Pee-Wee's Big Adventure Clown

If anyone is interested in one of these plugs, let me know. I found a set of three, and I think I'll just keep one extra.

So did he just get silkscreened sheets from the Japanese company? Or did they also pull the heads too? I thought he owned the molds, so would be pulling in LA. Maybe if he only contracted for so many heads, that's why the facepaint (and maybe neck style) changed.

Regarding the indentations, I think they're all roughly in the same places. But different shapes, and obviously further in on the skinnier neck.
 
billy baloney said:
Holy multitudes Batman!, 2,000 heads!, I wonder if that many robots were really built and sold?
Click to expand...

He said he had the company for ten years and made/sold around 100 per month at the height of the business. So, there may be more than 2,000 out there. My guess is that most of them are Santa Clauses.
 
Wow!, that's potentially 12,000 units, I would have never thought a small business in the '80's with only a handful of employees could produce that many, you'd think they would be a lot more common than they are.
 
Duckbutt said:
If anyone is interested in one of these plugs, let me know. I found a set of three, and I think I'll just keep one extra.

So did he just get silkscreened sheets from the Japanese company? Or did they also pull the heads too? I thought he owned the molds, so would be pulling in LA. Maybe if he only contracted for so many heads, that's why the facepaint (and maybe neck style) changed.

Regarding the indentations, I think they're all roughly in the same places. But different shapes, and obviously further in on the skinnier neck.
Click to expand...

I have looked into distortion printing some more. I actually contacted two local printers. It's a very precise process. The mold actually has channels or pipes running throughout it where water is circulated at a controlled temperature. I was told around 85F. The temperature has to be controlled to make sure the plastic conforms evenly. Any variance and you get print in the wrong place - which is probably what happened to the lazy-eyed clown. Custom Displays probably did not actually outright own the molds. He paid to have them made, but it's common the molder actually retains the molds. You usually have to pay extra to actually possess them. I worked for a company that refused to outsource its fiberglass molds for fear something would happen to the molder, such as bankruptcy, and lose the molds altogether. After talking with the distortion printers, it sounds as if the skinny head clown was made on a temporary mold - probably some sort of wood composite - good for only 100 pulls or so. Once he saw the clowns were successful, he then likely invested in having aluminum molds made. When he sold the company, he likely gave the rights to the new owners to use the heads.

I did ask for a quote to build a set of molds. One of the companies told me the same thing Mr. Malcolm was told, at least a couple thousand molds or it wasn't worth their time. I am still waiting to hear back from the other one. They suggested a wood composite mold to begin with.

Sorry for the long reply!
 
Interesting, I do recall reading about professional / mass production molds using water cooling.

Not sure how many of the skinny neck clowns there were (and if that correlates to the silkscreened facepaint). But they were atleast around long enough to make it into the two movies several years later. My clown's serial number is 1106 for what it's worth.

I agree for a very small run / niche thing, it doesn't make sense to go through all that trouble and expense. I was going to see if I could just make my own molds and silkscreens at home for forming (even if it takes a bit of trial and error). I hope to get to this stage relatively soon, once I finish the base and body work.
 
I sent Mr. Malcolm an e-mail last week asking more about the molds and where they might be. I just received his reply this morning. He has no idea. He did say the shoe mold was just an epoxy mold. That probably explains why the shoes lost detail over time. He did say the plate was cast in a foundry in Gardena, CA, but he could not remember the name of the company. I was hoping he may have left the mold at the foundry. I did a quick search for foundaries in Gardena... there is around 30 of them!

For some reason I always assumed the plate to be steel, but after taking a magnet to it this weekend, it is definitely aluminum.
 
Strange that the article was specific enough to say the aluminum molds were used for the heads and shoes. I guess they could have gotten the info wrong.

If you're mailing him again, I'd be interested to know how the head and shoes were originally sculpted and molded, what's up with the varying necks and facepaint (and those indentations), anything else about the forming process (esp. with those silkscreened heads), and maybe where he got some of the parts like hair and wheels. I'm a little curious still about the hinged base's existence, but I suspect the answer is just because the power was mounted inside.
 
The hair is a big hurdle for me right now, I've bought several wigs and determined wigs will not work at all, the clown head is just too large for any of them to begin to fit, Plus, none of them have the right look.
I bought some 2.5 long cut pile faux fur and it comes very close to matching the original sparkly nose clown hair, but nowhere close to the custom display,(movie) clown, it's too fine and straight and not long enough.
I tried to copy the pattern PWF posted a while back, but, it comes out looking like a winter coat hood.

Can you see how the hair pattern is made on the custom displays clown, DB , I've searched countless fur fabric pics online but can't find anything that is long and bushy like the movie.
 
