StoryMagic Big Bird repair

Рет қаралды 40,728

14 жыл бұрын

Believe it or not, my first talking toy was not a Teddy Ruxpin- it was a talking Big Bird, Ideal Toy Company's solution to the quickly-spreading Teddy Ruxpin craze. Unfortunately, my Big Bird stopped working when I was about five or six years old, and when we sent him in to have him fixed, they sent me a Tyco one, instead! Apparently, the rights for the toy had been transferred over to Tyco, and instead of fixing the old Big Birds they were shipping out new ones, which was a total rip-off. I never saw another one of these guys until I was 17; I was out at a thrift store and found this very Big Bird shoved up under a set of picture frames! I snatched him up and took him home, only to find that he was broken. School got in the way and he sat on my shelf for years, but now, I've finally had enough time to get him back in working order. =)
A very special thanks goes to Dereck Tombrello for his over-the-email advice, especially since he was the only person out of the several I sent messages to who actually had the decency to respond to me.... You know who you are, bunch of rude people *glare*. Again, Dereck, thank you! Your advice was very helpful!
Also, if anyone has questions on the repair or on Big Bird in general, feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message!

Пікірлер: 100

@teresa6565 5 жыл бұрын

This is amazing that you fixed it and got it to work! I still have the one I bought for my son back in 1986. It is in great shape, but I stored it in an outside storage building in a box. A few years ago, it was still working pretty well, but I guess with the storage building not being temperature controlled, it affected the inside workings. Now the cassettes do not work. I'm not brave enough to disassemble it. I wish I knew someone local who could do this repair. This toy has great sentimental value to me. You did a great job!

@yourfellowoctopede6054 4 жыл бұрын

Can’t remember the name but there is this person you can send your Teddy’s grubbys Mickeys goofys big birds cookies and Oscars mother goose and hector to get fixed and they will send them back but it cost money

@Bandinthesky 3 жыл бұрын

Try Dr.Betty or Dr. Eyeore. They fix talkers

@jtsoundtech 13 жыл бұрын

Great video!! I have fond memories of having one of these as a child!!

@ronaldhenson3379 6 ай бұрын

Wow that's amazing I never worked on a 1996 magic big bird cassette player or 1990 tyco big bird cassette player nice job saving that big bird cassette player

@Nuggetlover96 13 жыл бұрын

i must say, big bird's internal organs are much less complex then teddie's XD

@Pupepepets 14 жыл бұрын

I love Big Bird! wacthing this makes me happy

@danlarkin1378 Жыл бұрын

I have 2 of these…. Both are kinda dirty …. How did you clean his “Fur”? Any advice sure would be helpful! I’ve subscribed to your post. Have a wonderful evening! I really enjoyed watching the restoration! He’s like “The Terminator”!! 😂 Danny Larkin

@superbman4088 2 ай бұрын

I would love to hook up a toy like this to a modern microcontroller and put in all of the old stories or some new custom audio.

@jordangibbs9166 Жыл бұрын

I just got one that doesn’t work! Do any cassette tapes play on big bird or does it have to be the Sesame Street tape for it to work ??

@lillyschumacher973 5 жыл бұрын

Your so coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool I always watch your videos!

@jtsoundtech 13 жыл бұрын

P. S. Would you happen to know if there is any way to clean the fur? My Big Bird's "feathers" have become sort of clumped together and not soft and fluffy like it used to be. No idea why. Thanks.

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

Are the cables for Big Bird's moving parts simpl connected by plugs and sockets as is the case with Teddy Ruxpin, or are the wires soldered directly onto teh circuit board? Just for your info, some people refer to the type of tape deck Big Bird has as a "letterbox" tape deck, because it's much like the slot you'd find on a mail box. It does as you've said before look so much like a car tape deck, and it sound like one when you insert a tape. "Cachunk!!!!!"

@RetroMelon Жыл бұрын

Please read this even though im very late! I have a tyco one that i just posted a vid on, and i cant figure out whats wrong with him i opened him up and everything looks new, but he does not work right. Please help if you can ! Thank you!

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@Lachlant1984 Yes, Bird's got a "plug-and-play" circuit like Teddy. The only things directly soldered are the volume control and cassette deck motor.

@colleenc1102 9 жыл бұрын

I have a 1986 Ideal Story Magic Talking Big Bird. The cassettes still work, but his mouth & eyes no longer work. Can this be fixed? Thanks!

@natej4230 8 жыл бұрын

+Colleen Chase Yes it can, you must remove the fur, and reconnect some wires going to the motors. If that is not the case, the motors or wires / connectors might need replacing

@colleenc1102 8 жыл бұрын

Sorry. I just saw this. Thank you very much.

