Halloween props

[toddmoon]

Has anyone purchased any of these Halloween props. Do they hold up outside ok, will they tolerate being outside for a couple of weeks?

Standing Ghoul http://www.lakeside.com/63-Standing-Ghoul/details.asp?I=GH6&N=36+795&Nao=15&R=896124013GH64

Animated body bag http://www.lakeside.com/Animated-Body-Bag/details.asp?I=A4B&N=36+795&Nao=17&R=896048014A4B4

Jumbo inflated spider or cat http://www.lakeside.com/Jumbo-Inflatable-Spider-or-Cat/details.asp?I=I49&N=36+795&Nao=12&R=896224011I494

Motion activated head http://www.lakeside.com/Light-Sound-And-Motion-Head/details.asp?I=HDN&N=36+795&Nao=24&R=813091014HDN4

Tree hugger http://www.lakeside.com/Halloween-Tree-Hugger/details.asp?I=THG&N=36+795&Nao=22&R=896275013THG4

[Guest guest]

toddmoon wrote:

Has anyone purchased any of these Halloween props. Do they hold up outside ok, will they tolerate being outside for a couple of weeks?

Standing Ghoul http://www.lakeside.com/63-Standing-Ghoul/details.asp?I=GH6&N=36+795&Nao=15&R=896124013GH64

Animated body bag http://www.lakeside.com/Animated-Body-Bag/details.asp?I=A4B&N=36+795&Nao=17&R=896048014A4B4

Jumbo inflated spider or cat http://www.lakeside.com/Jumbo-Inflatable-Spider-or-Cat/details.asp?I=I49&N=36+795&Nao=12&R=896224011I494

Motion activated head http://www.lakeside.com/Light-Sound-And-Motion-Head/details.asp?I=HDN&N=36+795&Nao=24&R=813091014HDN4

Tree hugger http://www.lakeside.com/Halloween-Tree-Hugger/details.asp?I=THG&N=36+795&Nao=22&R=896275013THG4

I haven't bought any of these myself, but some are already "sold out", but for the price, my experince has been with "cheap animated props" is you usuyally get what you pay for, that is, if it's really cheap, chances are it may last one top two seasons if labeled for outdoor use, if not so labeled, then you may not even get one season out of the item. Now as for non-animated props, cheap items, again may last one to two seasons or more, all depends on the construction and materials used as to how well it holds up under outdoor conditions, with the UV light that usually does the most damage to props outdoors in direct sunlight for extended periods. If it's UV resistant, you have a bedtter chance of the prop/item living a nice long life outdoors, unfortunately, not all manufacturers state wether or prop is UV treated or not, so you just have to buy and take a chance to see how it holds up.



And yes, I do buy cheap items myself as well, some I still am using 6-8 years later, some I had to retire after just one season of use.



Wish I could help more with the items above, but just thought I'd share my experiences with items I have purchased present and past and what I look for no matter what the cost/price is wether it's been UV treated for outdoor use.

[toddmoon]

Thanks for the input. I purchased a singing Santa clause from Walmart 5 years ago and when I went to break him down him down last January he fell apart. I guess I am going to have to either try fixing him or just purchase a new one. I never really used the motion on him or if I did I turned the volume way down. It had a tendency to scare people when he would come to life by my front door. I would also dress him for a Halloween prop each year too so I feel like I did get my moneys worth out of him.

You do get what you pay for. Most of my props are ones I have made myself. I usually can not get what I want so I will take something and modify it or just make it from scratch. It usually lasts much longer and I know what I need to do if I want to change it or need to make some repair to it.

[Guest guest]

toddmoon wrote:

Thanks for the input. I purchased a singing Santa clause from Walmart 5 years ago and when I went to break him down him down last January he fell apart. I guess I am going to have to either try fixing him or just purchase a new one. I never really used the motion on him or if I did I turned the volume way down. It had a tendency to scare people when he would come to life by my front door. I would also dress him for a Halloween prop each year too so I feel like I did get my moneys worth out of him.

