Really Late breaking News: Tim has cracked Da Boony Code and is now offering a mod-chip service to Pimp Your Boony! Freakin' Awesome!
Not so late breaking News: Read out how 'n' why Boony is Back from the Dead!
In an effort to get to the bottom of the Boony mystery I have started the Facts Of Boon page and the Reverse Boonjaneering Project. Please contribute all you can to these noble causes. Or pledge your respect in our Homage to Talking Boony...Last update: 01 Sept 06, 9:17am
As a whipper snapper, David Boon was by far my favourite batsman. And even though he was um, plump, he was the fastest runner-between-wickets in the Australian side. That's pretty impressive. So when I learnt of the "Talking Boony" marketing ploy by VB, I had no choice but to ignore my taste buds and purchase a carton - I strolled out of the local bottle-o with a slab, a bubble-wrapped Boony statuette, and the instructional leaflet that accompanied him.
"How do I make it talk?", I thought to myself "And why would it be so difficult that I'd require an instructional leaflet?". The answer left me dumbfounded. Dumbfounded and incredulous.
Apparently, see, you put Talking Boony in your lounge room, near your TV. When you are watching the 2006 one-day series, he will respond to "audible signals" and add in relevant comments! "Audible signals"! This was amazing. In all my television watching and product buying days I'd never seen anything like it...
Analysing Talking Boony
Talking Boony was whisked back to the laboratory for thorough analysis.
It became obvious that to figure out the mystery of the Boon, an autopsy would be necessary. However the leaflet clearly stated: "Do not unscrew the Talking Boony base. This will cause the unit to malfunction". It was certainly an ominous warning - it didn't say "it may malfunction" it said it WILL malfunction. I resisted pulling it apart...
Inside David Boone
...Resisted for about 10 minutes! Unscrewing the base revealed one thing - the only malfunction caused was that David Boone could now move independently of his base. The warning is a mere scare tactic aimed at those who've grown attached to their Boony.
Inside I found a circuit board with a microphone and speaker attached, as well as 3 AAA batteries. The circuit board has 4 microchips on it. It also has a big blob of black stuff, which I assume is there to hide a fifth chip that would contain all the Boony goodness.
I had a google of the visible microchips. There are 2 amplifier chips. I guess one amplifier is for the microphone, to amplify the input signal, and one is for the speaker, to amplify the output signal.
I have no idea about the others. Maybe timer chips. Maybe.
We have ways of making you talk
As there was still a couple of weeks till the first one-dayer, I thought I'd see if I could get Boony to react to some "audible tones". I found a couple of simple tone generators on the internet, and subjected Boony to blips and buzzes in all frequency ranges (well, only from 20hz-20000hz as I can't imagine many people would have TVs that would actually transmit beyond that range)
Boony wasn't saying nothing. His will was strong.
Unfortunately for me, my patience is short. While trying to stuff the boony guts in to my suitcase for a pending flight, I dislodged a wire from the battery terminal. This was bad. Real bad. The instructional leaflet said Boony would be activated on the 13 of January 2006. That meant Boony knew what date it was (or at least, how many milliseconds he had to stay asleep for)
I reconnected the wire. But I had a sneaking suspicion I had just murdered David Boon.
The Big Day
It seemed like eternity, but the big day arrived. Sri Lanka vs Australia. Boony's time to shine.
But my Boony said nothing. Not a peep.
The words circled my brain, taunting me... "Do not unscrew the Talking Boony base. This will cause the unit to malfunction.".... "This WILL cause the unit to malfunction...."
I got a text message from my mum saying "Our Boony just talked, and the cricket hasn't even started yet!" The Boonys were waking up all around Australia.
During the match there indeed were "audible tones". They sounded kind of like 2 modulated sine tones. Though it might just be my dodgy TV capture card that made is sound modulated. You can have a listen to a boon.wav file that was recorded by a couple of highly skilled, and strikingly beautiful assistants in the laboratory. Try playing it to Boony and see what he thinks.
