Hallucinations Creations: DIY Mechanisms for Your Animatronics

Max: Maximus here on the show floor, and I'm speaking with Mike Yazumbek of Hallucinations Creations, did I say that right?

Mike: Yeah, you got a spot on my man.

Max: Give us an intro, what are y'all about?

Mike: So, pretty much, we handle the whole mechanical design of your animatronic props. So, we actually changed our business structure and that's all we're doing now. No more animatronics, we're just doing the DIY mechanisms, and we also got an entire line of startle scare air blasters, noise makers, stuff like that. I try to build everything overbuilt, so we try to use bearings, time joints, bushings where possible. The wear and tear that these animatronics take, the last thing you want to do is have your prop breakdown middle of the night, halfway through the season, and have another thing to worry about.

Max: What do you think sets you apart from other vendors?

Mike: So, I'm trying to do more multi-movement do-it-yourself mechanisms. The single movement, prop lifter, extender, those have been out by years from different vendors. I'm doing more arm lift while the body comes out, while the head turns, while the head looks up and down. So, I'm trying to do more character-based animatronics. And like I said, offer quality components that's going to make it last that, I noticed, some of these other vendors are not incorporating in their designs.

Max: When you look at a particular item and the way it moves your ideas already flowing as far as what you can put on it and what you can do. And what I'm looking at, I've got a reliable thing here that, knowing that this is not going to cause me a mid-season issue, and I think that's amazing to hear.

Mike: Absolutely. Like, I was guaranteeing my products. I'm like, "let me know if something breaks," and I've had a couple people be like, "the solenoid went out," which is out of my control. You can buy them on Amazon. So, I'll jump on Amazon Prime, I'll get them one next day delivery, they're back up and running.

Max: What's like the most popular thing you have here?

Mike: I got to say the overhead air blaster. So, a lot of these other air blasters, they always go by your feet. We do have a couple of those that we sell small, medium, large, we've got a rapid fire, but this one mounts overhead, and it's not a pneumatic mechanism that swivels also. So, as it swivels it's shooting the entire group, and there's also a strobe light added on simultaneously with the air blaster.

Max: Anything coming from above your head and catch you off guard, that's fantastic. So, anything new for this year?

Mike: So, I came out with 14 new DIY mechanisms. The air blasters, those are all what I had before. I got 14 new DIY mechanisms that nobody else offers in the industry. We got, this year, which we've been selling a lot of, is a full-sized scissor mechanism; it's got a head and arm lift and it comes out six feet. So, you can put any type of prop you want on it, and those are selling really good.

Max: That's awesome. So, a lot of new stuff for people to check out. So, you're here at Transworld, I'm assuming that it's been going fantastic, because I've tried to do this interview for a little bit and your booth is busy. People are loving looking at your stuff, that's amazing. So, what's the benefit of you being here at Transworld? Why is the show important to you?

Mike: Well, honestly, this show is where I get pretty much 90% of my orders. We do get a lot of orders online, but to have people look at the product on hand and see the quality of it, if this show wasn't here, I would not be around doing this stuff.

Max: So, thinking back to childhood, what was your first Halloween costume?

Mike: That's actually funny you pose that, because I looked at my Facebook memories and I had a picture. The only one I can remember, my mom had a picture that I posted, and it was me in like a medieval times costume. So that's...

Max: Like a knight?

Mike: Yeah, pretty much a knight, but it was like super homemade, with felt, and my mom sewed it. So, I was still like, haunter do-it-yourself. So, she's probably got me into it, you know, and then checking out other people's houses, and that's how I got started.

Max: That's awesome. Well, thanks mom, for getting him into this. Also, I'm curious to know, what's your favorite cookie?

Mike: Well, we were just at Insomnia Cookies last night, and I got to say, out of all of them, snickerdoodle for sure.

Max: You know what, this is the second shout out for Insomnia Cookies at this show, so when you're in St. Louis, or anywhere else that has them, checked them out. The show is going to be wrapping up here in a couple of days, if people are interested in checking out what you have to offer, where can they find your information or online presence?

Mike: We have a website, which we also have a web store, so you can buy directly off our website and our web store. It's HallucinationsCreations.com.

Max: Thank you for so much for speaking with me, DIY prop making ability, and I gotta tell you, those air cannons over there got me real good.

Mike: The horn is super loud, I'm deaf in my right ear.