[ChrisW]

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.

 

[Mr_Chicken]

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

 

[-V-]

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.

 

[ChrisW]

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?

 

[ChrisW]

Just bumping it up...

 

[19215]

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

 

[Noe88]

Cool Doctor Shivers!!!!

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!!!

 

[tamster]

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

 

[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.

 

[tamster]

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.

 

[shipperson]

Dr. Shivers

I have one, bought it new a few years back! Hearing your stories, I feel fortunate! I have not had any problems, as many have discribed here! I did notice last Halloween, however, that the beaker does not light up any more! Has anyone had THAT problem?

Also, I think your only hope to fix these issues is to do like many have and disect your good Dr. and see if you can find a loose wire. Boy, if there was someone running a business of fixing this stuff, they would be rich!!!

I also think we should all email Gemmy and suggest they bring back the good Dr.

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

You know guys it really makes me mad that we pay so much money for these life size props and they either break right off the bat or we have 1 to2 good years with them and they crap out! My Jason's arm broke after Halloween last year/ We opened him up and he totally cracked right off!! Thanks to scubaspook a member here they guided me through how to repair him! Pics and all! Jason thank God is working fine now! Now our Gemmy Cauldron Witch is another issue!!! Just took her out to test her the other day and her cauldron that smokes and lights up is now not working!!!! We bought her in 2008.My self and my hubby don't even know if we want to even chance buying anymore life size Gemmy props! Good luck guys! I hope you can find a solution to your Dr Shivers problem!

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

I have one, bought it new a few years back! Hearing your stories, I feel fortunate! I have not had any problems, as many have discribed here! I did notice last Halloween, however, that the beaker does not light up any more! Has anyone had THAT problem?

Also, I think your only hope to fix these issues is to do like many have and disect your good Dr. and see if you can find a loose wire. Boy, if there was someone running a business of fixing this stuff, they would be rich!!!

I also think we should all email Gemmy and suggest they bring back the good Dr.

Hey guys Grandin Road is selling Dr Shivers in case you don't know

 

[Zoemorgan2]

Hi! I just bought Dr. Shivers from Grandin Road. I took him out, plugged him in and the beaker was the only thing that lit up. I was so po'd that I smacked him hard in the head! Voila! He totally works now. I think in transit the wires just wriggled too much. I guess I'll just have to keep smacking him around if he acts up again.

 

[whichypoo]

where is the tutorial and pics to fix the jason arm we just bought a jason that works fine but the arm is broken. would love a little help please

 

[tamster]

You know guys it really makes me mad that we pay so much money for these life size props and they either break right off the bat or we have 1 to2 good years with them and they crap out! My Jason's arm broke after Halloween last year/ We opened him up and he totally cracked right off!! Thanks to scubaspook a member here they guided me through how to repair him! Pics and all! Jason thank God is working fine now! Now our Gemmy Cauldron Witch is another issue!!! Just took her out to test her the other day and her cauldron that smokes and lights up is now not working!!!! We bought her in 2008.My self and my hubby don't even know if we want to even chance buying anymore life size Gemmy props! Good luck guys! I hope you can find a solution to your Dr Shivers problem!

I have the witch too, the cauldron would not work, so ripped out the fog mister and put in a new one myself and it worked fine. I sure hope she is ok this year, I hadn't brought her out in a few years

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

Tamster can you tell me how you did it? We tried getting the fogger out of her cauldron but it would not budge!

 

[shipperson]

We just need to demand that they make better stuff. They are cheaply made but they are making them cheaper now. They use to put a volume control on them, but they took that out! They use to put in features like, a microphone jack and a mic, so you could talk thru your character but they took that out! They use to put in a speaker jack, so you could plug in an additional set of speakers to make them louder but they took that out! Now the problem is, they are cutting out as much wire out of them, to save money! They use so little, not giving any slack inside the character, so any little movement will pull a wire free and their head won't turn or their mouth won't move, etc! Doesn't seem like much but if they cut out 1 inch of wire in 10,000 characters, they make more $$$! Please, everyone, call Gemmy Industries and complain! Deand better products!!!

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

We just need to demand that they make better stuff. They are cheaply made but they are making them cheaper now. They use to put a volume control on them, but they took that out! They use to put in features like, a microphone jack and a mic, so you could talk thru your character but they took that out! They use to put in a speaker jack, so you could plug in an additional set of speakers to make them louder but they took that out! Now the problem is, they are cutting out as much wire out of them, to save money! They use so little, not giving any slack inside the character, so any little movement will pull a wire free and their head won't turn or their mouth won't move, etc! Doesn't seem like much but if they cut out 1 inch of wire in 10,000 characters, they make more $$$! Please, everyone, call Gemmy Industries and complain! Deand better products!!!

I am with you!! I totally agree!! We bought the Quivering Doorman in 2009. Don't get me wrong we love him but there is no volume control on this guy at all!! If he is the only prop you have that makes noise great you will hear him. If not forget about it! I don't think we are going to be buying any gemmy lifesize props anymore because of what happened to our Jason( we did fix him thanks( Scubaspook) and now our Cauldron Witch's cauldron is not working!!!! This should NOT be happening to props that we are paying ENOUGH money for!!

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

Well guys I caved and bought Dr Shivers from Grandidn Road. Hopefully we will not have any issues with him! Fingers crossed. The good Dr should arrive by the end of next week!