# Spirit Halloween experience: Very Expensive.



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello All,

In my area a Sears Hardware store closed down and for the Halloween season, Spirit has temporarily moved into the location. I have heard of this happening before and two other Halloween outfits I know of have done the same thing. 

Tonight I went with my twin 5 year old boys. When we entered the store I was a bit disappointed that they really didn't use the full space, but the Sears store was very large. But given the name Spirit...I was expecting a bit more than just a bit more than half the store being used.

Ok, moving past the main entrance there was a display of very large spiders on the floor in front of us. One of them the eyes glowed and I was like...ok, semi cool, a sound activated spider. All of a sudden the thing leaps up about 2 feet and out about a foot. My kids were 'floored' (so scared that they fell to the floor). I even jumped. My wife was behind me, but it got her too. After the scare, I was chuckling like a magpie. I was saying, now THAT is cool. I took a good look at the price: $80. I was, not bad pretty good.

So while we were off to a good start, I went over to the lighting display area as I needed some more lighting for my display. Then my heart sank. I saw similar stuff that Party City was selling, but in many cases for twice the price. A string of 100 orange (or purple) lights sells for around $8 at Party City and at Spirit it was $13. The same goes for the strobe lights. Ones I saw at Walmart and Party City that sell for $8, they were selling for $14. They did have these cool LED spot lights that were really small and I really have not seen them elsewhere, but at the price of $16.99 I held off.

They did have some really nice animated props. But many of them were in the $150+ range. While given the size of the props that wasn't too bad, then thing is that I noticed some of the props already had ground up gears, were making weird noises. Sure the props are running day and night in a store environment, but it does have to make you wonder, if you would get more than 2 or 3 years out it doing an annual haunt.

Then came the costumes. I had noticed that they had very similar costumes that I had already bought my kids at Party City. However, each of my kids costumes cost me around $20. The one transformer costume my son has was priced at $35 at Spirit.

My kids were then looking at some plastic weapons, and I saw similar ones they had at Party City that were priced from $8 to $15 that were priced $15 to $25 at Spirit.

After that, I just said, "Ok, I had enough...lets go".

I figured I would go back when they clear things out after the holiday.

Now, I don't know how the website is, if Spirit has good website deals or not, but for my first experience in a 'temporary' store. I found them generally expensive across the board. Some of the stuff appeared to be of mediocre quality as well. For one I was really impressed with the jumping spider, but I am sure it is mostly made from plastic and I am wondering of the longevity of the mechanism. I am sure that I could build something more robust IF I had a compressed air rig. But not for $80. So I don't think that was that bad of a deal.

I don't know, I must say that Party City is tough to beat. Sure you may find a better overall deal at Target or Walmart, but Party City does have some pretty nice things and at good prices too.

I know I have mentioned Party City a lot, but that is because it is in the same context and quality caliber as Spirit. I will say that I have recently been turned on to FrightProps as well. I placed an order with them the first time this year and the items that I received were of VERY good quality. While items they sell do seem very expensive...the armatures of their prop's mechanics are all METAL and put together really well. You KNOW this stuff is going to last...even in a professional haunt.

Now I know that my experience was based on a temporary Spirit. I don't know how things would be if it were a permanent store. I know I have not run across one as of yet.

Hopefully they will have some good deals when they clear out that location. Some of the stuff was cool...just the prices were too high.

Geo


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## moony_1 (Sep 25, 2009)

All I the stores are temporary to my knowledge except for the online store. Not to sound crass but yes, they are generally more expensive, but it's because it's a "specialty" store. It's for convenience and the novelty of the store. Same reason hy convenience stores charge 8$ for 4L of milk as oppose to 4$. That why it pays to shop around


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

Yes, you're experience is not uncommon. We know this. However as the clock ticks down and depending on the store, deals will be more frequent.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Party City's seasonal halloween store is Halloween City. You really should be comparing Spirit to Halloween City and I think you will find their selections and pricing on a more even keel. Party City unless online doesn't carry much in the way of props, especially large ones. BTW I have shopped at all three stores in my area so this is from my personal experience. 

This year Halloween City was mostly a rehash of Party City with costumes and almost no props until October. Spirit opened in my area at beginning of September and one or two locations a few days before that. If had to have my yard set up by October, I couldn't count on PC or HC to decorate. My Spirit by far had THE best halloween mdse variety-wise of all the stores in breath and in quantity. If you buy an item at Spirit I'm pretty sure it can be returned until October something, so if you set it up early you can get a feel for how it will work. Don't know about PC/HC's policy.

Spirit customers know there are coupons and deals throughout the September/October timeframe so plan accordingly as much as possible for taking advantage of them. 20% off one of the larger items is a pretty good deal early in the season. Both PC/HC have similar deals as well. This year their 30% off Friends and Family coupon did me no good when the large prop I wanted to buy was still not stocked in time to use it. I was able to use a 20% off coupon but got lucky in that the prop had just come in like the day before. Other HC locations didn't get it in during that time at all or during the F&F day.

PC offers costumes all year round so probably can alter it's pricing differently and make up margins in other areas throughout the year. I've noticed that while a number of the items between PC/HC are duplicates, the coupons and sales offers can vary. 

As far as I know PC/HC doesn't do a day after halloween sale that competes with the likes of Spirit's. 

That medium-size Tekky Toys Jumping spider is just the best. Bought it last year myself. Reacted just like your family did and it convinced me right there on the spot it was a must have. It's gotten good reviews over the past year from the members here to the best of my knowledge. Like skeletons, it's kind of a universal halloween prop IMO.

Spirit coupons can be had by signing up each year for their emails, checking the Coupon area here on the forum (they're a sponsor of our forum), and checking their website. If you looked up a store location this year on their site, a coupon would appear. I would say they take a loyalty reward approach to their pricing like some other places.


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## SpookyMag (Sep 29, 2012)

50% of the stuff I have bought from Spirit this year has been broken or missing pieces. Not sure what to think.


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## Lumpy (Sep 19, 2010)

If you have any Spencer Gift stores in your area, check there for the jumping spider. Our local Spencers was selling them with the foot pad for 59 bucks last week. It is the same one that Sprits sells.


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## eVilcreations (Sep 21, 2010)

Lumpy said:


> If you have any Spencer Gift stores in your area, check there for the jumping spider. Our local Spencers was selling them with the foot pad for 59 bucks last week. It is the same one that Sprits sells.


It is the same one because Spirit is owned by Spencers. If you go into Spirit and mention the price at Spencers...Spirit will price match it as it is, for all intensive purposes, the same company.


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## ondeko (Oct 14, 2008)

All the seasonal Halloween stores are expensive. I can get some good deals at Spirit with a coupon, but Halloween City and Halloween Express offer a lot less of that sort of thing. Every now and then one of these places will have something I want that I can't find anywhere else and/or it is sold out at the online places where I could have found it. If it's cool enough, I'll buy it, but I usually wait until Nov 1 and get stuff from Spirit on sale. Our local Party City didn't put Halloween stuff on sale at all last year, but Target and Walgreens started marking some stuff down the week before Halloween. You can get good stuff for fair prices at Spirit if you do some planning and put in the effort, but it takes some planning and more effort than a lot of people have the time for and you risk not gettingsomething because it sold out before the price dropped.


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

With coupons at spirit I saved almost 200 bucks this year. That's great, considering that without them I would have spent 700 bucks in total thus far. And all three of my spirt stores were nice enough to do separate transactions to use all my coupons at one time. And then I'll raid the stores for 50% off as well. I absolutely agree the stuff is expensive, but so is a pack of gum these days- welcome to reality. If you're not buying halloween during sales and with coupons, you're not shopping smart.


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## Spookhouse 2012 (Jun 12, 2012)

I will also raid spirit for the 50% off sale. I have spent $250 so far this year there


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## ironmaiden (Aug 5, 2003)

SpookyMag has a point.
Quality of the props is shameful. Made in China has never been great but this year it is laughable.


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## Hallow's Eve (Oct 10, 2012)

I buy my stuff at Spirit the day after Halloween. I'm there at 10 am Nov 1st every year.


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## 19215 (Sep 29, 2006)

Spirit "usually" starts having some good deals starting around this week every year. Keep a watch on this forum and their facebook if you have one.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Party City's seasonal halloween store is Halloween City. You really should be comparing Spirit to Halloween City and I think you will find their selections and pricing on a more even keel.


Ok, you are saying that Halloween City is Party City's seasonal store and I should be comparing Halloween City to Spirit....but Halloween City IS Party City. So since Halloween City and Party City is the same thing, would it make any difference? I wouldn't think so.



> This year Halloween City was mostly a rehash of Party City with costumes and almost no props until October


Since both stores are the same. I would gather that the supplies in both the permanent stores and temporary stores would be the same.



> . Spirit opened in my area at beginning of September and one or two locations a few days before that. If had to have my yard set up by October, I couldn't count on PC or HC to decorate.


For the most part I try to build my own props. It is just the small details that I generally flesh out with some store bought items.



> My Spirit by far had THE best halloween mdse variety-wise of all the stores in breath and in quantity. If you buy an item at Spirit I'm pretty sure it can be returned until October something, so if you set it up early you can get a feel for how it will work. Don't know about PC/HC's policy.



Granted they did have quite the variety as you pointed out and they did have many items I have only seen at Spirit. For example, that large jumping spider, and many of the larger props as well. They had a full size prop of the Wicked Witch of The West from Wizard of Oz, and she did look pretty good. However, there were also quite a bit of items that I have seen elsewhere. Maybe not only at Party City. Another example is the "Haunted Urn". I have seen this (cheaper) at Target. So I never said that Spirit has ALL identical items that Party City has. But from what I DID see that was exactly the same or similar, I did notice the price differences.

As for returns, Party City has an excellent policy. They will allow you to return items right up until the last week before Halloween, after which they do not accept returns on items unless they are defective. 



> Spirit customers know there are coupons and deals throughout the September/October timeframe so plan accordingly as much as possible for taking advantage of them. 20% off one of the larger items is a pretty good deal early in the season. Both PC/HC have similar deals as well. This year their 30% off Friends and Family coupon did me no good when the large prop I wanted to buy was still not stocked in time to use it. I was able to use a 20% off coupon but got lucky in that the prop had just come in like the day before. Other HC locations didn't get it in during that time at all or during the F&F day.


Yes, Party City had a deal on lighting and some props the first week in October. I managed to cash in on that deal by getting some more flashing eyes and string lights. At this point in time, I didn't know that Spirit opened up a location in my neighborhood. I only recently found that out and I figured I would drop by and take a look. Of course now that this is the prime shopping time, there are little deals to be had at PC. 



> PC offers costumes all year round so probably can alter it's pricing differently and make up margins in other areas throughout the year. I've noticed that while a number of the items between PC/HC are duplicates, the coupons and sales offers can vary.
> 
> As far as I know PC/HC doesn't do a day after halloween sale that competes with the likes of Spirit's.


Probably not, but that remains to be seen. I did mention I am going to go back to Spirit after Halloween and see if I can cash in on some of the things I saw the other night. However, I have been to 'After Halloween' sales before at temporary locations and sometimes the deals are very good. But last year a temporary outfit set up next to my job and they had a sale for only ONE DAY. Then they just boxed everything up and moved on. Meanwhile another temporary outfit stayed open for at least two weeks after Halloween and as time went on, the deals got better and better. I am hoping this will be the case with Spirit.



> That medium-size Tekky Toys Jumping spider is just the best. Bought it last year myself. Reacted just like your family did and it convinced me right there on the spot it was a must have. It's gotten good reviews over the past year from the members here to the best of my knowledge. Like skeletons, it's kind of a universal halloween prop IMO.


For me that WAS the best prop. For one, it scared me! I think I might end up with a couple of those small ones myself (after Halloween), unless I can get a good deal on a large one. I do want to take one apart to see how it works. I am thinking of building a much larger 'industrial' version for next year. I think what intrigued me the most about the jumping spider is that it doesn't use compressed air. I always thought for good lunging and jumping props, going pneumatic is a must. It is just that I have difficulty in making the large initial purchase for the equipment. If I did a PAID haunt, then absolutely. But for the small Halloween displays that I do, I don't want to make the investment in pneumatics.

Well, I certainly will be back here after Halloween following my trip back to Spirit and report my finding then. So jury is still out until then.




eVilcreations said:


> It is the same one because Spirit is owned by Spencers. If you go into Spirit and mention the price at Spencers...Spirit will price match it as it is, for all intensive purposes, the same company.


That is something I didn't know.



Lumpy said:


> If you have any Spencer Gift stores in your area, check there for the jumping spider. Our local Spencers was selling them with the foot pad for 59 bucks last week. It is the same one that Sprits sells.


Nice to know that. For $59, I certainly doubt I could build one. The thing was that Spirit didn't have the spider set up with a foot pad. It was set up with a built in motion sensor. 



SpookyMag said:


> 50% of the stuff I have bought from Spirit this year has been broken or missing pieces. Not sure what to think.


I would figure that would be the case after Halloween if you buy the floor models. But buying them new in a box and they are like that isn't reassuring.

I will say that while I was at Spirit, they did have a couple of people going around adjusting props and fixing them to keep them running, but given that they had TWO people on it and still there was quite a few things not working did get me very leery about the quality of the items.

Geo


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## Zombie Sean (Oct 1, 2010)

While Spirit is certainly expensive, I've had little problems with their props.

But I went to Halloween City and Halloween Express and the quality of their props is laughable. They're not good. What they have is underwhelming. I was especially disappointed With Halloween Express. Of course, they have more online than in-store ... but the Spirit store here locally has so much more, and the quality seems better, than any other outlet store.


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

What makes me sad is 3 years ago Halloween City had a great "front lobby" graveyard set up that was scary enough to keep younger kids out of the store. Last two years it was more costumes than props and no "scene" set up. This year we didn't even get one. I guess sales weren't good enough in my area. Spirit seems to swap back and forth between tiny and big stores, I guess it really depends on whatever's available.


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## Texas_T (Aug 4, 2012)

Jukingeo, I am sorry to say that I have to agree, the local store here has also dropped in size and the prices are not cheap. I can understand that a store needs to make money but I was looking for some new fog machines 1000 watt to be exact they were 79.95 at the Spirit store, 59.95 at Party City. We have a Cheap lights, a DJ equipment store in Dallas which I believe is a Houston based company that I ordered a 1200 watt fog machine a month or so ago and I only paid 69.00 for it. I am disappointed in the Spirit store we have here as well. I don't see how they can keep doing what they do, unless they base their sales on all that last minute mad rush sale, but I started buying supplies in early Sept. So you are not alone


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Xane said:


> What makes me sad is 3 years ago Halloween City had a great "front lobby" graveyard set up that was scary enough to keep younger kids out of the store. Last two years it was more costumes than props and no "scene" set up. This year we didn't even get one. I guess sales weren't good enough in my area. Spirit seems to swap back and forth between tiny and big stores, I guess it really depends on whatever's available.



Funny you posted this today. I stopped in HC today since they had big "Sale Sale Sale" signs in the window...25% off of cauldrons, a few props 20% off, the occasional costume package marked down, many with notes that there was damage like zippers, tears in fabric set. Nothing very exciting. Anyway I commented to one of the clerks that I see each time I'm in there (maybe asst mgr?) that I was hoping they would set up the props like they did in previous years. She said it won't happen. Something about corporate getting complaints from parents whose little ones were scared by the props leaping out at you so they said things had to have a tamer set up. How sad.


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

Huh, I don't know if that's an across the board directive, but it's not exactly being followed here. My HC had a number of props setup on those black wire rack displays, but none were plugged in. They just stood there to see, but not to see how they work. The rack wasn't big enough for that to happen anyway. But a display of lifesize zombies greets you as you walk in, most noteably the 'let me out' zombie guy, who has blinking eyed ghouls in his chest. Good GREIF that is annoying- I don't know how you could work there all day with that! But also setup and working was the convulsing zombie from tekky. So whether the store did it on their own or not, they had some props going. Frankly, for me I'm done shopping. I don't need a single other thing except the weather cooperating so I can make use of this stuff I spent a ton on and not have to sit on for a year. I'll only go back in for 50% sales now. Anything less than that won't get me to buy. 

As far as quality, meh- it's a given. I get my stuff on sale and I make sure I get a good one and they work and people love them when they TOT here. I have upwards of 30 animated props now. They all work well, still. They get about four hours of heavy useage on one night and then they go back to sleep for a year. They seem to like that schedule.


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## lizzyborden (Sep 17, 2009)

My husband and I went a few weeks ago and were really excited until we got there. Yes prices were really high and seem like it was mostly costumes. I tried to snag a deal on a broken skull and the manager offered me 10% off and said I wouldn't be able to use my 20% off coupon on it if he marked it down. So I said no thanks and bought something else. I ran into a friend of mine there and she heard what the manager told be about the skull. The next evening she called and said she had bought the skull for $2 and if I still wanted it to stop by. I guess the daytime manager is easier to negotiate with that the evening one. 

Yeah it's a nice store, but not worth the 120 mile round trip to get there. I will check out there deals online though.

Lizzy


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

Aside from Spirit Exclusive items, I honestly don't think there's anything there that you can't get from another retailer (or even Spencers, as has been pointed out) for less.

The Halloween City 3 years ago didn't have any lunging props. They just had a graveyard, mostly with static props, some animated, but it was so well set up it may as well have been a professional haunt. They must have had some employees that really love the holiday that year. It's just that some of the props (like the flying vampiress and the crow picking organs out of a corpse) were a bit too much for younger kids! That year, however, they had a _much_ bigger prop section, even better than Spirit, than I've ever seen since.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Don't recall what Spirit's policy is on halloween CDs, but I made the mistake of picking up Midnight Syndicate's "Carnival Arcane" at Halloween City yesterday (they are my closest halloween store) before listening to clips of it on iTunes, and when I got home and had sometime hopped on iTunes only to have buyer's remorse. I have a few MS CDs that I really like but this one doesn't do anything for me and was hoping to use it for my carnival theme. Just pulled out my receipt and all sales are final at Halloween City so I guess I'm stuck with it. It was one of those standing-in-line-at-the-register last minute purchasing decisions.


Well I called them (BTW all of HC's phone numbers for their stores out my way are 302 Area Code numbers, so long-distance for me to call a local store) and they said I could exchange it for a same price item so at least I'll do that. Thankfully hadn't opened it up. Hopefully this lesson will cure me of impulse buying at the register!


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## Lil Spook (Oct 25, 2010)

I don't walk into, nor order from Spirit unless I have a coupon & even then, I don't order online as their customer service is horrible (my personal experience) via their website. Sign up for their email list to get discounts/coupons directly.


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

> Well I called them (BTW all of HC's phone numbers for their stores out my way are 302 Area Code numbers, so long-distance for me to call a local store) and they said I could exchange it for a same price item so at least I'll do that. Thankfully hadn't opened it up. Hopefully this lesson will cure me of impulse buying at the register!


I did that last year after having huge buyers remorse with a bubble fog machine. Looked great in the store, work like crap at home. Can't remember what I got in replacement though. I think it was an animated zombie fog belcher guy. Spirit will refund your money. HC will not. Spirit will even refund an online purchase at a local store, minus the orginal shipping charge.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Xane said:


> What makes me sad is 3 years ago Halloween City had a great "front lobby" graveyard set up that was scary enough to keep younger kids out of the store. Last two years it was more costumes than props and no "scene" set up. This year we didn't even get one. I guess sales weren't good enough in my area. Spirit seems to swap back and forth between tiny and big stores, I guess it really depends on whatever's available.


That is interesting to note. Generally from the Halloween City / Halloween Express' I been to, they never really had anything large set up. If anything, they just had a small setup in a corner somewhere to demonstrate some of the props. Spirit, on the other hand, had about 3 or 4 setups of props and all of them were decent sized. The Jumping spiders had a dedicated display. In the front, when you walked in the store, were the large spiders set up on the floor. Then around back of the display they had the smaller table top jumping spiders.



Texas_T said:


> Jukingeo, I am sorry to say that I have to agree, the local store here has also dropped in size and the prices are not cheap. I can understand that a store needs to make money but I was looking for some new fog machines 1000 watt to be exact they were 79.95 at the Spirit store, 59.95 at Party City. We have a Cheap lights, a DJ equipment store in Dallas which I believe is a Houston based company that I ordered a 1200 watt fog machine a month or so ago and I only paid 69.00 for it. I am disappointed in the Spirit store we have here as well. I don't see how they can keep doing what they do, unless they base their sales on all that last minute mad rush sale, but I started buying supplies in early Sept. So you are not alone


Yeah, I don't get it why the large price difference either. Perhaps as you said, some people that NEED that one particular item and are willing to pony up the extra cost for it. They are probably cashing in on things like the jumping spider and the larger expensive props that you don't see at a Party City or Halloween Express.

It is funny that you mentioned you have a DJ equipment store. We have one here too, in fact a long while back I was their service technician for over 13 years. Anyway, that DJ store has WAY better LED strobe lights than anything I have seen at all the Halloween stores. The Halloween store LED strobes just blink so slow, even at the highest settings. They only have one row of LEDs too. They charge $7 for it. However, the DJ store sells one for $11, BUT it has THREE rows of LEDS and it flashes as fast and as bright as a regular strobe. So while a DJ or Musical Instrument store doesn't have the cheapest lighting, in many cases, what they have is WAY better.



Ghost of Spookie said:


> Funny you posted this today. I stopped in HC today since they had big "Sale Sale Sale" signs in the window...25% off of cauldrons, a few props 20% off, the occasional costume package marked down, many with notes that there was damage like zippers, tears in fabric set. Nothing very exciting. Anyway I commented to one of the clerks that I see each time I'm in there (maybe asst mgr?) that I was hoping they would set up the props like they did in previous years. She said it won't happen. Something about corporate getting complaints from parents whose little ones were scared by the props leaping out at you so they said things had to have a tamer set up. How sad.


