All Poster Forum
Collecting and Collectibles in Other Areas => Show Us Your Other Collectibles => Topic started by: kobun37 on September 01, 2015, 08:37:10 AM
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Sorry for the delay, been busy working on another kind of restoration project for the past three months that's almost finished and I'm in the final push...
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/IMAG0401.jpg)
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Kobun, is that animatronic?
The restore job looks great so far. What kind of condition was it in, when you first started?
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Nice work. cool1
Which generation Chuckie is that? Did he originally have the cigar?
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Yes, he is an animatronic. This is probably what you would call a "Fourth Generation" bot, but it is the generation used from the late '70s through most of the '80s. They went through three generations at the first two stores within about a year and a half and there was only one bot per character for each generation before the 4th. He had the cigar up until late 1979, and there were about half a dozen stores using this type of bot by then so they may have had a cigar.
This is what he looked like when I got him:
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/Chuck%20Pre-restore%201.jpg)
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/Chuck%20Pre-restore%208.jpg)
No nose, no right forearm, trashed eyes, eyelids didn't work, a plastic tab for teeth and a half-assed reproduction for a jaw. This was actually an improvement over what he looked like when found back in the early 2000s:
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/CEC_MECH%205.jpg)
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/CEC_MECH_1.jpg)
His previous owner cleaned him up, replaced the fabric on his snout and made a jaw. Then the owner lost interest and didn't do anything with him for 7 years before deciding to sell him on eBay to raise funds for another project. The first two pics are from the listing. It was a BIN listing with a best offer, so I sent an offer and he accepted. There are only about a dozen 1/2 body Chuck bots known to exist and most are incomplete and in need of restoration. It's been a really fun and rewarding experience. I met a lot of really cool people who have helped me out. And yes, I got him working again. He's one of two known to be in working condition. I bought an animatronics controller so I can program him for new material. Still getting the hang of it, but here he is singing a song from a promotional LP released in 1985. It was probably a local production and the bots were never programmed to perform it, until now. thumbsup.gif
https://www.youtube.com/v/GiM_RAcd_ZM
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kobun, those pics and the history behind the piece are incredible! happy1
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Holy WTF?
haha,
whats most amazing is before your resto he looks sad, and then.......
well done
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Holy WTF?
haha,
whats most amazing is before your resto he looks sad, and then.......
well done
I know! Animatronics seem to have an attitude about them that directly relates to how well they're taken care of. He looks so much happier now.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/IMG_20150826_033227.jpg)
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/IMG_20150826_030402.jpg)
Here's an older video I made before I redid his jaw. I programmed him to sing a birthday song for my niece's fourth birthday about a month ago. This one was done by his normal voice actor at the time.
https://www.youtube.com/v/U5E-L_oJOTc
The last thing left is to make his vest and a cover for the table he sits on. A former employee who worked in the costume department sent me the vest materials, and I'm learning to use a sewing machine.
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It was probably a local production and the bots were never programmed to perform it, until now. thumbsup.gif
sm1 Wow! That is amazing! How long did it take you to program that song?
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Terrifying. The stuff of robopocalypse nightmares!
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sm1 Wow! That is amazing! How long did it take you to program that song?
The first song took about six hours and I did it all in one straight shot. I was having some electrical problems with interference between the valves and controller, so the controller kept freezing on me. Fixing that was one of the behind-the-scenes part of the project. This song I did over the weekend, but not all at once. I'd estimate it probably took about four hours total. Syncing the mouth movements to the audio is 9/10ths of the job. I'm probably more anal than most people would be, though. I hate it when an animatronic's mouth movements don't match the audio and it looks like they're just randomly flapping their jaw while the audio plays. It just ruins the illusion IMHO.
Terrifying. The stuff of robopocalypse nightmares!
