Get a look inside Nevada company making iconic Zoltar fortune-teller machines

BOULDER CITY, Nev. (InvestigateTV) — The fortune-telling arcade machine made famous by the 1988 film “Big,” starring Tom Hanks, is still being built, and the operation is run out of Boulder City, Nevada.

Olaf Stanton, founder of Characters Unlimited, said his company acquired the Zoltar trademark in 2006.

“In 2006 we stumbled onto the Zoltar trademark, which they had not trademarked Zoltar since they made the movie in 1988,” Stanton said.

How the machines are made

Each machine starts in production before being sent out for animation work.

“We start with making a cast of the head,” Stanton said.

They then send it to the team that does the animation and makes the eyes and mouth move.

“Then we’ve got the body cavity, which has an arm movement and a head movement in it,” Stanton said.

From a van to a production house

Stanton, a Wisconsin native, said he started the business with almost nothing, selling characters out of his vehicle.

“Sometimes we would have to sleep in the van because we didn’t have a room or we didn’t make a sale yet. We started literally with nothing,” Stanton said.

4,000 machines sold worldwide

Characters Unlimited has sold 4,000 Zoltar machines worldwide. Stanton said the appeal of the machine goes back further than the movie.

“I think people have always been fascinated by fortune-teller machines. It’s like one of the oldest arcade games there is,” Stanton said.

Orders for Zoltar vary, including a DJ Zoltar variant.

“We’re taking Zoltar to the next level,” Stanton said.

When asked where that next level leads, Stanton said, “We keep plugging on with hard work and perseverance and you take opportunities as they come.”

Stanton’s children help fill every order that comes in at the Boulder City facility.

See the full story by Victoria Saha here.