This gear is pressed into an apparatus which moves the head up and down. A similar one is also used for the body tilt motion. Underneath the gear is a copper disc which tells the motor which way to travel (which commonly fails).
Note: some of the teeth on this gear are rounded off., a new 20mm gear would need to be pressed in.
Gears for the guitar strumming arm on one side of the torso area.
Common 20mm diameter gear used mainly throughout the doll's gearboxes
If you own one of these prototype mini Billy Bob animatronic dolls and would like to get it operating,we can build a control system or tabletop machine for it!
Contact us today for a price quote!
This is an upgraded Billy Bob in which we retrofitted it with a new frame and motors (eye sockets were also fitted with actual 13mm plastic doll eyes ) Notice the more robust motions with the new motors than from the original mechanics.
Body Shells Removed
Body shells removed
Type of DC motor used throughout
Billy Bob operating without it's suit to show the original mechanics in operation.
1980s Style
Mini Chuck E. Cheese
Animatronic Machine
VERSION #1
Over the years I have designed and constructed tabletop machines and control systems for these vintage prototype Billy-Bob animatronic dolls which were designed by Creative Engineering in 1985. Usually I will upgrade it by constructing a new framework with modern metal geared motors to replace the plastic frame and plastic geared originals as it's not dependable . However, depending on the customers budget, sometimes using the original is necessary.
With the introduction of the Teddy Ruxpin in 1985, many companies followed suit with their own version like Ideal's "Big Bird Story Magic" (1986) , ABC Toys "Teddie Talkins" (1986) , Toyco America Inc "Jabbee The Storyteller" , Pioneer Toy's "T.T Talking Bear". Among even more clones released in other countries as well.
Some even added their own spin to it like WonderRama's "Skippy Scribbles" (1987) an animatronic toy bear who could actually write and draw.
The animatronic mini Billy-Bob was likewise inspired by the Teddy Ruxpin and was going to operate in the same manner by means of cassette tape programs and read-along books. However unlike Teddy Ruxpins or all of the other clones from the 1980's ( aside from being much smaller in scale) the miniature Billy Bob was also going to be able to interface with an Apple II computer of that era to teach as well as interface with A VCR player to sing along to Rockafire videos on TV.
So, in addition to cassette tape programs, it seems there would have been customized floppy disks and VHS tapes to go along with the doll (or to be sold separately).
A very novel idea indeed, and backed by the popular Showbiz Pizza franchise ,would have no doubt made this animatronic doll a success during that time period .
Unfortunately, the mini Billy-Bob used multiple plastic gearboxes driven by small toy motors .
This design proved to be unreliable with gears stripping and the small motors burning out from the quick, repetitive motions during testing , thus it never left the proof of concept phase ,and wasn't released to the public.
Having repaired many of these dolls and Teddy Ruxpins , these mini Billy-Bob's are definitely more fragile to work on than a Ruxpin. The most common defect being the plastic gears.
The spur gears on the motor shafts usually develop stress cracks, thus not providing a tight grip, and the shafts usually spin without engaging the gearbox. Many of the gears used can be matched easily with off-the-shelf toy gears with the exception of a couple gears ( inside the legs and torso areas) which are pressed into another apparatus .
The motors operate in the same manor as "servos" of that era ( inside a Teddy Ruxpin Doll) using a three to four wire setup per motor. A metal disc on the opposite side of a gear moves from one end, cutting conductivity to the blue wire,and by switching polarity to the green wire, reverses direction of the motor to the other end, cutting conductivity to the yellow wire, then vise versa.
This type of mechanical system commonly fails when the motor doesn't cut off as it reaches it's end of motion, thereby having a motor which won't reverse and continues to spin in one direction which in turn strips the teeth on the gears.
The mouth has 4 wires with the addition of a white wire, however it is unnecessary as using the green,yellow, and blue is all that's needed to move the mouth.
I discovered that inside each wire loom protruding from the Billy-Bob contains a white wire, but is not used.
When building a control system to operate the original motors , I've used as low voltage as possible, and a brief as possible show to prolong the life of the aging motors. In some cases I've had to also replace one or more motors as at the time of this post, are nearly 40 years old. Four of the five motors are all the same size with the exception of the mouth motor which is smaller.
This is a tabletop machine with an upgraded Billy-Bob functioning on new modern motors.
Mechanism inside The Head
Inside gear box located on one side of the torso. Shows the copper discs which mechanically switches the motor's polarity / changes direction of movement. In this case, the raising and lowering of the head.
Mini Billy-Bob with suit removed
This is a working scaled down version of the early 1980s Pizza Time Theatre "Balcony Style" Chuck. E. Cheese.
Mini Chuck E. Cheese comes mounted on a solid wood Pizza Time theater stage that is all self contained with programmed stage lights and adjustable amplified audio that delivers clear sound and fits anywhere. Just plug this tabletop machine into any household AC outlet ,and relive those memories!
By pushing the button,Mini Chuck E. Cheese will animate to a short clip of vintage Pizza Time Theater show tapes from 1977 to the mid-1980s. Comes programmed with dozens of various audio clips, so each show performance is different!
Just like the full sized original animatronic,it features moving eyes, head and body turn,arms movement ,and mouth movement in sync to audio.
Designed and hand constructed by Starlite Product Development in 2023 using all new components with quality parts and craftsmanship for years of enjoyment.
-Adjustable Amplified Audio
-Easily plugs into AC outlet
-On/Off switch saves memory of shows played while turning off electronics
-Replaceable incandescent bulbs
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Measures: 12" wide x 17" high x 12" deep - 22 lbs
For this piece I was inspired by the Showbiz Pizza Animatronic Gumball machine I've constructed in the past (see "small scale projects portfolio" page) as well as the vintage 1985 mini Billy-Bob Animatronic dolls . Since a mini animatronic Chuck E. Cheese previously didn't exist but should have,I found it only fitting to design and build a few.
My main focus with this project was making it look like it could have been from the early 1980s,perhaps some promotional item released exclusively to company executives.
I was originally going to develop a couple other character machines from Pizza Time Theater such as Jasper,and Mr. Munch which would be able to interact with Chuck by means of a usb cable to connect in the back. Although this proved to be too costly and time consuming to build for a price point that was still attractive to the consumer, and so the idea was scrapped.
This desktop machine operates on three cpus (master + two slaves) and a sound board.
A total of five machines were built in this run , two of version #1 and three of version #2.
These prototype machines were built in a very small quantity. Production ceased and was discontinued on 2/1/2024 .
SOLD OUT
Version #2 Version #1
VERSION #2
Conveniently plugs into any household outlet
1985 Prototype Mini Billy-Bob Animatronic
The body is divided into four parts /gearboxes : legs, torso, neck and head which are all held together by metal pins and kept in place by 2.0mm E-clips (It's a good idea to have extra 2.0mm E-clips on hand as they are easy to loose).The lower half contains the gearbox for the body tilt movement, the torso is divided in two halfs. One side contains the gearbox for the head tilt , and the other side containing the gearbox for the guitar strumming arm.The section above that contains the gearbox for the head turn, which mechanically only allows 45 degrees of turn in one direction. The head contains the gearbox for the mouth movement.
The guitar lift motion consists of a fishing line attached to the head and the other to an apparatus on the shaft which the guitar is mounted on . When Billy-Bob tilts back his head,it tightens the slack in the fishing line and spins the shaft , thus tilting the guitar up in the one motion and adding more animation to one motor.
Here is a machine using a Billy-Bob operating with the original motors.