It sounded like the same tone was played each time, so Boony just said stuff at random. From all accounts he says many hilarious things like "Get me a beer". And, "Isn't it funny that I'm an alcoholic?" or something.
Retired Out
Boony had surely won this epic battle against me. I am not sad. He was a formidable foe. And I know nothing of basic electronics. Things aren't as bad as they seem, either. My folks inform me that Talking Boony may be sold out in the eastern states, but Western Australia is weeks behind the rest of the country and will surely have Boonys available. My new and hopefully undead Boony should be here before game 2.
More updates, as they come to hand....
[people who enjoyed this post, also recommend Jolly Good Cricket]
72 Comments
Just updating that link, it’s now http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page/ however the other works as well.
– Thanks
I have started a campaign for Channel Seven to create a Talking Bruce for the AFL’s return for 2007. You can sign your support for the idea at… http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-bruce-campaign/
– Thanx
if removing the batteries buggers boony up. then why not try to provide a temporary power supply while changing the batteries so he doesnt loose power during the transition. Also have you seen what boony dolls are going for on ebay 70 bucks!!! sheees!!! imagine what he’ll be worth in another ten years!!!
Believe it or not but Beefy asked last night if anyone wanted to play darts without any button pressing one my part!!!!
I almost fell off the couch.
Boonie and Beefy said new things today, i documented it at http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page/
10 minutes before the Melbourne Cup,
“boony wants a beer
boony wants a beer
boony wants a beer
i reckon i coulda been a jockey”!
Got home just five minutes before the Melbourne Cup started and got some great comments.
2.57pm Boony: Got a tip for the Cup?
2.59pm Boony: Your Round Beefy
Beefy: Your Rounder Boony!
3.10pm Boony: We backed Phar Lap!
We backed Phar Lap!
We backed Phar Lap!
Hey Rapid Heart,
You can goto the Boonanza website and get them for $55 plus $4 P&H.
Molly
http://boony.mollyzine.com
10pm on the 7th November they said…
Boonie…
“What do you think Beefy, off to the pub for a night cap?â€
Beefy…
“Sound’s good to me Boonie.â€
8pm 9th November, boony mentions Movember…i was wondering why 5 minutes earlier he proclaimed “you know what they say about blokes with a big mo” or something similar.
could someone please send me instructions for boone and beefy dolls as i chucked them out by mistake
I have a copy of the instructions posted on my Boony Page at: http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page/
Hi everyone
One of my friends got his Boony and Beefy dolls two days ago.
We followed the operating instructions to the letter.
Beefy jumped to life!
Boony only hiccuped, “BEEP BEEP BEEP” or “BEEP BEEP”
or “BEEP”.
I sadly said to my friend, “There’s something wrong with Boony”.
Being the forever curious and a never give up without a fight
type of electronics hobbyist, I said,
“Get me a small Phillips screwdriver”.
My friend paused for moment.
Then he hiccup, “O.K., but let me get a beer first”.
I thought to myself, “Did Boony just say something?”
Screwdriver now in hand, my element I was now in.
The first screw I removed was the battery cover screw.
Sweating profusely by now , and full of self doubt, I proceeded to remove the three
1.5V carbon batterries.
Struggling onwards and upwards towards my questionable goal
I proceded to remove the four screws that would permit
the detachment of Boonies lower extremities.
I prayed in silence to God, for the salvation of Boonies Soul, and mine,
in the case that something horrible might happen.
Then I mused to myself, “Hell, he’s probably up there allready, swappin’ yarns with the “big Gâ€
about how the rules of cricket and that of life are so similar�
Well, I can’t speak for Boony but I do believe in Jonnathan Livingston Seagull and the rule of
‘ Infinite Innings’.
A sigh of relief came fourth as I held the little, helpless, dissected, Boony body in my
trembling, sweaty hands.
The problem with ‘Beep only Boony’ seemed at first sight to be that,
his onboard 3V lithium battery retainer had failed to live up to it’s post in life.
One of the retainer’s two lugs had failed in it’s sol (dered) duty as an anchor
and electrical conductor to the circuit board.