Ahhhh, that is why they don't do it. Well, at least Spirit still does it. I will say that I did have a good time checking out the props there. But overall nothing really grabbed me except for that jumping spider. It was the only thing in the store that made me jump! When Halloween is over and they (Spirit) has a sale, I am probably going to pick one up.



Shockwave199 said:


> Huh, I don't know if that's an across the board directive, but it's not exactly being followed here. My HC had a number of props setup on those black wire rack displays, but none were plugged in. They just stood there to see, but not to see how they work. The rack wasn't big enough for that to happen anyway. But a display of lifesize zombies greets you as you walk in, most noteably the 'let me out' zombie guy, who has blinking eyed ghouls in his chest. Good GREIF that is annoying- I don't know how you could work there all day with that! But also setup and working was the convulsing zombie from tekky. So whether the store did it on their own or not, they had some props going. Frankly, for me I'm done shopping. I don't need a single other thing except the weather cooperating so I can make use of this stuff I spent a ton on and not have to sit on for a year. I'll only go back in for 50% sales now. Anything less than that won't get me to buy.


LOL! Yep, I know of the "Let Me Out" zombie guy. They had that at the HC (or could have been HE) when they were set up next to my job last year. Yeah, that thing is very annoying.

At Spirit, if I had the money, I think I would get the Wicked Witch of the West too. That was one of the few props that looked pretty decent. There was also a "Ghost Girl" which 'rose up' on it's own. It was pretty cool. They also had Reagan from the Exorcist who rose up from a bed and her head spun all the way around. I wasn't sure if the bed supposed to shake or not. If it did, then the prop wasn't working right.



> As far as quality, meh- it's a given. I get my stuff on sale and I make sure I get a good one and they work and people love them when they TOT here. I have upwards of 30 animated props now. They all work well, still. They get about four hours of heavy useage on one night and then they go back to sleep for a year. They seem to like that schedule.



Yeah, I was thinking about that too. I run my Halloween display from 4:00pm to 8:30pm. So mostly everything runs for just 4.5 hours and then that is it. However, I am thinking about two years from now when Halloween will fall on a Friday night. That is probably the best night of the week for Halloween to fall on. By then I am hoping to do more of a full haunt and perhaps run the show the whole weekend. So the props would get much more use then.

But if you managed to amass 30 props and didn't have an major failures, then that sounds pretty good. As I said earlier, I usually make my own props so I don't have too many things animated that are store bought.

Well, if I can snatch up that spider for a good price, then it may be worth a shot.

Anyway, I am off. I am probably going to go on hiatus soon as there are only two more weekends I have to get all my props finished and set up. 

Have a good EEEEEvening.

Geo


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## Kooz (Mar 27, 2007)

I've been disappointed with Spirit this year too. A lot of the stuff is over-priced, and I knew that going in, but selection didn't seem to be what it was in previous years. In fact, that seems to be a theme across the board. In the mid-range to small prop size category, there seems to be very little that's new or interesting.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Kooz said:


> I've been disappointed with Spirit this year too. A lot of the stuff is over-priced, and I knew that going in, but selection didn't seem to be what it was in previous years. In fact, that seems to be a theme across the board. In the mid-range to small prop size category, there seems to be very little that's new or interesting.


The new Spirit by me did have a decent variety, but given the large name, I was hoping they would have used more of the space of the large store that they rented. I do agree that in terms of the props, most of the variety was in the expensive props. They WERE lacking in the small to mid props. But I guess in a way that might be intentional as they didn't want to carry most of the same stuff as Halloween City / Party City or Halloween Express. As you and I noticed that when there was an overlap in the products they carried (between Spirit and the competition), Spirit was the higher priced of them all.

While I did like what Spirit had, there really wasn't too much in terms of 'standouts'. Only a few things I commented on possibly wanting. Of course (yes I am going to say it again), I am probably going to get that jumping spider after Halloween. That was pretty much the highlight of my trip. That was something that truly made me jump. So it passed the evil "Geo" test.

Have a good EEEEEEvening.

Geo


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## ironmaiden (Aug 5, 2003)

Personally I would like to see more of the latex props of old like the Hell Hounds I bought there years ago


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## Spookhouse 2012 (Jun 12, 2012)

I looked at the fright sqaud stuff prices. THey want over $1000 for the water mill. LIke $1000 for the entire saw mill. $150 each for the silo and windmill. $225 for the barn. An extra $50 for the fences. $50 for the cardboard chair!!! Ridiculous! Am i right


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## crypt_keeper666 (Oct 19, 2012)

yeah spirit stuff is too expensive. i always hit them up the day after halloween to stock up. even at 50% off i feel like that's what the stuff should cost in the first place


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## Texas_T (Aug 4, 2012)

Never thought about the day after I just assumed that they closed the doors by the next day. But that is a good ideal, I've always hit the stores after Xmas to get all the over priced lights and such. Maybe I should start doing the same for Halloween.......


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## ondeko (Oct 14, 2008)

Day after halloween is the best time to buy at Spirit. I try to do all my buying for the next year on Nov 1.

The reason Spirit asks so much for the cardboard display stuff is because it isn't really part of their regular inventory--it's display furniture, just like the shelves and pegboards. they have it designed and engineered for their stores. The fact that some of us want to buy them has got Spirit pricing it to make a profit [the whole reason they exist] and that fact that some fool will pay it lets them keep doing it. And it's probably still less expensive than if you had a printing firm make one for you. What I don't get is why someone would want it in the first place. If you're willing to sweat over it, you can make a way better version of the same thing for a lot less out of materials that will last a lot longer.


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## cbspools (Aug 6, 2011)

I'd love to get a 1000watt fog machine for $79.99 of $59.99!!!! But it's just viable.

Why?

Because in Canada the exact same props are marked terribly higher than the websites prices. 

Even Nov 1 sales, if the store is even open! Prices just go to the website prices. 

Would love to pay what you all pay for products at stores, so I cannot really feel too bad for people complaining about high prop prices. So the next time you buy something and think it is too expensive, add 25% and that's what we'd pay...... Even when our dollar was worth more than the USA dollar!!!!


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## HalloweenGuy101 (Jan 5, 2013)

I have to say that spirt halloween IS WAY TO EXPENSIVE !!!!! i always shop at Walmart, target ,k mart and American Sales. i still like to go to the store and look at the displays and dream


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## TheGraveyardCareTaker (Aug 1, 2009)

I have mixed feelings about Spirit. I don't have a very large budget at all when it comes time to buy actual props, so I am very picky. Most of the stuff I see online or in the stores I look right over as it too much of it has that "cheapie plastic" look to it. There will be one or two things I see that I really like but that usually changes very quickly when I see the price. Unless it really, really excites me and I get that "Have to have it!" feeling, I usually walk out of Spirit empty handed. For example, I was lucky enough to get to my Spirit early enough that they had two of the zombie swing props left and as much as I loved it, I couldn't justify the price. As for their life size prop collection, I'll definitely stick to Grandin Road. I'm also going to invest in some Creepy Collection props this year. Sure, that's expensive too, but I do not mind paying for quality.

Hurricane Sandy really wrecked havoc here, so it foiled my plan of heading there on November 1st to snag this static zombie for a little bit cheaper:










Maybe they'll restock it for Halloween 2013?

I do really like Spirit's strobe lights though! For the $12-14, they are by far the best I have had yet from the stores (Halloween City, Party City, Walmart, Target, etc.- and I have gone through ALOT of them!). I also think they have one of the best for-the-value quality prop of any store in their three piece groundbreaker! Seriously, if you haven't picked one up yet, you might want to seriously consider it!


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

The prices keep going up and the products keep getting cheaper made.


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

Don't tar and feather me for this, but I actually thought that Spirit Halloween's prices seemed more reasonable this past year compared to those prior and the quality did not seem to be lacking on the majority of the items. I was just happy to have a store carrying a large variety of Halloween merchandise, since many of the retail chains' offerings were incredibly underwhelming.


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## Paint It Black (Sep 15, 2011)

I was really glad to have a Spirit store nearby this year because they carried some specific items I needed for projects and couldn't find anywhere else. Their selection was much greater than any other store carrying Halloween. For the stuff I needed, the prices were much cheaper that trying to buy them on eBay or Amazon. The only thing was, our Spirit store opened almost too late for me. Some of the others opened quite a bit earlier than the one by me.


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## osenator (Nov 3, 2009)

I am a huge Spirit fan. We never had real Halloween stores in Ottawa before they showed up 5 years ago. I think they are the best in the stores we get here. I always manage to score some amazing deals there too, like my hanging vampires for only 22$ and such. I do buy sometimes some props full price (with the 20% off coupons) when I know I NEED to get it, like Dead Teddy. I love him. THANK YOU, SPIRIT!


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

It becomes obvious when you look at my channel that I am a big SH fan, and I'm a sucker for animated props. I spent a lot for 2012, but I saved a lot too- upwards of 200 bucks. Shop smart! The only regret is no one saw my new additions because of the hurricane. But I'm ahead for this year!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello Shockwave (and everyone else too),

Long Time, no speak! Well, it is that time of year again...July. Its time to think about Halloween and thus I'm BACK! How have you been?



Shockwave199 said:


> It becomes obvious when you look at my channel that I am a big SH fan, and I'm a sucker for animated props. I spent a lot for 2012, but I saved a lot too- upwards of 200 bucks. Shop smart! The only regret is no one saw my new additions because of the hurricane. But I'm ahead for this year!


YOU spent alot last year. I had set a budget of $300 and ended up spending twice as much, BUT I am including the scores I obtained from Spirit. I must say that even though I think that Spirit is expensive, they sure have some killer closeout deals. In the end I DID get my Jumping Spider though! 

As you recall, being on Long Island as yourself, I too was affected by the Hurricane and had no power on the big day. Like yourself, I am ahead of the game for this year, BUT even though I said I wasn't going to spend anything, I think I am going to change things up a bit. 

After sitting down and mulling about it for a couple weeks now, I started to think about perhaps gravitating towards some sort of permanent theme. Looking at what I have already and what I would like to do in the future, I have decided that slowly over time I am going to gravitate towards a carnival (CarnEvil) theme or some derivative thereoff (Circus / Bazaar). I find it a very flexible theme to work with and since I am a big fan of amusement parks and carnivals anyway, it seemed like a logical choice. Also given my electronics backgroud would certainly be a shoe in for all the lighting and technical prowess needed for such a theme.

The thing that is new to me with this theme is dealing with clowns as that seems to be the main 'spook' of a carnival type theme. Simply put, even though I am not fond of clowns, they don't scare me. (The only clown I ever liked was Pennywise from the movie "It"). Initially, I didn't think clowns would be an effective enough of a scare, but, when I ask around, I find that there are scads of people that are completely terrified of clowns...especially Pennywise. So this does have my gears turning for a future buy at the end of this year's Halloween season. I am hoping that Spirit returns to the location it was at last year (as that building still is vacant). If not, then I am going to have to look for one.

One thing is certain, I am going to stick to my budget for this year as last year went out of control and then I had nothing to show for it because of the hurricane.

Well, that is it for now. The past few days I have been hanging around in the carnival and circus threads for ideas and I certainly picked up quite a few! So I MUST return to my readings! Onward!

Geo


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

Good luck with the new theme! Unless something really wows me, I won't be spending this year. I may be forced to spend some for new fog machines that have sat idle since 2011. But, we shall see!


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## stormygirl84 (Sep 4, 2009)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Party City's seasonal halloween store is Halloween City. You really should be comparing Spirit to Halloween City and I think you will find their selections and pricing on a more even keel. Party City unless online doesn't carry much in the way of props, especially large ones.


If you can buy the exact same thing at both stores, then you can compare them. Differentiating between the general party store and their Halloween offshoot is just semantics, really.

The bottom line is that if you can get it cheaper somewhere else, you go for it. End of comparison. 

And that's been my general experience at Spirit and other Halloween stores. I enjoy going in to look, but if it's something I know I can find elsewhere on the cheap, I don't waste my money.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Shockwave199 said:


> Good luck with the new theme! Unless something really wows me, I won't be spending this year. I may be forced to spend some for new fog machines that have sat idle since 2011. But, we shall see!


Hello Shockwave,

Well, I am not rushing into the new theme either, I probably will shift over to it over the course of the next two to three years. I just wanted the yard display to have more of a focus than a hodgepodge of items thrown together.

I am definitely not breaking the bank either, especially with what happened last year. But I might build something extra...but just ONE thing extra. And I am REALLY hoping for good weather this year.

Anyway, keep in touch as the big day approaches, I would like to see what you have planned for this year.

Geo


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

I will do that! It's gonna be tough this year because no matter how much I say no, I know I'll be tempted. But last year it was gonna be a real challenge revamping the sets and moving stuff around a bit to incorporate the new props. And then on the one hand, the storm was hard but on the other hand, I caught a break having to do a massive setup! So this year there's no 'I need a break' excuse! It's go time! We just really need full cooperation from the weather. And I'm sure I'll be in my local Spirit to check out the goods. But I don't dare go near them without 20% coupons in hand! With coupons and no shipping charges, it makes the most sense getting what you can at a local spirit store.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

*Spirit has 50% to 70% sale on certain items Now through July 7th 2013.*



Shockwave199 said:


> I will do that! It's gonna be tough this year because no matter how much I say no, I know I'll be tempted.


Yeah, I KNOW, right? I have to watch not only for my spending budget, but also because I am short on storage space. So mostly everything has to fold up. Like one thing I had wanted to do for the LONGEST time was a MIB. But that is just one of those things you can't do small.



> But last year it was gonna be a real challenge revamping the sets and moving stuff around a bit to incorporate the new props. And then on the one hand, the storm was hard but on the other hand, I caught a break having to do a massive setup! So this year there's no 'I need a break' excuse! It's go time!


The storm got me too in mid setup. I specifically took a week vacation that week to gain two extra setup days. I started the weekend prior to the storm and started to run the wires for the lights, and the Magic Mirror was partially set up too. I just ended up packing everyting away. I kept the Magic Mirror in place 'just in case', but that was the only thing that was 'sheltered' being in a sturdy aluminum vestibule. The day after the hurricane, I temporarily 'converted' the Magic Mirror set up into 'Hip Swami'. It worked for the day, but it certainly was no replacement fo the Magic Mirror.



> We just really need full cooperation from the weather.


You Think? Since I started this in 2009, I have not had a good Halloween, YET! Actually I shouldn't say that. The year it snowed (2011) DID pan out to be a very nice evening...very still with no wind or rain. But it was just the fact that it SNOWED on Halloween. I am just hoping this is it that finally we get a nice still calm day.



> And I'm sure I'll be in my local Spirit to check out the goods. But I don't dare go near them without 20% coupons in hand! With coupons and no shipping charges, it makes the most sense getting what you can at a local spirit store.




Agreed, I only went to Spirit because it was my first experience with one that FINALLY came locally. As I feared though, the prices were a major deterrant. But I followed the advice of those here in the forum and everyone kept saying, "Go back, AFTER Halloween". The day after I was one of the first ones there and managed to get the last Jumping Spider. I still have to find a way to incorporate this into display, but anyway you cut it, it is another scare.

One thing what I would be looking for this year is a really nice 'evil' clown costume. I would like to set this up something like a Laffing Sal that you used to see in the old amusement parks, except mine would be a laughing clown. But this would be an awefully big prop, expecially given that I would like to put it in some kind of housing. I would have to come up with a way that it would break down into something that could be easily stored in a box. But again, that would be something I would be looking into for NEXT Halloween. 

BTW, (you are probably going to kill me for this), as you may have noticed my title, Spirit is currently having a 50% to 70% off sale on some clearance items. I am actually checking it out right now. With that kind of deal, I might find something to embelish my display for this year. I will report back if I find something 'useful'.

Geo


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

You will NOT be disappointed with the spider. I'm usually not much for Spirit stuff either but I had a coupon so I went for it & it was a great "jump" scare.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

RCIAG said:


> You will NOT be disappointed with the spider. I'm usually not much for Spirit stuff either but I had a coupon so I went for it & it was a great "jump" scare.


Oh, I KNOW the spider is effective as it made ME jump and it made both of my twin 5 year old boys cry, when we first encountered it last year. That is when I said, "yep, that's a must have!" So I am happy I did get one AND for a really good price too. I am thinking of just going simple and creating a sideshow style booth saying something like, "Worlds Biggest Spider"...of course I wouldn't mention the jumping part >:}. 

Actually don't get me wrong, Spirit does have some nice things, but back when I created this thread, my issue was the price. That is when everyone said to look out for deals, or better yet, go to Spirit after Halloween. Which is what I did and made a few scores. As I said above, I will do the same this year provided that a Spirit store opens up close by. I am hoping they go back to the location they were at last year as that store is still empty.


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## ironmaiden (Aug 5, 2003)

Y'all are right on about the jumping spider. Hubby and I stumbled into the Spirit store on their last night open and they had three of them left, we took the one in the best looking box and they managed to find us a foot pad out back. Now this was the first animated prop we have ever bought from them but I have to say, it is effective. I mean I KNOW what the dang thing is gonna do and I jump out of my skin every time. And the best thing is that it was 1/2 price. I was glad I waited because i was very, very tempted to buy it with a coupon.


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## ThAnswr (Dec 17, 2008)

I didn't buy the big jumping spider last year. I bought the tabletop model. It's fairly small and not something someone would notice right away. 

It was the hit of my Halloween party. Everyone jumped multiple times. 

I would recommend it highly.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

ironmaiden said:


> Y'all are right on about the jumping spider. Hubby and I stumbled into the Spirit store on their last night open and they had three of them left, we took the one in the best looking box and they managed to find us a foot pad out back. Now this was the first animated prop we have ever bought from them but I have to say, it is effective. I mean I KNOW what the dang thing is gonna do and I jump out of my skin every time. And the best thing is that it was 1/2 price. I was glad I waited because i was very, very tempted to buy it with a coupon.


Yup, I just listened to everyone here and they said, "Go after Halloween for the deep discounts". The thing in my case was that the Jumping Spider was just about sold out except for 3 floor models. Some electrician guy arrived just before I did and ended up buying out most of the store. Fortunate for me, he didn't see one of the jumping spiders hidden in a display prop. That jumping spider also had a bad battery cover, so I even got more than half off on it. The bonus was that it had mini sandbags attached to the feet of the base, so it came pre-weighted down. One thing less I have to do .

But even after my family was 'pre-scared' and knew what the spider did in the store...when I brought it home and set it up in my living room, I got some good scares out of them again. So I am getting the gist that the spider will be a good 'repeat offender' to use in subsequent years. 



ThAnswr said:


> I didn't buy the big jumping spider last year. I bought the tabletop model. It's fairly small and not something someone would notice right away.
> 
> It was the hit of my Halloween party. Everyone jumped multiple times.
> 
> I would recommend it highly.



Given when I initially saw the large jumping spider (and the rather large $80), I also considered the small one. But there were only four left and none of the display models were working properly. So I figured I would rather wait until I could get a hold of one of the big ones.


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## awokennightmare (Jan 17, 2013)

I understand that Spirit sells things that are not cheap but can be made pretty cheaply. The thing is, if you want something really nice, you'll need to pay a lot for it, or build it, and neither of those options are cheap. It comes down to the fact that they sell a lot of merchandise and the company makes a lot of money. If people continue to pay the prices they set for their merchandise, then they will keep selling them at that price. I don't see that changing anytime soon.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

awokennightmare said:


> I understand that Spirit sells things that are not cheap but can be made pretty cheaply. The thing is, if you want something really nice, you'll need to pay a lot for it, or build it, and neither of those options are cheap. It comes down to the fact that they sell a lot of merchandise and the company makes a lot of money. If people continue to pay the prices they set for their merchandise, then they will keep selling them at that price. I don't see that changing anytime soon.


If the stuff is made well, then I could justify the prices. But some of the stuff is just so poorly made and breaks after a couple seasons, then the cost isn't justified. I don't mind spending $200 if I know it is going to last. But usually when it gets to that level, I generally choose the make the item myself. But if I bought a $200 prop and used it for 8 - 10 Halloween seasons before a major failure then I would say I got my money's worth.

Granted, I know you could put things into a larger perspective and if you go someone that specifically designs and builds props for attractions, then you are looking at spending $1000's for a single prop. However, those things are built for day in / day out use and usually goes into paid commercial attractions. So if you have a paid haunt that operates all the month of October, THEN, the price is justified. For the average home haunter, going that far isn't necessary.


Well, thusfar it seems like the Jumping Spider is a hit and it does work well. This is my first year I am going to use mine, so naturally I will report back here with the results of this year. As of now I am still trying to locate a good spot for the spider as I am making many changes in my display. Good thing I am thinking these things out now so it will give me ample time to get things ready for this Halloween.

But all in all, I am hoping the Spirit store does come back to my neighborhood this year. Even my boys are asking about it (despite the fact the place scared the crap out of them).

Geo


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## BR1MSTON3 (Jul 31, 2010)

jukingeo said:


> If the stuff is made well, then I could justify the prices. But some of the stuff is just so poorly made and breaks after a couple seasons, then the cost isn't justified.
> Geo


Personally, to each his own and that is cool, but I agree with you, I just don't see Spirit's stuff as really nice. I would pay even more for some of the props I have seen members build cause to me they are incredible. Spirit is just meh.


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## stormygirl84 (Sep 4, 2009)

BR1MSTON3 said:


> Personally, to each his own and that is cool, but I agree with you, I just don't see Spirit's stuff as really nice. I would pay even more for some of the props I have seen members build cause to me they are incredible. Spirit is just meh.


