Thread: Spirit store impressions/experiences; post 'em here.

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With so many different Spirit threads going on, I thought maybe we could start one for members to post their experiences and impressions of their own Spirit store visits.

I went to ours today for the first time, Big space and a nice layout. Arranged nicely according to theme. The themed displays were pretty impressive. I saw only two people working, although it was mid day on a Tuesday so they weren't packed but there were people browsing around. One of the clerks was plugging in some of the animatronics so people could watch them in action.
Saw the jumping spider (smaller than what I envisioned but pretty cool all the same.) The rat eating the torso was "okay" but nothing I'd drop money on. They had the two animatronic standing zombies together in one display. One wasn't working and seemed pretty flimsy for the price (of course the one I had thought of buying, the guy holding the severed arm). The other worked fine but again seemed flimsy with unreaisitc movement (and I hate those glowing led eyes!)
Hoped to see the Harvester set up but there wasn't one. The Demonica was "meh". not my cup of tea. I really liked the crawling zombie torso with remote directional control. I may pull the trigger on this. The price is a bit steep for what you get but it would make a good scene centerpiece. Very poor selection of masks this year and I've noticed this is a trend. Spirit used to carry a lot of nice masks. Wish they'd do it again. They had two 5 foot plastic skeletons that looked nice (kind of like a bucky) but they were all bundled up and not on full display. They were 50 bucks but looked pretty solid.
I saw the floor standing candleabra and was not at all impressed. It wobbled where it connects to the base. not sure if maybe it just wasn't secured properly but it actually had a slight tilt to it. The talking busts were cool as was Frankenstein. The vampire in the coffin was cheesy. Bad movement and you could barely make out what he was saying.
I did end up buying a few small things to flesh out a couple scenes but holding off on the bigger stuff for another couple weeks, All in all it was a fun way to spend an hour. A lot of the same stuff from previous years but the new stuff was fun. Just a little gun shy from bad reviews on their animatronics from past years but I may take the chance this year.
Used a 20% coupon too so that helped a little.
Hope to see more members post their Spirit experience. If you've already posted one, copy and paste it here.

Originally Posted by jdubbya

If you've already posted one, copy and paste it here.

I think it might be against forum rules to make duplicate posts. Believe it would be cross-posting.

Originally Posted by Ghost of Spookie

I think it might be against forum rules to make duplicate posts. Believe it would be cross-posting.

Duh! I should have thought of that. Good catch! Disregard my "copy/paste" suggestion!
Thanks GOS!

So was the zombie holding the arm the flimsy one?I just ordered him I hope not.

I've done a few quick passes thru my local store, unfortunately always bad timing to really shop in earnest. Saw a number of things i'd consider buying propwise. The jumping spider would be top on my list i think because while in the store i saw more people jump themselves when they walked past and didn't know what the prop was. That is what i think a lot of us hope to see in our haunts. And people for the most part start laughing at themselves for letting themselves get surprised like that. I know the store clerk said they had sold out of all their spiders and were trying to get more in. If i have some extra funds left after payday Friday i will probably see if they can still get one for me. Figure the spider could work in lots of situations.

Originally Posted by halloween71

So was the zombie holding the arm the flimsy one?I just ordered him I hope not.

He was the one that wasn't working. not sure why, he looked to be all plugged in and ready to go. They are both motion activated and the other one worked, the arm guy didn't go off. Red flag to me!
The armature seems flimsy and the clothing is very cheap, but that's to be expected. Let me know how you like yours when it comes. I was really tempted to get him but want to hear some real life reviews before I do.

So far I am NOT impressed at ALL by my Spirit store - it's not even open yet! They hadn't even gotten set up at all when we saw it last week - the place was still full of cardboard boxes. ONE guy was in there unloading.

I have to say that I like the eyes of a lot of the newer props, like of the foggy glazed over look for a change. Maybe they look more zombie-like. Did you guys get a look at the shoes on those two toxic zombie props? They look more like real shoes than prop stands. Wish they sold them for our own prop building needs.

Originally Posted by jdubbya

He was the one that wasn't working. not sure why, he looked to be all plugged in and ready to go. They are both motion activated and the other one worked, the arm guy didn't go off. Red flag to me!
The armature seems flimsy and the clothing is very cheap, but that's to be expected. Let me know how you like yours when it comes. I was really tempted to get him but want to hear some real life reviews before I do.

He appears to be branded by the same company that does the reanimated corpse.So i was hoping he would be a good prop.

Originally Posted by jdubbya

I saw the floor standing candleabra and was not at all impressed. It wobbled where it connects to the base. not sure if maybe it just wasn't secured properly but it actually had a slight tilt to it.

jdubbya,

They definitely didn't have the floor standing candelabra set up correctly. When we bought ours, I set it up that very night, and it is solid as a rock. It is heavy, too. There are basically 5 pieces (not including the candles) that screw together, and I must say, the parts have been machined out very well. That's not always the case with most Halloween props (i.e. Spirit Crypt Table). It is a little expensive, but using the 20% off coupon helps.