The Wink is an animatronic figure created by Diversied Designs for Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza locations from 1990 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 is 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 1990.
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 1990 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 was manufactured from around 1992 to 1998. The CEC Stage wink reuses the 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 stages have their own variant of colored winks but this is only in the derby being red. One CEC Stage Wink with a colored hat existed at the Tallahassee, Florida location, but was removed during their 2.0 remodel in May 2024.
Movements
The figure features 1 movement in total.
| Movement |
Bit # |
| Wink |
49 |
| Wink (CEC Stage) |
10 |
File:Cyberamic Wink.png|CEC Stage Wink with a Red Derby
File:Colored Wink.png|Mobile Alabama's Colored Wink
Stages Used In
- 3-Stage: Installed from 1990-1992.
- Road Stage: Installed from 1990-1992.
- 2-Stage: Installed from 1992-1997.
- 1-Stage: Installed from 1992-1998.
- 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 |
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. |
