Postman Pat (OMC Electronics)

Postman Pat was one of the first rides manufactured by OMC Electronics. Designed by 3 people, the first prototype was made in 1991 and sited at a children's play centre in Gloucester. It was disappointingly unsuccessful and the idea was almost scrapped all together. However, OMC Electronics were in financial trouble and decided to give it one last try in a bid to save the company. Improvements were made to the design and the ride was trialled again. The next improvement to be made to the design was to enlarge the cash box so that it wouldn't get overfilled so quickly. The first five Postman Pat children's rides from OMC Electronics, were sold in December 1991. And by the spring of 1992 they were being shipped in volume. From then on, sales mushroomed. 1992 saw the sale of some 450 Postman Pat rides. Both Woodland Animations and OMC Electronics were delighted with the results. The ride continued to be enhanced, ironing out the niggling (but justified) feedback from customers. OMC were new entrants into the children's ride market, and many non-licensed ride partisans looked down their noses at the new Postman Pat ride, saying it was either under-engineered, over-engineered, over-priced, over-rated, wouldn’t last, and asked who would buy it anyway. Their cries had a note of shrillness however, as if for the first time they were aware of the limitations of some of their own products. The remarkable sales of the Postman Pat ride, which ran into thousands of units, clearly upset some manufacturers, some of whom appeared to go to great lengths to disrupt sales. However, there was no stopping the momentum it had gathered; *Postman Pat became the benchmark and catalyst for the themed ride industry*, and since its launch almost every popular children's character has been turned into a ride. Postman Pat still remains the benchmark too, judging by the comments we receive from our customers.

## Overview/Look around/Design

The ride is made out of Pat's van. It has Pat driving the van with Jess the Cat sitting in the back. The speaker is placed on top of Jess' head. It has an yellow seat for a child to sit in and the coin slot is placed inside the ride. (in this case you insert the coin near Pat)

## Sound

The sound playing during attract is the horn going "Honk Honk" then the van drives away. The ride plays the Postman Pat theme during motion. horn button honks the horn and the Jess button makes him meow (which oddly is the sped up sound from Rosa from Fireman Sam) Units that are made in 1994-199? has the ROSie board which basically is the same thing, just with messages.

## Versions

### Version 2.5

* The ride now has a base with legs and has a ROSie V4 board.

### Version 3 (Australia only)

* Manufactured in Australia by KidzStuff, the van has different shaped bumpers and Jess' paws are black.

## Other Releases

### Australia

* OMC models distributed by KidzStuff Fun & Games and operated at shopping places by Ride On! Entertainment. The audio remains the same other than having KidzStuff's phone number.

### Denmark

* Distributed by Compu-Game AS. Same sound effects, but the audio now plays the Denmark version of the album version. Recognised as Postmand Per.

### Norway

* Distributed by Intermatic Morko AS. Same sound effects, but the audio now plays the Norweigan version of the album version. Recognised as Postmann Pat.

## Common Faults

* The speed of the sound is either high pitch or low pitch. This is due to the speed control on the board not set (set it with a small flat head screwdriver)
* Most units does not have the lights flashing. This is because a bulb has blown and needs replacing.
* The credit display is broken on some models.
* Some units has Jess missing his eyes, giving the illusion that he's sleeping.
* Some units have its headlights missing.
* Many units are often missing the black thing that goes around the windshield. Same thing happens for Fireman Sam too.

## Other Variations

* A rare version called Mike the Milkman exists.
* A rather rare version called Dennis The Driver exists
* According to a few YouTube videos, Photo-Me versions exist with the Stamar board and R.B. Interface, which feature the extended soundtrack theme performed by the late Ken Barrie (1933-2016).
* An OMC Version makes an appearance in the 9th episode of Mr.Bean, titled "Mind The Baby, Mr.Bean". This model has got a few modifications: A door, and a coin slot outside of the van.
* V1 models with a 2.0. OMC Base Exist, one has been sighted at Treasure Island in Hemsby.
* Some Northern Leisure modded ones feature a number plate from the Fun2Learn version.
* A high pitched model was spotted at Lytham St Anne's Pier, various other high pitched ones have also been spotted.
* Some OMC Postman Pat Kiddie Rides with faulty PMP and ROSie boards have been spotted. An OMC Postman Pat with faulty ROSie board was spotted at Symonds Yat, in which the horn sound plays over and over due to a worn out microswitch. Click here.
* An OMC Model with a Whittaker Brothers base apparently exists, but it is unknown where it is now so it is a "Lost Ride".
* An OMC Postman Pat supplied by Both Photo-Me and Northern Leisure has been spotted at Houghton Regis Snakes & Ladders.
* OMC Postman Pats (PAT 1) with an anti-clockwise movement have been spotted.
* On a German Website called Kinderplanet, a yellow painted OMC Postman Pat van with different Coin slot, DHL Logo, and a blue EMT base can be found.
* On The Same Website, a modified green one (Similar to the infamous "Garfield Van") can be found
* Also a normal Postman Pat with different lights, an EMT Base and a side sticker of the Kinderplanet.de logo.
* At the Gatwick airport, an OMC Postman Pat with rectangular Headlights was found.
* In Glasgow, an OMC Postman Pat with rectangle indicators was found
* At some Places, like Las Vegas Amusements, Hemsby, Walton Pier and Kino Amusements,Walton, OMC Postman Pat Kiddie rides without headlights have been spotted.
* Some units, have their headlights bolted down, to prevent them from breaking off.
* At Las Vegas Amusements In Hemsby, an OMC V1 Postman Pat With a Green Start Button, Yellow Horn Button and Blue Jess Button was spotted, but these three buttons were originally from fruit machines.
* An OMC Postman Pat Kiddie ride with a windscreen and a Window was spotted at Postman Pat's village, Longleat.
* TAJ The Arcade Junkie (Back in the day 44) refurbished, modified and refitted one OMC Postman Pat with R.G. Mitchell Puppy Scooter's audio on the Soundmaster timer.
* Some units, have their headlights bolted down, to prevent them from breaking off.
* At Barry Island Sea Front, an OMC Postman Pat with Pat having a red mouth has been spotted before it got withdrawn and replaced with a V2 Fun2Learn Postman Pat with worn out button.
* TAJ The Arcade Junkie (Back in the day 44) was refurbished The Mini Version had V2/V3 OMC Postman Pat Audio.

## Trivia

* At the time, it was the most produced ride in the UK during the 1990s. That is, until Bob the Builder came along.
* This is the first Postman Pat ride to be manufactured.
* This is the first ride to be made through the Woodland Animations license.
* It used to be a very common ride until around 2016. where it was becoming extremely rare nowadays.
* This ride is one of those rides where Pat doesn't speak at all.
* One of them was converted to a fast Pat van long ago.
* A few of them has been converted to a real ridable moving van which is what everyone is doing nowadays. This could explain why they're not common anymore.
* KidzStuff Australia has continued to manufacture them after OMC closed their doors. It has different shaped bumpers and a ROSie V4 timer with KidzStuff's More Information and Australian Pricing messages. but the audio remains the same.