What We Do

Since 1987, Characters Unlimited Inc. has specialized in “Making your place an attraction” by designing and building affordable, life-sized, mechanically animated and talking characters. We have hundreds of characters available for you to choose from, including animatronic people, birds, animals, dinosaurs, fortune telling machines, sign waivers, and much more. We own the trademark for Zoltar Speaks® and are the only manufacture of the fortune teller Zoltar Speaks®, since 2006.

Our Story

Olaf Stanton, the president and founder of Characters Unlimited Inc, grew up and worked during his adolescent life in the booming tourist town of Wisconsin Dells, WI. He learned how to build non-animated “dummies”, or characters, from his stepfather back in the 1970s. Surrounded by entrepreneurs his entire life, Olaf knew that he wanted to start a venture of his own. So, after graduating college, he packed up and headed West to a small town outside of Las Vegas called Boulder City, NV where he founded Characters Unlimited, Inc.

In the early years of Characters Unlimited, (way before ecommerce!) