The Clapper Board

[MMBBfan327]

Who here remember's the clapping animal hands next to the stage in the PTT showroom? Were they all different, or was it the same animal hands (including the bear hands and the elephant hands/trunk)? Any interesting stories, or history lessons? I'd love to hear stuff.

[captslappy]

They are the same movements and uniform mechanically. Cosmetically there are some variations. There were bear hands, horse hooves, Frog legs/duck legs (depending on fabric color) and an elephant trunk and 2 elephant feet. They were mounted in a picture frame (the only carry over from the portrait show into the balcony show). The outside had a razzle light that blinked around the picture frame. The elephant either had red/green plade suit cuffs on the hands or dark blue/light blue and white. The clapper board went off during the cheer skit and the end of the skits when the flags waved. I know of only 3 of these units in existance but I'm sure there are more out there somewhere. 2 belong to private collectors and 1 is in Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical museum. None of the 3 I know of are for sale.

[MMBBfan327]

Ok, so there are 3 different Clapper Boards, or do you mean Clappers, Band Board, and Flags?

[captslappy]

No, I mean I have seen only 3 clapper boards that have surfaced one of which I own. The band board and flags are distinctly different pieces. My point in making that comment is I am trying to get across how rare some of this stuff is. I have been collecting for 5 years and in that time I have seen only 3 clapper boards out there period.

[MMBBfan327]

Oh, ok ic now. In your opinions, which character(s) are the easiest to find?

[captslappy]

King and Beagles. Those the only things I would call easy to find. All the other stuff I would call "rare" to "scare". That is part of the reason they go for so much $$$.

[dheineCECfan]

I remember the clapper board from the Pizza Time Players show in 1983-1985 even at the former CECPTT Hoffman Estates, IL location.

[MMBBfan327]

I'm surprised Chuck isn't the easiest, then again CECE or other places are probably VERY strict on him. :rolleyes

How big is the Clapper Board? I'm talking Length X Width here. BTW, any clear photos? JyPsy's pic of the bottom of it was very cool! And I know Anthony has one from the Waterbury, CT store from 1984 in the gallery, but it's really hard to see. At first I thought it was an arcade game!!!:lol

[captslappy]

The clapper board is 3x5 roughly. As I said earlier, corporate doesn't want this stuff getting in the hands of anyone outside the company. The policy is to destroy and throw out anything that is retired. Masks are supposed to be cut up to the point they are not usable. In fact, CEC went so far that when the store in Lewisville Tx got studio C they had an employee guard the dumpster until the trash truck came. Also, none of the CEC robots are what I'd call "common". The King and the Beagles are the characters I've seen available most often and we are talking 4-6 total out of 5 years of looking. That really isn't much when you think about it.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

More then likely the reason why the King and Beagles are far more 'common" is because these show had further appeal due to their built in appeal ( i.e. Elvis and the Beatles!). Many of these were taken home by ex-employees back in the days when no one cared what happened to old 'junked" robot parts. Once stuff was slated for removal, no one really cared where it ended up as long as it was gone! This is still true today, it just depends on numerous factors. Your standing at the store, your position, your 'connections" within the Company, etc. It's still possible to grab stuff that has been pitched, but it's becoming more difficult exspecially for those who are not directly involved.

Cyber characters from the late 80's/ early 90's were almost always junked. Nobody ( except us freaks!) ever gave a second thought about it. I would say that there are two main ways how the few characters who remain are still in exsistance. One is ex-employees or friends of such bringing them home after they are tossed, or given to them by whoever the Manager/Tech was. The other way is from discoveries in old building attic spaces or corners where nobody looked.

I can't help but think of all the troves yet to be discovered out there in all those old ex-PTT locations. You never know what you will find...but the Captian is right. There is no "magic warehouse" in the dessert holding all the leftover and stored PTT figures and parts. I wish it were true....and i suppose there always IS a chance ( like the original building that housed PTT Cosmetic central out in Sunnyvale perhaps? i still have the address if anyone cares to hunt it down....)

[MMBBfan327]

Wow, a guard had to watch the dumpster until the truck came? Holy crap.

Now I can understand why CEC is not as common now. And don't forget the fact that most 80s CEC bots are still in use (as MMBB) at CEC's nowadays, and with our new "Security Dumpster Men" policy, we may never get our hands on some from a modern CEC unless we are lucky...

[captslappy]

That was just one store and one manager being anal. I don't think every store is that protective. People have gotten stuff out of the trash after a store went OOB or changed to Studio C. If you hear of a store getting ready to get Studio C keep your eyes open for when the MMBB gets uninstalled. You might get lucky!

[MMBBfan327]

I'll keep that in mind when I stroll around the plaza that houses the West Allis store and the plaza with the Chase Ave. store.