Agreed. (Not that I have money for big props anyway, but if I did...) I feel that way about a lot of Spirit's merchandise. I'm actually more impressed with some of the smaller, more generic items they offer - and they're certainly more affordable. But the big stuff and the costumes just don't do it for me. Like I said, I like to look, but that's really all.


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## megancpeters (Jun 17, 2013)

Spirit has always been a huge disappointment to me, unfortunately. Every year I get excited when I see the temp store go up and I always count down the days till it opens, but then I'm always reminded why I always leave empty handed--their products are cheap and gimmicky. I normally get some spiderwebs and maybe a black light or two there every year, but that's about it. The store reeks of plastic and chemicals. All of the items are either ridiculously gorey or uber sexy (not that I'm knocking an adults Halloween)--there's just no real middle ground. I always roll my eyes at the zombie babies. I'd love to see a "vintage Halloween" line at Spirit this year or some items that show a little more craftsmanship. I'd be willing to spend a little more for something well made and that will last a few seasons. To be honest, I actually find that Target offers a lot nicer Halloween merchandize every year. I'm not saying it's made any better, but they hit upon a lot of different themes that Spirit just doesn't have.


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2013)

I like the Spirit experience. I love the store, the fun atmosphere, the great set up, etc.

The last time I went into a Spirit store my Son and I were taking pictures of ourselves wearing their costume hats. An employee actually laughed with us and said she hoped we had fun in the store. I was so relieved and excited that she wasn't going to yell at us, I was like: Spirit rawks!

I do find a few smaller things each year to buy, and I did buy a Jumping Spider online.

I love alot of their tombstones online, but again, let's all say it together: SHIPPING. The shipping is tooooo much.

I also like going into Spirit and seeing people having fun getting ready for halloween. It's almost like a party atmosphere. Except when really scary juggalos and their peeps are shopping. The I am sorta scared.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

stormygirl84 said:


> Agreed. (Not that I have money for big props anyway, but if I did...) I feel that way about a lot of Spirit's merchandise. I'm actually more impressed with some of the smaller, more generic items they offer - and they're certainly more affordable. But the big stuff and the costumes just don't do it for me. Like I said, I like to look, but that's really all.


Well, it is a mixed bag since Spirit does have things that you don't find in other Halloween chain stores. For one, they had a full size prop of the Wicked Witch from the West from Wizard of Oz and it looked fantastic. It was one of the things that WAS worth it's price tag. But more then likely that cost was put into the looks and not the movement mechanism. Given that it is probably made from plastic gearing, you would be lucky to get a couple seasons out of it. 




> megancpeters said:
> 
> 
> > Spirit has always been a huge disappointment to me, unfortunately. Every year I get excited when I see the temp store go up and I always count down the days till it opens, but then I'm always reminded why I always leave empty handed--their products are cheap and gimmicky. I normally get some spiderwebs and maybe a black light or two there every year, but that's about it.
> ...


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## sumrtym (Aug 16, 2008)

jukingeo said:


> If the stuff is made well, then I could justify the prices. But some of the stuff is just so poorly made and breaks after a couple seasons, then the cost isn't justified. I don't mind spending $200 if I know it is going to last. But usually when it gets to that level, I generally choose the make the item myself. But if I bought a $200 prop and used it for 8 - 10 Halloween seasons before a major failure then I would say I got my money's worth.


Depends on how much you use it. Maybe I'm unrealistic, and I know some people might have a $200 item running all October, but if you're only using it a night or a few nights every year, to me it ought to be working a lot longer than 8-10 years.


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## jackpot (Nov 1, 2008)

I love going into Spirit. I don't buy anything, even when I have the money to, but the set up in the store and the props lead to great ideas. I only buy anything after Halloween and the deep discounts start up. Our local store will even haggle over additional discounts for display items.


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## Paint It Black (Sep 15, 2011)

There is a sale going online right now!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

sumrtym said:


> Depends on how much you use it. Maybe I'm unrealistic, and I know some people might have a $200 item running all October, but if you're only using it a night or a few nights every year, to me it ought to be working a lot longer than 8-10 years.


I wouldn't count on that. However, if you are a DIY'er and bought the good stuff from Fright Props, then yeah, it certainly would be expected to get that long and more even if you did use it every night. But the Spirit stuff? I wouldn't count on it. I have heard of people having trouble with certain items even after a couple of seasons. Heck when I went back to Spirit for the 'day after sale', props that were working fine on my first visit, were already broken. Granted they ARE running day in, day out and multitudes of folks are touching them constantly. Naturally I was pleasantly surprised that all three jumping spiders were still operational.



jackpot said:


> I love going into Spirit. I don't buy anything, even when I have the money to, but the set up in the store and the props lead to great ideas. I only buy anything after Halloween and the deep discounts start up. Our local store will even haggle over additional discounts for display items.


Surprisingly, I didn't have to do much haggling. The store clerk noticed the issue with the cover on the battery compartment on my jumping spider and she right away applied the extra discount on top of the half off. I think at that point in the game, the store is being faced with getting rid of everything as fast as possible. As I mentioned earlier, there was this electrician guy there with his family and they practically bought the whole store. I am SURE they probably got less than the half off on everything. But I agree, more then likely I am going to do the SAME thing I did last year, I am going to go in the beginning to check out what they have. I probably will take some mental notes on what I like and then after Halloween, go there again for the sales and cash in.

In addition to the spider, I did rack up on some lighting. That was one of my mental notes last year. I know that my singing pumpkin display needed more lights. So now I have that. In addition, I am adding some multi-color floods too. That is is a DIY project I am working on.

Geo


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## Markula (Sep 21, 2010)

Every year, I get really into following the Spirit prop previews online. I pull up their job openings site just to see where their stores will be opening in my area. I wait for the coupons to drop and print out a bunch of them. And when the stores finally open, I'm one of the first ones there, and it's a great experience to see it all set up. It's become, for better or worse, an important part of my transition into "Halloween season mode."

BUT, each year, I buy fewer and fewer items from Spirit. And that's because each year, one or more of my Spirit props (each of which cost a good amount of money) breaks. 

Lurching Vampire? Great prop, great concept, and relatively expensive. Bought it a few years ago, used it for two out of the three seasons since. But when one tiny plastic bracket cracks at its base? Boom. Into the trash.

The talking witch with the fogging cauldron? Ugh, forget it. Cost a pretty penny back in the day, and one gust of wind blew the head off and pulled out all the wires. Dead. Into the trash.

Last year I picked up the Electrocuted Prisoner and the High Voltage Box, but the weather from Hurricane Sandy pretty much cancelled Halloween. From what I've read about others' experiences with the prop, though, that little electric box is very fragile. Great. Do I even risk it? If not, more money spent with nothing to show for it.

So when I see a preview for Madame Morbida at $225 or the Convulsing Nurse at $150, my brain still starts running through ways to re-budget my already strained cash flow and maybe, mayyyyybe squeeze in a prop or two again this year. But then I think about all that money I've spent on plastic junk that didn't last three years, or didn't last one year, or didn't last a week, etc., and I'm hard pressed to come up with a reason to spend any more.

Sorry Spirit. Your props are trash. Literally.


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## myerman82 (Aug 2, 2011)

I have always noticed the life size Spirit props start acting up or stop working soon after they put it up. I never get any for this reason. Also, most of them just look weird anyway.


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## ironmaiden (Aug 5, 2003)

And the sad thing is I would not mind spending the $$ if the stuff didnt crap out like it does. I mean the props are so poorly made they are a sad joke. 
I have a pretty old Gemmy Edwardian Butler that my mom bought me from Walmart years ago for my birthday gift. At the time he was about $80.00 and seemed like alot of money yet here we are with a nicely made lifesized prop that still works, looks good and is pretty well made.

Those days will be no more.........


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Markula said:


> Every year, I get really into following the Spirit prop previews online. I pull up their job openings site just to see where their stores will be opening in my area. I wait for the coupons to drop and print out a bunch of them. And when the stores finally open, I'm one of the first ones there, and it's a great experience to see it all set up. It's become, for better or worse, an important part of my transition into "Halloween season mode."


I pretty much did the same thing when Party City put out their Halloween stuff as well as Target and Lowes. I generally would get there about the 2nd week in September when they start setting the stuff up. Last year was the first year a Spirit came to us, so it was an experience. As it is Target, Lowes, Party/Halloween City, Halloween Express...pretty much they had the same kind of stuff. Spirit is definitely different as they have the slightly higher cost items. It's not too often the other places carry $200+ items.



> BUT, each year, I buy fewer and fewer items from Spirit. And that's because each year, one or more of my Spirit props (each of which cost a good amount of money) breaks.


THAT was my main concern and the main reason I put up this thread in the first place. As it was, remember that Wicked Witch of the West I mentioned just above? Well, I never saw it working. 



> Lurching Vampire? Great prop, great concept, and relatively expensive. Bought it a few years ago, used it for two out of the three seasons since. But when one tiny plastic bracket cracks at its base? Boom. Into the trash.


Is that the one where the coffin flips open and the vampire sits straight up? I saw that one working and it was pretty cool. I can't comment on the longevity concerns on that one as it was gone the second time I went. However, the violent lurching forward certainly would take it's toll on any plastic parts. 



> The talking witch with the fogging cauldron? Ugh, forget it. Cost a pretty penny back in the day, and one gust of wind blew the head off and pulled out all the wires. Dead. Into the trash.


I don't know if you would consider some DIY tinkering, but once something breaks, I might be worth a shot to see how it works and perhaps build a stronger mechanism for it.



> Last year I picked up the Electrocuted Prisoner and the High Voltage Box, but the weather from Hurricane Sandy pretty much cancelled Halloween. From what I've read about others' experiences with the prop, though, that little electric box is very fragile. Great. Do I even risk it? If not, more money spent with nothing to show for it.


I saw that prop too. The prop itself was working, but...you guessed it, the little box stopped doing the flashy blinky thing. Yet that electrician guy bought the prop anyway.

But after seeing this prop, this would be something I would build myself. Sheesh, I been into electronics for a long time and amassed quite a few parts...enough to make my own mad lab. An electric chair would be fairly easy build for me.



> So when I see a preview for Madame Morbida at $225 or the Convulsing Nurse at $150, my brain still starts running through ways to re-budget my already strained cash flow and maybe, mayyyyybe squeeze in a prop or two again this year. But then I think about all that money I've spent on plastic junk that didn't last three years, or didn't last one year, or didn't last a week, etc., and I'm hard pressed to come up with a reason to spend any more.
> 
> Sorry Spirit. Your props are trash. Literally.


Methinks you should be entering the DIY realm. Either that or you would be looking into the really expensive commercial props. Either way, you certainly would end up with something that lasts more than a couple seasons. Take a look at Fright Props. They have some really nice (AND expensive) stuff. If you go the DIY with them then you certainly can save some bucks. Sure you might be spending $300 or so on a prop, but because you build it yourself you have full control over how strong you want to make the substructure. I know some fellows that do compressed air and even though they do spend quite a bit to build a prop, it lasts for years.

Have a good EEEEEeeevening.

Geo


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## Sublime Nightmare (Aug 2, 2009)

The problem with Fright Props is the are way too expensive. Y'all may be Spirit haters, but at least you can afford them. That's really what they're there for. If you can afford props like those sold at Fright Props, you should open a professional haunt. Quite honestly, it doesn't take a $3,000 prop to scare tot's. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few, but my cauldron stirring witch still works perfectly, as do all of my props, but I don't leave them in the weather. I've yet have anything break. Oops...I may have just jinxed myself!  Besides, most of you here have talent enough to make your own animated props. Spirit provides cheap ones for those of us who lack skill.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Sublime Nightmare said:


> The problem with Fright Props is the are way too expensive. Y'all may be Spirit haters, but at least you can afford them. That's really what they're there for. If you can afford props like those sold at Fright Props, you should open a professional haunt. Quite honestly, it doesn't take a $3,000 prop to scare tot's.


No, it doesn't take a $3k prop to scare TOTs. One of the most effective scares I came across used nothing more then a darkened room and black thread hanging down from the ceiling. Sometimes it is the things that you DON'T see that produces the greatest scares.

Trust me, I can't afford $3k for a prop either and even if I did...it isn't justified because I do not operate a month long event. I onlly do Halloween night and that is it (for now). Still, I can't see spending $200 on a prop from Spirit and only have it last 2 or 3 seasons...especially considering that I only run my display for the one night. 



> Maybe I'm one of the lucky few, but my cauldron stirring witch still works perfectly, as do all of my props, but I don't leave them in the weather. I've yet have anything break. Oops...I may have just jinxed myself!  Besides, most of you here have talent enough to make your own animated props. Spirit provides cheap ones for those of us who lack skill.


Taking extra special care or measures certainly would increase the longevity of those props, but it generally is a good idea to examine the props to see how they work, not only if you could repair an item yourself should it go down, but perhaps you might see a better way to do something.

One thing I did think of is perhaps nabbing one of those $200 props at Spirit and should it not be operational, get less than half off on it. Then turn around and get one of those mechanisms from Fright Props, combining the best of both worlds. In the end I could have a prop that cost around $300 (not $3k) with good longevity.

Geo


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2013)

I agree, Spirit is very expensive. I worked at Spirit about 5 years ago and we had a family come in (mom-dad-two sons) that starting picking out costumes and props like crazy. They asked us to get the total cost with tax and it was something like $1,300.00 They asked if we could hold all those items until they returned and we said yes. They came back a few hours later and told me they were ready to purchase that stuff and we rang it up again and they had they exact amount to the cent. They went on to say they went and took out a car title loan in order to buy all that stuff. I'm not sure if the story is sad or funny, but it goes to show that some people will do whatever it takes to get their Halloween stuff. They also didn't use a single 20% coupon we offered either.

Sid


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

Sid_Matthew said:


> They came back a few hours later and told me they were ready to purchase that stuff and we rang it up again and they had they exact amount to the cent. They went on to say they went and took out a car title loan in order to buy all that stuff. I'm not sure if the story is sad or funny, but it goes to show that some people will do whatever it takes to get their Halloween stuff. They also didn't use a single 20% coupon we offered either.


They are nearly as intelligent as the family that bought $100,000 worth of _Beanie Babies_ when they were most popular, in an attempt to finance the kids' college... "They could take off again. We'll see who is crazy 20 years from now." The only fitting response: "You, still you."


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## Ragged Grin (Nov 5, 2012)

Yeah...

I'll bundle some sticks together, stick a skull on top, paint it, light it and be happy. What is astonishing to me...and I do check out the spirit stores immediately, along with any other ones, I barely even look at the animatronic stuff. I'll see if there is a new, inexpensive mask I can DR up, or a great skull, or a deal on creepy cloth (can you ever have enough?) but thats about it. I appreciate what they are and what they represent but I can't imagine a situation where I would drop $200 on one of those animatronics. $200, how much great stuff is that? or foam insulation, or tools?


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## Ragged Grin (Nov 5, 2012)

What they really ought to do....and ROT mentioned this a while back, is offer monster guts style packages, at an affordable price. In todays do it yourself world that kind of thing would fly off the shelves. Simple motion controls, powerpacks, etc. I will never drop 150 on a talking freddy krueger, I would however drop 300 on a couple ready to roll FCG rigs to animate my own fred.


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## Halloweenfan (Sep 18, 2008)

I think that Spirit is a more expensive store than probably 90% off all the other stores that have Halloween in them. I can compare it to something as graphic tees. You can get graphic tees at Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target for about $10. Now, if you want more specific graphic tees, you go somewhere like Hot Topic, and they are selling them for $20. Plus, a store that is only open 3 / 4 months of the year really has to have their prices high in order to survive.


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## mamadada (Aug 18, 2008)

woohooooo!!!! Spirit sign up in same place they were for last two years!!! ive got the fall fever now!!!!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

mamadada said:


> woohooooo!!!! Spirit sign up in same place they were for last two years!!! ive got the fall fever now!!!!


Our Spirit is returning for the second year in our town as well. It isn't going to be in the same location though, but it is on the same road, several blocks south from where it was last year. Just checked out the website to verify.

I was surprised to see that the jumping spider is now $49.99. That is a pretty good price drop from last year. Checking out the site now to see what else is on sale.

Geo


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## Trex (Nov 6, 2010)

The jumping spider is the only prop I have ever purchased from SH, and is an excellent scare for the $ IMO. This will be our 3rd season using it, hopefully it holds up, I think it will worked perfectly last year. I mainly buy atmosphere type stuff, maybe a mask or 2 and creepy things I need for props we are making. I love going to Spirit and other seasonal Halloween stores to look at props for ideas, trends and i find they really kick my Halloween spirit into high gear!


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## thehoghunter (Jul 24, 2007)

Shockwave199 wrote


> However as the clock ticks down and depending on the store, deals will be more frequent.


 and I would add, for some people out there, "as the clock ticks down and you become more desperate, you will pay anything to have that one special item!"


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Everyone needs to keep in mind that Spirit isn't really marketing to the dedicated do-it-yourself haunter.


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## dscrimager (Feb 10, 2008)

I can say, personally, that with some work you can build that jumping spider for way less than $300.

Less than $49, probably not - but two of my jumping (pneumatic) props were built for less than $100 and will last forever being built out of aluminum or tubular steel.
Elvis, my eel, cost less than $100 for the jumping animatronic although a spent a lot on the prop body - it totals $300 with that - but it's WAY nicer than any spirit sells.

I'm not including the cost of a compressor which I already had/needed. But, if you spread the cost of a cheap compressor over 5 props (catch a compressor on sale at harbor freight or lowes) it might add $20 a prop.

My best score was the year I was the first or second person in the door and knew exactly where the items where (especially at the back of the store) that I wanted. I got all the items I wanted including a really cool cauldron that was up on legs/stump. The place was cleared out within 1 hour. And it was all like 50% and up off which was fine with me.

Anyone thinking that building cool stuff is out of your capability - try it, you'll fail occasionally - but when your prop is lit up at night you will be so thrilled..it's worth just copying the idea. If need be buy a mask or something to finish it off.

If you join a club (Like Chicago Haunt Builders!) we can teach you everything from cheap flicker candles (like $2 apiece finished) to animatronics.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

dscrimager said:


> I can say, personally, that with some work you can build that jumping spider for way less than $300.
> 
> Less than $49, probably not - but two of my jumping (pneumatic) props were built for less than $100 and will last forever being built out of aluminum or tubular steel.
> Elvis, my eel, cost less than $100 for the jumping animatronic although a spent a lot on the prop body - it totals $300 with that - but it's WAY nicer than any spirit sells.


That is what I was mentioning earlier about DIY. Either you can build a good strong armature (insides) yourself or even get something pre-built at Fright Props. Then you build your prop around that dressing it up the way YOU want. Naturally it will be better than most items store bought because it is unique...a one off that YOU made. I usually try this route before buying, but sometimes something really good comes out for a good price and the Spirit jumping spider is one such item.

(BTW, it is worth mentioning that Spirit now has a tombstone pop-up AND a snake that uses the same type of mechanism).



> I'm not including the cost of a compressor which I already had/needed. But, if you spread the cost of a cheap compressor over 5 props (catch a compressor on sale at harbor freight or lowes) it might add $20 a prop.


Well, there are some that don't want to work with compressed air, or those (like me) that are put off by the initial costs to get a pneumatic system started. For one, I would NEVER get one of those noisy portable air compressors. The CFM on those are terrible. For good CFM you need a good size tank and here bigger is always better. Another thing is that portable air compressors are VERY noisy as most are not oil based. A piston compressor is the way to go here and most run pretty quiet. The downside is that a good piston compressor with a good size tank costs a pretty penny, and then there is the power consumption too. The better air compressors use 220v.

So for me, I am really putting off pneumatics for as long as I can possibly can. So these spring mechanism props that Spirit has are great. Should the jumping spider I have break, I will then dismantle it and probably build my own variant usiing a metal armature.



> My best score was the year I was the first or second person in the door and knew exactly where the items where (especially at the back of the store) that I wanted. I got all the items I wanted including a really cool cauldron that was up on legs/stump. The place was cleared out within 1 hour. And it was all like 50% and up off which was fine with me.


Ditto. I do the same thing. I go to places such as Spirit, Halloween City (Party City) and scope the place out and find things I like. Then I hit the store the day after Halloween EARLY. Go right to the spots were the items were that I wanted. Last year was the first year with Spirit for me, but I got there about 15 mins after the place opened and there was only one other person there besides me. It was some electrician guy with his entiire family and THEY practically cleaned the place out, including TWO jumping jumping spiders. But I did manage to get a third jumping spider that he didn't see. In the end I did manage to get what I wanted.



> Anyone thinking that building cool stuff is out of your capability - try it, you'll fail occasionally - but when your prop is lit up at night you will be so thrilled..it's worth just copying the idea. If need be buy a mask or something to finish it off.


Well, being a big fan of the amusement industry, I had always wanted a Laffing Sal (while seldom seen now, Laffing Sal's were very popular in older amusement parks and usually were found near the funhouse, house of mirrors, haunted house or dark ride. I then got the idea to make an evil clown version of Laffing Sal and thus that spawned on the idea to eventually change my display over to a carnival style theme. So naturally this year at Spirit, I am going to scope out a good clown costume I could use. The armature / mechanism I will build myself.



> If you join a club (Like Chicago Haunt Builders!) we can teach you everything from cheap flicker candles (like $2 apiece finished) to animatronics.


Really? Is this a web based club or only local? If web based, I am interested.

Thanx,

Geo


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello All,

Not much to update thusfar except that I did drive by the new location of Spirit in my town. It looks, like they are going to move into the old Blockbuster Video store in the Sunset Plaza shopping center (North Babylon, NY). The irony of that situation is that I work for the Hicksville Chuck E. Cheese and the store next to us was a Blockbuster video and two years ago it went out of business and that year a Halloween City opened up there. Sadly, it hasn't returned in subsequent years. 

