2025 batch; its exact recording date is not established. Original framing and supplied audio retained.
Ricky Bird brought the Get What You Get experience to the Lucky Tattoo Museum booth in Knoxville. The supplied promotional poster identifies the convention dates and venue; Bird identifies this collection as Knoxville, 2025.
Six supplied images document the event promotion, convention setting, booth and participants. The poster establishes the advertised event dates; individual photograph capture dates and photographer credits are not established. Social media screenshots are still-image records, with complete source screenshots linked.
LTM–KN001 / Knoxville · 2025
The Knoxville invitation
A supplied promotional post announces Ricky Bird tattooing from the Lucky Museum booth. The poster lists May 10 & 11, 2025, at The Mill & Mine, Knoxville, Tennessee. The screenshot shows “May 3” as the post date without a visible year.
Lucky Supply’s published recap records the June 19–22, 2025 event and Ricky Bird’s live participation with the original Get What You Get machine and the Mobile Tattoo Museum. The photographs below were supplied by Bird as the West Palm Beach 2025 collection.
June 19–22 is the event date reported in the museum recap; it is not a verified capture date for every image. Social media screenshots are catalogued as still images. Clean display crops remove platform controls; full supplied screenshots remain linked. Photographer credits remain to be established.
LTM–WP002 / West Palm Beach · 2025
The original machine on tour
The illuminated capsule machine at the Lucky Tattoo Museum display, with a historical identification placard, token pricing, paper designs and museum banners.
A supplied social media still shows the machine beside the tattoo station. Original in-image event labels remain where cropping them would remove the display.
Ricky Bird returned with the original Get What You Get Tattoo Gumball Machine as part of the Lucky Tattoo Museum display in Tampa in 2026. These four photographs and the client video were supplied and identified by Bird.
City and year confirmed by Ricky Bird. The exact event dates and festival name are not assigned to this batch without an accompanying event record.
LTM–T26P001 / Tampa · 2026
Ricky Bird at the museum booth
Ricky Bird and a fellow attendee beside the illuminated capsule machine. The second person is not yet identified in this record.
A promotional composition featuring Ricky Bird holding the machine, tattoo photographs, and Lucky Supply, museum and Tattoo Take-Out branding. Supplied with the event collection; its production and publication dates are not established.
This collage brings together the artist, the machine and tattoo work in one promotional presentation. It is preserved as a designed promotional item, distinct from documentary photographs of the event.
The archive does not assign every tattoo pictured to this convention or infer that the portrait was made there.
06 / Document room
The record, in its own words.
GWYG–002 · Master Historical Record · Page 1 of 5
Master Historical Record
A five-page account identifying Richard Bohnsak (Ricky Bird) as inventor and Blue Burro LLC as intellectual property owner. It traces the 2009 concept, November 15, 2012 first use, later licensing, museum preservation, and demonstrations.
Source type: creator-supplied retrospective account. Copy supplied by Ricky Bird; document creation date is not stated. Specific dates and claims should be read alongside contemporaneous records. The original scan is preserved unchanged; inclusion does not independently verify every statement.
Page 1: Origin of the concept (2009), first use in commerce (November 15, 2012), and early adoption.
Ricky Bird identifies this statement as displayed at Lucky Tattoo Museum and during his live demonstrations. Display date unconfirmed. View original screenshot ↗
Transcription of the supplied display statement; line breaks normalized. Claims about historical influence are the signed statement’s interpretation.
The Original “Get What You Get” ® Tattoo Gumball Machine
Invented by Richard “Ricky Bird” Bohnsak the “Get What You Get” ® Tattoo Gumball Machine made its global debut at Taylor Street Tattoo in Chicago, 2012. Bridging the generational gap between pre and post COVID pandemic tattooers and tattooing, the “Get What You Get” ® Tattoo Gumball Machine helped lead the tattoo industry into the social media era by utilizing creative marketing.
Thanks to all who seek the fun! –Ricky Bird
Source: creator-supplied screenshot, received November 2, 2026. Display context supplied by Ricky Bird. The original screenshot is preserved with its social-media header; the presentation above crops that header from view.
DOC–005 / United States Copyright Office
Copyright registration · Master Historical Record
Photograph supplied by Ricky Bird. Page 1 of 2; mailing address and birth year redacted for privacy. Page 2 is transcribed below with personal contact information withheld. View redacted certificate ↗
The supplied certificate identifies a copyright registration for a group of unpublished works, headed by Master Historical Record: Get What You Get® Tattoo.
Registration number
TXu 2-547-402
Effective date
March 5, 2026
Registration decision
June 16, 2026
Author & claimant
Richard Bohnsak
Author created
Literary Works
Year of completion listed
2012
Content titles listed
Master Historical Record: Get What You Get® Tattoo
Cultural Impact Statement
Inventor’s Statement of Origin
First Use In Commerce Get What You Get Tattoo
GWYG machine submitted to USPTO
Get What You Get Tattoo Gumball Machine
Details transcribed from the supplied first page. The certificate’s listed completion year is recorded separately from its 2026 registration dates. This record documents the named works and does not treat copyright registration as a patent or a museum acquisition.