You do get what you pay for. Most of my props are ones I have made myself. I usually can not get what I want so I will take something and modify it or just make it from scratch. It usually lasts much longer and I know what I need to do if I want to change it or need to make some repair to it.

I have one of those singing/danciong Santa's too. I built a nice elaborate display unit for him to be part of for my living room window, he was dancing just fine when I put him in the display for test purposes he worked just fine, but when it was time to do the actual set up in my LR window, he refused to dance any longer. LOL But he would still sing, mouth and head move just fine. So now I use him as either just a static display or just trip him on the other mode where he just moves his head and mouth.

I keep thinking I could try and take him apart to possibly fix the dancing mechanism (new motor perhaps?), but it would probably just be cheaper to replace with a new one. Although after almost 10 years of yearly use, I can't complain, I did get my moneys worth out of him. I have two skeletons I also bought from Wal-Mart, dance and sing, although I trip them with a strobe light and keep the volume down on them just to make them dance when the strobes activate them through their sensors. One is the Undertaker, black clothes and top hat, the other is the pirate version I bought the following year. And of course neither of these two skeletons are made any longer, so if they break, they'll become static props that I may use outdoors since I won't be using their adapters to power them once that happens. Although I did use them outdoors one Halloween, and they are still going strong. I think these guys are about 7-8 years old now.



But I, like you, try and also build or modify an existing prop to what I want it to do or be utilized for. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes not so easy, but that's all part of the fun of it for me.


BTW: I also painted both my dancing skeletons with "Glow-in-the-Dark" paint (available at Michaels Craft stores for around $1.39-$1.59) and now I can also put a black light on them, and they show up much better too. The paint is in a small plastic bottle, I think it's like 6 or 8 ounces, took me about 6 bottles to do my styrofoam tombstones (store bought aprox. 10-15 tombstones) and both skeletons, skulls, hands and feet..

[TJ Hvasta]

There are quite a few things that you can use that glow in the dark, rather than using expensive GITD paint. I found Prestone-type green antifreeze glows, so that, mixed with water can be sprayed onto things that once dryed glow fairly well with blacklight..

couple years ago I made a "drinking" skeleton, consisted of a small pump in a tub, tube runs up the arm, into a bottle that pumps the liquid into the mouth, falls thru the ribcage back into the tub.. blacklight on it made the antifreeze glow.

[jerrymac]

Orville wrote:

toddmoon wrote:

BTW: I also painted both my dancing skeletons with "Glow-in-the-Dark" paint (available at Michaels Craft stores for around $1.39-$1.59) and now I can also put a black light on them, and they show up much better too. The paint is in a small plastic bottle, I think it's like 6 or 8 ounces, took me about 6 bottles to do my styrofoam tombstones (store bought aprox. 10-15 tombstones) and both skeletons, skulls, hands and feet..

Here is something that works very well for white cloth under blacklight. Since blacklinht causes phosperous to glow, make a mixture of "RITE" whitening (available from drug stores use to whiten whites). Either dip the white cloth in the mixture and let it dry without rinse. Or spray with a hand sprayer. "RITE" whitner has a lot of phosperous in it and works very well.

[Guest guest]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

There are quite a few things that you can use that glow in the dark, rather than using expensive GITD paint. I found Prestone-type green antifreeze glows, so that, mixed with water can be sprayed onto things that once dryed glow fairly well with blacklight..

couple years ago I made a "drinking" skeleton, consisted of a small pump in a tub, tube runs up the arm, into a bottle that pumps the liquid into the mouth, falls thru the ribcage back into the tub.. blacklight on it made the antifreeze glow.

I won't use anti-freeze like that, for one thing it's dangerous to pets, it literally sends them to their death! So I use pet safe amnti-freeze in my vehicle, which the pet safe type doesn't glow because it doesn't have the same chemical makeup. Antifreeze like that can and will kill a pet almost instantluy, it destroys their kidneys and causes renal failure and death. And sadly, there is no way to save a pet that has ingested that toxic drink.



