Random crap with Uno.

[Buster's Uncle]

I was going to post that I missed the whole Halloween superstores thing, but then I remembered being in a strip mall (temporary?) Halloween store in Texas maybe 2-4 years ago.  Don't recall what I went in looking for, but they had a bunch of mini hay bails out front for a couple bucks.  I probably said something to you at the time - ISTR seeing an interesting deal on a not-terrible skeleton for a not-outrageous price...

[Unorthodox]

Last ~5 years, a couple manufacturers have put together some none too terrible skeletons for reasonable prices. 

"Wally's" hit the shelves in 2010-2011 or so.  They go for around $20.  Decent looking, super light...they are unfortunately extremely breakable at any joint.  Hotglue the holy hell out of any joint and you're good.   



"Pose N Stay" skeletons hit in 2012-2013.  Especially the costco ones were sought.  $35-60 depending on your source, they are VERY similar in design to the Wally, but with MUCH better connections at the joints.  Ironically, the necks and spine are prone to breaking and actually lower quality than the Wally's.  I've used bamboo to reinforce mine when needed.  Unfortunately, this year, they are all up in the $50-60 range...



This year there is a bunch of department store knockoffs of the Pose N Stay with wildly varying quality issues. 

The crown jewel of skeletons will always be the Bucky, but it's going out of style with reasonable quality alternatives.  Medical skeleton with casing errors that render it unsuitable for teaching, it's the most realistic you'll find.  It's main drawback is actually weight, more than price.  At $80-$120, but 60 lbs vs the 5-10 lbs of the others. 

(Fred here getting skin, not sure where my "clean" image of him is sitting right now.  He also had 2 vertebrae removed from the neck at this point because it was the only way I could get him to hold together properly.  )

[Buster's Uncle]

I believe the ones I saw were a little small -maybe no more than 5'- and probably not as nice as the ones you picture.  But probably good enough in low light, and cheap enough I think I posted to tell you about them.


So those sorts of stores must be pretty profitable to be catching on.  You'd expect that they'd have to do MAD volume at hefty markup to make up for the inefficiency and overhead of being temporary/seasonal.  -It's starting a new store every year they do it.  Do any go Thanksgiving/Christmas before they close?

[Unorthodox]

Oh, there are shorter versions of each, yes.  I'm guessing you saw a smaller Wally, most likely dangling from a string on it's head. 

If hEt would LET me get back to doing "THEM", I'd actually have a use for child sized skellys, but she's put the kibosh on anything remotely spider related and the bat people from beastmaster. 

Telling you bunch of bat people, easy, effective, mass producable goldmine.  Bunch o them standing around...

! No longer available

We could always go Vlad the Impaler style with costumed kiddy sized skellies...

[Buster's Uncle]

Why do they have a bat person eating like a fly?

[Unorthodox]

Because it was BEASTMASTER.  Almost NOTHING makes sense in that movie. 

[Buster's Uncle]

One of its charms, I suppose.

[Unorthodox]

So, Lagoon (local amusement park) has announced a new haunted house for the year, celebrating the 20 year anniversary:
 

Re-live old school nightmares as you experience rooms from some of the most popular houses during the last 20 years of Frightmares! Be warned: This labyrinth will haunt and deceive you: The Labyrinth, Nightmare Midway, Haunted High School, Haunted Hollywood, Deception!

Basically sounds like random greatest hits from all the past haunts they don't use anymore. 

My question becomes, what the hell do they still have in working order from The Labyrinth, one I designed 20 years ago.  (yes there was a minotaur in it)  At the time we were reutilizing most of the old funhouse equipment, but they don't utilize that building at all anymore.  Nightmare Midway I had a hand in as well, but it's stuff has been continually reused/renamed through the years.  In fact, Deception was pretty much just a repainting of Midway. 

This means the haunts this year are most likely:

20 years of Terror (3/5 using my designs)
Nightwalk (Vampires, spent several years of suck (pun intended), but VASTLY improved last year, love to know who redesigned it.  Still some mind numbing flaws in some rooms)
Twisted Fairy Tales. 

? one more:  2 logical choices are either the damn clowns again (though there would be some overlap with the nightmare midway there.  Don't care for the "3D" haunts, mostly because the glasses don't work so well for me), or Lockdown. 

Then you have the pioneer village haunt that could use some serious attention, and the 2 kiddie trick or treat walks. 

[Unorthodox]

Kyle, not sure what specific year, but one of the last for Labyrinth.  The original Nightmare Midway way in the back.  It got hacked apart into other haunts and transformed over the years.  They stuff two half-assed ones in that building now...

[DrazharLn]

Thinking of you

[Buster's Uncle]

Oh. My. GOD.

[Unorthodox]

Thinking of you

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Check the avatar thread.  I just HAD to.

[Buster's Uncle]

[Unorthodox]

That for the movie? 

I know there's a movie on the way at any rate. 

Moon, mars and venus putting on a show in the mornings before work lately. 


Going to be breaking out the bridge of death for modification tonight...pray we don't run into any nasties...I'm concerned things may be living in it this year.