At any rate, the Spirit store isn't open yet, but I have a funny feeling it will right after the Labor Day weekend. That means I have to get cracking myself. One month left to prepare!


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## dscrimager (Feb 10, 2008)

Chicago Haunt Builders is really a local club - although we have people that come from very long distances to the builds as well. But, you may find one near you.

I agree about the compressors - I have two actually - one piston but portable and one piston with a tank the size of a hot water heater. But for someone using it occasionally and Halloween night extended periods even a pancake one should do for years. I know people that use them at job sites and just run them until they burn up and they get a full season (like working all day, 6 days a week, for 6 months) at construction sites out of them - for running nailers mostly. 

I also have my compressors in the garage so you don't even hear them in the front yard where my yard is.

The CFM's do become important if you run multiple pneumatic props. Some of the folks in the club run over 10 air props and at least one (Haunt31) runs like 40 air props and so use a pretty sophisticated setup with a lot of storage tanks etc. 

This year I'll be running at least 10 cylinders across 4 (or more) props so I'm sure my compressor will get a workout.

I'm totally addicted to pneumatics; it's just so easy to add movement to a prop and much less worry about weight.

What I most encourage is DIY over buying - like you said buy the guts and build the prop or buy the prop (look and feel) where it's hard to achieve yourself and build in the guts. My eel, elvis, would probably be beyond me as far as casting the eel prop ( I bought it from Halloween Bob who makes FANTASTIC props) and installed the spitter and the mech to move him myself.

I will say that Spirit seems to try and meet the market demand but I don't think they will ever go after DIY as a segment - although it would be good for them to have DIY sessions like a big box home improvement store. If I ran a Spirit store I would encourage DIY and hold build sessions since I think it would raise sales.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

dscrimager said:


> Chicago Haunt Builders is really a local club - although we have people that come from very long distances to the builds as well. But, you may find one near you.


There was one small group here on Long Island and I almost became a part of it too. The group's head was non other than the famous Carl Chetta, the inventor of the Trash Can Trauma. I met him one day in the DJ store I was working at and it was all Halloween from then on in. I only knew him for one year and saw his work as such and just when I wanted to plan something with him for the following year, he ups and moves away...leaving no contacts either. I tried to contact him through his other friends, but to no avail.

Outside of that brief tenure, I have not discovered any other kind of Halloween clubs out here.



> I agree about the compressors - I have two actually - one piston but portable and one piston with a tank the size of a hot water heater. But for someone using it occasionally and Halloween night extended periods even a pancake one should do for years. I know people that use them at job sites and just run them until they burn up and they get a full season (like working all day, 6 days a week, for 6 months) at construction sites out of them - for running nailers mostly.


The trouble with the pancake compressors is the NOISE! There was a neighbor that did a haunt just around the block from me and he used such a compressor. I could hear the thing SIX houses away. My next door neighbor, who was 5 houses away complained about the noise from the thing all night. Also the CFM on those small compressors isn't that good either. For small props, such as grave pop-ups, OK...but what if you want to move something larger...something the size of a man? Now you will run that little compressor ragged all night.




> I also have my compressors in the garage so you don't even hear them in the front yard where my yard is.


I hold my Halloween display at my parent's house and they are in their 70's. While you may not hear the compressor that much outside if its in the garage, you certainly will hear it IN the house. 



> The CFM's do become important if you run multiple pneumatic props. Some of the folks in the club run over 10 air props and at least one (Haunt31) runs like 40 air props and so use a pretty sophisticated setup with a lot of storage tanks etc.


I don't think I would ever run more than about 5 or 6 air props, but I am aware of how storage tanks could help a system out. I had thought of the idea of using a small compressor on a very large storage tank (60 to 80 gals) and fill it up once for just before the night starts, then just run from that storage tank all night. That would certainly would be quieter, AND I wouldn't need such a large and expensive air compressor.



> This year I'll be running at least 10 cylinders across 4 (or more) props so I'm sure my compressor will get a workout.


The big air compressor I am assuming, right? I guess you have a couple full size props huh if you have 3 or 4 movements each?



> I'm totally addicted to pneumatics; it's just so easy to add movement to a prop and much less worry about weight.


Oh, I wouldn't doubt it. I work for the local Chuck E. Cheese, and my place is one of the older ones that has the full 5 character band. The characters have 8 MAC valves each, but some have two cylinders on one valve. The air compressor is an Ingersoll Rand with a 55 gallon tank. The thing jumps on once about every 45 mins to 'top off'. But the show movements are so small that it would take about 3 hours to drain the tank completely if the compressor is off. It is a pretty elaborate system with an air dryer and condensation traps. The air compressor does run more than the show. We have a game that runs on compressed air and also all of our balloons now use air (we ditched using helium, got too expensive). The cleaning lines (hair blowers) also use the compressor. They run the tank at a pretty high pressure and then it is stepped down quite a bit for the main lines. By the time it gets to the show movements, it is a very small 4 - 8 psi. Due to the high pressure in the main storage tank, the CFM is incredible.

For me, I personally don't like the high PSI on the tank, I would rather run a lower PSI and put smaller (reservior) tanks at the larger props.

Needless to say, something THAT big for me is not necessary. While having a large compressor is generally better, I just can't justify the $1000 price tag for something I use once a year.



> What I most encourage is DIY over buying - like you said buy the guts and build the prop or buy the prop (look and feel) where it's hard to achieve yourself and build in the guts. My eel, elvis, would probably be beyond me as far as casting the eel prop ( I bought it from Halloween Bob who makes FANTASTIC props) and installed the spitter and the mech to move him myself.


Yep, I try to go DIY when I can. But some cases, such as the Spirit Jumping Spider, the deal was just too good. I got mine for under $40 and I certainly couldn't build it for that.



> I will say that Spirit seems to try and meet the market demand but I don't think they will ever go after DIY as a segment - although it would be good for them to have DIY sessions like a big box home improvement store.


Oh, no, yeah. i wouldn't expect that of them, but that is where Fright Props comes in. More expensive, yes, but also more DIY incentive. One thing is certain, their stuff would last longer. But I know what you mean. Spirit could put together a few "How to Haunt" seminars or demonstrations in their stores. Certainly it would get people to stay and buy more. 



> If I ran a Spirit store I would encourage DIY and hold build sessions since I think it would raise sales.


While that does sound good to you and I (and other DIY), I don't think it would happen as they are primarily concerned with selling to the mass market...the mom, pop and family that just want to dress up the house and front porch with a few scary things. Sure you do have your die hard haunters that buy enough to fill a whole front yard, but that is far and few between. Then you have us DIY'ers which make up a small niche.

I will say though given the products they have, by holding a "How To Haunt" seminar, it would show people how to get the most of the decorations and products they sell. One thing is for certain, it would put them a cut above the rest of the Halloween stores. Further that could entice other stores, such as Halloween City to follow suit.

My Spirit didn't open yet, but I am keeping en eye on it. I have a funny feeling it will open right after Labor Day.

Geo


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello All,

Ok, I had a busy busy day today. MUCH going on since this is the first week in September and I have already began the intial prepping for my Halloween display. My singing pumpkin computer is up and ready to go. I just have to hook up the control box and pumpkins. My new RGB floods are currently being tested (as I have to learn how to mix colors for Orange and Purple. And finally I was able to get out to both Spirit AND Party City today.

Stop One, Spirit:

Okay Okay. So finally this week the Spirit Halloween store opened up in my area and I went with my kids to see it. Being 6 years old (and twins), naturally upon walking in, one of them starts to cry. I guess he remembered clearly how the Jumping Spider got him last year. But at this Spirit the Jumping Spider display was NOT the first thing to be seen. Instead they had a big walkthrough arch of a clown face with the mouth open (which forms the arch. I thought the arch was cool and was one of the things I am thinking of nabbing on the day after Halloween sale. The arch would go good with my up and coming Evil Carnival changeover for next year's Halloween. 

While there, I noticed quite a few clown costumes and some really cool (and evil) looking Jester costumes. This time, I must say, for anyone doing an Evil Carnival, this year Spirit has some pretty good stuff. My gears were turning big time today! One thing I fell in love with right off the bat was a laughing clown in a chair. This was something I wanted to build myself, but the movement was so good on it I think he is going to be a must buy. Furthermore, everything folds down into a pretty small box. The only downside is that the chair is made from cardboard. BUT, at $99 I though the price was good for nearly a full size clown. This is another item I chalked up for the day after Halloween sale.

If anyone has purchased this prop in the past, I am curious as to it's longevity. The clown's swaying movement while laughing is pretty swift and I am curious as to how long he holds up.

There were other props in this display too, but nothing grabbed me as much as the laughing clown. Following that display, was the Jumping Spider display. The one child that was crying ran behind mommy. Naturally, I just HAD to set the spider off. But it DIDN'T work! Feeling safe now, my boy came out and stopped crying. I went to the next display which was the lighting and small tabletop prop display. Didn't see anything new here except for a Medusa head in which the eyes and mouth glowed and the snakes in her hair moved. THAT was cool. It did creep my kids out though. At this point I noticed that things were getting more 'darker' and more macabre and I instructed my wife to take the kids to the costume section while I ventured further back. In the back of the store was where they had more of the full sized props. They had a weeping angel which when triggered starts to cry, but then looks up really fast and has a skull face with menacing eyes. Cool, but not very scary...but I would say it is a must have for anyone that has a cemetary / moseleum type display. They had the girl on the swing which they had last year...however they also had a pumpkin head guy on a swing too which completely blew the creepy girl away. They had the guy in the electric chair as they did last year, but this time they had him hooked up to an 'electrical panel' which in itself was a scare. The panel swung open and there was a skull inside and all sorts of flashing and arching lights. After that the panel also triggered the electric chair, so you got two scares for the price of one! Ok, not really, the box was $50 and I think I might get this thing BEFORE Halloween provided I can get a coupon or something. While the controls are cheesy and fake (I certainly can build a better looking panel) the scare alone is worth the price of admission for this prop.

All in all that was it. I wasn't too happy with the costume prices as most started in the $30 or $40 realm and went up from there. So for now we didn't buy anything and so it was off to our....

...Next Stop, Party City:

Incidentally, Party City was right across the street from Spirit. Hence the main reason for the double header today. Party City didn't have everything out as of yet, but they are almost there. The costumes were already set up though and that is what we were mainly there for. Heading towards that area we passed thorough the props first. Not too much new here...much of what they have this year they had last year, but they didn't have any of the big items out yet. They DID have some new lighting and there were a couple of battery operated 'flicker lights' I took an interest in.

Here is one of them:

http://www.partycity.com/product/spider+web+lantern+12in.do?navSet=170570

Pretty cool huh? I have been thinking about getting a couple of these to replace my 'regular' candles on my Magic Mirror display. They also had these evil pumpkin face LED flicker candles. Shame they don't have a picture of it on their website, but it must be a new item. VERY cool looking.

All in all, the prices were MUCH better at Party City, but that was expected. We were mainly there for the costumes and my boys picked theirs out already. One of them picked Slenderman and the other Raphael (one of the Ninja Turtles). At nearly $40 for EACH costume, this was the most I spent for my boys for Halloween, but compared to the $20 (each) costumes I bought for them last year, these ARE much better made. I was particularly impressed with the all spandex Slenderman costume as it was made from a form fitting 'morphsuit' material. Since my son is like rail thin, the costume IS a fitting pick for him. I thought he might be put off by the head piece since it is made of all white material in which, like the rest of the costume, form fits around the head. His face cannot be seen, but he can see out and breathe just fine. He ended up loving it!

(Okay, I will admit we did have a test run in regards to the face mask. Many moons ago I bought a grim reaper costume which features a faceless 'mask', very much like Slenderman's...except mine is black. I had my son put on this mask FIRST before going to get the Slenderman costume. He had no problem with it and thus passed the initial test).

Oh! In case those of you whom are wondering what this costume is. This is what it looks like:

http://www.partycity.com/product/bo...om=Search&navSet=slenderman&bypass_redirect=1

One thing I have to mention though, you MUST be careful about picking the size for this type of costume. Party City doesn't allow you to 'try on' Morphsuit products. Due to the material, it will shape itself to the initial wearer, so the costume cannot be worn by someone else thereafter. Luckily it did fit my son perfectly. The fingers on the hand were a little longer than his fingers, but in a way that adds to the 'long' Slenderman look. The only other caveat to this suit is that Morphsuit, decided to plant their name right across the butt of the costume. I seriously want to use a material paint and cover that blatant company advertisement up. If anyone here has used a Morphsuit costume before and successfully covered this up, please let me know how as I don't want to pick the wrong paint and end up ruining a $40 costume.

So that was basically my day at both Spirit and Party City today. So it looks like I have a few more items to get from Spirit when Halloween is over.

Geo


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## Zombiesmash (Jul 15, 2011)

Never count on anything being there after Halloween, though.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Zombiesmash said:


> Never count on anything being there after Halloween, though.


Good advice. Yes, I saw that last year. Much of it WAS already gone and I was the 2nd person in the store the day after Halloween. I am hoping for some kind of coupon that I would come across so this way I could buy that electrical panel. I think it is a good gag that I might even want to use for this year in addition to the jumping spider I got last year. But something like the laughing clown will have to wait. I can't be dropping $100 on that. But it is true that I certainly couldn't build it for that price. 

Anyway, to all. If anyone comes across sales or deals at Spirit, please put them in here.

Thank You,

Geo


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

Checked out my nearest Spirit on Friday. They moved into a much smaller storefront and are now a "gallery store", meaning they primarily deal in costumes and accessories - no large props. AND they aren't even open yet! Now, instead of a 20 mile drive, I have a 45 mile drive if I want to shop at Spirit. Oh well.


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## Tyrant (Aug 19, 2013)

Our Spirit opened a few weeks ago in a former Circuit City building so it's huge and packed with awesomeness. I've been on their mailing list forever so they start sending me 20-30% off coupons in August which really come in handy. I didn't see anything I just had to have this last time but I was able to get a large wall mounted blacklight and hanging skeleton dude for decent prices after the coupons. I've never found much of a price difference between Spirit and Party City in our neck of the woods and the coupons put Spirit ahead in my book. But then we don't mess with large props and decorations or anything for huge displays so perhaps we haven't noticed as much as some folks on this forum.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

*Coupons and Sales*



jukingeo said:


> Good advice. Yes, I saw that last year. Much of it WAS already gone and I was the 2nd person in the store the day after Halloween. I am hoping for some kind of coupon that I would come across so this way I could buy that electrical panel. I think it is a good gag that I might even want to use for this year in addition to the jumping spider I got last year. But something like the laughing clown will have to wait. I can't be dropping $100 on that. But it is true that I certainly couldn't build it for that price.
> 
> Anyway, to all. If anyone comes across sales or deals at Spirit, please put them in here.
> 
> ...



@@Geo, since you have Spirit Halloween stores near you (as opposed to needing to order online) go to Spirit's website, "Store Locator", enter your zip or town and when the list comes up, there will be an area to click on the right for a Coupon. It should appear above the store hours block of text. Print away. The Coupons are good for 20% off one item until Oct. 31, so one per visit. Take your family with you and each take a coupon if you are shopping for a few more things. I think at some point this coupon offer disappears (if I remember correctly from prior years) so either print enough out or save it as a PDF so you can print more if you need it later. 

In case you haven't noticed it, Spirit is a sponsor on the forum and has ad space here. The ads are usually pretty easy to notice. Some times at the top, sometimes near the bottom. Sometimes a banner, sometimes quite large screen space. Check these out. I think they are for the most part online deals. The one I saw last week was either here on the forum or maybe on their website and for a 1-hr. online sale Noon to 1 p.m. -- 20% off entire order. I always feel you are probably better off buying thru a store if you have one nearby as you don't have to pay for additional shipping. A lot of items are OverSized and get a shipping surcharge. However things like wall adapters for the Tekky props are sold only online and not carried in the stores. In this case compile a list of these items and look for a shipping discount offer maybe to save yourself some additional money. The savings offers like most other online retailers like Party City, Halloween City, etc. will change every few days or weekly. 

You can also check the Coupons Discount Promos section of the forum to see what people have thought to list. And if you typically shop Spirit, consider signing up for their newsletter (as well as other halloween stores you might frequent). Generally they will have a Friends and Family Sale (when on a certain day between a certain time period--like 4 hours-- they will offer their most generous before halloween discount, 30%, to those Friends and Family subscribers). Spirit does it and when Halloween City was in my area I took advantage of it as well. Even CostPlus World Market has a Friends and Family Sale. Pretty sure it was 30% off purchase in all cases, not sure if sale items are included typically or not, but I used it for some large props one year at HC and a bunch of halloween skeleton string lights, props and decor at CostPlus.

As you probably already know, Spirit and the other stores like Halloween City, have a 50% off sale the day after. Great day to have off from work if you hae any money left over and still need props, etc for your future halloween haunts. _Most_ Spirits shut down two days after halloween and pack stuff up. That's when you start checking other stores that carry halloween msde for their sales.


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## CornStalkers (Sep 2, 2012)

@jukingeo...I too saw the Clown Facade and thought about going back to get it after Halloween. If you give them your name and number they will call you when it's for sale and they'll hold it a day for you and if you don't pick up it, it'll got to the next person who wanted it. We were told we were the first person to ask for it. However, we were told it wasn't sold by itself, you have to take the whole set up, which includes the set the clowns are in (clowns not included of course) and the cost would be about 500-600 hundred bucks!!!

No thanks!

I used to manage a Halloween USA store back in 2005 & 2006 and remember the hoards of people that would come in after Halloween to buy stuff. A lot of Haunt owners would come in and drop a grand or two on props.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Madame Leota said:


> Checked out my nearest Spirit on Friday. They moved into a much smaller storefront and are now a "gallery store", meaning they primarily deal in costumes and accessories - no large props. AND they aren't even open yet! Now, instead of a 20 mile drive, I have a 45 mile drive if I want to shop at Spirit. Oh well.


Sorry to hear of your Spirit troubles, Ms Leota, hopefully they will move back closer next year. I had that worry myself since they were in a nice big store last year. I wasn't even sure if they were going to be local. However, then ended up getting a store in a busier shopping center AND it is a bit closer to me, in fact. It is smaller than last year's store and was packed closer together, but they still managed to get eveything in nicely with still some room to move. I never heard of just a 'gallery store'. But that must be a disappointment if you have to travel that far out and then find that out.




Tyrant said:


> Our Spirit opened a few weeks ago in a former Circuit City building so it's huge and packed with awesomeness. I've been on their mailing list forever so they start sending me 20-30% off coupons in August which really come in handy. I didn't see anything I just had to have this last time but I was able to get a large wall mounted blacklight and hanging skeleton dude for decent prices after the coupons. I've never found much of a price difference between Spirit and Party City in our neck of the woods and the coupons put Spirit ahead in my book. But then we don't mess with large props and decorations or anything for huge displays so perhaps we haven't noticed as much as some folks on this forum.


We had that the first year I became more involved with Halloween (2009). A Halloween Experience moved into an old Circuit City. But they didn't have as nice things as Party City has. They couldn't even touch Spirit. Our Party City does have pretty decent prices, but it is very rare they have a special early on. But I have seen some specials crop in the last few weeks when they want to move the stuff out the door. But yeah, I would agree that WITH a coupon at Spirit, that would put the prices on a more competative level.




Ghost of Spookie said:


> @@Geo, since you have Spirit Halloween stores near you (as opposed to needing to order online) go to Spirit's website, "Store Locator", enter your zip or town and when the list comes up, there will be an area to click on the right for a Coupon. It should appear above the store hours block of text. Print away. The Coupons are good for 20% off one item until Oct. 31, so one per visit. Take your family with you and each take a coupon if you are shopping for a few more things. I think at some point this coupon offer disappears (if I remember correctly from prior years) so either print enough out or save it as a PDF so you can print more if you need it later.



Thanx. Lemme check that out now. Yep! Got it.



> In case you haven't noticed it, Spirit is a sponsor on the forum and has ad space here. The ads are usually pretty easy to notice. Some times at the top, sometimes near the bottom. Sometimes a banner, sometimes quite large screen space. Check these out. I think they are for the most part online deals.


Yes, I have noticed it, but usually it is just a link to the site, I have not seen a deal as of yet. But I got the coupon now, so that is a start.



> The one I saw last week was either here on the forum or maybe on their website and for a 1-hr. online sale Noon to 1 p.m. -- 20% off entire order. I always feel you are probably better off buying thru a store if you have one nearby as you don't have to pay for additional shipping. A lot of items are OverSized and get a shipping surcharge. However things like wall adapters for the Tekky props are sold only online and not carried in the stores. In this case compile a list of these items and look for a shipping discount offer maybe to save yourself some additional money. The savings offers like most other online retailers like Party City, Halloween City, etc. will change every few days or weekly.


Yeah, since I have the store pretty close, it certainly wouldn't pay to go on-line. As it is there were a couple larger items I am interested in.



> You can also check the Coupons Discount Promos section of the forum to see what people have thought to list. And if you typically shop Spirit, consider signing up for their newsletter (as well as other halloween stores you might frequent). Generally they will have a Friends and Family Sale (when on a certain day between a certain time period--like 4 hours-- they will offer their most generous before halloween discount, 30%, to those Friends and Family subscribers). Spirit does it and when Halloween City was in my area I took advantage of it as well. Even CostPlus World Market has a Friends and Family Sale. Pretty sure it was 30% off purchase in all cases, not sure if sale items are included typically or not, but I used it for some large props one year at HC and a bunch of halloween skeleton string lights, props and decor at CostPlus.


That sounds like a pretty good deal as well. But you have to sign up for that one, right? I just hope they don't fill my mailbox up with crap.