The faulty retainer lug just happened to be the one that supplies +3V to
Boonies brains, that which is covered by the ‘blob of black resin’ .
The other lug on the battery retainer is electrically isolated. It’s an anchor only.
After repairing the above mentioned soldered anchor point and restoring power to Boonies brains
I was devastated by the cold, hard fact that Boony had an ‘Alchoholic Volatile ROM’ (AVR) for a brain.
Yey S my fellow bewitched, befuddled, bamBoonled, ‘VenB’ittered Boony bloggers!
MY FRIENDS BOONY DOLL IS BRAIN DEAD !
LONG LIVE BOONIES LONELY, LETHARGIC, LOUDMOUTHED, LUX REPELLING, BEEFY !
Post Scriptum 1
To Tim,
as an electronics hobbyist I can’t wait to here what you have to say.
To other purchases of ‘Boony and Beefy’ dolls, I hope that all is well,
because, from what I have read on the http://www.boonanza.com.au website’s FAQs,
if you’re newly purchased Boony Beefy dolls don’t work it is a matter of
quote, “tough tittiesâ€, no replacement, no refund.
Post Scriptum 2
Be happy, don’t worry, I ‘me just being my normal
negative self when I can’t fix something.
Regards Lawrie Bau
They’re using a very similar technology to that of last year’s Boonys. There is a button battery inside to keep Boony & Beefy ticking along to the beat and if the power is removed they will simply pause.
At certain times they will say certain things, but without an internal microphone I don’t see how they can be triggered from the TV like last time. Before anyone says it, NO, it WONT be the TV to the IR panels, the TV does not and can’t produce infrared signals!!!
I suspect that their functionality will be somewhat reduced to just chatting to each other via the IR panels along with timed comments. This is probably the reason for the buttons on the tops.
If Lawrie’s has been paused from day 1, then it will be quite hard to re-sync him again. I may be able to re-program him, but I actually haven’t had much of a chance to tinker with them, my PhD is consuming quite a bit of time recently. Hopefully this week I may get some spare time?!?!?
Guys,
This is very freaky.
The new boonie just went off with
“Is it Bin night tonight?”
and you better believe it…. IT IS!!!
This is amazing stuff I’m still laughing!!
He’s sitting near the window maybe his seen the other bins in the street hahahahahaha
long live boonie!
Paul
New push button sayings today… Sun 19th Nov
Beefy – “I love warm beer, and lashings of it”
“Barmy Army! Barmy Army! Barmy Army!”
“Yes! Cracking shot that”
“Hey got any crisps there?”
Boony – “Hey, Is it bin night tonight?”
“G’day I’m the fourth umpire”
“Time for a spell, Hand me a VB”
“Right, Time to give the poms a bath”
Yep my Boony and Beefy both fired up with same comments today also. What is the fate of our original Boonies ? When is the next cycle of talking expected to commence.None of mine – I”ve got a dozen are saying anything.
After Beefy’s “Barmy Army” Boony fired up….”Boony Army, Boony Army”. sensational!
Tim,
Might we be able to assume that the speaker doubles as a microphone? The guide does say it reacts with the cricket on tv.
All we need to decide is HOW we want to modify these to cricket marvels. Maybe I could rig them up to my Christmas tree lights.
I thought I read that this years won’t react to the TV. I am sure they have said there purely timer based!
JMTC
Molly
http://boony.mollyzine.com
11:40pm 22 Nov New Boonie untouched just said “Anyone seen me socks”
You would have to implement some pretty fancy electronics to use the speaker as a microphone, it can (and has been) done, but it would be far cheaper to load a small electret mic like the ones on last year’s Boonys.
ALAS I HAVE KILLED BOONEY.
CHANGED THE BATTERIES.
AS,NT SPOKEN A WORD.
TRIED THE TONE GENERATOR SOFTWARE, NOT A WHISPER.
IS IT POSSIBLE HE IS UPSET WITH ME AND JUST BEING STUBBORN.?
I HOPE NOT, I BOUGHT HIM A NEW FRIEND FRIEND FOR XMAS.
