[Bruzilla]

We put our brown Spirit jumping spider out on Wednesday, and an unexpected thunderstorm came through on Thursday. The rain was short in duration but heavy in amount and our spider got soaked. The control board was shorting from the water and the spider quit working. I went to the Spirit store in Orange Park to get another one Friday morning. I walked in and there were no jumping spiders to be found. I chased down a clerk and she told me the only spider they had left was their display one, and I could buy that one if I wanted it. I said as long as I could check it to make sure it worked, I would buy it. She got a power adapter and plugged the spider in.

The first thing I noticed was our spider would shutter for a second before leaping, like something was winding up. This one jumped immediately once the sensor was tripped. The second thing I noticed was the spider retracted quicker and smoother than my spider. I thought that maybe our spider didn't work as well because it was older, but it's working the same as it did when we got it last year. Anyway, while I was worried about buying a floor display, that had been leaping for the past two or three months, we needed a spider so I said I would get it.

The clerk told me she would get the box for me and I told her I didn't really need it, but she said she knew where it was so she would go get it. She came back with this big brown square box, not the rectangular spider box, and I told her I thought she was getting me the spider box and she said it was the box for the spider. I looked at the front and it said it was for a sample jumping spider, SKU# 0118470. I got on my phone and checked the SKU for the brown spider on the website and it was 01174804.

When I got home I put the sample spider next to the regular spider and saw the IR/sound sensor is different and the launch mechanism is a little different. The IR/sound sensor on the sample spider is much more sensitive than the regular spider. They were the same at close range, but I could make the sample spider jump using sound from much further away than the regular spider. Also, on the IR side, the IR sensor had a wider arc of detection than the regular spider. What I really liked was the sample spider jumped much quicker and smoothly than the regular spider. Once someone entered the detection arc the spider launched with no delay or shuttering.

So it's looking like the sample spiders are better made than the regular models, which makes sense given they are expected to work longer and better than the regular ones. So if you get a chance to buy a sample model 0118470 spider... grab it.

 

[DarkhavenManor]

Interesting, I wonder how many of Spirit's products are made like this...

 

[DaveintheGrave]

Ah-ha! Bait-and-switch. Brilliant of them.

 

[Screaming Demons]

I've heard similar stories about other props. There are some who maintain there is absolutely no difference and others who are just as adamant there are two versions.

I believe there are, depending on the store. Mine always has an empty retail box for every prop stacked off to the side that held the display models. At the end of the season, they either sell them half off or box them up and send them back. Most are broken after being activated thousands of times, so 50 percent off is no bargain. Obviously none of the specially built samples ever make their way down here.

 

[ChrisW]

The first jumping spider I bought way back when was the floor display...but it hadn't been taken out of the box yet. Besides the spider, there were weights and a power adapter. I don't know if it is built differently than the standard boxed spider, but it has been working well for the three years we've been using it.

 

[EviLEye]

FWIW, my spider from 2 yrs ago will immediately spring up when triggered. And I have the coat rack from this year and it is frustratingly a lot like you described your other spider. It seems to make a solenoid sound with about a 1.5 second delay before triggering. I really wished the coat rack would work like the spider, now it sounds like maybe they made some changes to the mechanism.

 

[Bruzilla]

Yep, this one comes with special weights too that weren't with the regular spider. We didn't use them because we screw the base to an old end table to put the spider closer to eye level.

We did some more tests yesterday now that we knew the regular spider had completely dried up, and the sensors on the display model are definitely better than the regular model.

 

[TwistedVet]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but since this is the right audience...I bought a new brown jumping spider this year and it worked much better in the daylight, but as night fell, it seemed to only trigger for adults. Without lighting up the entire yard, any tips to fix this for next year? thanks

 

[nochevys]

Do not know if true but I have heard that the Spirit "display" models are built using heavier and higher quality parts than the for sale models due to being triggered many 100's of times at the store. Otherwise they would not hold up to constant triggering. I know I have purchased a few display models and they hold up well and the off the shelf items seem do be broken after a season or two....

 

[ChrisW]

Do not know if true but I have heard that the Spirit "display" models are built using heavier and higher quality parts than the for sale models due to being triggered many 100's of times at the store. Otherwise they would not hold up to constant triggering. I know I have purchased a few display models and they hold up well and the off the shelf items seem do be broken after a season or two....

...on the other hand, that doesn't explain why so many of the display items are already broken!

 

[PLTNMBU]

I purchased mine the 30th it worked maybe 1hr then the board went out! now i have to try and get an exchange but i have to wait until tomorrow due to work!

 

[Bruzilla]

...on the other hand, that doesn't explain why so many of the display items are already broken!

You ever see the carnage a lot of minimum-wage, short-term, employees can do to store fixtures of any kind?

 

[DarkhavenManor]

Buy the display spider, lol

 

[Screaming Demons]

...on the other hand, that doesn't explain why so many of the display items are already broken!

My stores don't get the special models.

 

[Screaming Demons]

You ever see the carnage a lot of minimum-wage, short-term, employees can do to store fixtures of any kind?

No. It's the thousands of kids standing there activating them constantly with the stomp (not step) pads. If I were an employee, I'd just unplug them and tell people they were broken.

 

[Chaserbug]

I was told that the samples are built better because they get more abuse in the stores. I got a sample zombie pop up and the paint job on him was even a lot better. They are definitely baiting and switching because the regular one looking nothing like the store sample! I am very careful what I buy from them now.

 

[CheeseWeasel]

Unfortunately, I was the victim of Spirit Halloween selling me a faulty spider and then refusing to exchange it. The person that answered the phone at Spirit Halloween could not have been more rude. No exchanges, no refunds, you are screwed, goodbye.

I bought the jumping spider to be one of the elements in my Home Haunt (The Voodoo Swamp), it was intended to be a one-two punch along with a spider that was dropped from the ceiling. Minutes before we opened the doors to the haunt the Jumping Spider from Spirit Halloween began behaving oddly. It was not dropped, or mistreated. In fact, I'd only used it a few times to test it! It was brand spankin' new!I spent a lot of time setting up my Spider room and this product was a big part of it. And it let me down. By the time we opened the doors, the Jumping spider was not working at all. It sat motionless all night long.

I also bought an animatronic demon baby from Spirit the day of Halloween and it's clothes were so binding that the motors were not strong enough to move the arms as intended. I fiddled with clothes until I gave up. I had way too much to do to stop and try to modify this faulty product.The only way the device would work, as intended, was if I removed all of its clothes - which, of course, exposed a metal frame and internal mechanisms.

If anyone has any luck with an exchange, or has any helpful information on how we might get the working products we paid for, please let me know.

As it stands, Spirit Halloween just lost a valuable customer. I'm a Halloween and FX Make-up enthusiast and I'm never setting foot in that place again.

Cheeseweasel

 

[Bruzilla]

No. It's the thousands of kids standing there activating them constantly with the stomp (not step) pads. If I were an employee, I'd just unplug them and tell people they were broken.

I noticed that when I went to buy mine. All the samples had their footpads hooked up but none had a power supply connected. I guess hearing those sounds a gazillion times a day would tend to drive you nuts after a week or so.

 

[Bruzilla]

I bought the jumping spider to be one of the elements in my Home Haunt (The Voodoo Swamp), it was intended to be a one-two punch along with a spider that was dropped from the ceiling. Minutes before we opened the doors to the haunt the Jumping Spider from Spirit Halloween began behaving oddly. It was not dropped, or mistreated. In fact, I'd only used it a few times to test it! It was brand spankin' new!I spent a lot of time setting up my Spider room and this product was a big part of it. And it let me down. By the time we opened the doors, the Jumping spider was not working at all. It sat motionless all night long.

CheeseWeasel, a common problem with these spiders is some of the hair gets pushed or pulled over the sensor under the head and it can no longer see to activate. Did you try locating the sensor and making sure it wasn't being covered up? Another problem is people mistake the sensor/foot pad switch for a power switch and set it to foot pad when they don't have one connected, which will leave your spider waiting forever to launch. I've also seen spider problems stemming from people taking the battery cover off, putting in batteries, then not using the screw when putting the cover back on. The spider creates so much energy when it jumps, it can easily knock the cover loose resulting in the batteries popping up and breaking the connection. I've also seen people having problems when using Brand X batteries, or batteries from the junk drawer in the kitchen that have been sitting around. Lastly, I had a friend who's spider suddenly quit jumping because their pet bunny had a strange affinity for chewing wires and it had eaten through a small section of the power cable. I guess the competition with Easter decorations was getting intense.

 

[CheeseWeasel]

CheeseWeasel, a common problem with these spiders is some of the hair gets pushed or pulled over the sensor under the head and it can no longer see to activate. Did you try locating the sensor and making sure it wasn't being covered up? Another problem is people mistake the sensor/foot pad switch for a power switch and set it to foot pad when they don't have one connected, which will leave your spider waiting forever to launch. I've also seen spider problems stemming from people taking the battery cover off, putting in batteries, then not using the screw when putting the cover back on. The spider creates so much energy when it jumps, it can easily knock the cover loose resulting in the batteries popping up and breaking the connection. I've also seen people having problems when using Brand X batteries, or batteries from the junk drawer in the kitchen that have been sitting around. Lastly, I had a friend who's spider suddenly quit jumping because their pet bunny had a strange affinity for chewing wires and it had eaten through a small section of the power cable. I guess the competition with Easter decorations was getting intense.

Hi Bruzilla,

Thanks for the suggestions, however, the battery cover was secure; brand new, name brand batteries were used; sensor is clear of hair; and the switch was correctly positioned. Based on how it is behaving I suspect I'll find a stripped plastic gear somewhere. I haven't had time to disassemble it for inspection. I'll let you know what I find when I do.

Cheese