Former player says self-control holds the key to masterful displays

People wanting to learn how to master the toy claw machines should have good self-control, according to former player Guo Tao, 32.

"Beginners are unlikely to spend much money, but once you've learned a little about it, you'll feel the desire to practice, and eventually accumulate loads of stuffed toys at home," said Guo, who works in a factory in Beijing.

He said some machine owners adjust the strength of a claw to reduce the chances of players grabbing toys, but he always finds a way to deal with this.

"A common technique is to swing the claw before you drop it, so that it will catch the doll in a parabolic trajectory ... It takes a lot of practice until you become familiar with it," Guo said.

In 2016, he learned the technique from the short-video app Kuaishou. Guo then started to post his own short videos about grabbing dolls, attracting 12,000 followers. He also bought a claw machine for 3,800 yuan to practice on at home.

He has grabbed at least 10,000 toys, later selling many of them to his fans and claw machine owners for low prices. He has given free lessons to his fans on the skills required to successfully master the machines and has livestreamed his sessions.

"I have so many dolls that I have to dispose of them. It's not that easy to sell dolls online," he said.

Guo quit the hobby last year when he became bored, but added, "It brought me a great sense of achievement.

"I don't have many friends in life. I got a lot of admiring glances from passersby, who thought I was an expert. Also, my fans on Kuaishou praised me to the skies. I liked the feeling."