If you want to get inked but you're not sure what design you want on your skin till the end of time, Elm Street Tattoo has the solution. On Tuesday, the Deep Ellum shop, well-known because its co-owner is Ink Masters judge and artist Oliver Peck, unveiled a "get what you get" tattoo design vending machine.
For $100, you can drop a coin, twist the knob and receive a design at random. You'll be assigned the next tattoo artist available.
Bonus: On Friday, Aug. 18, Peck himself will be inking tattoo-seekers who use the "get what you get" machine. Drop by starting at 4 p.m. for a rare chance to get a tattoo from the famed artist.
In the first two days, the shop had 10 brave souls shell out $100 and use the small, old-school device reminiscent of a gumball machine for a mystery tattoo.
You should know: If you don't like the design you get, you're not obligated to get inked. But you won't get a refund.
If you want to try again, it's $20 for a second spin, which one customer did on the first day. Having received a cardinal with a flower on the first go-round, he tried again and was "stoked" to get an anchor hand-drawn by Peck, said general manager Shawn Hodges.
All the designs are classic, American-style -- think eagles, daggers and snakes. Hodges says it's a deal, too: The designs are valued at about $150-$250 -- or more -- and about a dozen were recently drawn by Peck. There are currently about 100 capsules in the machine, but Hodges plans to fill to its capacity of 200 soon.
The machine will be at Elm Street Tattoo in Deep Ellum as long as there's interest -- and judging by the 1,000 or so comments and 4,000 shares on the shop's Facebook post, that shouldn't be a problem.
When Friday the 13th lands, the shop might kick off another tattoo machine with a plethora of "13" designs. At Elm Street, Friday the 13th is a big deal: They throw a party each time. Peck won the Guinness World Record in 2008 for completing 415 tattoos of the number 13 in a 24-hour period.
Elm Street Tattoo is located at 2811 Elm St., Dallas.
