CrunchLabs Crunchinator – a hand-cranked crushing machine from Mark Rober
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra.
I have lost hours of my life to hydraulic press videos. A guy puts a bowling ball, a bag of chips or a rubber duck under a giant press, and then you just… watch it go. I’m not proud of it. I also can’t stop.
The CrunchLabs Crunchinator is that, but on your kitchen table. It’s a hand-cranked crushing machine from YouTuber Mark Rober and Moose Toys: you put something squishy in the clear chamber, crank the handle, and watch it slowly give up. Built for kids aged 8 and up. Built, if we’re honest, for their parents too.
What is the Crunchinator?
The Crunchinator is part of the first CrunchLabs toy line. Mark Rober, the former NASA engineer behind the CrunchLabs YouTube channel and build-box subscription, teamed up with the Australian-owned toy company Moose Toys. Moose announced the line in February 2026 and the toys landed in US stores this fall.
Moose Toys says the Crunchinator was “inspired by the wildly popular hydraulic press videos”. The press sits in a see-through chamber, so you can see everything get flattened. You load it with things like yogurt pouches, bath bombs or juice boxes, pick a crush plate and start cranking.
What’s in the box, according to Moose Toys:
- the press with a clear crushing chamber
- a wrench-style crank handle
- three swappable crush plates for different kinds of destruction
- an adjustable phone holder, so you can film every crunch
The Toy Insider picked it for its 2026 holiday toy lists, alongside a new Tickle Me Elmo and the KPop Demon Hunters dolls. That’s a busy shelf.
How does it work?
It’s a screw. That’s the whole trick, and it’s a good one. Turning the handle drives a big screw down, and the screw multiplies the force of your hand. Moose Toys says it gives you 30 times your own strength. The product page even points to a Mark Rober video where prisoners used a screw mechanism to bend steel bars apart. Educational!
Each CrunchLabs toy has a QR code that links to a video from Rober explaining the science behind it. So you get to crush a juice box and call it physics homework.
Moose says the chamber is easy to clean (Target’s listing says you can wash it in a sink) and that the press has “anti-break technology” for repeat crushing.
The good and the not-so-good
The good:
- The slow squeeze is the whole fun of press videos, and a hand crank gets that right.
- The phone holder is a smart touch. Every crunch is a future video.
- Amazon buyers rate it 4.6 stars from 136 ratings so far, and it carries a best seller badge.
The not-so-good:
- This is a toy press. It flattens soft stuff like pouches and bath bombs, not bowling balls. Manage expectations.
- You supply the things to crush, and someone will have to clean up the yogurt.
- Kids will run out of “approved” objects fast. Lock up the TV remote.
Who is the Crunchinator for?
It’s for curious kids around 8 to 13 who watch Mark Rober videos on repeat, and honestly for any grown-up who can’t scroll past a press video. It’s a fun gift for a niece or nephew that you’ll secretly want to try first. If you’re after a STEM gift with more building involved, look at the Thames & Kosmos V8 race car kit or the GraviTrax starter set. Big kids who just need to fidget will find more in our stress-relieving toys.
Where can I buy the Crunchinator?
The Crunchinator is on Amazon for about 35 bucks at the time of writing (October 2026), the same as Moose Toys’ list price. It’s also at Target.
Crunch it, film it, then explain to your partner why the grapes are gone.