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Duckbutt said:
Strange that the article was specific enough to say the aluminum molds were used for the heads and shoes. I guess they could have gotten the info wrong.

If you're mailing him again, I'd be interested to know how the head and shoes were originally sculpted and molded, what's up with the varying necks and facepaint (and those indentations), anything else about the forming process (esp. with those silkscreened heads), and maybe where he got some of the parts like hair and wheels. I'm a little curious still about the hinged base's existence, but I suspect the answer is just because the power was mounted inside.
Click to expand...

I asked last time about who sculpted the head. He did not specifically answer it or how it was originally done. I can certainly try asking again though. As for the hair and wheels, I think it's doubtful he will remember. Since he could not remember the names of the mold companies, I think that info will be even more difficult to recall. But again, I can ask.

I am glad you reminded me about the hinged base. I actually did ask about that when I original called him. He said that was where the ballast went when using stilts with the robots. He said they would tip easily when elevated. You posted a picture from his blog showing them on the stilts.
 
billy baloney said:
The hair is a big hurdle for me right now, I've bought several wigs and determined wigs will not work at all, the clown head is just too large for any of them to begin to fit, Plus, none of them have the right look.
I bought some 2.5 long cut pile faux fur and it comes very close to matching the original sparkly nose clown hair, but nowhere close to the custom display,(movie) clown, it's too fine and straight and not long enough.
I tried to copy the pattern PWF posted a while back, but, it comes out looking like a winter coat hood.
Click to expand...

The hair has definitely been a PITA. Even the type that matches the sparkly nose clown takes some manipulation to look right. I think they kept stapling until it looked like something. My last clown actually appears to have some sort of "hairspray" applied so as to spike it outward.
 
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I'll check, but the hair is so thick and long (and mostly covered by the hat) that it's hard to tell where the seams are. Most of the face outline you can tell is glued down as one continuous seam though. As far as materials, the closest I found was a 3" mongolian shag, although the colors weren't right.

PWF - Funny about the hairspray, I mentioned the same thing awhile back (I wasn't sure if it was just grime or actually hairspray - but it seems likely they would hairspray those spikes).

For the wheels and stuff, even if he just generally remembers where he got them (e.g. training wheels from bikes) it might help. I'm definitely more interested in the head molding and neck/facepaint changes we've been discussing though (and what those indentations were for).
 
Small update... Mr. Malcolm e-mailed me back and gave me the streets around where he thought the foundry was located that provided the plates. He said the mold was likely left there in case of future orders. I called one of them, and they were certain it was not them. I called the other, but only received a message saying to try back later. I will try again tomorrow or Monday.
 
Did he mention what company he sold to? That seems like a more likely way of finding anything that's left. My guess is all the molds packed up and left with each sale, but who knows.
 
Based on earlier information from Rex Engineering, Marshal Moody made the robots later on. Who they sold it to who knows. My guess is that the molds never moved though. If I were to buy a company, I would stay with the same supplier, especially since they had made thousands of them.

I'm also thinking the last company was unsuccessful with producing them. They may have went bankrupt. I doubt a bank would look to reclaim the cost of a mold.
 
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Duckbutt said:
I'll check, but the hair is so thick and long (and mostly covered by the hat) that it's hard to tell where the seams are. Most of the face outline you can tell is glued down as one continuous seam though. As far as materials, the closest I found was a 3" mongolian shag, although the colors weren't right.
Click to expand...

There are definitely some mongolian shag fur that looks close. I really think getting the hair to look right at that point is a matter of styling. As for color, the hair in PWBA is likely faded.

Mongolian Faux Fur.jpg
 
Does anyone have any pictures of the upper wood structure of their clowns without the head off? I was going over on Thursday to use my dad's tablesaw to cutout a couple structures. I would like to see if they are all made like my first one. I am most interested in knowing how the head is attached.
 
Mine is similar. It was definitely a repair job though. It has two 90-degree brackets supporting the inverted-T. I can see where it was originally glued. They should have flipped the T around though - it's backwards! I have to say, I do like the idea of the 90-degree brackets - seems better than just glue. I may just keep those.

BTW - I still haven't gotten over how freakin' awesome your scary clown head looks.

DSCN0938.JPG
 
I don't see anything wrong with that, I'd keep 'em too.


PeeWeeFan said:
BTW - I still haven't gotten over how freakin' awesome your scary clown head looks.
Click to expand...

Thanks!, I'm happy with how both faces came out, I'm no artist by any stretch, somehow, I thought the evil face would be easier, but it turnrd out to be a lot harder for me, for some reason.
 
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