> As you probably already know, Spirit and the other stores like Halloween City, have a 50% off sale the day after. Great day to have off from work if you hae any money left over and still need props, etc for your future halloween haunts. _Most_ Spirits shut down two days after halloween and pack stuff up. That's when you start checking other stores that carry halloween msde for their sales.


As of last year, I decided to take a week vacation Halloween week. So I cashed in nicely last year and will do the same this year. As it is, since I really don't have much of a budget this year (because I blew it out of proportion last year). Most of the money this year will be for the after Halloween sales.

I am hoping to come across a 30% off before Halloween though, then I can pick up a couple small things to still use this year. 


Thanx for the heads up.

Geo


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

DON"T USE THE 20% OFF COUPONS!!!!! In the coupons/discount/sales section, a member posted a link to a 25% off coupon. It's also linked in most of the other Spirit store threads except this one.


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## disembodiedvoice (Sep 24, 2011)

Has anyone in the Nashville or Chattanooga area seen any Spirit stores opening? It doesn't show any on the store locator on Spirits site but that just seems strange to me. We had two last year where I am , one in an old circuit city and one was just a large tent set up in the parking lot of a mall. this year we have nothing, not even a sign saying one is coming. I'm depressed and willing to drive a short distance so thought maybe Nashville , Chattanooga might work.


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## osenator (Nov 3, 2009)

Just came back, was an amazing experience, the set ups are amazing, the props were great, lots of variety, great opne store and great service. Sadly, they just open a few days ago, so, lots of stuff was still missing and not properly displayed yet, but still, was impress, walked out spending more than 300$. Will go back more, of course!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Screaming Demons said:


> DON"T USE THE 20% OFF COUPONS!!!!! In the coupons/discount/sales section, a member posted a link to a 25% off coupon. It's also linked in most of the other Spirit store threads except this one.


Could you post the link to that 25% off coupon?



osenator said:


> Just came back, was an amazing experience, the set ups are amazing, the props were great, lots of variety, great opne store and great service. Sadly, they just open a few days ago, so, lots of stuff was still missing and not properly displayed yet, but still, was impress, walked out spending more than 300$. Will go back more, of course!


So it looks like you had a good time going to your Spirit. Ours still didn't have everything set up either, but it was almost there. They had TWO jumping spiders set up, but neither was working yet. They did have a jumping snake, a jumping dog, a jumping rat, and even a jumping bug (all working). So they elaborated on thier 'jumping' roster of items.

But for after Halloween, I want the new laughing clown. I was going to build something like this and low and behold Spirit releases one this year. I would be nice to pick one of these up the day after Halloween. Did they have the big clown face arch? That was the first thing you saw at my Spirit. I figured it would be nice to aquire that display as well. That sure would make a nice grand entrance to the yard. Trouble is with those cardboard displays you can't have wind nor rain.

Wow! $300 already? Guess they had a lot of things you wanted, huh? That was my budget last year and I pretty much doubled that (including the after Halloween sale). So I was a bit disgusted with myself especially since I wasn't able to use any of it last year due to Hurricane Sandy. Furthermore, I really didn't buy anything new for my Christmas display because of that. This year I am just playing it very carefully with less than a $200 budget for Halloween. The good news is that since I didn't use my new items last year, I can use those items this year. But there are a couple of items I did see in Spirit that I would like to get, even before hand. So I am looking for some coupons now already.

Have a good Eeeeeevening.

Geo


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## osenator (Nov 3, 2009)

I know, last year, I spent around 100$ - 150$ in total there, this year, seems much better, somehow. Can't wait to see more. Last year props were midiacor, this year, even many are revamps, please me a lot more, even my wife loved it. This is the best we seen in 4 years as props, set up and theme diplays, in my opinion, of course.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

osenator said:


> I know, last year, I spent around 100$ - 150$ in total there, this year, seems much better, somehow. Can't wait to see more. Last year props were midiacor, this year, even many are revamps, please me a lot more, even my wife loved it. This is the best we seen in 4 years as props, set up and theme diplays, in my opinion, of course.


Yes, I have to agree that the Spirit by me is also better than it was last year. They took the extra measure to make it look more like a store rather than just a bunch of partitions and employee access areas were more concealed. They did a MUCH better job this year of setting things up. Many more items were working as well, BUT that also could be because the store just opened. Last year when I went, it was the weekend before Halloween and quite a few items no longer worked. This did have me question the longevity of thier items. Granted the props in the store are running day in/out 12/7.

In terms of the props they were better too. Did you see the Medusa Head? I thought that thing was awesome. It was creeping out one of my young-uns though. Then they had the good angel / bad devil cherubs that were sitting on a fake fireplace and they were talking to one another. Did you see them?

Two that I didn't see that were there last year were Regan (Exorcist) and The Wicked Witch of The West.

As I said earlier, even the costumes looked better, especially the clown / Jester ones. BUT they were VERY expensive. Best to wait for those to go on sale after Halloween. I might pick up a couple given my theme change. While I was in the store, I couldn't believe how many people commented on how they hate clowns and how they are creeped out by them. Amazing. Almost no one in my family is bothered by clowns. They bother my wife a little bit, but not much. My kids aren't afraid of them at all...even the evil looking ones.

Well, that's it for tonight. Time to hit the hay...got to get up early tomorrow for work. Phewy!

Geo


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## Bella LaGhostly (Aug 10, 2009)

*New Coupon*

Just got this coupon on our pizza order last night:


25% OFF ANY SINGLE ITEM

Enter Promo Code PIZZAHUT13 When Ordering Online At SPIRITHALLOWEEN.COM

Valid Through October 31, 2013


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

You guys may have missed that this is friends and family weekend. 25% off your entire purchase in store or online...

No need to thank me, I know I'm awesome 









Link for a bigger version:

http://www.retailmenot.com/view/spirithalloween.com#print.5049903


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

JLWII2000 said:


> No need to thank me, I know I'm awesome


No, you truly suck for practically _making_ us spend yet more money... Thanks


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## crazy4holidays (Feb 18, 2006)

Finally got a working pumpkin nester. Got some looks on the highway haha


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## osenator (Nov 3, 2009)

I got him too! Might assemble it tonight.


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## crazy4holidays (Feb 18, 2006)

I love it now that i got a working one.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Bella LaGhostly said:


> Just got this coupon on our pizza order last night:
> 
> 
> 25% OFF ANY SINGLE ITEM
> ...





JLWII2000 said:


> You guys may have missed that this is friends and family weekend. 25% off your entire purchase in store or online...
> 
> No need to thank me, I know I'm awesome
> 
> ...



Thank you for the tip off. I actually used the latter one to get the electrical panel scare. However, I forgot that the coupon was good for more than one item and realized this later on after the store closed today. I wanted to pick up a couple of those 'Try Me' buttons as well. 



crazy4holidays said:


> Finally got a working pumpkin nester. Got some looks on the highway haha


LOL! It does look cool sitting there in the car. I guess you assembled it in the store to make sure it was working? By saying 'finally', how many bad ones did you go through?

That reminds me, I should check out that panel asap.

BTW, I noticed that Spirit did a little mean trick. When I went into the store tonight I noticed that the laughing clown that was sitting in a chair which was selling for $99 last weekend is now $150. They did that with some other of the larger items as well. That is not playing fair...putting out a few discount coupons, but then raise the price? NAW, I am going to wait until after Halloween for any of the larger items. I wanted to get the electrical panel now as last year I didn't get it. I noticed this year they only have a few on the floor.


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## crazy4holidays (Feb 18, 2006)

jukingeo said:


> LOL! It does look cool sitting there in the car. I guess you assembled it in the store to make sure it was working? By saying 'finally', how many bad ones did you go through?


That was the second one. My local store didn't have any so I went up to one about 30 mins away from my house. They didn't have any out so I asked if they had any in the back. They said they had one. They got it for me and I went on my way. Got him home and put it together and it just clicked over and over. Checked all the connectors and such, and couldn't figure it out. I called the store and told them what had happened. He asked if anything was on the box. I looked and noticed a sharpied B on the lid. As soon as I said it over the phone, it came to me. haha B is for Broken. The one that i was sold was to be returned on the next truck, and was mistakenly sold to me. He called every store within 100 miles of me and not one had any nesters in stock. He said the display was just put out on Monday and I could have that one, and I would be given a discount for the trouble and it being a display. I told him I had used a coupon on it and it was already discounted. I was told it would be discounted again, so I was content. Went back today and they had already pulled the display down but the guy I talked to wasn't there and didn't say anything about a second discount. I argued with the woman who was the district manager about this and she didn't seem to budge on it. I figured screw it and took him home. Might call back and see if I can get the guy I talked to on the phone.




jukingeo said:


> BTW, I noticed that Spirit did a little mean trick. When I went into the store tonight I noticed that the laughing clown that was sitting in a chair which was selling for $99 last weekend is now $150. They did that with some other of the larger items as well. That is not playing fair...putting out a few discount coupons, but then raise the price? NAW, I am going to wait until after Halloween for any of the larger items. I wanted to get the electrical panel now as last year I didn't get it. I noticed this year they only have a few on the floor.


This clown?







He's always been $150.


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## kallie (Dec 4, 2007)

I've never shopped at Spirit online or in a store (we don't have the stores where I live) but I have bought things from Party City that are significantly cheaper than they are on Spirit's site. I also get tons of awesome things on ebay 

If Spirit ever sold something that I absolutely had to have I would certainly bite the bullet and purchase, but for now I just shop elsewhere


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## WitchyKitty (Sep 20, 2012)

Picked up some pieces for my costume this year at Spirit...used my F&F coupon, but why can"t they ever seem to figure out how to use their own coupons?! Every single time I go to any Spirit with a coupon, they have no idea about it or how to use it! The lady at the counter last night didn't even know a F&F event was going on. She tried to tell me it couldn't be used yet! She gave up trying to use it after trying and trying and just marked my item down by hand, lol. Ug. This happened a couple weeks ago too, for me, at a different store with the 25% off coupon!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

I am a bit bummed! My post didn't show up that I made here earlier. Ok, here goes again!




crazy4holidays said:


> That was the second one. My local store didn't have any so I went up to one about 30 mins away from my house. They didn't have any out so I asked if they had any in the back. They said they had one. They got it for me and I went on my way. Got him home and put it together and it just clicked over and over. Checked all the connectors and such, and couldn't figure it out. I called the store and told them what had happened. He asked if anything was on the box. I looked and noticed a sharpied B on the lid. As soon as I said it over the phone, it came to me. haha B is for Broken. The one that i was sold was to be returned on the next truck, and was mistakenly sold to me. He called every store within 100 miles of me and not one had any nesters in stock. He said the display was just put out on Monday and I could have that one, and I would be given a discount for the trouble and it being a display. I told him I had used a coupon on it and it was already discounted. I was told it would be discounted again, so I was content. Went back today and they had already pulled the display down but the guy I talked to wasn't there and didn't say anything about a second discount. I argued with the woman who was the district manager about this and she didn't seem to budge on it. I figured screw it and took him home. Might call back and see if I can get the guy I talked to on the phone.


Wow! Now I know what you mean by FINALLY. After reading that story I said the same thing. However, if a store employee makes a mistake, the store should make good on it. A double discount is possible at Spirit. Last year I got the last jumping spider and it had a bad battery compartment door. In addition to the 50% off they gave me an additional percentage off to bring the price down to $35. Furthermore, I got the sandbags attached to the support legs to boot. So I can't complain. I WOULD persue it further and track down that employee that gave you the deal. Once you have a name the company SHOULD make good on it. I don't see why not...especially given your scenario that you were given the run-around just to get a working item.




> This clown?
> View attachment 170920
> 
> He's always been $150.


Yes, that clown. I took a great liking to this animatronic as I am slowly going to change my Halloween theme to an evil carnival. One of the centerpieces I wanted was a Laffing Sal (which was traditionally used at amusement parks and often placed in front of the fun/haunted house). But instead of Sal, I was going to have a laughing clown. Low and behold Spirit comes out with that laughing clown and I love the movement on it. When I went to the store last week it HAD a price on it for $99. I told my wife what I saw yesterday when I picked up the electrical panel and that they upped the price to $150. She was shocked and figured as I was did that it was a play on the coupons. She she too remembers it was $99. So if it WAS supposed to be $150, then I don't know what this store was doing. Could it have been a special store only deal? (I think last week was the first week they were opened). Or could it just have been an incorrect price? I don't know, but I know there were no special mark down signs or anything. Just the name of the item and the price and it WAS $99. There were a few more of the big items that noticed that had a price 'increase'. When I picked up the electrical panel, it was set up to trigger the electric chair guy and THAT guy was also $99. Now it is $150. I did check on the website and it too is $150.

Had I had a 25% coupon that first week and I knew the price was supposed to be $150, I would have picked him up. Then I would have had a new laughing clown for $75 as opposed to possibly getting a demo for that price when the store has it's 50% off sale November 1.



kallie said:


> I've never shopped at Spirit online or in a store (we don't have the stores where I live) but I have bought things from Party City that are significantly cheaper than they are on Spirit's site. I also get tons of awesome things on ebay


Yes, we actually have a Party City right across the street from Spirit. The prices are WAY better. Entire costumes (jumpsuit, mask) usually start around $20 to $30 for something decent. The better costumes are around $50. However at Spirit most of the costumes START at $50. I don't the MIGHT be better quality than what they sell at Party City, but what most people go by is the bottom line. Most people never use the same costume for more than one season, so as long as the costume holds up for that season, most people are good. My twin boys do like to 'pretend play' alot as they are six years old, so they DO wear the costumes several times through the year. Just usually running around the house. The Party City stuff does hold up pretty well as they have worn the costumes more than a dozen times through the year.



> If Spirit ever sold something that I absolutely had to have I would certainly bite the bullet and purchase, but for now I just shop elsewhere


Last night I had a good chat with the sales girl becaus the store was absolutely dead. Just one other person was in the store besides me and the store is in a busy shopping center. Anyway I chated with the girl about Spirit's prices and she felt the same way I did. She knows everything is over priced and generally people only buy the stuff you cannot get elsewhere. Mostly it is the large animatronic props. Party City and other Halloween stores usually only have one or two large props and they rarely have a good stock on them (they order 1 or 2 for the season as that is what they figure they are going to sell). Whereas Spirit has MANY large animated props. The girl also witnessed many people come and look at stuff in the store and mention they are not going to buy there, but go across the street to Party City instead.




WitchyKitty said:


> Picked up some pieces for my costume this year at Spirit...used my F&F coupon, but why can"t they ever seem to figure out how to use their own coupons?! Every single time I go to any Spirit with a coupon, they have no idea about it or how to use it! The lady at the counter last night didn't even know a F&F event was going on. She tried to tell me it couldn't be used yet! She gave up trying to use it after trying and trying and just marked my item down by hand, lol. Ug. This happened a couple weeks ago too, for me, at a different store with the 25% off coupon!


Hmmmm, that is interesting. I never had any kind of problem like that, but then again, this is only the second time I been to a Spirit store. I had the F&F coupon last night when I bought the electrical panel scare item and all the girl had to do was scan it in....instant discount. The bummer was that I thought the coupon was good for only ONE purchase and later on I found out that it was good for multiple purchases getting 25% off the whole order. I wanted to pick up a couple of the "Try Me" buttons. So I lost out there as it would have been a couple bucks off each button. The thing is I wanted to use the button as a remote trigger for the jumping spider I got last year. But I found out something else. Not all the Spirit props take the same trigger input switch. Some use the foot pad and some use the button. There are a handful that can take both. As it turns out, the spider can't use the button as it uses the foot pad. I know I probably could play with the wiring and get it to work, but then I would be better off just grabbing a lighted arcade button from work (I fix video games for a living) and I can make it light up and and all that...probably costing me less than the "Try Me" button anyway.

Geo


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## crazy4holidays (Feb 18, 2006)

jukingeo said:


> Wow! Now I know what you mean by FINALLY. After reading that story I said the same thing. However, if a store employee makes a mistake, the store should make good on it. A double discount is possible at Spirit. Last year I got the last jumping spider and it had a bad battery compartment door. In addition to the 50% off they gave me an additional percentage off to bring the price down to $35. Furthermore, I got the sandbags attached to the support legs to boot. So I can't complain. I WOULD persue it further and track down that employee that gave you the deal. Once you have a name the company SHOULD make good on it. I don't see why not...especially given your scenario that you were given the run-around just to get a working item.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I havent had the chance to call back but i think i will. Or next time I'm up there I'll see if he is in the store.

My Girlfriend just got the electrical panel and Death Row this past weekend. The guy was $99 and the box was $49. I found the guy on the website and its still 99.99 and the box 49.99. I dont know. Maybe its a zip code thing


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

I know for a fact the death row prisoner is 99.99 and the box is 49.99. Stores shouldn't be playing games.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

jukingeo

The blacklight clown mirror is right behind the laughing clown in the cardboard wagon, and it's $99. I would bet that is the price tag you saw. I've done the same thing as I wandered around the store, mixing up prices.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I'd be really surprised if someone at the store was switching prices. Those are top dollar and new for 2013 props too. The only time I have seen prices in my stores change, and I've been shopping at Spirit stores for maybe 5-6 years, is at some locations they would offer discounts on some older props as an incentive to shop early (guessing these were franchise owners with their own paid for inventory so able to do this), and then of course the big day after sale. Other than that coupons are the only way to lower the price and if you are a HF member who checks in here frequently come August/September you'll stay current with what coupons are out there.

BTW used my Friends and Family 25% off discount to go back to Spirit today and picked up 4 of the 6V 2A adapters (9.99) and a Creepy Carnival Door Topper (8.99). Posted about what I have planned for the door topper under the 2013 Carnevil thread under Parties Section. Now I will have AC power for my two Joe Does, black jumping spider, and this year's jumping bug. I've been meaning to order adapters for a few years, either thru Tekky's source or from Spirit but never got around to it. When I saw them in the my store (near the foggers and spot lights), I figured I'd better not wait until the very last minute. I thought these were only available at Spirit thru their website but apparently not.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

crazy4holidays said:


> I havent had the chance to call back but i think i will. Or next time I'm up there I'll see if he is in the store.
> 
> My Girlfriend just got the electrical panel and Death Row this past weekend. The guy was $99 and the box was $49. I found the guy on the website and its still 99.99 and the box 49.99. I dont know. Maybe its a zip code thing





JLWII2000 said:


> I know for a fact the death row prisoner is 99.99 and the box is 49.99. Stores shouldn't be playing games.


Ahhhh, hah! I knew it, I know I wasn't seeing things. Yes, the box stayed at $49, but the Deathrow electric chair guy's price DID change from $99 to $150. If you go on Spirit's site now, it is $150. Strangely the website has him still for $99.

Yeah, I know it seems like when the store first opened, they seemed to have better prices on the larger items. Now all of a sudden the prices are bumped up. I did warn the girl behind the counter when I was there Saturday night that Party City across the street is trumping their prices. She agrees that most people only come into her store mainly because of the larger animatronics that you CAN'T GET at other Halloween stores. Yet, the store is playing around with the prices on those items.




Screaming Demons said:


> jukingeo
> 
> The blacklight clown mirror is right behind the laughing clown in the cardboard wagon, and it's $99. I would bet that is the price tag you saw. I've done the same thing as I wandered around the store, mixing up prices.


Nope that mirror wasn't even set up in the display. There were only TWO items that were in that clown display, one was the Thrashing (laughing) Clown and the other was the one that was hanging upside down and that one was MORE expensive at $169.99 (the price didn't change on that one). The $99 price was RIGHT NEXT to the TNT trigger. I do remember it saying NEW! Thrashing Clown $99.99. It COULD have been a mistake, but then how do you explain the upping of the price on the Deathrow guy AND the website still has that set at $99.



Ghost of Spookie said:


> I'd be really surprised if someone at the store was switching prices. Those are top dollar and new for 2013 props too. The only time I have seen prices in my stores change, and I've been shopping at Spirit stores for maybe 5-6 years, is at some locations they would offer discounts on some older props as an incentive to shop early (guessing these were franchise owners with their own paid for inventory so able to do this), and then of course the big day after sale. Other than that coupons are the only way to lower the price and if you are a HF member who checks in here frequently come August/September you'll stay current with what coupons are out there.


I don't know if it was something intentional or if someone in that store truly doesn't know what the prices should be at. Perhaps the $99 was a mistake on the Thrashing Clown, but the person who put the price at the supposedly 'correct' price of $150, might have thought that since the Deathrow guy has pretty much the SAME movement, that it should be $150 too. Makes me want to go back there and tell them that they should check their website prices to stay consistent.



> BTW used my Friends and Family 25% off discount to go back to Spirit today and picked up 4 of the 6V 2A adapters (9.99) and a Creepy Carnival Door Topper (8.99). Posted about what I have planned for the door topper under the 2013 Carnevil thread under Parties Section. Now I will have AC power for my two Joe Does, black jumping spider, and this year's jumping bug. I've been meaning to order adapters for a few years, either thru Tekky's source or from Spirit but never got around to it. When I saw them in the my store (near the foggers and spot lights), I figured I'd better not wait until the very last minute. I thought these were only available at Spirit thru their website but apparently not.


Since this is my first year with the Jumping Spider and I am only using it for the one big night, I am thinking of just sticking with batteries. A set of batteries should last the 5 hours I am running my display. I am also putting the spider in a corner situated in such a way that it is away from the main path up to the Magic Mirror. I will have a sign there directing people to see the spider if they want to be scared. So someone goes around the corner and the spider does it's job.

Have a good Eeeeeevening 

Geo


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

I actually got a paper catalog from Spirit yesterday!! I don't recall ever seeing one last year. There's nothing new or unique in it, pretty much everything that's in stores or on the website is in it but I was sorta shocked they'd send out paper catalogs.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

RCIAG said:


> I actually got a paper catalog from Spirit yesterday!! I don't recall ever seeing one last year. There's nothing new or unique in it, pretty much everything that's in stores or on the website is in it but I was sorta shocked they'd send out paper catalogs.


