3 videos of West Allis, WI CEC - 2007

[Rizzy]

I've finally gotten around to posting these videos from 2007 I took with my Canon PowerShot. This, I hate to say, shows how tired the show is, and how much they really don't care about the show. Look closely at Pasquale's neck area...noticed things are "detached"....well, as of a few months ago - it's still that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPaAtby9Ri4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tec3QvPvaZs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHlkK5lVQaw

Riz~

[rockafirefan4ever]

Time to send them to Studio 18 at the CEC website... We need to speak out...

[NickRyder]

Wow, it was like the bots were shot in slo-mo or something. Although still kinda cool to see at least ONE store in the area still has the old "Tux Chuck" instead of "Avenger Chuck" (although whiskey tango foxtrot do they call it "Avenger" anyway) but they definately need to do some TLC to that band. Course its not as bad as some others I've seen on YouTube where Munch has the super tiny keyboard or parts are flopping off. But yeah that's not a good condition for those bots to be in. Although considering they are the old Cyberamics from the 80s, I'm not entirely sure how "fast" they can go.

[menutia]

Moreover, they survived the latest remodel! The characters need more air and tuning. One benefit is that awesome vintage Jasper hat!

[MMBBfan327]

Actually they haven't had the tux for about a year or so on Chuck...

[bzier]

You Wisconsin boys are spoiled. You cant complain. I wish the 2-stages we have down here worked HALF as good as that! Our shows suck so badly. You should be glad all your characters turn, move their mouths, their eyes blink, heads move, etc.

I love the West Allis 1 stage. That is still my old home store and home show even though I've been a Floridian for 8 years now.

[NickRyder]

Actually they haven't had the tux for about a year or so on Chuck...
DOH! That sucks!

Y'know what I always thought would be interesting for a new stage, basically a Porch or Balcony show but with the stand up 'Bots in place of the old half body mechs. Give Chuck a loose button down shirt with a print and a black vest, and a pair of oversized Danny Gokey glasses!

Hey this is Milwaukee/West Allis - if we can have a Danny Gokey Day and all that... I could just see his face when he brings kids to that store.

"Wow... he looks... sorta kinda like a mousey-ratty version of... me."

"Yeah! And Department 18 even programmed him to sing your latest song!"

[Rizzy]

Well remember, those videos were from 2007, and that would've still been the "tux Chuck". Chuck is now sporting the shorts and "C" t-shirt. Still in need of lots of work. Very noisy last time I was there, action noise was pretty bad. It does need more air, and methinks there are leaks all over the place. Parts of Pasquale's costume are coming off near his neck exposing glue/adhesive areas, it actually doesn't "look" that bad in pictures or video. In person...different story.

[bzier]

I saw it in person last August. They looked WAY better than numerous other MMBB stages I've seen. Leave the state and head to another one if you want to talk about crappy Munch band shows.

[CEC3066]

i agree w/ you Ben. looking at those videos, their show looks in WAY better shape then Fairfield's

[MMBBfan327]

Check out my W.A. vid from a few months ago...if you ask me, they're working just fine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5qfXHtkIWM&feature=channel

[NickRyder]

So that's the 'new' Munch voice, boy I really preferred the old PTT Munch voice. Doesn't look too bad. Although seeing those kinda weird movements heh, makes you really appreciate the retrofitted RAE bots a bit more, but still pretty good. Maybe the tech had an off day on the ones that Rizzy took.

[Larry the Tech]

Yeah, your show is looking good, I like all the lights, they really give the show activity. I think Jasper's right arm needs to be fixed, but the tech must be doing a good job. I like that old rocker stage hat that Jasper has, are these animatronics recyled from the half-bodies stage from the 80s, or were they delivered to the store new in the 90s?

[bzier]

These bots have been at the store since it's PTT days of the early 1980's. They're originals.

[NickRyder]

Which is still pretty amazing really, that those old half body mechs are still performing pretty well, given that they've been modified to give them the rest of their bodies.

This is a weird arse question but... what do the stores usually do with the old 'dressings' for their mechs? Do they just toss them or do they hang onto 'em for a while as backups, like if say some stupid kid throws Kool-Aid or something at Chuck E's shirt, they can just pull out an older costume until the new shirt comes in? Always thought it would be kind cool if we could get say a store to do a 'retro' night and dress Chuck in his old duds (even the Tux and derby would be retro enough for me), maybe play some of the older shows.

[MMBBfan327]

On rare occassion, a store may have older costumes in storage, but they're never used for spares or anything like that, just to take up room. If you have a staff that likes older CEC, it's possible they could switch uniforms, but most likely not. It would take a while to do so, and most staffs worry more about actually CLOSING the store after hours! As for older shows, that's probably again a no-no. With shows you've gotta switch out DVDs, most likely get the right floppy to program the show, and not to mention older shows are on S-VHS, whilst everyone's at DVD right about now...

[CEC3066]

all locations are running on DVD now

[CEC3066]

So that's the 'new' Munch voice, boy I really preferred the old PTT Munch voice. Doesn't look too bad. Although seeing those kinda weird movements heh, makes you really appreciate the retrofitted RAE bots a bit more, but still pretty good. Maybe the tech had an off day on the ones that Rizzy took.

Jon Bowen isn't new. He's been Munch since April '99

[NickRyder]

Well 'new' as in 'modern era' I guess - hey I haven't set foot into a CEC since like 1994 LOL

Course I think IsabellaZilla's friend does a far superior Munch voice ;)

[NickRyder]

Well... I may be doing more than setting foot into a 'modern' CEC... I may be working for them soon... hopefully! I just put an application in to be a manager trainee at the West Allis CEC. Got the posting on Monster in my e-mail box today and I figured ... why not?! I need a job desperately if I'm ever going to be able to afford rent or a mortgage on a house after my dad died this past March and the manager job I basically left my old job at Target for dried up a month after I quit my old job - DOH!

So wish me luck folks... MMBBFan... can you PM me your real name so I can maybe use you as a reference or can you give me some pointers? Little things that might help me secure some kind of position there?

[NickRyder]

On rare occassion, a store may have older costumes in storage, but they're never used for spares or anything like that, just to take up room. If you have a staff that likes older CEC, it's possible they could switch uniforms, but most likely not. It would take a while to do so, and most staffs worry more about actually CLOSING the store after hours! As for older shows, that's probably again a no-no. With shows you've gotta switch out DVDs, most likely get the right floppy to program the show, and not to mention older shows are on S-VHS, whilst everyone's at DVD right about now...

Amazing how quickly everyone seemed to just jump right to DVD. Hard even to find blank VHS tapes nowadays. Too bad Dept 18 couldn't do like a 'best of' showtape or 'retro fun!' showtape, maybe around like an anniversary date or something. Heck I'll even take an anniversary of Concept Unification or something as an excuse to pull out some old stuff.

Well, I suppose if I ever want to be in a management type position in a store like CEC... gotta keep those to m'self for a bit huh?

[NickRyder]

Found this old LOCAL commercial on YouTube - its actually one promoting THIS location of CEC/PTT back in the day - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnPyjLEh0Sk&feature=related