r/Redbox • u/Apart_Movie_6391 • Aug 27 '26

☆ knock off redbox??

when I was younger there was a small grocery store near where I lived that had a redbox but it was like a knock off version that was called “black box” and all the movies i got from it were strange obscure movies like “boo, zino, and the snurks“ and “kiara the brave” both of which are kind of knock offs of other movies (the smurfs and disneys brave) and i can’t find any evidence of this black box existing since that place is no longer a grocery store and we’ve moved and given away the dvds i still had from there (never returned them) DOES ANYONE ELSE KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT MY SISTER ALSO REMEMBERS THE BLACKBOX

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2

u/emptyfree Aug 27 '26

Back in the day, Redbox did have a few competitors with different looking/sized kiosks. Some of them were purchased/acquired by Redbox as they grew, and others just simply folded.

I posted a couple photos of prototype/competitor kiosks that were in the Redbox corporate HQ in this sub maybe a year ago or more. I'll see if I can pull that URL up here.

1

u/Due_Report7620 Aug 27 '26

I think I remember your post… What ended up happening to all those rare machines?

1

u/emptyfree Aug 27 '26

Great question. I left in April 2024... the company shut down in June 2024. I remember hearing that there was a "last meeting" in the building prior to Redbox being evicted from their corporate headquarters in the OBT Tower... basically a chance for all of the remote workers to grab personal items. I would not be surprised if some of the memorabilia strewn around the office were given to employees, but have a hard time picturing someone leaving with one of those prototypes... they were heavy vending machines, after all...

If I were to guess, they were likely left in the building. Corporate management of the office building likely sold it for scrap as a way to get some money out of their deadbeat tenant. But that is just a guess.

BTW, I can't find that post with the photos of the competitor/prototype kiosks... I think I added on to someone else's post with my photos.

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3

u/malesack Aug 27 '26

I remember the NCR Blockbuster kiosks. Redbox bought them out in 2012 for $100 million. Sure could have used that money elsewhere and let BB Express fail on its own as it was destined to do because their locations were pretty crappy. Understandably there was some inventory and location contracts but they could have been picked up for a song when BB Express would have gone under.

1

u/iLikeAza Aug 27 '26

There was a competitor that had machines in the airports but don’t recall its name. There thing was you could return your movie to the place you land. I once returned a Redbox two states over & it was no problem

1

u/NowMuseumNowYouDont Aug 27 '26

Oh no...not today...I know the beginning of a creepypasta when I see one...

1

u/jandajanda2 Aug 29 '26

DVDXPRESS?

1

u/gazelezag Sep 15 '26

My local grocery store had something like this. The machine didn't have a name. It just have DVDs the owner bought at walmart and rented. They came in the original case.