[farblefumble]

I just scored 7 animatronics from an estate sale. Give me all your tips and tricks. I've always wanted animatronics, and now have them! Anything from how to make the most scares to hooking them all up with extension cords. Also got a mad scientist and ground breaker, but I didn't get their pictures.

Thanks everybody!

 

[Restless Acres]

I just scored 7 animatronics from an estate sale. Give me all your tips and tricks. I've always wanted animatronics, and now have them! Anything from how to make the most scares to hooking them all up with extension cords.

Thanks everybody!

That's a very broad question!

 

[djjerme]

Best to first post photos of what you scored..

The we can toss ideas and suggestions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[farblefumble]

Updated.

Best to first post photos of what you scored..

The we can toss ideas and suggestions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[didionkh]

My suggestion is to plug them all in and see whatcha got. First would be to make sure they all work. If not, are they fixable? Second thing (assuming they all work) is get a feel for the timing of effects. Does one move slow and one move fast, etc. Think about your yard (or driveway, or where ever your haunt may be). I know that's not much to go on, but it's a start.

 

[farblefumble]

My suggestion is to plug them all in and see whatcha got. First would be to make sure they all work. If not, are they fixable? Second thing (assuming they all work) is get a feel for the timing of effects. Does one move slow and one move fast, etc. Think about your yard (or driveway, or where ever your haunt may be). I know that's not much to go on, but it's a start.

Do they each get their own extension cord? Or does a strip work?

 

[didionkh]

I guess that really depends on a lot of factors. I don't know what sort of juice these pull. If I had to venture a guess, these are pulling 1 amp or less each (you can check the plugs) so a power strip would be fine. The bigger issue would be placement. If they going to be placed away from a power source, you'll need an extension cord.

Maybe I'm missing your question. Can you run all of these (via extension cord), into a power strip? Probably yes. As long as they are not pulling more than the total amps allowed on your strip (and outlet as well). That's typically 15 amps.

 

[didionkh]

(Just adding, there's more that goes into tripping/overloading circuits, etc. More amps than allowed is the most common.)

 

[djjerme]

Also the rating of the power cord. There's a lot of difference between a two pronged/non-grounded vs a heavy duty worksite rated cord. Not to mention length of the cord. But those are probably things you need not worry about at this point since as stated before, they probably draw less than an amp each.

I'd first assess the aesthetic condition and running condition of each one. Then decide if you want to keep them all and use them or sell the ones you are not big on to fund upgrades/new ones.

Also, are you wanting to be a "collector" and worried about retaining perceived collectable value or are you someone who just wants to create a show (meaning don't care if they are modified/changed..etc.) From there you can decide if you just want to keep them in working order and someone can help fix most problems they might have. Or you can go all out and get suggestion/tips on taking them apart or modifying them to increase the scare factor.

It's like buying an old car, one person will look at it and want to do a concourse restoration, while another will look at it as a base for building a custom version that they want to drive. The choice comes down to you and what you want out of them.

 

[farblefumble]

Also the rating of the power cord. There's a lot of difference between a two pronged/non-grounded vs a heavy duty worksite rated cord. Not to mention length of the cord. But those are probably things you need not worry about at this point since as stated before, they probably draw less than an amp each.

I'd first assess the aesthetic condition and running condition of each one. Then decide if you want to keep them all and use them or sell the ones you are not big on to fund upgrades/new ones.

Also, are you wanting to be a "collector" and worried about retaining perceived collectable value or are you someone who just wants to create a show (meaning don't care if they are modified/changed..etc.) From there you can decide if you just want to keep them in working order and someone can help fix most problems they might have. Or you can go all out and get suggestion/tips on taking them apart or modifying them to increase the scare factor.

It's like buying an old car, one person will look at it and want to do a concourse restoration, while another will look at it as a base for building a custom version that they want to drive. The choice comes down to you and what you want out of them.

Thanks for the ideas. For the price, I figured even if they didn't work, they'd still look great just standing there. I hit sale at exactly the right time (6 for $50, and the last one for $10). The workers were overloaded and just trying to get rid of everything. These people had an entire garage of Halloween and another full of Christmas. So much stuff! The worker told me that the couple did use them the previous Halloween, so hopefully most are in working order. Once the weather is better, I'm planning to pull everything out and test them out. Can most instructions be found online somewhere?

