Talking Ryan Braun bobblehead...worth the fix?

[madgrad]

Hey guys!

 

I recently picked up one of the limited edition Talking Ryan Braun bobbles from last year...the one with Ueckers call. This one is broken, and from what I understand a lot of them are. When these first came out there was talk about how to fix them, and I remember saying that if I ever got one for cheap I'd try to fix it and post details so anyone who was interested could fix theirs. Although I didn't get this one for cheap, I am still pondering whether or not I can or even should fix it. So I have two questions...

 

1) If I fix it and can get Ueckers call to work again, is the bobblehead of any value? (i.e. is it worth more broken or fixed knowing that the base has been modified?)

 

2) If I can fix it, does anyone have interest in knowing how so they can possibly fix theirs, or am I just doing this for my own edification?

[Bikeage77]

if you can fix it without damaging the base of the bobble, it's absolutely worth more.

 

if you are able to do it, i'm sure we'd all love to know.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I wanted to try to get another one cheap, so I could take the bottom apart. I would be interested in seeing it done if you have the urge. Eventually, all of them will stop working.

[madgrad]

Well I went ahead and started dissecting the base. The base is hollow and the talking apparatus sits nicely inside. I had to take apart the bottom to get to it. So I got the apparatus out and put in new batteries and sure enough it worked! But it kept playing...over and over...until I took apart the apparatus and played with the wires. I found a loose one that when held tight only allowed Ueckers call to play one. It eventually broke off, but I can solder it back easily once I get a solder gun. I am thinking that this might be the problem with those that didn't work. The "cheap" wiring might have caused a bunch of them to play over and over again while in shipment, thus draining the batteries. Once I get it all finished I will post pictures. I am debating how to put the base back together; I can put it together like it was or try to make it accessible in case the batteries die again in the future.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I'm guessing its a watch battery. Is that correct? Can you take a picture of what the bottom of the base looks like now?

[madgrad]

Here are a couple of pics of the bottom of the base after I used my Dremel to cut out the base. There is some space between the talking apparatus and the solid sides of the base, so cutting into it was pretty safe. Also there is glue around the edges of the talking apparatus which helped to protect it, but also made it a bit tough to remove it. I initially sanded down the bottom where I could see a delineation between the hollow cavity and the solid walls. Some areas I wasn't able to clearly make out, though, but sanding down the paint helped. This helped to guide my Dremel. Since my other camera is broke I had to use my other POS camera to take pics, which washed out the first one. But as you can see I was able to salvage the BD&A logo on the bottom.

 

My initial idea was to remove the bottom piece and then after fixing the talking apparatus affix the bottom back on and paint it to match the base color. Now I am tempted to renovate the bottom so that I can remove the apparatus to change the batteries in the future if need be (any ideas?) BTW...the batteries are three LR44 batteries, which are commonly used in watches and laser pointers.

 

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/949160431640e862cfa262115f70aa078d6b95e0.jpghttp://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/02526444e01f44b4e9162bc7737d72451bb700e0.jpg

 

 

[Bikeage77]

nice. now i just gotta find a broken one, and an electrician friend. good hustle, now hit the showers!

[jjkoestler]

Nice work and damn you, Madgrad/Macgyver. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Now I have to find a broken one too.