# "Boris" is back!



## Hellspawn (Oct 13, 2006)

If this has been brought up allready, I apologize

I walked into my local Biglots yesterday and about had a heart attack.

Sorry for the poor images, all I had was my cell phone.


































Looks like the same model they used for the talking skull candy dish, its not being produced by Gemmy but as far as I can tell, it has the exact same features and more.

As far as quality, yes he talks, has 10 different voices (5 human/5 robotic) im alittle dissapointed that all but the "amplified human voice" are completely muffled and impossible to hear actual words, Im not 100% sold on the size and model of the skull they used, but hey, its a good start.

Im personally going to modify mine with a hard foam skull to make him look better on a bucky.


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## One of the Devils Rejects (Jul 16, 2006)

I can see what you mean, not really impressed either. the face and sound quality could be done much better if we did it.

What was the price?


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## Hellspawn (Oct 13, 2006)

One of the Devils Rejects said:


> I can see what you mean, not really impressed either. the face and sound quality could be done much better if we did it.
> 
> What was the price?


20.00.

Worse case, ive been looking for a voice changer/color organ combo that was small and compact for my stalkaround this year, I could allways salvage the electronics from one of these.


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## SpookySam (Mar 27, 2007)

Great news! I'll have to check out by local Big Lots to see if they have this out.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Interesting...a Boris, yet not a Boris. I'll have to check this out, but yea, it does look like a modified skull candydish. Gemmy must've sold the rights to someone else to make this, that's why the rumor started it was coming back..but no Gemmy Boris was produced, so all hope was lost. I don't see the "original" Boris coming back EVER now that the name and concept has been granted to the candy dish folks..whoever they are.


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## Wildomar (Aug 30, 2006)

Must be his cousin, Bubbis.


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## One of the Devils Rejects (Jul 16, 2006)

Hellspawn said:


> 20.00.
> 
> Worse case, ive been looking for a voice changer/color organ combo that was small and compact for my stalkaround this year, I could allways salvage the electronics from one of these.


True. Black Cat and I were talking about doing the same thing. If anything, maybe change the speakers to get better sound. We'll see after we gut it.


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## RookieSpooker (Jul 23, 2007)

My BigLots hasn't put out any Halloween stuff yet. But they did have an AC/DC power converter with 6 differt output voltage settings (3V-12V) for $5.99. I got 2.


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## Hellspawn (Oct 13, 2006)

RookieSpooker said:


> My BigLots hasn't put out any Halloween stuff yet. But they did have an AC/DC power converter with 6 differt output voltage settings (3V-12V) for $5.99. I got 2.


Nice! im going to have to go back again.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

Very interesting and a pretty good price.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Wildomar said:


> Must be his cousin, Bubbis.


LOL!! "Talbing thruba Bubbis with Microboneba"..


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## turtle2778 (Jul 9, 2006)

Ciooool i just called my BL and they said they got their shipment yesterday and should have the things out on the shelves by monday. Looks like ill be trying to get there on tuesday. i dont wanna seem over excited


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## Evil Bob (Sep 1, 2005)

I'd be interested to see if they fixed that goofy arangement with the bateries making it impossible to run it off a single wallwart. At least they fixed those banks of missing theeth!


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## Evil Bob (Sep 1, 2005)

And the missing nose bridge!


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## Hellspawn (Oct 13, 2006)

I dont have an original boris handy (although I have been trying to con my mother out of hers for years) how did the voice changer sound on the original? could you understand what was being said through it?

Aside from the amplified voice option, this one just seems to make noise.


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## Black Cat (Aug 20, 2005)

Just called our local BigLots and they got the halloween shipment yesterday but haven't put it out yet.


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## slimy (Jul 12, 2006)

You people called??!?!?! Why the hell didn't I think of that. I DROVE ACROSS TOWN in search of the Talking Boris, only to be told it will be out on Monday or Tuesday. 

Call first, you people are geniuses.


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## NecroBones (Feb 10, 2006)

slimy said:


> You people called??!?!?! Why the hell didn't I think of that. I DROVE ACROSS TOWN in search of the Talking Boris, only to be told it will be out on Monday or Tuesday.
> 
> Call first, you people are geniuses.


Hah... where's the challenge in that???


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## NJWilk (May 13, 2007)

My Big Lots never carries any good Halloween stuff, just kids' costumes, candy and "harvest" decorations. Guess they don't celebrate the devil's holiday there. (yeah, I'm in the Bible belt) I'll have to call around and see if any of their other stores are carrying the skulls.


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## the_PROCRASTINATOR (Oct 14, 2006)

Dawg gone it... I wanted to ebay my old talking boris!


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

the_PROCRASTINATOR said:


> Dawg gone it... I wanted to ebay my old talking boris!


You still might...No one knows yet if the new ones are even hackable. I know SpookySam and Hauntiholic had problems hacking the candy dish skulls, of which the new Boris looks like it was made from.