A BARBIE DOLL WITH A SKIMPY BIKINI ON.
OH WELL ROLL ON THE NEW GENERATION.
C’MON THE AUSSIES.
When Stuart Clark moosed Anderson yesterday, New Boon proclaimed “Cracking Shot!” or something of that ilk. This years ones are supposed to only be on a timer, and if so they fluked that one!
I was wrong about not being able to get a replacement for my malfuctioning Boony2 doll because of the limited stock
I found this ‘Ask a Question’ Fosters Group web page
http://fostersau.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/fosters.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=Qd1usJ3i&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD00OSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_srch=
I submitted info about my problem
Five minutes later a lovely lady rang me to get my address
Seven days later new Boony and Beefy dolls on my front porch
Happy vegemite
Hey guys,
I posted a while ago about my original Boony losing its solder to the battery pack. I was told that I could just solder it back on.
If I haven’t attempted to perform this necessary surgery on Boony to this day, and I did it tomorrow, do you reckon he will work?
Shmoo,
Which battery pack was discinnected?
There is a button battery inside that keepes the timer up to date, the AAA batteries are purely for the speech.
Yeah it was just the AAAs that were disconnected. If I was to solder the wires back on to the battery pack, would the red wire go to the solder point that is connected to a positive battery end?
Yeah, usually red = “+ve”, black = “-ve”
Did anyone’s Boony from 05/06 come back to life last night? Myne did at bloody 2:35am and every hour after that. Also now if i play the tone from last years telecast he speaks also.
http://whatsonthetube.net/talking-boonie-page
The battery on mine would have to be as dead as the Proverble!
Molly
does the new boonanza 2 bonny and beefy work in the one dayers
Original Boony is awake again!!! Sweet.
Louis: Word is that they will.
Molly
You guys might like to check out http://www.davidboonfacts.com – heaps of cool facts about boonie!!!
Hehehe, picked up Boony Mk II at the Gabba today – funny! Boony and Beefy are more detailed, and they say funny things! Awesome!
Hey, got mine at the Adelaide ODI (crap game) Sundays game when Australian open final was on too, Boony said “forget the Aus Open, get the VB open” CLASSIC !
We’ve got Boony here in England as well as the interactive pair Boony/Beefy.
They all talk a lot, particularly Boony.
On Christmas morning he said “Ho Ho Ho Its Father Boony Here”
bit terrifying to be honest lol
Anybody know if Boonie will speak during the World Series?
My local bottleshop had some Boony and Beefy Boonanza II dolls on display today, with a price tag of $12.95.
I asked if he had many, and he said he had 3 boxes of them.
Reckon i will buy a few tommorrow.
Tuesday, 13th March
The original Boonies are awake again. I have 6 original 2005/6 Boonies which I have replaced the batteries in. They have ALL recommenced speaking again as from 11 March 2007 and were still talking as of today 18 March 2007. Most speak daily with up to 8 different sayings. Some go a day without speaking then start again. No particular time patterns. If TIM is still around would like to hear from him about modifying some of them to press button activation etc.
Has anyone tryed to use the IR to connect the dolls to their PC’s?
Friday the 13th (April 2007) and Original Talking Boonie is off again – Nachos, Thongs and Today’s Codeword is Bat.
Changed his batteries once before but he could be almost ready for another – starting to slur his words again (even more than real Boonie) :-)
yeah, friday the 13th and original boonie is back.Good timing cos the aussies play Ireland tonight. Slurring his words as if he’s knocked off a slab by himself. So, i’ve changed his batteries again (3rd time)and he’s happy (so am I).
Boony Doll update posted June 13th 2007
The little figurines just keep on surprising me with their cleverness.
Two days ago, on the Queen’s birthday holiday, Beefy sprang back to life with a “here’s to you Lizzie, happy birthday” greeting and later in the day followed it up with his own (almost) tuneful version of God Save the Queen. This of course earned a sarcastic response from Boony.
The Aussie national anthem did get it’s own airplay time way back on the January 26th Australia Day holiday. Naturally on that occasion it was our own Boony who crooned Advance Australia Fair.
