Wink
 | This article lacks abundant citations. You can help by contributing to it. |
The Wink is an animatronic figure created by Diversied Designs for Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza locations from 1989 to 1998 as a part of Concept Unification, which turned the Rock-Afire Explosion into the Chuck E. Cheese characters. The Wink is an emblem of Chuck E. that is colored gold and winks at the end of segments or songs. It on the valence of center Stage. The Wink mechanism used the airline from Antioch from the Rock-Afire Explosion and was eventually incorporated into the design of multiple Cyberamic stages.
History
The Wink debuted with the Concept Unification retrofit in 1989.
The ribbons next to the Chuck E. head originally read "In Pizza We Trust" but complaints were given about the phrase regarding religion and the actual phrase "In God We Trust" so existing winks with this phrase were retrofitted to just have red and white ribbons covering up the offending phrase. Some stores do not have the "In Pizza We Trust" covered, making it more rare.
Design
Concept Unification/Road Stage
This version was the first version of the Wink made, it features Chuck E. Cheese in the middle, who winks his left eye, to the left and right of him are the words "In Pizza We Trust", a play on the phrase "In God We Trust", with two stars on each side. Below Chuck E.'s head is his signature reading "Chuck E. Cheese. There is also a TM symbol under the "We" part. This version was manufactured from 1989 to around 1992
CEC Stage
This version was the second version of the Wink made, it is the same as the 3-Stage, except the "In Pizza We Trust" was never in this version. There is only 1 star on each side, the Chuck E. Cheese signature is also not featured on this version, making it smaller than its Concept Unification counterpart. This version is used currently on the 2-Stage, 1-Stage, some Road Stages, and one 3-Stage. This version was manufactured from around 1992 to 1998. The CEC Stage wink reuses the bit Warblettes Body Tilt Bit#.
Colored Wink
This version was identical to the 3-Stage Wink, except the entire Wink is painted in unique colors. It was installed in Mobile, Birmingham (Roebuck), and Huntsville, Alabama. After the closure of the Birmingham (Roebuck) in November 2007, their Wink was sent to the Madison, Tennessee location. As of April 2023, there are no colored winks left due to Huntsville getting remodeled. Some CEC Stages have their own variant of colored winks but this is only in the derby being red.
Movements
The figure features 1 movement in total.
| Movement | Bit # |
|---|---|
| Wink | 49 |
| Wink (CEC Stage) | 10 |
Gallery
-
CEC Stage Wink with a Red Derby
-
Mobile Alabama's Colored Wink
Stages Used In
- 3-Stage: Installed from 1989-1992. 5 left as of July 2023. Tallahassee, Florida and Corporate has CEC Stage version.
- Road Stage: Installed from 1990-1992. 5 left as of November 2023, some have the CEC Stage version.
- 2-Stage: Installed from 1992-1997, 7 left as January 2024.
- 1-Stage: Installed from 1992-1998, 15 left as of January 2023. International locations do not have Winks.
- Cyberamic 3-Stage: Installed in 2000 & 2017 at Lynnwood, WA and Springfield, MA locations. Springfield would close in June 2020 and Lynnwood would close in July 2023.
Current Wink Animatronics
| Location | Address | Stage Type | Installed | Condition / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | 4141 Dixie Rd | Road Stage | Spring 1991 | Oldest Road Stage and only in Canada. In Pizza We Trust uncovered |
| Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | 5612 Albemarle Rd | Road Stage | November 1991 | Only Road Stage in North Carolina. In Pizza We Trust uncovered. |
| Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | 7701 Pineville-Matthews Rd | 3-Stage | Sometime in 1991 | Last 3-Stage in North Carolina and entire Carolinas. One of two remaining uncovered 3-Stage Winks. |
| Billings, Montana, United States | 100 24th St | 3-Stage | Between 1991/1992 | Only CEC in Montana. One of two remaining uncovered 3-Stage Winks. |