 

[Jottle]

These all look like Tekky made animatronics. There's a lot of small plastic parts in all of these that can break very very easily if there's any pressure applied to the mechanisms. Treat them with kid gloves as Tekky does not provide replacement parts, and a broken custom gear (happened to me) can be the difference between the item working or being broken forever, unless you know someone that can 3d print the part for you

 

[Restless Acres]

Which Mad Scientist? Untimely Death is an awesome, but subtle, prop. Definitely in my top 20 of ones I own.

 

[Lokai]

I just scored 7 animatronics from an estate sale. Give me all your tips and tricks. I've always wanted animatronics, and now have them! Anything from how to make the most scares to hooking them all up with extension cords. Also got a mad scientist and ground breaker, but I didn't get their pictures.

Thanks everybody! View attachment 744062 View attachment 744063 View attachment 744064 View attachment 744065 View attachment 744066

 

[Lokai]

This is great. All the best to you on this ..I'm looking for stuff as well

 

[HalloweenHauntGuy]

I just scored 7 animatronics from an estate sale. Give me all your tips and tricks. I've always wanted animatronics, and now have them! Anything from how to make the most scares to hooking them all up with extension cords. Also got a mad scientist and ground breaker, but I didn't get their pictures.

Thanks everybody! View attachment 744062 View attachment 744063 View attachment 744064 View attachment 744065 View attachment 744066

Awesome Score! You've got some of the classic older animatroincs! Keep them out of the elements, and I wouldn't recommend placing them in direct sunlight. Some Latex props will dry-rot soon after being exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time. Also be sure to keep them out of extreme heat/cold. The gears especially become brittle if exposed to extreme cold, and that leads to split or broken gears.

PS. If you ever decide to sell that Lurching Reaper, I'm interested

 

[farblefumble]

Awesome Score! You've got some of the classic older animatroincs! Keep them out of the elements, and I wouldn't recommend placing them in direct sunlight. Some Latex props will dry-rot soon after being exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time. Also be sure to keep them out of extreme heat/cold. The gears especially become brittle if exposed to extreme cold, and that leads to split or broken gears.

PS. If you ever decide to sell that Lurching Reaper, I'm interested

LOL. I'll keep that in mind. I'm excited! I'm only going to put them out for Halloween day. We have a had a lot of things get stolen at night, so keeping these for day of.

 

[farblefumble]

Which Mad Scientist? Untimely Death is an awesome, but subtle, prop. Definitely in my top 20 of ones I own.

It's Doctor Shivers. We live on a corner, so I'm thinking of having him and John Doe on the side and the graveyard in the front.

 

[Restless Acres]

It's Doctor Shivers. We live on a corner, so I'm thinking of having him and John Doe on the side and the graveyard in the front.

Wow, Dr. Shivers for 5 or 10 bucks. If you need a nurse I think I have the Morbid one for sale on here. Not for $10, though. 😜 I did a basement room in 2016 with Evil Scientist, the Spirit nurse, John Doe, with Limb Eating Zombie Boy and Chewie helping out with leftovers.

 

[seawitch67]

This probably sounds ridiculously simple, but ...tell a story/make a scene. Set them up so that they "play" off of each other. I get so many compliments or people telling me I should open "something" because I put so much attention into detail. I have learned over the years that it is a waste of time to put any time into small details, because no one really notices with all of the BIG things going on. Hope this helps!

 

[Britneybear]

I just scored 7 animatronics from an estate sale. Give me all your tips and tricks. I've always wanted animatronics, and now have them! Anything from how to make the most scares to hooking them all up with extension cords. Also got a mad scientist and ground breaker, but I didn't get their pictures.

Thanks everybody! View attachment 744062 View attachment 744063 View attachment 744064 View attachment 744065 View attachment 744066

This probably sounds ridiculously simple, but ...tell a story/make a scene. Set them up so that they "play" off of each other. I get so many compliments or people telling me I should open "something" because I put so much attention into detail. I have learned over the years that it is a waste of time to put any time into small details, because no one really notices with all of the BIG things going on. Hope this helps!

I just scored 7 animatronics from an estate sale. Give me all your tips and tricks. I've always wanted animatronics, and now have them! Anything from how to make the most scares to hooking them all up with extension cords. Also got a mad scientist and ground breaker, but I didn't get their pictures.

Thanks everybody! View attachment 744062 View attachment 744063 View attachment 744064 View attachment 744065 View attachment 744066

I leave John Doe on sensor. He is very sensitive, he sits up while breathing heavily, waits couple seconds, then continues to breathe heavy and lays back down. I think it’s a very simple but cool prop.