I had planned to put the figurines to sleep after the cricket World Cup series but now I’m reluctant to shut them down in case I miss another important surprise announcement from the little cricketers.
Boony Boony Boony Oi Oi Oi
He’s up snd running again in Doncaster….. yes at the start of the Month (July 2007 ) Boony “rose from the dead” and is now in full voice with his want of Nacho’s watching the cricket, going to the pub….. you name it.
No need to be watching the TV…. he just blurts out his message whenever he wants….. intrusive little “b”… lol
August 5, 2007 and Boonie Mk I is in full voice yet again!
Long live Boonie!
Does anyone know the factory in China that produced the talking Boonie Dolls?
Hey Glenn – I remember someone HAD tracked down the company… but I can’t find where they wrote it. I’ll have a look through the other Boony posts here and see if I can dig it up!
Aug 30 2007: Boonie#1 has gone ‘Ken Bruce’ today. “Where’s me beer” & “when’s the drink’s break” are on high rotation!
Boony Doll update posted October 3rd 2007
My original boonie is still asking for some VB’s. I changed the batteries recently and the little guy is firing on all cylinders once again. Believe it or not his newly recovered vocal antics have timed perfectly with the ODI matches against India last Saturday night and again last night. Pure coincidence ??? … anything else is just too spooky to contemplate.
Will there be a new Boonie and friend released for the 2007/08 series?
Boonie Boonie Boonie Oi Oi Oi
daviepops – Tasmania
OMG … this is getting way too weird …
I just posted the previous blog (less than 5 minutes ago) and now I’ve just seen a news story on TV with Boonie and Warnie together with a life size model of the Warnie doll to be released for the coming summer cricket season.
I think I need several VB’s right NOW !!!
hey mate…
its 2007 and the cricket kicks off in feb 08.. and boonie is out.. warnie is in.
anyway.. i was also curious today as i bought a slab and won a warnie doll, and decided to open him up.
to my suprise i found no microphone and the speaker had no transformer to convert it to a microphone. hence the curiousity grew. im on the net now.. and had a look at ur pics of the PCB (printed circuit board) and u also dont have a microphone.
which leads me to say that ur initial assumption was incorrect, but ur method of deduction was correct… ie. the chip that is in the “goo”(as one of ur repliers stated) is indeed the micro controller that is set to the time.
to prove it, u would have reliesed that the doll only spoke during the telecast of the cricket. this means 1. it knew the time (hence the micro controller) 2. since the controller had been set to the scheduled air date the microcontroller programmers did not allow for the ads (commercials), (therefore it would speak in altering environments)
hey Bobby – sounds like the new Warnie dolls are shit then – the Boony doll certainly did have a microphone, which reacted to frequencies from the tele (or, a sine wave generator if you had one handy). The fact they cut out the microphone reduces any further dolls to marketing boringness – hence the lack of coverage here!
Whoa! That was cynical. Sorry about that – too many Resches. Yeah, beefy-boony interaction seemed quite cool, but what’s Warnie bringing to the table? Anything interesting? I gotta go buy some VB and see! Let us know if you find anything cool though… The original Boony sure stored some surprises, so here’s hoping.
Has anyone figured out how to wake up Boony at off peak times.
I’ve played with the tone generator and bunches of tones but bugger all happens. I’d love to be able to ping off a tone here or there and get him to talk everynow and then… remenice and remember the good ol days.
Now Warnie is in town – with NO BUTTON!!! Mr Speaker… this sounds like a challenge! I think there needs to be a coordinted effort to reverse engineer him. Let me know if/how I can help.
Boony Doll update posted January 26th 2008
My ORIGINAL Boony doll has come back to life yet again !!!
He started chatting away a couple of days ago so now I’m wondering if that might coincide with a ODI date on the first year the little guy was on the market ??? He’s been in such good voice that the batteries actually went flat today and he began talking in an ever slowing drawl so I replaced the energizers and he’s firing on all cylinders once again. My Boony/Beefy duo only talk when I hit the buttons.
