The lids on the Ideal sliders are made out of stainless steel.

Ideals machines also came in several colors choices. The colors were Oven Baked Red, White, Blue, Green, Bright Yellow, and Orange. Also in addtion to vending Soda bottles the Ideal machines also were made to vend milk, juice, and other drinks.

Produced in the mid 1950's by the Ideal company the Ideal-70 is identical to the Ideal-55 except it is larger in size. Some of the many companies Ideal produced machines for were 7up, Coke Cola, Pepsi, Hires, Barqs, Double Cola, Squirt, Rc Cola, Nesbits, Mission Orange, Canada Dry,Grand Prize, and others. As for the Ideal-85 I have only seen embossed Pepsi machines and unembossed generic ones.

These machines are known as sliders because once you deposit a coin you must "slide" your cola along the rack to release it. Most brands listed above came with embossing, however ideal produced many machines that not.

Although not a favorite vendor for serious collectors the Ideal 85 would be a great first machine. Why? Because its small, unique, and affordable at around $300 - $1200.00 depending on condition.