Transcribed from the second-page photograph supplied by Ricky Bird on November 2, 2026. Personal email and telephone details are withheld in this public presentation; the uploaded original is retained separately.
Rights and permissions · Name
Richard Bohnsak
Email
[Personal contact information withheld]
Telephone
[Personal contact information withheld]
Certification · Name
Richard Bohnsak
Certification · Date
March 05, 2026
Copyright Office notes
Regarding group registration: A group of unpublished works may be registered in the same administrative class under 202.4(c) if the following requirements have been met: 1) All the works must be unpublished; 2) the group may include up to ten works; 3) a title must be provided for each work; 4) all the works must be created by the same author or the same joint authors; 5) the authorship claimed in each work must be the same; and 6) the author and claimant for each work must be the same person or organization.
Source: IMG_1038.jpeg, marked “Page 2 of 2.” This is a transcription, not a facsimile. The certification date is distinct from the registration decision date shown on page 1.
DOC–003 / United States Patent and Trademark Office
Get What You Get · Service mark registration
Page 1 of the supplied two-page certificate. Mailing address redacted for privacy. The complete two-page PDF includes the registration maintenance information.
The supplied USPTO certificate records registration of the standard-character mark Get What You Get on the Principal Register.
Registration
7,009,057
Registered
March 28, 2023
Owner as recorded
Blue Burro, LLC
Classification
International Class 44 · Tattooing; Tattooing services
Source: certificate supplied by Ricky Bird. Details describe this document; current registration status has not been independently checked in this edition.
Two records, distinct dates
The certificate lists April 26, 2020 for first use and use in commerce. The supplied Taylor Street Tattoo launch post is dated November 15, 2012. The archive preserves both records without substituting one date for the other. This document records a service mark registration; it is not a patent certificate.
Creator’s explanation · November 2, 2026: Ricky Bird states that April 26, 2020 was the date he formed his Florida LLC, and that he used that date when applying under the business entity. This explanation is his account; the certificate retains its printed first-use and commerce dates.
07 / Moving image archive
The game in motion.
The Florida films
Five supplied videos document client participation and promotional presentation at Weeki Wachee Tattoo. Two convention films accompany the shop footage: a walkthrough supplied with Tampa 2025 and a client clip from Tampa 2026.
Earlier Taylor Street images supplied as screenshots remain catalogued as still images. The West Palm Beach convention collection currently contains photographs and screenshots; the supplied Tampa walkthrough is available above.
08 / Research & provenance
A history you can trace.
This is an artist-led historical archive, curated from Bird’s records and identified external sources. It is separate from the GumballTattoo.com storefront and is not operated by Lucky Tattoo Museum or the Library of Congress. The chronology remains open to additional evidence and corrections.
[1] Independent reporting — Chicago Sun-Times
Mary Norkol, October 6, 2023, “These Chicago tattoo parlors let chance (and a gumball machine) choose your design.” Supports Bird’s identity, the idea’s development in Chicago, introduction at Taylor Street in 2012, and wider adoption. The exact November 15 date is visible in the newly supplied Taylor Street Tattoo launch-post screenshot [6]; it is not supplied by this article.
[2] Richard Bohnsak / Ricky Bird, Master Historical Record: Get What You Get® Tattoo, five-page supplied scan. A retrospective source for 2009, November 15, 2012, 2017, licensing, and preservation milestones. Read the scan.
[3] Aurora Marshall / Lucky Supply, December 4, 2024, acquisition announcement. Supports original object identification, inventor attribution, and museum custody. Photograph on this site is credited to this publication. Read announcement.
[4–5] Evolution & living demonstrations
[4] Good Vibrations Ink, Sarah Kuehler, March 17, 2023, studio explanation of game formats. [5] Aurora Marshall / Lucky Supply, July 16, 2025, Palm Beach convention recap documenting the June 19–22 event and Bird’s live participation. UK and Australian studio sources are linked directly in the worldwide section.
Ten supplied files, received from Ricky Bird November 2, 2026. Original names: IMG_7254.jpeg, IMG_2234.jpeg, IMG_2700.jpeg, IMG_3350.jpeg, IMG_3348.jpeg, IMG_3344.jpeg, IMG_5617.jpeg, IMG_5625.jpeg, IMG_5623.jpeg, IMG_5638.jpeg. Three are standalone photographs; seven are screenshots of Taylor Street Tattoo posts. Date labels reproduce only dates attributable to the relevant visible post. The date above the final screenshot belongs to a different post.