A PAPER Spirit catalog? I don't think I ever seen one of those before. I never got one of them, but then again, I don't think Spirit has my mailing info. However, I do get a paper Fright Props catalog around this time of the year.

Geo


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

jukingeo said:


> A PAPER Spirit catalog? I don't think I ever seen one of those before. I never got one of them, but then again, I don't think Spirit has my mailing info.


I have received one this year and one last. Here is the link to request the catalog: http://www.spirithalloween.com/catalog/


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Today I went back to Spirit,

I didn't have much to spend. I wanted to get a Try Me button for my jumping spider, but I saw the plug was different. Even the blister pack card didn't say the spider was one of the compatible pieces. I probably could mod the button though. But I thought it over and at $7.99, I think this is one of those things I am better off waiting for the day after Halloween sale.

I didn't end up buying anything this time out. I was hoping they would put more items out, but there was nothing new from my last visit. I saw one of the sales people boxing up the floor model Nester. I said, "Hot item, huh?". The sales person shook his head in agreement. Suprisingly the thrashing/laughing clown they still had enough of. All of the electrical panels were gone though. I guess that is a hot item too.

I didn't stay too long as I went there just on a whim after I took my kids to Chuck E. Cheese.




Garthgoyle said:


> I have received one this year and one last. Here is the link to request the catalog: http://www.spirithalloween.com/catalog/


Thanx for the info. As of now I have the website and god knows how much stuff I have coming in the mail already. But it is good to know.

Geo


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

Yep, got my catalog in the mail this week, second year in a row. 3/4 costumes, 1/4 good stuff in the back of the catalog. But I still like getting it. I popped into spirit the other day and grabbed the faux wood boards to board up windows. Really nice product. Bought two bags. 7 bucks per kit, four planks per kit. Black light sensitive too. Good stuff- grab some boards if you're in there! LOL!


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

RCIAG said:


> I actually got a paper catalog from Spirit yesterday!! I don't recall ever seeing one last year. There's nothing new or unique in it, pretty much everything that's in stores or on the website is in it but I was sorta shocked they'd send out paper catalogs.



Me too, last week. First time receiving one (been buying from them for years now) and don't recall requesting one. I loved getting it even though I was in three of their locations before it arrived. Always nice to have a reminder of what was in the store.


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

I read it and then leave it in the employee lounge at work. The smart one who finds it first gets the coupon on the back.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Is it wrong that I print out a handful of extra coupons and pass them out anytime I go to the store?


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Shockwave199 said:


> Yep, got my catalog in the mail this week, second year in a row. 3/4 costumes, 1/4 good stuff in the back of the catalog. But I still like getting it.


Hello Shockwave, nice to hear from you again. 

Hmmm, yeah, I guess it is nice to have a copy of the catelog for browsing in bed or the times where I am not near a computer (ie bathroom). But for the most part around this time of year I am on line - always and I usually check back here, look on the Spirit site AND since I have Spirit even closer than last year, I can easily just bounce in the store like I did yesterday.




> I popped into spirit the other day and grabbed the faux wood boards to board up windows. Really nice product. Bought two bags. 7 bucks per kit, four planks per kit. Black light sensitive too. Good stuff- grab some boards if you're in there! LOL!


Yeah, they look pretty good on-line:

http://www.spirithalloween.com/product/aa-battered-boards/?w=board&UTM_campaign=Search:SC:board

It says that they are made from polypropylene...obviously plastic. The trouble is that the specs say the planks are only 27.5 inches long. That isn't long enough to cover most windows or doors which usually hover around the 30" to 40" widths. On the particular side of the house where I have my display, there is only one window and it is bigger than that. The vestibule/doorway is where I have my Magic Mirror.

One thing that comes to mind though is the boards are a nice length and height for a MIB. Given that plastic is lighter than wood, it could certainly shave quite a bit of weight off the project. Are the boards solid and can be cut, or are they hollowed out in the back?

The only other thing is cost. A creature crate built from pallets would cost practically nothing for the wood. You would have to buy at least 4 or 5 of those board kits and that would set you back $28 - $35. Still not terribly expensive. But I would say that you would still need a wood frame on the inside to support the various electrical/mechanical components.




Ghost of Spookie said:


> Me too, last week. First time receiving one (been buying from them for years now) and don't recall requesting one. I loved getting it even though I was in three of their locations before it arrived. Always nice to have a reminder of what was in the store.


Perhaps one time you might have given them your address on checkout while in the store? If so, then they have you on file. I didn't do that when I went last year to Spirit, but then I only went there twice and didn't buy anything until the day after Halloween.

But this year I bought something and the store was dead (not busy). There was plenty of time for the sales person to add me to the list, but she didn't ask.



Screaming Demons said:


> Is it wrong that I print out a handful of extra coupons and pass them out anytime I go to the store?


Depends on what you mean by that. If you are literally standing by the front door and handing coupons out to strangers as they walk in, then I would say that is a big NO NO. But if you print a bunch out and hand them out to your work buddies or your friends in general then OK. Or if you are in the store and end up chatting with someone and want to help them out and slip them a coupon, then that would be OK too. Also if you are hosting a Halloween event somewhere and want to give out the coupons to those attending, then I don't see harm in that either. But I wouldn't go in the store and start shouting, "Get your 25% off coupon to shop here, right now!". 

Geo


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Pays to check out Spirit's Facebook page as well before heading out there. 

As someone mentioned there's a 30% off coupon on that site good from yesterday thru today, Sun. 9/22, and I believe you can just show it on your smart phone when there, to use. It's across from the blue Frankenstein face graphic posting.

https://www.facebook.com/spirithalloween


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Shockwave, I took a look at those boards online after your posting and will look for them in the store next time I'm in and will check out the size of my windows before going. I do have some narrower windows they could work on and a glass side door or my French Doors. Definitely work on the glass part of that. Plus I am planning on some facade work in the next few years for my haunts if I can expand to whole yard. One year is a zombie overrun town and don't plan on making large, wide windows for that I'm sure. At $7 plus discount coupons, that could save me some time. Looks decent and I do like the GID aspect of them already so if I use in a garage haunt setup I could take advantage of that then. Thanks for mentioning them otherwise might have passed them over.


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## Evil Elf (Jun 16, 2013)

Those boards sound better than I thought they were. I saw them on the site months ago and pictured them as cartoony-looking thin pieces of cardboard, cut out as one piece like they show them online. I saw them in the store and didn't even look twice at them. Maybe I should check them out next time.


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

Haven't tried them under black light yet but that would probably give them extra depth. I'm not one for absolute realism. If it looks good and gives a nice impression of boarded up windows, that a win for me. A lot of fake looking stuff looks perfectly fine in the right lighting of a display. These boards will make quick work of something I always wanted to do but never cared to take the time for. I may actually take the time for a full facade of scene setter this year on the front house as well too.


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## ranman1973 (Nov 4, 2010)

I was able to score a whole asylum setup and the clown mouth. I'm so pumped now...


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

ranman1973 said:


> I was able to score a whole asylum setup and the clown mouth. I'm so pumped now...


Wow that's early, my spirit wont allow that until October 18th. What did it cost you?


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## ranman1973 (Nov 4, 2010)

JLWII2000 said:


> Wow that's early, my spirit wont allow that until October 18th. What did it cost you?


The store has low ceilings so they weren't able to put most of it up this year.... $100


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

ranman1973 said:


> The store has low ceilings so they weren't able to put most of it up this year.... $100


scooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore....you should post pics!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

ranman1973 said:


> The store has low ceilings so they weren't able to put most of it up this year.... $100


Wow! Talk about a good score. I also am after the clown head myself for the day after Halloween sale. So you got both setups for $100?

The only caveat to that display, though, is that it is cardboard. So it would be something I could only put out on a still, calm, and clear day. Halloweens have proved to be notoriious for bad weather in my area.

For example:

1) 2009 (my first year doing a display) - high winds.
2) 2010 - once again, high winds.
3) 2011 - light snow early in the day, but the night was very calm...my best Halloween to date
4) 2012 - Hurricane (yes, you read right, we had a hurricane (Sandy) the day before).
5) 2013 - ??????

Geo


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## 22606 (Aug 11, 2008)

jukingeo said:


> But I wouldn't go in the store and start shouting, "Get your 25% off coupon to shop here, right now!".


If it brings them more business and someone buys something that they would not have originally, then it is all good


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Garthgoyle said:


> If it brings them more business and someone buys something that they would not have originally, then it is all good


Hmmmm, yeah, I guess you have a good point there. It DOES seem to work with us here that we don't want to pay the regular store prices, but with a coupon many of us are off and running. But it also does reason that if it is OK for someone to hand out 25% off coupons to everyone, why not just mark the items 25% off to begin with and not deal with the coupons at all. Wait! I know the next answer would be, well the coupon indicates an offer that is posted for a limited time. But then so would a limited time in store markdown.

I guess there are many points of view to it. 

Geo


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## ranman1973 (Nov 4, 2010)

jukingeo said:


> Wow! Talk about a good score. I also am after the clown head myself for the day after Halloween sale. So you got both setups for $100?
> 
> The only caveat to that display, though, is that it is cardboard. So it would be something I could only put out on a still, calm, and clear day. Halloweens have proved to be notoriious for bad weather in my area.
> 
> ...


!00 for the asylum and 50 for the clown head. We are lucky down here with regards of the weather I wait till that morning to put any cardboard up or just cover it up with tarp.


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

> 3) 2011 - light snow early in the day, but the night was very calm...my best Halloween to date


Since I'm on the same island you are, I concur- 2011, while not perfect all day featured a stellar night. I SO hope this year will be a good weather day. If I could have the 30th and the 31st be great weather, I just might die and go to halloween heaven.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

ranman1973 said:


> !00 for the asylum and 50 for the clown head. We are lucky down here with regards of the weather I wait till that morning to put any cardboard up or just cover it up with tarp.


Oh! I thought you got both for $100. Still $50 for the clown head is good. I am going to try to get the clown head in my Spirit, but I am not going to be upset if I don't get it. As you said, that is something that I would probably wait right until Halloween before setting up. So far, outside of the hurricane, we were good in the rain department. But wind would be a no no and for two years in a row we had bad windy days.




Shockwave199 said:


> Since I'm on the same island you are, I concur- 2011, while not perfect all day featured a stellar night. I SO hope this year will be a good weather day. If I could have the 30th and the 31st be great weather, I just might die and go to halloween heaven.


Yeah. You been through the same crap I been through. But yeah, 2011 was practically a perfect evening. I probably will be on the same trip to heaven with you if we DO finally get a good Halloween. Furthermore, I hope to get an enjoyable vacation. Last year was the first time I took my vacation the week of Halloween and due to the hurricane, the vacation was mostly ruined. Luckily I retained power at my house despite the fact I lost power to house I have my display set up at.

This year I am taking a vacation again that week. So with Halloween on a Thursday this year, I have an extra day for setup.

I am pretty much going to do what planned for last year, but I am substituting the scare box I have with the jumping spider and I expanded on what I was going to do with the singing pumpkins.

This year I did buy the High Voltage panel from Spirit. I was mostly thinking about using it for next year...BUT now i am thinking about squeezing it in for this year. How, though, still remains to be seen. 

As of now I am starting to work on my signs. In past years I ALWAYS left this for last and I never had enough signs out or they weren't lit properly. So this year I want to fix that.

Shockwave, let me know when you get everything setup, I might want to swing by your place and check it out.

Have a good Eeeeeeevening.

Geo


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

I don't get everything setup till the day of. I also took a week vaca last year and it turned out that the storm became the only priority the entire time. The only thing I did right was not set up anything outdoors on the hunch that the storm would actually hit, and that hunch was...well we know. What I'm doing differently this year if the weather holds is to pull an all nighter out there on the 30th, and then grab a few hours sleep in the morning. That should allow me to actually get to putting all the finishing detail up that I never seem to get to. I am without question at the max size capacity one person can do with such little time to get it done. All....because...of...the...weather.


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

Spirit got politically partisan last year so I stopped buying there. Check out Amazon or ebay.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

texmaster said:


> Spirit got politically partisan last year so I stopped buying there. Check out Amazon or ebay.


Wha, what? Come again? Spirit got portable participle with you?



Shockwave199 said:


> I don't get everything setup till the day of. I also took a week vaca last year and it turned out that the storm became the only priority the entire time.


OH! You took a vacation that week too! Yep, no question about it, we WERE in that boat together last year. And again, I am also the same way, not everything goes out until the day of.

The Magic Mirror is usually the first thing completed since that is in an enclosed vestibule. But the very first thing I do is lay out the extention cords and put the lights in the bushes. That was as far as I got last year.

The next thing that I would start to set up is the 'stage' area for the singing pumpkins. That I do a few days before. 

Then the fences will go out a few days before. Finally the props get set up the day of.



> The only thing I did right was not set up anything outdoors on the hunch that the storm would actually hit, and that hunch was...well we know.


Right right. Like I said above, I had my Magic Mirror nearly fully in place. I just had to set up the computer and sound system. I had my extension cords run and most of the outside lights in place. The last thing I had to set up was the lighting for the signs and my new post lamp. As I indicated above, I was at the point were I was ready to set up the stage area for the singing pumpkins and that is when I got the news about the hurricane. So I held off on that a bit and just continued to work on other projects until I knew one way or another. Being on the safe side, that weekend before the storm, I made the correct decision and pulled in everything I had out already. At that point I knew 2012 wouldn't be the year I intended it to be, but I was hoping to still do my Magic Mirror and perhaps set up a rudimentary stage for the pumpkins. BUT the loss of power dictated a whole new chain of events for Halloween, AND we know THAT story too.



> What I'm doing differently this year if the weather holds is to pull an all nighter out there on the 30th, and then grab a few hours sleep in the morning. That should allow me to actually get to putting all the finishing detail up that I never seem to get to. I am without question at the max size capacity one person can do with such little time to get it done. All....because...of...the...weather.


I hear you there. The trouble with going all out the night before is that you are STILL going to be very tired the next day. But by all means if it works for you...all the power to you. I know I would be dead. I am not in my 20's or 30's anymore and a heavy workload tires me out quickly. So I have to set things up little by little. I have to just weigh out what I CAN put out that will stand up to moderate wind and rain ahead of time. For the most part that is just the wiring, lighting and support structures of my display. The only thing that I can set up nearly in full before hand IS the Magic Mirror and that is because of the vestibule. I MIGHT set up the pumpkins the night before because that is starting to become a beast of a display. (In fact I set up the singing pumpkins every other year for that reason). The pumpkins are foam plastic so they can stand up to some rain and the night before they will be covered with a tarp. That tarp I will have behind the display so in the event it does rain heavy on Halloween, I can shut the pumpkins down and cover them back up.

All the other outside items I have are small and some are battery operated too. The jumping spider, for instance, will be tied down, but I can pull it up quickly in the event of rain. One thing I do have in my favor is that I have a large awning over a patio in the back yard and I can pull most of my items up very quickly and put them under the awning. I know that you are probably thinking that I should put most of my items for the display under the awning to begin with. BUT the big issue is I would have to cover up the living room sliding door AND window. Both are pretty big and I don't think my parents would like all the living room glass blocked for the day. But even a greater issue is that the walkway to the backyard isn't in the greatest condition and I don't want people tripping going into the back yard. BUT (another but). I know I will have to do something. Next year Halloween falls on a Friday (best night for Halloween) and I intend that to be my largest display yet. To avoid insanity for setup, I am going to have to use the awning and the backyard...so I am going to have to fix the walkway. I want to use the awning next year because I certainly do not want to be rained out. I been WAITING for a Friday Halloween for a VERY long time.

So why is Friday so special? Easy...kids are in school and will come out late for Halloween. They will also STAY out late because the next day is no school. So that is when I am going to pull out all the stops. It will also be the debut of my Evil Carnival theme.

Well, we sure drifted off topic here. LOL!

Anyway, Shock, do you happen to have the HIgh Voltage panel from Spirit? I am trouble thinking of a good way to display it as my 2nd scare. I would like to put it in a spot were people don't touch it, but yet are still close enough to get scared from the sound.

BTW, did you ever see pictures of my yard? I do have video of my events up on You Tube. Just do a search for user jukingeo.

Geo


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

Heh- I'm 50, so I'm no youngster either. But I work overnight at work, so I'm used to it. What will be tough is the short sleep in the morning. But I'm absolutely exhausted regardless of how I approach it, so I'd rather be exhausted but more stress free for show time. That's sweet exhaustion! LOL! I'm at my absolute lowest point during cleanup later on halloween night. All animated props must come in, and I break down a huge amount that night. By the afternoon of the 11/1, the haunt is magically gone as though it was never there- part of the magic of halloween. I know tons of people pass the next day wondering where the heck that awesome haunted house went! 

Anyway yeah, way OT. Maybe PM me so we can let this thread carry on.

To redirect, I'm counting the days when I can storm into spirit and grab early 30% sales, and then 50% off! If they have a wheel chair psycho left, it may be mine.


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

jukingeo said:


> Wha, what? Come again? Spirit got portable participle with you?


Not with me personally. They decided to make "spooky" masks of only one side running for president during the election. It drove me to make this:










Halloween needs to stay politically unbiased and during the height of the election they clearly took a side. The side they took is irrelevant. They took something fun and non biased and tarnished it. When they were confronted on facebook they actually tried to deny it. It was pitiful so I choose not to shop there ever again.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Shockwave199 said:


> Heh- I'm 50, so I'm no youngster either. But I work overnight at work, so I'm used to it. What will be tough is the short sleep in the morning. But I'm absolutely exhausted regardless of how I approach it, so I'd rather be exhausted but more stress free for show time. That's sweet exhaustion! LOL!


Oh, I guess we are also in the same boat regarding age. My job has me constantly on my feet and it can get pretty intense at times. In a nutshell, it would have been a fine job for when I was in my 20's and 30's. But as the saying goes I am getting too old for that s**t. I AM ready for a desk/bench job now. Needless to say, a day at my job zaps just about all my energy out for the day. So I usually am not up to large tasks on the weekend anymore. That is another reason why I decided to take the week of Halloween off, so I can work at a leisurely pace setting things up. But yet, the day before and Halloween day is still exhausting. AND on top of it, I usually tear everything down the same night too. So even though I close shop at around 9:00pm, sometimes I don't finish packing up until midnight.



> I'm at my absolute lowest point during cleanup later on halloween night. All animated props must come in, and I break down a huge amount that night. By the afternoon of the 11/1, the haunt is magically gone as though it was never there- part of the magic of halloween. I know tons of people pass the next day wondering where the heck that awesome haunted house went!


LOL...you and I are SOOOO strangely similar. But usually I have the Magic Mirror setup in the vestibule for a day or two later, but all the outside stuff comes down. One of my reasons for the fast packup is that I right away have to start to gear up for my Christmas display. which is in a different location, where I live.



> Anyway yeah, way OT. Maybe PM me so we can let this thread carry on.


Yeah, sounds good. Don't want to clutter this thread up. I have a tendency to do that sometimes.



> To redirect, I'm counting the days when I can storm into spirit and grab early 30% sales, and then 50% off! If they have a wheel chair psycho left, it may be mine.


For me...it's the laughing / thrashing clown. Gotta have that one.



texmaster said:


> Not with me personally. They decided to make "spooky" masks of only one side running for president during the election. It drove me to make this:
> 
> Halloween needs to stay politically unbiased and during the height of the election they clearly took a side. The side they took is irrelevant. They took something fun and non biased and tarnished it. When they were confronted on facebook they actually tried to deny it. It was pitiful so I choose not to shop there ever again.


Oh Ok, I know what you mean now. 

Geo


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

texmaster said:


> Not with me personally. They decided to make "spooky" masks of only one side running for president during the election. It drove me to make this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I know Spirit had masks for both sides out last year. I remembered seeing them when I stumbled upon them again this year. Obama was obvious but it took me a minute to remember who Mitt was.


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## dbruner (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm looking forward to going to spirit on November 1st, hoping to get good deals.


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## The Director (Sep 21, 2012)

Hehe..New York Costumes in NYC makes Spirit look like child's play..$35-40 for a hanging head  Not for nothing, they have the most unique costumes/accessories/props anywhere!


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

Screaming Demons said:


> I know Spirit had masks for both sides out last year. I remembered seeing them when I stumbled upon them again this year. Obama was obvious but it took me a minute to remember who Mitt was.


They posted their "spooky" masks of one candidate during their convention but when the other side's convention was going on not a peep or masks. There was a massive thread about it on their facebook page.

Its not worth reliving just my opinion.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello All, 

I got a tip off from someone that works at the local amusement park about a good place to shop for Halloween props. It is a place called HauntedProps.com. I will not go into details here about it as I made another thread for it to be disussed about over there. Here is the link to that thread:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/gener...pinions-dealings-experiences.html#post1535439


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## Jottle (Aug 17, 2006)

I always find it really sad how the animated props that Spirit sells are all basically completely broken by this time of year. Now granted they're being set off 100's of times a day, everyday, for about a month at this point. But the fact that they all do break really speaks to the quality of the crappy plastic props that Tekky and the like put out. Now this isn't really a knock against Spirit as they're just selling products made by other vendors, but it makes me sad that none of these props really hold up for multiple uses. I have two brand new Tekky props that died on me or malfunctioned continuously last year on Halloween night. I probably used each one maybe 50 times (jumping spider and demonica). I'm assuming they'll be just as problematic if not broken this year as well. Given that, I can't imagine paying full price or even 30% off these animatronics that are guaranteed to break quickly due to their plastic construction and "hot glue" wire solders.