Cheers Boony
Ok… Congrats to all significant (and insignificant) posters, and of course to Mr Speaker, for your informative expose on this groundbreaking, Australian born, Marketing Junk. Thank-you.
Ok.. My Boony has been hiding out in a junk box for over a year now. Yesterday I unscrewed his bottom, to find he was quite soiled. His batteries had begin to leak. To some this would be the end; but not for me (or Boony). Even with the original batteries well and truly drained (have been in lil Boony for over two years now)… Boony is ALIVE! (in fact he wont shut up) New batteries have resurrected the Boonmeister, and after a few minutes to reboot his little system he is asking for his beer, and when we are going to the pub. He must be thirsty. Never give up on an original Boony! all he needs is fresh batteries. Now I just need to wait for the next one dayer to see what pertinent pearls of wisdom he provides.
Max
Well I have sat through a couple games with Boonie’s replacement WARNIE now, and can I say what a flop.
The original Boonie captivated audiences with his mysterious inner workings and the ‘fresh’ sayings. The Boonie (MkII) & Beefie were appealing because they were pre-hacked, and interacted with each other. Then came Warnie…
To start with,
(1) I can’t even hear what he is saying, his volume is much quieter than his predecessors’.
(2) He was well over priced, around $30 with some ‘unique code’ from a carton. Now I am seeing him handed out at my local bottle-o for no charge at all – Still over priced (in my opinion). So clearly there is no uniform pricing policy, which only cheapens him.
(3) Finally the instructions suggests positioning him near (within 2-3m or something) the TV, well beyond the fact that I cant hear him from that distance, these instructions appears to have no effect. No tones from the TV, nothing that seems to make him mumble more frequently at all.
WARNINE is no substitute for the nacho loving Boonie.
Putting Warnie near the TV is pointless.
http://www.tasweb.org/news/whats_inside_vb_warnie.html
Someone cracked him open, only to find there is no mic or anything like that for him to pick up TV signals.
We have all been ripped off it seems.
I am very disappointed with Warnie. No push button, and I have been unable to decipher a single Warnie remark due to its cruddy volume. I did like Boony Mk II, but nothing compared with the fascinating beeps and the ensuing discussion here of the one-and-only original Talking Boony.
The original Talking Boonie has kicked off yet again (March 19, 2008). Warnie may well be able to make anything turn but nothing can shut up ODI Boonie – the original and the best. (How’s that beer going?)
The original Talking Boonie has kicked off yet again (March 19, 2008). Warnie may well be able to make anything turn but nothing can shut up ODI Boonie – the original and the best. (How’s that beer going?)
Boony update May 28th 2008
Original Boony is back to life again. This time around it happens in the middle of the night and very early morning. Mine has been chatting away regularly now for the past week or so asking for a VB or a nacho and repeating the “word of the day”. A mate’s original Boony sprang back to life at the same time as mine. This did seem to coincide with the Aussies playing in the West Indies. Is that possible?
Go Boony … and the Aussie team !!!
Hey “Darwin_Dave” … I just noticed the date on your post … seems like our Boony boys are working in sync as that’s about when sprang back into action down here in Hobart.
Cheers mate from Hobart_Dave
You’re never going to believe this – December 12, 2010 and my original ODI Boonie is asking for beer again. I haven’t heard a peep out of him for over two years but he’s back. I guess it was bound to happen now that we have a Beer playing for Australia.
And Boonie’s off again – talking non-stop last Friday night and kicking off again tonight. Onya Boonie!
My little bloke has been talking on and off for over 5 years and only one change of batteries about three years ago. He started again a couple of days ago to coincide with the 20/20 games and one dayers in Sri Lanka. My Boony keeps abreast of the cricket where ever the Aussies are playing. The litle bugger cranks up all hours of the night and day.
My Original Boony Doll started talking just last night at about 11:50 pm and went right through till 8:50am has anybody elses started?
same thing again 2 nights later starting at 12:20am
Woo hoo – Boony has woken up again … fresh batteries and I just heard ‘Get me a beer’ from the lounge room :) Glad he still lives – anyone else ???