Realistic Battery Candles

LPdan

Well-Known Member
I'm looking to put together a set of 15-20 hand-held battery operated candle sticks for musicals. I'd like them to be as realistic as possible, but given the quantity, cost is also a concern. I'm open to incandescent if they are more realistic, since if carried they would only be used for a scene or two. If built into a set, I'd provide power.
My question is, can anyone attest to how good the City Theatrical candles are? Are they worth 10X the price of Amazon candles? Any other options to consider?
 
Let me get into my venue later today and see what we've got, see if I can find the make/model. They arent' CT's, but they are pretty cool, battery operated and will run 8 hours a day, 7 days a week on AAA's that only need changing about every few weeks.
 
They are excellent. We have 3 CT candles and from more than about 10 feet away they look like open flames.

I'm toying with making my own using arduino or ESP controllers, but making the flame head look realistic is non trivial.
 
Let me get into my venue later today and see what we've got, see if I can find the make/model. They arent' CT's, but they are pretty cool, battery operated and will run 8 hours a day, 7 days a week on AAA's that only need changing about every few weeks.
Okay, so the boxes ours come in are unmarked, and I haven't found any markings to tell me who/what/where they came from. But if/when I find it I'll chime in.
 
They are excellent. We have 3 CT candles and from more than about 10 feet away they look like open flames.

I'm toying with making my own using arduino or ESP controllers, but making the flame head look realistic is non trivial.
Would you say they're worth the price?
 
They were worth it for us. We had some unbranded much cheaper electric candles, and they really didn't cut the mustard. The TC candles look like proper, burning candles. It depends on your situation whether it's worth the extra to get the realism. We're a volunteer theatre (UK: "am-dram" they used to call us) but we strive for high standards, so for us it was worth it. They cost roughly fifty pounds per device, which was within our budget; I know of local amateur theatres near us who would probably baulk at that expenditure, but of course they are in stock now for future productions. We even pressed the innards of one of them into service in a lantern which was hanging inside a set. It looked extremely realistic.
 
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They were worth it for us. We had some unbranded much cheaper electric candles, and they really didn't cut the mustard. The TC candles look like proper, burning candles. It depends on your situation whether it's worth the extra go get the realism. We're a volunteer theatre (UK: "am-dram" they used to call us) but we strive for high standards, so for us it was worth it. They cost roughly fifty pounds per device, which was within our budget; I know of local amateur theatres near us who would probably baulk at that expenditure, but of course they are in stock now for future productions. We even pressed the innards of one of them into service in a lantern which was hanging inside a set. It looked extremely realistic.
Are your others possibly Rosco Labs, theirs were pretty decent?
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
I'm not sure what the others were. We've had them for years, certainly longer than I've been at the theatre, so pre-2010. They just had a pair of LEDs which blinked alternately in the flame - not a patch on the City Theatrical candles which have a realistic pattern to the "flame".

If I can get a working arduino/ESP32/Raspberry Pi alternative, I may try to retrofit them.
 
I’m pretty sure we had the Rosco ones on tour. I had a fire marshall freak out on me in on venue, accusing us of lying about real fire on stage. I guess that’s an endorsement of sorts.
 
On a tight budget may I suggest checking out Amazon for

Flickering Flameless Candles, Moving Flame, Battery Operated LED Pillar​

The moving fake flame is pretty convincing.
 

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