He sits in my living room facing the door. I'll never have to worry about burglars or uninvited guests again! thumbup
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He sits in my living room facing the door. I'll never have to worry about burglars or uninvited guests again! thumbup
notworthy.gif
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He sits in my living room facing the door. I'll never have to worry about burglars or uninvited guests again! thumbup
Or women! :P
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Or women! :P
;D
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Or women! :P
Hey, I've got that covered. I'm female and my friends are mostly guys who think he's awesome. ;)
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Hey, I've got that covered. I'm female and my friends are mostly guys who think he's awesome. ;)
touché
thumbsup.gif
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Haha, very good :D
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(http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/turn_tables_blue.png)
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(http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/turn_tables_blue.png)
You've turned??? Wrong thread here for discussing your sexual orientation
:P
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You've turned??? Wrong thread here for discussing your sexual orientation
:P
Oh you misinterpreted Steve - these are Ikea instructions :-*
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Oh you misinterpreted Steve - these are Ikea instructions :-*
And those instructions are helpful indeed. ;D
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I know! Animatronics seem to have an attitude about them that directly relates to how well they're taken care of. He looks so much happier now.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/IMG_20150826_033227.jpg)
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/IMG_20150826_030402.jpg)
Here's an older video I made before I redid his jaw. I programmed him to sing a birthday song for my niece's fourth birthday about a month ago. This one was done by his normal voice actor at the time.
https://www.youtube.com/v/U5E-L_oJOTc
The last thing left is to make his vest and a cover for the table he sits on. A former employee who worked in the costume department sent me the vest materials, and I'm learning to use a sewing machine.
Excellent.
clap
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What he ^ says!
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Your dedication to the Chuck E. Cheese cause is impressive, young Cheesewalker.
You have earned your place in the great pantheon of rodent mythology.
Just love the work that you've done.
clap clap clap
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Thanks everyone. I feel really lucky to have him. It's been a long project and a lot of work, but totally worth it. My goal is to have him looking just like he would have back in the '80s. Except with the cigar. Because a snarky, cigar-smoking Jersey rat is awesome.
I even managed to work out an agreement with the poster seller. I will be keeping the mashed poster, and he is sending me a reprint of a different vintage poster made for a convention a few years back. I didn't get to attend the convention, so even though it's not an original it's still worthwhile to have. I also picked up a store sign on eBay recently.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/Make%20Magic%20sign.jpg)
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After about a month of delays, I finally got that sign I posted a picture of. In a flattened cardboard box, no less. Luckily it was rigid enough to resist bending and arrived undamaged. Ever had a stretch where you just couldn't escape lousy shipping?
Anyway, I finally finished my Chuck bot's clothes. All that's left is to make him a proper bow tie since this one looks small on him.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Arklier/Other%20stuff/CEC/IMAG0587_1.jpg)
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kobun37, again, your work, detail and passion to rebuild and restore your Chuck animatronic are to be commended.
He looks fantastic!
clap clap clap clap
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I collect Chuck E. Cheese stuff up through the mid-90s, and over the years they have made some awesome posters and wall art to decorate the stores. One of the mods asked me to make a thread so they could split one of my older threads that went off topic. So here's some pics of my other stuff!
(https://scontent-sjc2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/13721202_930439333731228_1410995265_n.jpg)
He actually has a friend.
(https://scontent-sjc2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/14334307_641893982654216_2047241619_n.jpg)
Chuck and the "guest" character are mechanically identical. About a year ago I was part of a group buy from a huge lot in California. I and another collector split a huge barn find from a store that went out of business due to a sprinkler mishap around 1986. An eclectic collector guy went to the closing auction and bought up almost all the animatronic stuff and some of the interior signage. I got Chuck and all the guest cosmetics, so eventually I hope to do a series of videos where the original Chuck is a cynical talk show host and the second animatronic will be whatever character I need. Here are a few more things I picked up in California:
(https://scontent-sjc2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/1596940_458211431049678_1805178778_n.jpg)
(https://scontent-sjc2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/14295339_102374463560089_7005572640278577152_n.jpg)
(https://scontent-sjc2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/12071134_1051801378171762_575070056_n.jpg)
(https://scontent-sjc2-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/14099677_293291664367091_32170673_n.jpg)
Shortly after this store closed the company started requiring stores to destroy anything used for decoration with character likenesses on it, a practice that continues today. They'll happily sell you a shirt with an image of Chuck on it at the redemption counter, but if it's a poster hanging on the walls when the store closes it gets trashed. They used to just throw everything away but people were rescuing it out of the dumpsters so now they have it sent back to corporate so they can destroy it. So yeah, this stuff is pretty rare.