Display crops retain the original photographic content without reconstruction. Full supplied screenshots preserve captions and dates. Identification of Ricky Bird, Space Whale, the queue, service members, and customer activity is supplied by Bird. Photographer credits remain to be established.
Ten files supplied by Ricky Bird November 2, 2026: IMG_5639.jpeg, IMG_5633.jpeg, IMG_5906.jpeg, IMG_5913.jpeg, IMG_5916.jpeg, IMG_5918.jpeg, IMG_5921.jpeg, IMG_5938.jpeg, IMG_5936.jpeg, IMG_5949.jpeg. The first screenshot displays a March 17, 2017 convention post. The remaining nine are identified by Bird as Taylor Street Tattoo client reactions within 2012–2020. Photographer credits are not established.
The March 19, 2019 date above the Space Whale screenshot belongs to the preceding post and is not used to date that client image. Cropped views remove platform interface elements; linked source files are unchanged.
Five MP4 videos and four JPEG images supplied by Ricky Bird November 2, 2026 for the Weeki Wachee Tattoo chapter, 2020–Present. Source filenames: IMG_5185.mp4, IMG_1879.mp4, video_1_74747895edeb435d9477efe4af455c94.mp4, f2d0e09d50ce458e9da8c0e793a0a7d6.mp4, dba0185166984a02bd681515a1d3ac57.mp4, IMG_3838.jpeg, IMG_5971.jpeg, IMG_6023.jpeg, IMG_6039.jpeg.
Videos are presented in their supplied framing and contain original audio where present. Two are promotional graphics; three contain client footage. Individual capture dates and photographer or videographer credits remain to be established. The artwork displays a Blue Burro LLC 2022 copyright notice.
Nine JPEG files supplied by Ricky Bird November 2, 2026. Eight are catalogued with the West Palm Beach convention collection: one promotional collage and seven documentary images or social media stills. Event identification is supplied by Bird; the June 19–22, 2025 dates and his participation are corroborated by Lucky Supply’s July 16, 2025 recap [5].
The first supplied photograph, IMG_0284.jpeg, is catalogued separately as a framed Chicago Sun-Times print page, dated October 8, 2023. Its photographic capture date and location are unconfirmed. Original source filenames are retained in the project accession record.
Six images supplied by Ricky Bird: IMG_5578.jpeg, IMG_5575.jpeg, IMG_0553(1).jpeg, IMG_0537(2).jpeg, IMG_0491(2).jpeg, IMG_5577.jpeg. The promotional poster identifies May 10 & 11, 2025, Riverside Tattoo Company Tattoo Convention, The Mill & Mine, Knoxville. Bird confirms the location and year. Screenshot interface crops are display-only; source pixels are preserved.
Three files supplied by Ricky Bird: IMG_5583(1).jpeg (Ink Mania promotional post), 537902F7-9CD2-4C66-9ADD-32217F832184(1).jpeg (booth photograph), and IMG_0271.mp4 (a convention walkthrough showing museum banners and the hall). The MP4 is grouped with the Tampa batch; its exact capture date is not established.
The Ink Mania caption identifies the April 25–27, 2025 festival and an April 26 appearance by Bird at the Lucky Museum booth.
Four photographs and one MP4 supplied by Ricky Bird. Source filenames: 070C1BBC-4C8A-486C-AFCC-42ACAEE2D4C7.jpeg, IMG_7503.jpeg, IMG_7471.jpeg, IMG_7483.jpeg and IMG_7474.mp4. City and year confirmed by Bird; exact event dates and photographer credits remain unestablished.
Two-page USPTO certificate supplied by Ricky Bird, received November 2, 2026. It records the Get What You Get service mark, Blue Burro, LLC, International Class 44, registration March 28, 2023, serial 90-816,085 and filing July 7, 2021. The first-use and commerce dates printed on the certificate are April 26, 2020. These are retained separately from the November 15, 2012 Taylor Street launch-post date. Bird explains that he used his Florida LLC formation date, April 26, 2020, when applying under the business entity (creator account, November 2, 2026). Current registration status is not established by this historical certificate alone.
Creator-supplied photographs of both pages, received November 2, 2026. Effective registration March 5, 2026; registration decision June 16, 2026. Lists Richard Bohnsak as author and claimant, Literary Works, and completion year 2012. Six content titles are transcribed in the document room. Page 2 names Richard Bohnsak under Rights and Permissions and Certification, with a March 5, 2026 certification date. Its public transcription withholds personal email and telephone details. The source photograph is retained separately from the website.
Event dates are distinguished from publication dates. Personal recollections are identified. Present-day studio listings demonstrate reach, not the date the practice first arrived. “Gamification” is curatorial interpretation. No global totals or unsupported claims of direct influence are asserted.
Preservation correspondence with an institution is not treated as acquisition, endorsement, or acceptance. The archive will identify any such outcome only when documented.