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## Dark Lord (Jul 25, 2007)

Even the original Boris was not that clear to hear from the speaker it came with,i would rather use a hidden remote speaker from the voice track on my cd . I just would like this one to not have the problem with the jaw servo- having to have the skull in a straight standing postion- if i tilted even just a little to forward or back,the servo not stong enough to move the jaw......
But hell for $20 bucks it will serve it's purposefor me.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

Shoot. I just saw this looking through the Boris threads. Moving the head forward/back won't allow the jaw to work? I bought a Boris last year and wanted to have him mounted on a body with his head moving side to side as well as down to talk with TOTs as someone talked through the microBone behind a tree and moved the head.

Back to the drawing board...


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

Give the jaw a little help with some helper springs to offset the weight.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

Wouldn't springs fight against and put more stress on the servo also?


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

Not if they're the correct strength, and positioned just right.


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## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

Daphne said:


> Wouldn't springs fight against and put more stress on the servo also?


If you got a boris last year is it the new style or the old style ?

If its the new then there is no issue being off straight up and down.. The 2 I have can be laying flat on thier backs and they still move.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

I have no idea which version I have. I got it at Big Lots last year before Halloween. It isn't the candy dish, it is just a skull on a pedestal. It was $20 and has the switches on the side to modify the sound. I would assume that is the latest version since I bought it new. Don't they get rid of everything each year to avoid storage? It was my understanding they stopped making the original ones several years ago and then restarted again in the last year or so?

If these assumptions are wrong, how do I tell which one I have? It never dawned on me to tilt it to see if it could talk...


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

Oh, my Boris is the tan one with the microbone connected to the skull by a wire.


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## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

That sounds like the same ones that I have.. The jaw is driven by a string wrapped around the servo..

This is the old style boris that wouldnt talk without being stright up and down.

http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/HalloweenTech/anibor_Complete.jpg
Here is a comparison between the 2 .. The new one is on the left


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

The one on the left looks like mine so it sounds like I am good to go on tilting. Whew. 

I want to hook Boris to something that will allow his head to move around to interact with people (side to side and tilt up/down). He would be mounted to a PVC/wood frame and possibly holding a lantern he could lift up periodically. I assume the arm raising the lantern would just be a reindeer motor or wiper motor that we could flip a switch to move. 

Anyone ever tried hooking a head to an RC motor or anything along those lines to get the side to side/tilt movement? I want to stick my husband behind a tree or possibly somewhere remote where he can talk to TOTs. I am not looking to do it through motion sensors but rather with a joystick or something that allows him to move the head to move to look at the person he is speaking to if that makes sense. 

Please don't say servos, I don't know squat about servos.


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## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

Unfortunately thats the only way that i can think of offhand would be servos..


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

A cheap way to get at least some head movement is to use an old oscillating fan to move the head back and forth.

And I think the way to tell between the new and old Boris is how many batteries it takes, I believe the new ones take 4, and the old ones use either 5 or 6, I can't remember for sure. Powering the Boris with either a walwart or a PC power supply may let you tilt the head forward alot and still get jaw movement. My ghost reader was tilted forward a little and had no problem with the jaw (used a new boris).


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## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

Yeah but she wants controllable movement..


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

scream1973 said:


> Yeah but she wants controllable movement..


I know that, I am at least offering suggestions on how to get movement without servos.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

UGGG! Scream1973, you weren't supposed to say servos! You were supposed to say it would be something really easy and simple to do. Thanks for telling me though, I do appreciate it.

OK, I'll do some searches and figure out how to do servos for it. 

Heresjohnny, the fan would work for back and forth but scream1973 is right, I want controllable movement.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

There are several 2 and 3 axis kits for wiring up skulls. Has anyone ever added a pan/tilt to a Boris? If you are going that far you may want to consider using servos for the jaw movement as well, the Boris jaw movement is sloppy comparatively.

Alternately, since someone is hiding and speaking through the mic, you might consider manually controlling the movement with a couple of levers and cable. Servo controlled skulls ain't cheap. Maybe some cable like they use on bicycles for brakes and gears.... Just a thought.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

Heresjohnny, that is funny you say that about the movement really showing up as sloppy if I put servos in for the other movements. I was wondering about the exact same thing.

Wonder how much control you'd have with something like levers/cable. I checked out the Cost?? thread and you aren't kidding, servos definitely don't fall in the cheap category! Unfortunately, I am already getting "the look" from my husband as it is on another prop that is already under way and expensive so servos are not going to be a possibility until next year. 

Looks like Boris may end up just looking forward and maybe moving his arm this year. 

I do appreciate everyone's help though.


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## DaveintheGrave (Jan 14, 2007)

Hey Daphne,
I saw this new item offered by Allelectronics:
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/RC-12/search/2-POLE_REVERSIBLE_REMOTE_CONTROL_.html
It looks like you could use a low RPM motor to turn the Boris head and use this device and it's remote control to wirelessly start, stop and reverse the head turning movement. 
Just a thought. Actually there are quite a few uses for this device I can think of.
You could make a mini reversible axeworthy and be able to control the ghost movement back and forth at just the right moment to scare the TOTs!!
I think I need to get one of these!!


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