This reminds me of a toy money bank I had when I was a kid. It was a black box and had a little slot that you would set a coin in, and the coin would short out two contacts. The box would open and a hand would come out (like a zombie reaching out of the grave) and the hand would take the coin from the slot and pull it into the box.
Come to think of it, maybe that's where this guy got the guts for his project from.