$8.50?? I'd have brought that baby home, too!
I look at these things and I say, "It's fifteen bucks. Will I get fifteen bucks of enjoyment out of this machine?" If the answer is yes I buy it and don't worry too much about what I'm going to do with it. For fifteen bucks I can afford to give it away when I'm tired of it - I'll have gotten my money's worth out of it already.
If I can purchase, play with, and however temporarily own a nifty piece of machinery for less than the price of a movie ticket, I'm all over that.
I'd much rather be taking apart a dirty machine than watching most movies anyway.