So no toxic anti-freeze like that in my displays, ever. I sure don't want to be the root cause of some childs pet dying a horrible death, and it is a horrible death to watch. I speak from experience. So only pet safe products are kept and used around our home.



So I'll stick with my Glow in the Dark paint, it is NOT all that expensive, not when I use it "watered down with water" and the effect is excellent, plus it isn't as toxic a concoction as many anti-freeze types.
It may make my kitty a wee bit ill, but at least it won't cause a painful, but quick death like many antifreeze products on the market.

If it's not labeled NON-TOXIC or PET SAFE on the label, I won't use it, but that's me.

[TJ Hvasta]

you know, typing it once would've been enough. everyone knows its bad for animals. If you use it in a way animals cant get to it you have no cause for concern.. and if there are animals, loose, in my yard, pooping or other.. well then...

Good luck with your expensive paint.

[toddmoon]

My Santa quit doing the motion thing last year. I found that a $2 belt was the issue. There are two belts that make the body swing and the head move. I went to my local parts store and found a belt that was close to the original and tried it. It got Santa working again.

When I tried to break him down after Christmas it was outside in sub zero weather. The plastic was a little brittle. I can probably put him back together if I ever find the time to do so. I may just have to buy a new one and work on the broken one later and find a use for him somewhere else. His clothes are getting a little worn as well.

[Guest guest]

toddmoon wrote:

My Santa quit doing the motion thing last year. I found that a $2 belt was the issue. There are two belts that make the body swing and the head move. I went to my local parts store and found a belt that was close to the original and tried it. It got Santa working again.

When I tried to break him down after Christmas it was outside in sub zero weather. The plastic was a little brittle. I can probably put him back together if I ever find the time to do so. I may just have to buy a new one and work on the broken one later and find a use for him somewhere else. His clothes are getting a little worn as well.

How easy is it to get to the belts? If that's all it is, that would be great! I could get hom fixed up, my Santa still looks in pristine condition, no tattered or torn clothes, so if I could do an easy fix on him, that'd be fantastic. Would definitely like to know how to get into him to access those belts! I have his instructions, but they don't give you an repair advice or information to fix something like that, which I'd hope would be a simple fix!

[toddmoon]

They are up inside of the chest area. If you peel up his shirt you should be able to see them. I took the belts off and went to the parts store. The replacement belts were not an exact match in diameter but lenght was the same.

They worked and got him going again.

[Guest guest]

toddmoon wrote:

They are up inside of the chest area. If you peel up his shirt you should be able to see them. I took the belts off and went to the parts store. The replacement belts were not an exact match in diameter but lenght was the same.

They worked and got him going again.

Thanks! I'll dig him out later and check out his chest cavity. And see how close I can come to getting some replacement belts. Hmmm, wonder if there is an e-mail for Gemmy and if they would have or sell a replacement belt direct to a consumer?

Especially since parts aren't available in stores for their animatronic characters.



I may see if I have an 800 or a phone number for them and give them a call once I find if that's the actual problem!



Thanks for the info and tip as to what to look for!

[toddmoon]

If you find the belts take them off and go to your local hardware store. They should have some generic belts that will work. They are only like 2 inch size belts like you would see in many small motor applications.

I found some generic ones that worked. Gemmy often does not carry any spare parts to what they sell. I have already been down that road with them.

Good luck.

[Guest guest]

toddmoon wrote:

If you find the belts take them off and go to your local hardware store. They should have some generic belts that will work. They are only like 2 inch size belts like you would see in many small motor applications.

I found some generic ones that worked. Gemmy often does not carry any spare parts to what they sell. I have already been down that road with them.

Good luck.

Thanks, I had a feeling that would be the case (with Gemmy that is). Wonder if a vaccuum cleaner belt is close to them. I have a few spares of those around here. Well I gotta dig ol' Santa out and start checking him over.


Thanks again for all the help and info! Very much appreciated!

[toddmoon]

It never hurts to check on parts.

Here is the link to Gemmy customer service link

http://www.gemmy.com/contact-customer-service/

[Wess Hoskins]

I just recieved the reapers you spoke of and for 19.00 it was money well spent...