Spooky Kooky Dungeon Dioramas and Toy Torture Devices

I'm having some evil, evil fun with Spooky Kookys. When I was in the process of writing about the Spooky Kooky boxes and packaging, I got to thinking that I had enough pre-existing pieces to set up a diorama.

Here's the box inspiration: Spooky Kooky jiggler box:

1985 Topstone box. Photo by Mac McDermott/Facebook

SPOOKY KOOKY DUNGEON DIORAMAS

Here is the first of the dungeon dioramas, based on the illustration of the box above. These Spooky Kookys are a mix of originals and re-issues, depending on which ones were on hand, and weren't wearing other clothing (I do a lot of customizing).

Spooky Kookys hanging in a dungeon

Just the Kookys hanging against a wall isn't all that interesting, so here's what the diorama looks like, with the addition of October Toys' Skeleton Warriors figures as their captors. The skeletons just happen to be compatibly sized, making it possible to merge the two worlds: 1971 Spooky Kookys and 2015 Skeleton Warriors.

I also added an additional Kooky, who looked very, very filthy because his previous owner tried to paint him and I had not been able to completely remove the paint. I also added handmade stocks.

Skeleton Warriors holding Spooky Kookys in a dungeon

The second of the dungeon dioramas adds The Rack:

Skeleton Warriors demand to know where the treasure is hidden

Spooky Kooky pleads with the skeletons, "Don't turn the wheel!"

Spooky Kooky sings like a canary

No toys were permanently harmed in the making of these dioramas!

BEHIND THE SCENES

rack on ebay

Back in 2012, someone on ebay was selling a Spooky Kooky jiggler tied down to a torture rack. At the time, I didn't have $50.00 in the toy budget to throw around, so I passed on it. But, I stupidly didn't take down the seller's name. All I copied was a thumbnail of the item (left), which I thought was a full sized image.

Once I had money in the toy budget, I searched for it, but couldn't find it again. That meant I had to build one myself from scratch. I was also inspired by the beautiful, handmade wooden miniature guillotines and, um, other similar types of machines on the DreadWilliam site. My rack is scaled down to 7", because the intended toy victims are between 4" and 5" tall.

The local hobby store had some benign hardwood wagon wheels and wooden thread spools. The rack bed was plywood that was sitting around in the garage. Some spare baseboard molding was also conveniently in the garage too. I ended up buying some 1/4" square dowels made of maple, because I needed hardwood for the supports and the mechanisms.

All in all, it cost me about seven dollars for supplies and parts.

The Rack work in-progress

I carved a ratchet and pawl mechanism, because the prisoner will probably spend weeks on the rack, and I didn't want the spools to unwind overnight. And, the ratchet makes a really satisfying click when you turn the wheel. I added a small wooden hammer to the pawl, in order to weigh it down and also make it easier to disengage it.

I made some recent modifications to the leg clamps. The original wooden latch didn't hold the leg clamps down tightly enough, so I removed the latch and used the simpler and more efficient peg-in-hole method. The peg has a chain and a holder so it won't get lost.

Experimental video of The Rack in action (shot using my iPad) using a 50 cent gumball machine stretchy skeleton. For educational purposes, of course. If you're squeamish, don't play the video.

The wooden stocks were also scratch built, from various scrap pieces of wood I had lying around. It opens and closes, and was tailor-made to fit a Spooky Kooky. The padlock is not functional. It was originally a metal charm from a craft/fabric store. The wooden peg-on-a-chain is what really locks the stocks.

The dungeon setting is made of cardboard and Home Depot vinyl flooring samples. The stone walls are pieces good quality corrugated cardboard, and covered with rectangles trimmed from various cereal boxes, all painted and varnished. The dungeon door looks 3-D, but it's just cardboard, with somewhat realistic-looking door hardware made from scrapbook paper and dry-brushed to give the illusion of wear and age.

The dungeon is not a permanent diorama, and can be broken down and stored flat, as needed. It can be reassembled in only a few minutes.

 

RELATED PAGES:

Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 1
Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 2
Fun with Spooky Kooky jigglers! Playing "Hogan's Heroes"
A Collection of Toy Skeletons