@natej4230 8 жыл бұрын

No Problem! Just try wiggling the wires you can access first, by opening up the back, (that's how I repaired two of them) And it should begin working.

@aricdominguez913 3 жыл бұрын

Do you fix them I have one and it dose not work let me know thank you

@boborth9842 3 жыл бұрын

I watched your repair ands tried to fix one I bought on eBay. The belt had come off, so I took the cassette player off and put the belt belt on. Unfortunately, the cassette will no longer power on once I put it all back together. Any suggestions?

@blueoctopede 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a wire may have come loose. Check the wires going to the battery compartment, and the wires going to the motor.

@TheLemmyCorper 12 жыл бұрын

also how wide is he

@TheLemmyCorper 12 жыл бұрын

So how tall is it?

@blueoctopede 13 жыл бұрын

@GracieM1990 Thank you! I keep a stash of cassette parts on hand in case of emergencies, so I've never actually gone out and bought just a pack of belts. Your best bet would be to either look online (try kenselectronics; they're a bit pricey but have a good selection) or see if there's an electronics/junk store where you live that can sell you some spare parts. Good luck with Bird! Sorry I couldn't be of much help!

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@blueoctopede Also, with the pulley system instead of servo motors like in Teddy, his facial movements are virtually silent, which is VERY nice. I always thought Teddy's servos to be very distracting from the actual story... I want to do a series of songs from his tapes like I've done with Teddy, but I'm not sure how strict Sesame Workshop/Jim Henson Productions is about their copyright so we'll just have to wait and see.

@Lachlant1984 12 жыл бұрын

Disneysongtape uploaded the whole Big Bird's Day On The farm tape and I've just seen the video, I believe I have heard this cassette before, that is once when I was at World 4 Kids in 1993 I was looking at the Tyco Big Bird and the tape was up to the point where "Good Morning Mr Sun was playing, so now I know what that first song in this video is, even though I didn't recognise it when you first uploaded this video, I think the reason for that is because Big Bird's volume is so low at that point

@miriamvivo4279 5 жыл бұрын

Want to go back in time times were more layed back

@mythomaschannelisback2440 5 жыл бұрын

Can you prepare my Yes entertainment Teddy

@garnet7460 2 жыл бұрын

Hopefully you still read comments from an old video. My big bird makes a very loud tone making it on listenable. Everything else seems to be working, mouth, eyes, but when I put the cassette in and connect him to Cookie Monster and Oscar the grouch it makes a very loud tone.

@blueoctopede 2 жыл бұрын

I do get notifications for (most) comments, even ones on old videos thank goodness! For some reason, Big Bird only cooperates if you plug Cookie or Oscar in just the right configuration and honestly I can't figure out why this is the case. Just swap the cable configuration around and eventually they will work and stop beeping.

@garnet7460 2 жыл бұрын

@@blueoctopede Okay, I will try to get it figured out by switching cords. Ugh, so frustrating. Thanks for the suggestion.

@Taylor-xh8uh 6 жыл бұрын

it says pass, it passed inspection

@Lachlant1984 13 жыл бұрын

@wizzwamf One other thing you could try is to use some vinegar to clean battery corrosion off the battery terminals, if you do that make suer you remove all traces of vinegar once the terminals are clean, I've hard from another KZfaq user that if you don't remove the vinegar from the terminals they'll corrode again.

@JeanaDylan83 9 жыл бұрын

wow big bird has alot of belts inside him.

@blueoctopede 12 жыл бұрын

It's so the batteries don't pop out

@medecinewagon 4 жыл бұрын

I love This toy ! Because a Like Big Bird and Sesame Street !

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

@silverthehedgielover Yes that song is really nice, I've never owned one of these, I first heard this song in this video, I'd not heard it before, but I really like it a lot.

@httydataj3693 7 жыл бұрын

I wanted to make like something Teddy and Grubby comment here. which do you like the most? Teddy Ruxpin or Grubby? I understand if you like the two of them.

@rolfedewolf5861 7 жыл бұрын

Httydat AJ lol I'm ANGRY YOU MUST NEVER POLL ON WHOS THE BEST ME OR GRUBBY that was a public announcement for yesterday

@crystalwolfstudios8114 7 жыл бұрын

Httydat AJ grubby

@candiceharmon5048 7 жыл бұрын

my first talking toy is teddy ruxpin and I still have him and he is not woring anymore and I want him work again.

@juleksaas4144 4 жыл бұрын

0:47 number 75 came out of the suppression, maybe it's part number or serial number

@woolridge48 12 жыл бұрын

is there any way to clean up battery terminals. I have one but 1 of batts exploded in let some film on metal. other than that he should totally work.