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kobun37, I dont think you mentioned it, (and if you did , apos for asking again) but how did you get bitten by the Chuck E Cheese collecting bug? What first drew you to it?
And your 2 new animatronic figures look to be in great condition, too. thumbsup.gif Are both fully functional?
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kobun37, I dont think you mentioned it, (and if you did , apos for asking again) but how did you get bitten by the Chuck E Cheese collecting bug? What first drew you to it?
And your 2 new animatronic figures look to be in great condition, too. thumbsup.gif Are both fully functional?
I've always thought animatronics were cool, but I actually got started collecting CEC stuff about three years ago when the indie game Five Nights at Freddy's came out. I grew up in the early 80s, so I remembered seeing these guys in the stores. As I looked into the history I ran across old video recordings and got to see some of the skits from the early, early days. Back then the company made an effort to write the material for both kids and adults, since the adults were left to watch the show while the kids played video games. The characters say suggestive stuff that went right over kids' heads but they could never get away with now. Plus I find Chuck hilarious because he's kind of a snarky asshole. I got hooked up online with a bunch of other collectors who are a group of awesome and amazing people and it just kind of grew from there.
Collecting CEC stuff is a lot like collecting rare movie posters. There's also kind of a treasure hunt aspect. A few of the things I have (such as the neon sign) are "only one known." The company is generally indifferent to the collector market. They don't target mass merchandise toward collectors, and as I've mentioned before they have a strict policy of destroying things used to decorate the stores, mascot suits and animatronics. Just like the film distributors required theaters to destroy or return old posters. In CEC's case, competitors have bought out that stuff when the stores closed and shipped it down to Mexico and other places where copyright laws are less strict and opened competing restaurants. So there is a sound economic reason for the policy, but that doesn't make the collectors any happier. :P Mix in stuff given as gifts to executives and as employee awards, franchisee convention merchandise, short-run redemption prizes and there is some really neat and seriously rare collectibles out there. Getting what you want is often a waiting game, and stuff even long-time collectors have never seen before comes up every now and then. I get jealous of people with collections where everything is always available and who can just save up and buy whatever they want when they have enough money. ;D
The animatronics are functional, but I need to buy the hardware to split the air line so I can run both of them off the same compressor. The first Chuck bot had good cosmetics but needed a lot of cleanup and repairs on the mech inside after 20+ years of service. The second bot was in much better shape mechanically because he was only in service for about 5 years, but his cosmetics were in horrible shape. Full of holes and absolutely filthy from sitting in storage. The store had them dressed in Halloween costumes right before it closed and Chuck was dressed as Dracula with a black wig that went down the sides of his head. Some idiot tech put the pieces on with hot glue instead of pins like they were supposed to and there were globs of it all twisted up in the fur and fabric on his snout. That pink fabric is no longer made and impossible to get, so replacing it wasn't an option. What you're seeing the results of literally hundreds of hours of cleaning, stitching and mechanical restoration work. There are still some minor things left to do, but I've worked on them so much they are almost members of the family.
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Thanks for the detailed back story as well as all the information kobun37. Sounds like there is quite the niche of collectors of this material that you linked up with, too.
And I can tell that the animatronics and bringing them back to life both functionally and cosmetically, have been true labors of love. Good for you, and the end results certainly show that to be true. clap clap