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

Jottle said:


> I always find it really sad how the animated props that Spirit sells are all basically completely broken by this time of year. Now granted they're being set off 100's of times a day, everyday, for about a month at this point. But the fact that they all do break really speaks to the quality of the crappy plastic props that Tekky and the like put out. Now this isn't really a knock against Spirit as they're just selling products made by other vendors, but it makes me sad that none of these props really hold up for multiple uses. I have two brand new Tekky props that died on me or malfunctioned continuously last year on Halloween night. I probably used each one maybe 50 times (jumping spider and demonica). I'm assuming they'll be just as problematic if not broken this year as well. Given that, I can't imagine paying full price or even 30% off these animatronics that are guaranteed to break quickly due to their plastic construction and "hot glue" wire solders.


This is why I do a few things to prevent dissapointment:

1. I pay close attention to the props in the store, if they are breaking I probably won't buy them. This year I've noticed The fortune teller that's 229 bucks has failed in 3 stores I've been in. I also see problems with Pumpkin Nester (Sadly).

2. I don't put out the pricey props or use them other than a pre halloween test. They are only put out the day of Halloween.

3. I try to get the pricey props at 50% off day after Halloween sales. Because I get less mad if I spent $100 then $200 on it.

But all in all, you are absolutely right. It sucks complete ___ <- (fill in the blank with your choice of profanity of body part)
that you pay that much and it breaks!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Jottle said:


> I always find it really sad how the animated props that Spirit sells are all basically completely broken by this time of year. Now granted they're being set off 100's of times a day, everyday, for about a month at this point. But the fact that they all do break really speaks to the quality of the crappy plastic props that Tekky and the like put out. Now this isn't really a knock against Spirit as they're just selling products made by other vendors, but it makes me sad that none of these props really hold up for multiple uses. I have two brand new Tekky props that died on me or malfunctioned continuously last year on Halloween night. I probably used each one maybe 50 times (jumping spider and demonica). I'm assuming they'll be just as problematic if not broken this year as well. Given that, I can't imagine paying full price or even 30% off these animatronics that are guaranteed to break quickly due to their plastic construction and "hot glue" wire solders.


This was a premise of discussion earlier on. On one of the fence you have Frightprops (and others as such) which build items to quality, but you do pay through the nose for it. On the other side of the fence you have your Halloween Cities, Halloween Expresses, and Spirit stores which sell similar items, but a whole lot cheaper and are built accordingly. The latters stores build to a price point and you probably figure that the props are going to probably last about 3 or 4 seasons provided you only use them on Halloween for a few hours at a time. Whereas if you are planning a whole month long haunt, I am afraid that you would have no other choice but to go the other route and shell out the booku bucks for something more on a commercial level, such as what Frightprops has otherwise, the item just will not be up to task.

Finally there is the DIY route to go where you are somewhat in between on the costs, but you have to have some knowledge in the mechanical, electrical, and costume making areas.

While I have bought store bought items before for Halloween, they are mostly lighting and static props. Last year was the first time I bought an animatronic...the Jumping Spider from Spirit. I did get it the day after Halloween so I got it at half price. So this is the first year I will be using it. Overall, I am not expecting too much from it. I know that once it breaks, I am going to probably build my own, better version of it.

Knowing the quality of the Spirit props and from my own store experiences, I have seen many of the larger, more expensive props fail in store. It was this poor longevity that is what made me start this thread in the first place. 

Overall, if you don't mind risking a few bucks, you get a 35% off or better on a item, and you go in knowning that the longevity will not be that great then OK, give it a try. I know from being a prop builder myself that many of the items Spirit has (on a sale or coupon deal), I cannot built myself for the price.

But if you are going to do a month long display or haunt...even one that is just the weekends of October, you will need to invest some money, time or both to get something that will last a decent amount of time. 



JLWII2000 said:


> This is why I do a few things to prevent dissapointment:
> 
> 1. I pay close attention to the props in the store, if they are breaking I probably won't buy them. This year I've noticed The fortune teller that's 229 bucks has failed in 3 stores I've been in. I also see problems with Pumpkin Nester (Sadly).


This (Fortune Teller) would be one item I WOULD like to get a hold of less than 50% even if it is broken as I would like to copy the mechanism and make it better. Nabbing a broken one for $50 to $75 may be worh it for the booth and costume alone. Granted the replacement items would probably exceed the original cost, but you will end up with something that will last quite a bit longer. 



> 2. I don't put out the pricey props or use them other than a pre halloween test. They are only put out the day of Halloween.


Excellent point. I do the same. I only had the Jumping Spider out once this year and that is to test it after I put it together. As of now it is sitting in my basement ready to go for Halloween. Then and ONLY then it will go out for the 5 hour duration of my event. So by intentionally cutting back on the use I do hope to get a few years out of the prop. But again, I am not expecting much.



> 3. I try to get the pricey props at 50% off day after Halloween sales. Because I get less mad if I spent $100 then $200 on it.


Another excellent point. Simply put you are risking less of your hard earned money for the same item.



> But all in all, you are absolutely right. It sucks complete ___ <- (fill in the blank with your choice of profanity of body part)
> that you pay that much and it breaks!


That it does. But unfortunately that is the mindset of the buying public as everyone wants something for less. So to get the price down, the quality goes down. It is just a shame that it has got to the point where the items are made so low in quality that they barely work right coming out of the box.

This thinking has gone very far as well as to how just about everything is built. I work for a pretty famous family entertainment center and we recently received some new games. I am shocked that even on a commercial level at how many of these new games have problems already and they are less than a month old. There is no comparison of the quality level of these new games when you compare them to the games that have been in the store for 10 years or more. Some of these older games I can count on one hand at how many times they were broken or down in the 4 year of my working there. Whereas many of the new games we got from the game package prior to this one have been broken at least a dozen times (or more) in the same time period.

Really, I must say that if you have the know how and time on your side, going the DIY route is still the best way to go. At least you know what the prop is made of and how it is made so in the event of failure you can fix it yourself. But if built well, the longevity will probably outlast anything made for home based use...and frankly probably even commercial use.

Geo


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## Jottle (Aug 17, 2006)

I'm going to run my jumping spider off the ac adapter this year. It malfunctioned and refused to activate consistently last year, and I believe it has something to do with the batteries running down quickly due to multiple activations for hours on end. Better safe than sorry!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Jottle said:


> I'm going to run my jumping spider off the ac adapter this year. It malfunctioned and refused to activate consistently last year, and I believe it has something to do with the batteries running down quickly due to multiple activations for hours on end. Better safe than sorry!


I thought the jumping spider was battery only, but since you mentioned that, I looked around the base and there IS a DC input jack. For this year, I don't have electric on that side of the property where I will set up the spider. So I am going to wing it on batteries. As it is, I am not going to be running the whole day. I am only going to run for 5 hours (4-9pm). I usually stop the Magic Mirror at around 8:00 or 8:30, so I can check on the spider and see how the batteries held up afterwards. Usually after 8:00pm, the TOTs show up less and less and then the riff raff starts to come out. Most of the older kids just come around with no costume wearling little make up or nothing at all and all they do is hang around and goof off (even after I have given them candy). Usually these kids also have shaving cream, silly string or even eggs on them and just are looking to cause trouble.

Usually my 'hot time' is from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. In this 2 hour window is where most of the action happens, which is just around dusk, so this is when the spider will see the most action. Overall, I think I should be good with the batteries.

Geo


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

To me spirit is over priced junk... Rude staff... props that are cheaply made... and customer service on the phone is a joke...


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## WILDC4T (Oct 9, 2009)

I would like to share the experience I had today and a bit from last year.

I visited several different Spirit Halloween stores today. I intended to purchase a substantial amount of life size props and decorations for a Halloween party. The reason I chose not to purchase anything is because of their unreasonable return policy. All the stores I visited today the employees told me the exact same thing, "All sales are final." I looked at my phone and saw that is was not November, 1st, but October, 19th. I would rather take a risk on November, 1st when the item is 50% off rather than today at 25% off with a coupon. The funny thing is that I was able to exchange a life size prop that failed right before Halloween last year. Additionally, it might just be my bad luck, but some of the employees that work for Spirit Halloween are rude and have bad business practices. I have often been offered a display item when that particular item is out of stock. The employees goes on to say how display props are built better and how they are designed to last longer than the props in the retail box. I think we all know that is not true. Last year returning a couple of defective props was like pulling teeth with this company. They initially refused claiming they do not have enough money in their register to provide me with a refund even though I had a receipt. They also made recommendations to return it to another Spirit Halloween store even though they were the ones who sold me the defective item. Also, I at times found myself having to deal with Tekky Toys directly, which was another brick wall I ran into. None of my messages were returned. and in the end I was stuck with a broken prop. Options are very limited when it comes to Halloween. At least in California, if it's not Spirit Halloween then you go to Halloween City. Unfortunately, Halloween City has a weak selection of props. In the end, the best thing to do is to build it yourself. Spirit Halloween has lost my business.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

WILDC4T said:


> In the end, the best thing to do is to build it yourself.


Or buy from the prop builders that market to professional haunts and not the consumer.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

WILDC4T, Spirit Halloween actually has a decent try and return policy. Their cutoff this year I think was Oct. 15 or 18, just looking thru my receipts today and noticed it. My Halloween City's receipts however say All Sales Are Final. Period. And I remember the staff mentioning that to me several weeks ago when I was checking out. 

They're both seasonal stores. A lot of year round retail stores use to have 45-day or longer return/exchange polices but have cut them way back. Honestly I would rather buy from Spirit Halloween than from Halloween City and you are correct, HC's props were lame, and really cheap looking IMO, this year at my store and they never IMO rate higher than SH's in coolness factor. I hear, all you DIYers would much rather make your own props. I get that a lot of people love the build phase. Not everybody is in that position. Plus from my own experience just trying to put together a DIY reindeer/wolf a few years back wasn't exactly a cheap venture for us and took up a considerable amount of time and running around for the parts. 

Time / Money / Quality -- It's always a trade off.

BTW I posted somewhere on the forum that I had sent Tekky an information request using their website contact app about the TNT box and also had a question regarding the MIT connectors and how many props could be connected. I didn't know what to expect and was actually surprised to get back an email from them within I think a week or so. So I honestly can't say from my experience that Tekky was horrible to deal with. 

I also have had very good experiences with the Spirit Stores in my area. They were run by the same guy and he had his staff trained and really was more than accommodating helping to find items and all. I've read many posts from people across the country that unfortunately was not universal and can understand people feeling that way. In general I think the customer service in businesses is so lacking these days and I find that particularly true coming from the younger employees, sad to say. I called Chilis today and spoke to their manager make a complaint about yet again ordering something for pick up and when getting home finding it wasn't what I had asked for. We pretty much cut back eating in there as well because hubby and I would order our meals and one of ours would be wrong. Sure they're happy to redo your order while one sits eating and the other one watches. I don't know if it's lack of training or just an attitude of not caring to do your job but I seem to encounter it alot. Not just retail either, our kitchen remodel and landscaping projects have been a lengthy nightmare. Some great people involved and then no so. If we could do the skilled work ourselves we probably would but we can't, but I do understand your frustration in the stores.


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## Palladino (Aug 29, 2013)

I needed clown shoes and remembered I'd seen some at Spirit. It turns out they are $25.00 a pair and I need three pairs. YIKES! So I bought a pair of the clown shoe covers thinking they would be good enough for the prop clown. Maybe I'd find some other shoes at a second hand store somewhere. 

The covers are awful and I don't know how anyone could wear them never mind walk in them. I'll have to make them work somehow because they are final sale. Just wanted to let others know that if you're looking for a cheaper option for clown shoes - this isn't it!


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I'd love to outfit my clown props with shoes but haven't so far because of cost. BTW at my Goodwill I saw a men's orange tennis sneaker very large size and was going to buy thst (and during mid season too when there isn't a tendancy to mark this kind of item up as halloween) but the sticker shock got me and I put them back. I'm sure they are popular with teens so can command a hefty price. I've even toyed with the idea of making my own shoe covers. 

I think the best time to pick them up is during costume clearance sales and have noticed in the past they go fast. Now in my case I'm just looking for prop shoes that don't have to be worn so the cheaper plastic or rubbery ones will do fine and are nicely colored. I have seen the more expensive actual shoes go on sale and clearance too so that would be my advice. You have more of a challenge in finding a pair that will fit as well. Good luck. Hey, clowns are suppose to look a bit clumsy walking around...maybe the shoes they wear is the reason why!


Palladino, would renting a comfortable pair of clown shoes from a costume shop be an option for you?


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Wow! Quite a bit of responses here recently. 



Ghost of Spookie said:


> WILDC4T, Spirit Halloween actually has a decent try and return policy. Their cutoff this year I think was Oct. 15 or 18, just looking thru my receipts today and noticed it. My Halloween City's receipts however say All Sales Are Final. Period. And I remember the staff mentioning that to me several weeks ago when I was checking out.


I have in hand both a receipt from Party City (Halloween City's parent company) and Spirit from this year. The Party City receipt says items can be returned 7 days prior to the holiday, thereafter it is final sale. The Spirit receipt says that all items can be exchanged or refunded up until October 18th. After that, all sales are final. So it seems the return policy is comparable here.

I am a bit surprised that the policy seemed different for Halloween City than Party City, but it is possible they might have an earlier cut-off than thier parent stores because they have to move the items out.

One thing though, I remember that I had a coupon for Halloween City this year, but they didn't have the items I wanted there. However, Party City DID have the items. I asked if they would honor the Halloween City coupon and they did.



> They're both seasonal stores. A lot of year round retail stores use to have 45-day or longer return/exchange polices but have cut them way back. Honestly I would rather buy from Spirit Halloween than from Halloween City and you are correct, HC's props were lame, and really cheap looking IMO, this year at my store and they never IMO rate higher than SH's in coolness factor.


I ususally end up buying more at Party City...the prices are just more reasonable. IMHO, it is really the same build stuff. But I will hand it to you that Spirit does have 'cooler' - 'scarier' stuff. But I wouldn't call Party/Halloween City as lame. Thier stuff is more party/TOT oriented and while they do have some large/scary props, it is probably something they don't move as often, so they don't have as much. It is probably a marketing niche they are going for. Overall their prices do seem better though.

I will say that up to now I have had good experience with both stores. While Spirit is higher priced, they do counter this with coupons and for me it has become the place to hit first thing Nov1.



> I hear, all you DIYers would much rather make your own props. I get that a lot of people love the build phase. Not everybody is in that position. Plus from my own experience just trying to put together a DIY reindeer/wolf a few years back wasn't exactly a cheap venture for us and took up a considerable amount of time and running around for the parts.
> 
> Time / Money / Quality -- It's always a trade off.


Well said. I know that it does seem I push towards the DIY route, but I know that there are those that don't want to go this route for many reasons. For me the know how is there, but sometimes time is of an issue. Finally as you pointed out it is a combination of all three Time / Money / Quality. While I probably would have never spent the initial $80 of Spirit's Jumping spider, I know I couldn't make one at that price. Yet, if I did put the time and money into it, it certainly would be a much higher quality prop. However, on the Nov 1 50% off sale, the $80 spider became $40 (and even less due to another issue). So all in all I walked out the door spending $34 on the Jumping Spider. I could NEVER have built it for that price. So here is a good case that it seemed better to just buy the item and not invest the extra time and money into building it. But with only $34 spent, I did go into this purchase knowing that this Jumping Spider will probably only get me 3 or 4 seasons (it was a floor model after all). So once it breaks, I can then take it apart and copy the mechanism and make a metal armature for it that would last 10 times longer.



> BTW I posted somewhere on the forum that I had sent Tekky an information request using their website contact app about the TNT box and also had a question regarding the MIT connectors and how many props could be connected. I didn't know what to expect and was actually surprised to get back an email from them within I think a week or so. So I honestly can't say from my experience that Tekky was horrible to deal with.


That IS pretty good. I have heard otherwise from the support from this and other companies like it, are not so good. Perhaps you got lucky? Maybe thier support is getting better. It would be good to keep track of this to see if others have continued good experience with support from the company.



> I also have had very good experiences with the Spirit Stores in my area. They were run by the same guy and he had his staff trained and really was more than accommodating helping to find items and all. I've read many posts from people across the country that unfortunately was not universal and can understand people feeling that way.


Thusfar, I have found the staff helpful, but I have only been in a Spirit for a handful of times, but it was across two stores. But in all cases, the store was not busy (I visited WELL before Halloween, and I was one of the first ones on the day after sale last year). So I cannot say if the store was well staffed for a busy day. It is just that when I went there was always someone to help and they seemed pretty polite and friendly.

Now, with Halloween City, THAT store seemed to be a bit understaffed, but again because it was slow, it was justified. I was just disappointed that they didn't have all or even more than the parent store in terms of supplies. So unlike Party City or Spirit, they just were not well stocked.



> In general I think the customer service in businesses is so lacking these days and I find that particularly true coming from the younger employees, sad to say.


The trouble is that these 'younger' employees are school kids that are just looking for a quick buck. Many are usually paid minimum wages and work all kinds of weird hours. Because they are looking for a quick buck, many just don't invest enough pride into what they do. For most it is a temporary job anyway which they will loose once the holiday is over.



> I called Chilis today and spoke to their manager make a complaint about yet again ordering something for pick up and when getting home finding it wasn't what I had asked for. We pretty much cut back eating in there as well because hubby and I would order our meals and one of ours would be wrong. Sure they're happy to redo your order while one sits eating and the other one watches. I don't know if it's lack of training or just an attitude of not caring to do your job but I seem to encounter it alot.


It might be a combination of things. Even at my job, there is a considerable lack of training. For those people in higher positions, the work load is tremendous and the pay doesn't reflect that. So even I have been leaning towards the 'just work and bring a buck home' attitude. The pride in what you do goes quickly out the window when the people you work for do not recognize the effort you are putting into the job.

As for Chili's. I can't say I can't complain about the service because the first time I ate at one, my wife an I saw a nice plump and well fed cockroach sitting on right on top of a booth divider about 3 or 4 booths down from us...Yeah, it was THAT big and it open broad daylight too. So needless to say, I don't eat there anymore. But I know what you mean. I have had trouble with Outback Steakhouse many times in that they don't cook the food properly. The steaks ALWAYS arrive undercooked and I have to send them back. But other than that the food and service is pretty good there. BUT if it is busy and you have to send your food back, you get the scenario you mentioned in which on person is chowing down and the other sits and watches. Makes you wonder why can't the cook get the order right, ESPECIALLY in a place like that (shrugs).



> Not just retail either, our kitchen remodel and landscaping projects have been a lengthy nightmare. Some great people involved and then no so. If we could do the skilled work ourselves we probably would but we can't, but I do understand your frustration in the stores.


Sorry to here you had trouble with your kitchen remodel. But I have heard of horror stories in the home improvement realm as well and it is no different there. As it is, my dad has hired three different companies to repair a skylight leak and all have failed to do so. My dad installed that skylight many moons ago and when he put it in, it was fine for many many years. So here we go with the DIY thing. Sometimes even the professionals don't know what the heck they are doing.




WILDC4T said:


> I would like to share the experience I had today and a bit from last year.
> 
> I visited several different Spirit Halloween stores today. I intended to purchase a substantial amount of life size props and decorations for a Halloween party. The reason I chose not to purchase anything is because of their unreasonable return policy. All the stores I visited today the employees told me the exact same thing, "All sales are final." I looked at my phone and saw that is was not November, 1st, but October, 19th.


Well, as I replied to Ghost of Spookie above, it would seem that most stores that sell seasonal items have a cut off point when to return items. If they didn't then you get your fair share of people that buy something, use it for the holiday and then return it the day after the holiday. In the past too many people did this and as such, stores changed thier policies to not take any items back after a certain time period.



> I would rather take a risk on November, 1st when the item is 50% off rather than today at 25% off with a coupon. The funny thing is that I was able to exchange a life size prop that failed right before Halloween last year.


That is different...you had a broken item. In a case like that I am sure the store would exchange the broken item or give you a refund if a suitable replacement could not be given to you.



> Additionally, it might just be my bad luck, but some of the employees that work for Spirit Halloween are rude and have bad business practices.


Again, just scroll up to what I said to Ghost of Spookie. As with props, with store employees, you get what you pay for. If Spirit just wants to hire young people and pay them minimum wage then the result is usually someone that doesn't really know how to handle issues with customers or how to treat them well. 



> I have often been offered a display item when that particular item is out of stock. The employees goes on to say how display props are built better and how they are designed to last longer than the props in the retail box. I think we all know that is not true.


Obviously that is a load of crap. I would be shocked if ANYONE would buy into THAT line.



> Last year returning a couple of defective props was like pulling teeth with this company. They initially refused claiming they do not have enough money in their register to provide me with a refund even though I had a receipt. They also made recommendations to return it to another Spirit Halloween store even though they were the ones who sold me the defective item. Also, I at times found myself having to deal with Tekky Toys directly, which was another brick wall I ran into. None of my messages were returned. and in the end I was stuck with a broken prop. Options are very limited when it comes to Halloween.


If the items were indeed broken, they should have replaced them or given you your money back. However, many stores will not take the time to test the props and will not take your word for it thinking that you are returning the items after Halloween just to get your money back. So they will turn around with the "FINAL SALE" line and that is a good way to loose future purchases from customers. One thing they shouldn't have done is try to chase you to different store, that is poor customer relations in any sense of the realm of doing business.

Since I been hearing of a mixed bag at what you get from Spirit, I pretty much made the decision to buy from them ONLY on a deep discount. This way the risk I am putting forth is a much smaller one. Thus it doesn't hurt so much financially and emotionally if something goes wrong with the item. 



> At least in California, if it's not Spirit Halloween then you go to Halloween City. Unfortunately, Halloween City has a weak selection of props. In the end, the best thing to do is to build it yourself. Spirit Halloween has lost my business.