@iloveanimals5494 2 жыл бұрын

2:27 is this the face?

@Vibri.-ei3vs 5 ай бұрын

Yes

@iloveanimals5494 2 жыл бұрын

1:58 or this is the face?

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@tcarnley01 If he's having problems with his eyes and mouth I won't be able to help you- I don't have any experience repairing those types of motors, unfortunately. If you're feeling confident you can open him up yourself, but what you'd probably be better off doing is seeing if Dr. Eeyore of dreeyoreshosiptal can fix him up for you.

@xxxx_inactive_xxxx 9 жыл бұрын

0:46 That's not Korean that's Chinese! You misunderstood!

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@Lachlant1984 Thank you! The motors actually do have grease on them, you can really see it on the motor running the eyes. There were 19 tapes total made for Big Bird, and so far I have 8. The stories are much shorter, too, only about 5-8 minutes each, whereas the Teddy Ruxpin tapes are about 15 minutes. I'm not sure where these guys were made... There was some writing molded into the plastic but I never got a clear picture of it, so there's no telling if it said where he was made or not.

@Bfonse 8 жыл бұрын

Good job!

@elizabethcalvert2199 8 жыл бұрын

so tru:)

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

I love the song at the start of the story you play at the end of the video, from the sound of it the story is called Big Bird's day on the farm. , I think the sound Big Bird makes to remind you to turn the page is cool, it sounds like an old cordless phone.

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

Does the neck assembly somehow attach securely to the main base unit, or is it simply held together by the foam and fur when fully assembled?

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

That's a really good restoration job you've done there, a simple fix for a problem that stopped him from working. Do you know if Big Bird's motors need oilling and lubrication as does Teddy Ruxpin? How many tapes do you have for Big Bird. I've seen a few of these on eBay over the past few days, it seems as if they're made in Hong Kong, right? I suspect that hand written lavel you saw was a serial number of some kind.

@jtsoundtech 13 жыл бұрын

Hi again, I was just curious about something: I was reading over some of the comments, and you speak of a Dr. Eeyore who seems to know how to fix these... Does he have a channel on here? I can't seem to find him. Fortunately, I am not in need of a fix... yet, but am awfully curious to learn about how this works. You did a great job restoring yours!

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

Are the tapes for the Ideal Big Bird also compatable with the later Tyco version? When you removed the face covering and showed the animation assemply I couldn't see the motors, but I could see a couple of rotating pullies, I'm guessing from watching the movement the pully on the right is for Big Bird's eyes. Are you going to upload any Big Bird songs from the tapes you have? Once again I'm really impressed with your restoration job.

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@Lachlant1984 Yes, the tapes work fine for both versions, which is really nice since they failed to do the same with TR. The motors running the face on Bird are basically the same pulley system used in the little Teddies and the YES! ones, only much better quality. The bottom pulley operates a piece of plastic that fits inside the hollow bottom mouth, and the eyes work on a gear system; grooves on the motor fit into grooves at the base of the eyelids, and as it rotates, he blinks!

@coondogtheman 12 жыл бұрын

I'd be curious to know what would happen if you put a regular music tape in BB. I played one of the tapes in a normal stereo once and there was audio from one side and a pulsing noise in the other.

@Decahexic 7 жыл бұрын

coondogtheman1234 I put a normal tape in him but it broke him -DO NOT ATTEMPT-

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

@blueoctopede Interesting that they were able to make the motors as quiet as you suggest. Certainly in this video I hear some motor noise, but that's to be expected, particularly when Big Bird's beak opens. Teddy Ruxpin can be a little noisey, but the noise doesnt' bother me, he's not as noisey as the Playskool TJ Bearytales toy my cousin has/had, I thought that thing was quite noisey indeed.

@xxxx_inactive_xxxx 8 жыл бұрын

Do you have Big Hero 6 DVD?

@wizzwamf 13 жыл бұрын

my big bird has battery corrosion on his battery pack springs and some of the other connectors for his batteries any ideas how to clean them, as for his plush i would use a wire suede brush for shoes and blow dry at the same time but gently mind

@bpmagruder 12 жыл бұрын

Deathtrap?

@Twilight101cp 13 жыл бұрын

If his face is permanatly attatched, how'dyou get he fur stuff off and things?

@MonsterKollector 12 жыл бұрын

@blueoctopede I have a Tyco StoryMagic Big Bird, and the tapes sound very sluggish and almost drunk when they're played. Do you know how I could speed this up to normal again please?

