Thread: Gemmy Doctor Shivers repair

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I purchased a Dr. shivers on ebay at a pretty good price, but it came with some issues. The beaker had leaked its green fluid (water?) onto the white smock. The head and wires were completely detached. The sound was good, but nothing else. I cut open the back of his head, and with some soldering and luck I've gotten the mouth and eyes moving, but still don't have flashing eyes or rotating head. There was a break where 2 eye wires meet the power, and I soldered that, but it didn't solve the problem. I've traced the wires back to the circuit board and all connections "look" ok, but anyone whose seen a Gemmy circuit board knows what a mess they are.
As far as the head rotation goes, if it was the motor, I'd switch out the neck assembly from a spare "Halloween Monster" and try that. But I'd rather not go thru that process if it seems to be the circuit board.
So my questions are -
Do you have a Dr. Shivers, and has either the eye flash or head rotate failed for you?
Were you able to get them operating again?
Is there a "usual suspect" in these kind of failures?
Overall I'm very pleased with the good doctor. I can live with out the head rotation quite happily, but would like to get the flashing eyes going!
Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

I hear that Gemmy is pretty good about replacing defective products. It might be worth sending them a letter/email.

Hi there,

Long-time lurker, first-time poster

I just want to validate your issue.

I had the same eye problem with a Dr. Shivers that I bought retail a couple of years ago. I'd tested it out, and it worked fine. Put it in my display at our party and then the eyes wouldn't light up at all. (Contacted Gemmy as it was still under their previous warranty policy, and though it took until *the following summer!!!* to get it resolved, they did step up. I think they have essentially eliminated their warranties now.)

To expand on the issue-- this last year I got the lifesize animated Jason, and he lost the ability to turn his head halfway through our party. So these seem to be weak points.

I haven't been able to repair the Jason figure but I'm not an electronics expert, and I am willing to live with the malfunction since it's not that critical to me. My concern is when I take him out this year, what's going to break next?

I have to add that I absolutely love the Dr. Shivers figure for the fact that he can be wired to the audio track of your choice. He was awesome as the 'announcer' for our haunt, and the fact that his eyes didn't light up any more actually made him seem a little more realistic.

I hope someone else has a fix-it answer.

Mr. Chicken - Gemmy was very diligent at replacing my "Halloween Monster". Like V mentioned, it wasn't until the following year, when they even knew if they would be selling the Halloween monster, before I got my replacement. 2 actually - the first one came already broken, and when I contacted customer service again, they told me to keep the second one, and sent me a third!
Unfortunately, Gemmy hasn't offered Dr. Shivers in awhile, and buying it used there is no warranty to cover the problems.
V - I concur with your sentiments - as I said, even with the issues, I'm very pleased with him.
Thanks for your input.
Anyone else deal with these problems?

Just bumping it up...

I've had some head turning issus with other figures before. The problem I encountered was that the wires coming up to the head mount got tugged. If you look there should be one large black protective tube that all the wires run through. About four inches below where the head snaps on, the tube stops and the wires split and either go to the motor that does the turning, or the hub where the contact is made for the eye/mouth movement. My problem was that the crappy spot soldering wasn't good enough and came loose when the figure was "locked" in the standing position. Gemmy just barely uses enough wire and when these figures are locked up and down, the wires have a lot of stress.

Check and see if all the wires are still connected. I saw a Hannibal last year that quit working completely. After looking, the figure was locked down and the protective tube, and all the wires inside, were cut completely in half.

-Matt

I bought one and for the first few days, he worked perfectly. But then his eyes didn't turn anymore. So far. that's the only problem with mine.


Does anybody have a tip or suggestion on what I can do to make his eyes turn again? Any help appreciated!!!! At least I have a doctor shivers!!!

I have the issue with the eyes not lighting up, and the beaker, I know this is an old thread but wondering if anyone has the same

I just purchased one this weekend and the mouth is not working, everything else is ok though... I guess I'm just happy I have one for our 2011 Haunt this year!

I did email gemmy to see if they carry replacement parts, I'll post anything I find out.

Originally Posted by left4dead

I just purchased one this weekend and the mouth is not working, everything else is ok though... I guess I'm just happy I have one for our 2011 Haunt this year!

I did email gemmy to see if they carry replacement parts, I'll post anything I find out.

Did you purchase Dr.Shivers from Grandin Road? I got mine from someone who was selling it from my area. So mine is older. Majority of the time it is the wires, I have a witch with cauldron that had issues and it turned out that the wire was disconnected but just a bit of soldering did the trick.