That turned out to be true here as well. While Halloween City did have better initial prices, the coupon discounts are not as deep as those of Spirit. Also I have noticed that the store was not as well stocked as thier parent store, Party City. The good thing was that Party City DID honor the Halloween City coupon when I bought from them.

But in general, I only buy small items before Halloween to enhance my display. If I want something big, I usually wait unti after Halloween for the deep discounts. Again, much less to risk.


Geo


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## IowaGuy (Jul 30, 2012)

I've seen three animations that got my eye, I must have good taste since the price tag $199.00 were the same. *sigh*


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

IowaGuy said:


> I've seen three animations that got my eye, I must have good taste since the price tag $199.00 were the same. *sigh*


Wait until after Halloween and be one of the first ones at the store in the morning and you might be lucky in getting those props for $100 each. Just be warned that on the day after Halloween, they might have very little in terms of boxed items and you might have to setting for the floor model. Be as nit picky as you can. My jumping spider was missing the screw on the battery cover door and they discounted the price even further. Additionally, they had sand bags mounted to the supports of the mechanism on the spider and they left them on. So the deal was even sweeter!

But do keep in mind that you are buying into a final sale and if something goes wrong with the item once Spirit shuts down for the year, you are pretty much on your own and have to deal with the manufacturer of the item and as others have pointed out, that could be like pulling teeth to get your issue rectified.

I think what might be a good idea is if you are a DIYer. Take a good look at the mechanisms for the props you want to buy and see the weak points and if there is something that you might be able to come up with in the event that it breaks, you can fix it or build something better for it.

In the end, it is a risk, it will just boil down to how much money you are willing to risk to get what you want.

As Ghost of Spookie pointed out above, it boils down to a Time/Money/Quality issue. You really have to think these issues over carefully. If you want a good quality piece, have the time AND some money, then I would say go the DIY route. If you want quality have no time and LOTS of money, then buy a comercial prop. If you don't have much time, not much money, but are OK if something breaks every now and then that is where store bought items from Spirit and Halloween City come into play. Sure you save time and money, but quality takes a hit. No matter how you slice and dice it, there is always a compromise.

Geo


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

My spirit store on Center road in Omaha has been nothing but great. The staff is friendly and very helpful. They're great to me and all the customers I've seen, but I also spent like a grand this year LOL.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

JLWII2000 said:


> My spirit store on Center road in Omaha has been nothing but great. The staff is friendly and very helpful. They're great to me and all the customers I've seen, but I also spent like a grand this year LOL.


Good to hear your Spirit experience was good. As I said above, I too had pretty good dealings with them so far.

Whoa!! That is SOME Halloween spending budget! I went over budget again this year, but no where near what I did last year. Last year ( including the after Halloween sale at Spirit), I did about $600 and almost had a heart attack when I saw that final bill. It certainly screwed the budget up for Christmas last year AND Halloween for this year. But because I went over this year too, I have very little money alotted to my Christmas display . Luckily there is only one new thing I am going to add this year and it will not cost much. So I only have a $100 budget for my Christmas display.

Luckily though, I have a VERY small front yard so my Christmas display isn't large, I only CAN add one new thing a year! But due to the size of my Halloween display, I been setting that up at my parent's home which on a large corner property. In fact my Halloween display only takes up a portion of the side yard. Lucky for them (and me) that they have quite a bit of yard space. I started to do displays at thier home since 2009, when I still lived there. But post 2010 I have moved out, but because I have built up a TOT base at that location I just kept doing it there. But my parents are getting on in years and next year my mom will be 80. I have decided that 2014 will be the last year at that location and will move my Halloween projects to my current location. I live right across the street from a school yard (the same school my twiin sons go to), so I am sure that I can lure some future TOTs from there come 2015.

Geo


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Geo, lots of people decorate for Christmas. Just toss up some lights on the house. The decorating that gets you noticed is Halloween and a ton more fun. Plus the weather is usually better. Your holiday priorities sound about right to me!


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

jukingeo said:


> Good to hear your Spirit experience was good. As I said above, I too had pretty good dealings with them so far.
> 
> Whoa!! That is SOME Halloween spending budget! I went over budget again this year, but no where near what I did last year. Last year ( including the after Halloween sale at Spirit), I did about $600 and almost had a heart attack when I saw that final bill. It certainly screwed the budget up for Christmas last year AND Halloween for this year. But because I went over this year too, I have very little money alotted to my Christmas display . Luckily there is only one new thing I am going to add this year and it will not cost much. So I only have a $100 budget for my Christmas display.
> 
> ...


Well if it makes you feel better I spend ZERO on Christmas each year. I put up a few things I've had for year. It takes me 15 minutes to decorate. My neighbors think I am some sort of heathen


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## WitchyRN (Mar 20, 2010)

I always pick up stuff for next year after Halloween... problem is I can never remember what I have bought..lol.. it's neat labelling a box "New Halloween" and going through it in September- almost like CHristmas for me..  I have skull ornaments for the Christmas tree.. our Christmas is a little like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" around our house...


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## Jottle (Aug 17, 2006)

Jottle said:


> I'm going to run my jumping spider off the ac adapter this year. It malfunctioned and refused to activate consistently last year, and I believe it has something to do with the batteries running down quickly due to multiple activations for hours on end. Better safe than sorry!


Annnnnnd of course I pulled out my jumping spider and it is completely broken this year. $50 and I got just one night of sporadic use out of it last year. It didn't even make it one year with only 6 hours of total usage. Total piece of Tekky crap. It won't even turn on at all using batteries or ac adapter this year. What a waste. Of course these things have no warranty whatsoever.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Jottle said:


> Annnnnnd of course I pulled out my jumping spider and it is completely broken this year. $50 and I got just one night of sporadic use out of it last year. It didn't even make it one year with only 6 hours of total usage. Total piece of Tekky crap. It won't even turn on at all using batteries or ac adapter this year. What a waste. Of course these things have no warranty whatsoever.


Holy crap! . What happened? Did you have the spider stored in a damp area? Generally garages, attics, sheds and damp basements wreck havoc on electronics. If you are OK with taking things apart, perhaps you might be able to remove the back panel and see if any of the wires broke off. Check to see if there are loose connections on circuit boards. I am thinking that your issue might be the latter considering you mentioned that you had sporadic use of the prop last year. It could have been already showing signs of trouble then. If it is a bad connection or broken wire, it might need to be soldered.

I am certainly PRAYING, I get more use than one Halloween out of my spider. But the odds are stacked against me since I know mine was a floor model. But I have set it up already (in my basement) and it is working. I am hoping it STAYS working since it is one of the highlights for this year.

So sorry to hear that. But if you are good with a soldering iron, you might be able to fix it in time for Halloween.

Geo


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

JLWII2000 said:


> Well if it makes you feel better I spend ZERO on Christmas each year. I put up a few things I've had for year. It takes me 15 minutes to decorate. My neighbors think I am some sort of heathen





Ghost of Spookie said:


> Geo, lots of people decorate for Christmas. Just toss up some lights on the house. The decorating that gets you noticed is Halloween and a ton more fun. Plus the weather is usually better. Your holiday priorities sound about right to me!


Guys, no no no. You don't understand. I don't have a "normal" Christmas display that you typically see on homes. Please, allow me to illustrate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIItC_BbBWo

Yeah, It's synchronized to the music. Even though the display is small, it takes a LONG time to program the songs to music. And then set it all up the right way. That sign that is there on the left tells passerbys to tune to a particular radio station in which they can pull up to the curb and listen to the music in thier cars while they watch the lights.

Like I said, it is isn't any ordinary 'hang the lights, plug 'em in affair'.

BTW, I am using the same control system this year for my singing pumpkins.

But, Ghost of Spookie, you are correct in that I DO invest way more money AND time into Halloween and I do agree, because of my interactive participation with the Magic Mirror, it certainly is more fun. It will be even MORE fun now that I am introducing scares. But it is a good thing though as I do have twin 6 year old boys and as such they are both into the holidays and do enjoy Halloween as much as Christmas, just like I do.

Geo


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## aengre (Nov 19, 2009)

Like others have already relayed, I've had all good experiences at the multiple Spirit store around me (in Minnesota). Have gotten many uses out of the products/costumes I've bought.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Notice:

Hello All, I know many of you that have been watching this thread have probably been taken by surprise that all of a sudden the OP of the thread, jukingeo, was changed to Diaval. I am just letting you know it is still me, but I just wanted to change my name to give me something with more of a Halloween feel to it. Since I was always a big fan of Maleficent (and now even more so after seeing the new movie), I adopted the persona of her pet raven of whom is called Diaval in the new movie. So this will be my permanent new name henceforth. All of my prior posts here will reflect the new name, but the text body will still have my old 'Geo' sign off. But everything forward of this message will be signed "Diaval".

So that is it, just a heads up. 

Thanx all and thanx for the many responses. I never knew this would ever get out to 17 pages!

Diaval


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Like the new name and the background to it...haven't seen the movie so it helped you explained. Diaval is much easier to type too! Glad you are still around.


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

Maybe I might have missed this but when that jumping spider "Jumps", how likely is it to be smacked or otherwise attacked in a fearful response by someone?
This is sort of like getting really close to someone to scare them, then getting punched for your effort?


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Like the new name and the background to it...haven't seen the movie so it helped you explained. Diaval is much easier to type too! Glad you are still around.


Thank you. I wanted to have something more appropriate for the forum and somewhat more permanent too. As it is, even though I had the name jukingeo since 1996, the thing is I don't really mess around with jukeboxes that much anymore and the name is starting to get 'tired' after all these years. In some places I am still going to keep the name, but here...well, it just wasn't appropriate from the get go.

Since I was always a fan of Maleficent even before the new movie, taking on the persona of her pet raven seems like a logical choice. In the original Sleeping Beauty, the raven's name is Diablo and that name was taken here. But seeing the new Maleficent movie had taken my love for Maleficent even further. Also her raven actually plays more of a role in the new new movie, as you will see should you decide to go and see the movie. (I highly recommend seeing it.) The name Diaval has a nice evil ring to it (like Diablo, it also means 'devil'), so that became my choice.

Yes, I am still around, but like most haunters, I usually do not poke around in here until the late summer. The thing is this year I am planning on doing something totally different than my Magic Mirror act I normally do. So with a revamp of my entire main attraction, I am planning WAY early this year. Furthermore, people will be accustomed to my new name by the time Halloween rolls around and will know who I am so there will be less confusion. Since this is my largest thread, I felt it necessary to report the name change here so people who know me here don't go looking for 'jukingeo' here as everything that had that name on it, now will say Diaval. 

I will eventually change my "Exit Light, Enter Night.." signature to reflect something from the movie Maleficent, but since that was my line for the longest time, it is still kind of my connect to my 'old' self. (But I do say "Formally Jukingeo" in my signature). But by Halloween I will change it. However, gone is my favorite line from Hotel Transylvania, "I Do NOT say, Blah Bluh Blah". We will see what I come up with for the signature.

Well, as I always say...Good Eeeeeeevening.

Diaval


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## EviLEye (Oct 21, 2012)

Gym Whourlfeld said:


> Maybe I might have missed this but when that jumping spider "Jumps", how likely is it to be smacked or otherwise attacked in a fearful response by someone?
> This is sort of like getting really close to someone to scare them, then getting punched for your effort?


I picked up the spider 2 yrs ago on the after Halloween sale and used it this past Halloween. I had sprayed it with fluorescent paint and I have to say that was one of the few things that made people really jump. It was on the floor as people walked around a turn and there was a hanging ghoul at eye level that got their attention and then the spider would spring up. 

The combination of movement and loud click as it was released worked way better than I would've thought. The main problem though is the sensor depends on the change of light to detect motion. It is not a PIR sensor. This wasn't a big deal for me as I was using an Arduino connected to a PIR that detected the movement in the area that would then close a relay that was connected to the try-me input. Otherwise the spider would not trigger in the low light setting if I'd just try to rely on the built in sensor.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Gym Whourlfeld said:


> Maybe I might have missed this but when that jumping spider "Jumps", how likely is it to be smacked or otherwise attacked in a fearful response by someone?
> This is sort of like getting really close to someone to scare them, then getting punched for your effort?


Yeeeaahhh. I had thought of that early on and it is a good possibility. But two things that work in my favor: 1) I have a sign that says, "If You Pass This Point You WILL Be Scared". So people are expecting to be scared. 2) I do have a fence around the spider. The sign also says, "Don't touch anything, nothing will touch you". So I kind of have my bases covered. But on Halloween night, my wife caught a kid hopping the fence and was touching the spider to get it to jump. He was not being malicious or anything, but still I didn't want people touching my props. So I think it is still a good idea to have someone watching over things. If you can't have someone watching, you could put up fake cameras with blinking LED lights and signs that say "Big Brother is watching you". People will think twice before they act if they see something like that.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

EviLEye said:


> ... The main problem though is the sensor depends on the change of light to detect motion. It is not a PIR sensor...


I ran into this issue myself. The night before Halloween I tested the spider while the sun was still up and it worked beautifully, but then at night when I did my dry run through, the spider stopped working. At first I went nuts until I accidentally shown my flashlight right on the sensor and it triggered. So what I did was move the light I had from INSIDE the fenced area to ACROSS from the fenced area. Now when TOTs walked by, it acted like a light break-beam and the spider triggered flawlessly every time.

Now fellow haunters, this is a lesson to be learned (especially to you noobs here). Always, always, always do a dry run of your show at least a day before you put on your show. Had I not done this, I would not have discovered this flaw until it was too late. So I was able to find it and had time to correct it. So no matter how tired you are from setting things up, always test things out under actual conditions beforehand. By the way, did I say "Always"? 

Diaval


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Diaval said:


> I ran into this issue myself. The night before Halloween I tested the spider while the sun was still up and it worked beautifully, but then at night when I did my dry run through, the spider stopped working. At first I went nuts until I accidentally shown my flashlight right on the sensor and it triggered. So what I did was move the light I had from INSIDE the fenced area to ACROSS from the fenced area. Now when TOTs walked by, it acted like a light break-beam and the spider triggered flawlessly every time.
> 
> Now fellow haunters, this is a lesson to be learned (especially to you noobs here). Always, always, always do a dry run of your show at least a day before you put on your show. Had I not done this, I would not have discovered this flaw until it was too late. So I was able to find it and had time to correct it. So no matter how tired you are from setting things up, always test things out under actual conditions beforehand. By the way, did I say "Always"?
> 
> Diaval



Oh how true! Two years back we had some triggered lanterns near our entry walkway (think half walled gate area but no gate) where the kids enter the courtyard on their way to the front door. I had decided to add them at the last minute. I knew they were triggered by the motion of someone breaking the light beam and quickly thought "oh, each column has a step light shining down towards the walkway so I'm covered". Duh, while each lantern did have light shining down on it and the walkway was bathed in light, the lanterns wouldn't trigger because the source of the light on each lantern came from above it so it's light path never got broken. Now if I would have given it a few extra seconds of thought would have realized the situation or if I had run a test the night before would have seen the folly. Had to settle for nice looking old lanterns that flickered nicely. No sounds that year.

EvilEye, like painting the jumping spider idea. Since he glows in the dark observant people will see him before hand and not be totally surprised. Your diversion tactic works to maintain the surprise. Another way would be to have lots of similar looking static fluorescent spiders placed in their pathway before him so they are lulled into thinking "oh, spider decorations and webs...how scary..." Then the jumping spider triggers. Using blacklight and fluorescent spider/s does have a nice plus...no one will notice the spider's mechanism in the dark if you can also spray the mechanism's webbing a black that doesn't fluoresce. That or adding more webbing around his base so it blends in to a more massive web area if you like the idea of him leaping out of spider webs.


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## Col. Fryght (Oct 23, 2012)

Figured that I would toss in my two cents about Spirit:

1. While I do not have a Spirit prop more than two Halloweens old, every prop has worked as it was suppose to work. 

2. I never buy store displays, since they get activated more than they would during the course of a decade of Halloweens.

3. I never pay more than what I would pay for the prop if it was static. As such, I am limited to 50% off sales.

5. Never expect a light sensor to work on a consistent basis outdoors at night. I either use the step mat or strap a light to the sensor which is activated by a true motion detector. There is a great thread for this hack using a driveway motion sensor here:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutor...120923-extremely-simply-pir-prop-trigger.html


Your mileage may vary.


.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Col. Fryght, Thanks for the link to Scary Poppa's thread; I don't think I had seen his thread prior. Saw that he posted an Important Update to his OP. I actually have two of these Bunker Hill PIR driveway alerts which I bought from Harbor Freight last year on sale based off of someone else's thread and video of its sensitivity. Haven't set ours up yet--wanted one to alert when ToTers were coming up the walkway (pretty much the intended use of it) and thought about the other one could be used for props. Never knew about the Channel set. Looked at my boxes and sure enough both of mine are set to the same Channel!! Really appreciate knowing this now so I can resolve it before this Halloween. Much thanks.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Oh how true! Two years back we had some triggered lanterns near our entry walkway (think half walled gate area but no gate) where the kids enter the courtyard on their way to the front door. I had decided to add them at the last minute. I knew they were triggered by the motion of someone breaking the light beam and quickly thought "oh, each column has a step light shining down towards the walkway so I'm covered". Duh, while each lantern did have light shining down on it and the walkway was bathed in light, the lanterns wouldn't trigger because the source of the light on each lantern came from above it so it's light path never got broken. Now if I would have given it a few extra seconds of thought would have realized the situation or if I had run a test the night before would have seen the folly. Had to settle for nice looking old lanterns that flickered nicely. No sounds that year.


Well, coming from a background of theater, I always did a dry run or 'dress rehearsal' before any performance. And it is good that I adopted that thinking. For the first year I did the Magic Mirror back in 2009, I didn't have much yard lighting at all. In fact the area where the Magic Mirror was located became much darker than I thought. Even though I had some lights, I couldn't see TOTs coming up the walkway AT ALL! This was the night before Halloween mind you. The next morning I shot out to Lowes Home Improvement and bought a large pendant light that had a 60 watt bulb in it. I hung this over the Magic Mirror and I changed several orange lights I had to white. I then crossed my fingers that it would be enough light. I lucked out and it it did the job beautifully. I was still a bit shy on light, but I was able to see TOT's approaching the Magic Mirror and the walkway was lit too. Needless to say that one light really saved my butt!

Here is a picture of my Magic Mirror setup in 2009 (see below). 

Diaval


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Col. Fryght, Thanks for the link to Scary Poppa's thread; I don't think I had seen his thread prior. Saw that he posted an Important Update to his OP. I actually have two of these Bunker Hill PIR driveway alerts which I bought from Harbor Freight last year on sale based off of someone else's thread and video of its sensitivity. Haven't set ours up yet--wanted one to alert when ToTers were coming up the walkway (pretty much the intended use of it) and thought about the other one could be used for props. Never knew about the Channel set. Looked at my boxes and sure enough both of mine are set to the same Channel!! Really appreciate knowing this now so I can resolve it before this Halloween. Much thanks.


That IS an interesting way to trigger a sound activated prop via PIR in which it doesn't involve extensive modifications. Being an electronics technician, I usually make 'hacks' to have an item do what I need. For something more involved than a simple single movement prop, I invest in a micro controller such as those they have at EFX TEK. They are a bit more pricy, but they can do quite a bit more.

Diaval


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## EviLEye (Oct 21, 2012)

Diaval, if you're electronically inclined, consider using an Arduino with a relay board. It's easy to setup and configure to give you granular control. And a lot cheaper. I bought some RJ11 from a surplus store and ran it every where to accept input (from PIRs) and to then send output from the relays to close circuits. The nice thing is that I inserted a delay after a prop was triggered so it wouldn't be quickly activated again.


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## MaxMask (Jun 17, 2014)

*Advanced Reply*

 The thing is the intensity of the operation. Higher costs. Higher riks (Remember Super Storm Sandy that put Halloween out of commission in NJ?)

*Party City converts all its stores to 80% Halloween and 20% Regular Parties.​*
I am just replying again to see how the "Go Advanced" works.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

EviLEye said:


> Diaval, if you're electronically inclined, consider using an Arduino with a relay board. It's easy to setup and configure to give you granular control. And a lot cheaper. I bought some RJ11 from a surplus store and ran it every where to accept input (from PIRs) and to then send output from the relays to close circuits. The nice thing is that I inserted a delay after a prop was triggered so it wouldn't be quickly activated again.


Well, I am not familiar with the Arduino products even though I am aware of them. I have been using microcontrollers from a company called EFX-TEK. They specifically cater to haunters both home and commercial. The microcontrollers are Basic Stamp based. I don't know how to program the Arduino boards. I don't even know what you would need to program them.

Thanx anyway. 



MaxMask said:


> The thing is the intensity of the operation. Higher costs. Higher riks (Remember Super Storm Sandy that put Halloween out of commission in NJ?)


Yes, I remember that all too well. While my house had power, the house where I put on my display didn't. A tree fell on the main power line across the street and that killed my display for that year. I ended up doing something anyway using all battery operated lighting. While it wasn't my Magic Mirror, what I did worked and Halloween wasn't a total loss that year.

But lately I have been getting tired of all the bad weather we have been having for Halloween. I think I can recall only one good night (and earlier that day we had snow) and I think that was 2011. 2009/10 We had high winds. 2012 We had Hurricane Sandy. 2013 I was walking on eggshells with a pending rainstorm that was hanging in the air (luckily the rain held up). For this year I am going to have just about everything under covers. There is a large awning over the back patio which I never used until now. The thing is the back yard is off to the side of where I normally put my display and it is behind a very large pine tree, so it isn't visible from the street. So I have to still think of what I am going to do. But I figure getting everything under some kind of cover will give me some piece of mind.

Diaval


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