@Decahexic 7 жыл бұрын

MetalMonkey New pinch roller

@blueoctopede 13 жыл бұрын

@jtsoundtech Try spraying him lightly with some carpet cleaner and brush the fur down while it's still damp, then vacuum it when it dries- that should get a lot of the clumps out.

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@Lachlant1984 His face is sewn and bolted into the fur, leaving the gears exposed. With Teddy, there are simply holes in the fur where the eyes and mouth fit, and the pieces are attached to the frame inside. Much to my surprise, the tape heads were actually spotless! I think that he had broken early on and hadn't been played with much at all, and simply sat around collecting dust. The Tyco version is sadly incompatible with Cookie and Oscar, so no satellite jack.

@blueoctopede 13 жыл бұрын

@wizzwamf Some rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip is what I use for corrosion. Works like a charm!

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@Lachlant1984 The base of the neck piece has two notches on the side, and slides into a piece on the top of the main player and snaps firmly into place. They definitely forecasted that kids would be carrying him by his neck; it's incredibly strong once the two pieces are connected.

@blueoctopede 12 жыл бұрын

@TheLemmyCorper He's roughly 12 inches from shoulder to shoulder; that's where he's the widest.

@henrykaszel9745 10 жыл бұрын

Hi, My Ideal 1986 big bird's mouth doesn't move anymore. Any suggestions? and oscar doesn't come out of his garbage can. Henry in Montreal

@WasabiKitCat 9 жыл бұрын

Henry Kaszel You could try to do the Teddy Ruxpin eye massage trick on his mouth, but I'm no professional. For both the motors are probably stuck, so you could take them apart and massage the motors while its playing. That's probably only temporary, but if it doesn't work then there is probably something wrong and you would want to send it to a professional. (Dr. Eeyore is the only one I know) That's my advice but I don't know much about engineering so don't ask me what to do if it doesn't work...

@Lachlant1984 7 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure if the motors in Big Bird have those same issues.

@blueoctopede 13 жыл бұрын

@GracieM1990 I don't know exactly what Bird's measurements are, but I assume it would be the same as a Teddy Ruxpin belt since their cassette players are similar in size; Square, 0.04 inch (1mm) thickness, ≈ 6.3 inch circumference. =)

@cfothough 11 жыл бұрын

You are right.

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

When you say Big Bird's face is permanantly attached, do you mean the gearbox assembly is attached to that poll that forms BB's neck? Did the Tyco version have the "Satellite Jack" found on this version? Did you clean the tape heads when you repaired the broken wire. Because of the way the tape loads I can see that properly cleaning the playback head means taking the toy apart, unlike Teddy Ruxpin, all you need to do is open the door and remove the cassette before cleaning the heads.

@blueoctopede 12 жыл бұрын

@TheLemmyCorper He sits at 17 and 1/2 inches tall.

@TheLemmyCorper 12 жыл бұрын

What is the slide lock for?

@bridgetteko8356 7 жыл бұрын

do you know what's the satellite jack for at 0:06

@lukeburbank5208 7 жыл бұрын

+Bridgette Ko yes cookie and osker

@Taylor-xh8uh 6 жыл бұрын

+luke burbank OSCAR

@blueoctopede 13 жыл бұрын

@Twilight101cp I didn't. It just came off as one big piece with eyes and mouth still connected.

@bridgetteko8356 7 жыл бұрын

What's the satellite jack for.

@Decahexic 7 жыл бұрын

Bridgette Ko Cookie Monster and Oscar the grouch

@melindablackwell6968 Жыл бұрын

@@Decahexic kind of reminds me of furbys

@blueoctopede 14 жыл бұрын

@Lachlant1984 Not bothering me at all! I love answering questions =)

@coondogtheman 12 жыл бұрын

@blueoctopede NM I got it it's big bird sings journey.

@candiceharmon503 6 жыл бұрын

I have a 1985 teddy ruxpin and he still working

@Lachlant1984 14 жыл бұрын

@blueoctopede So far this video hasn't been muted or taken down and you featured a full song, just as long as you don't feature a full tape you should be safe. I would be interested in what the other songs on the tapes sound like believe it or not, I find this toy to be very interesting, but still i prefer Teddy Ruxpin. I hope I'm not bothering you by asking all these questions.

@emeryclarkscarsanimatronic6999 8 жыл бұрын

Have him play a Teddy Ruxpin Tape

@TheLemmyCorper 8 жыл бұрын

I've done it and all he does is output the buzzing noise that is used to move teddy/grubbys mouth and eyes

@Twilight101cp 13 жыл бұрын

Hmm. To translate the sticker thing you would have to set oyur computer or Google to a different languag and find the characters that look like the three or something..... lol Just a thought!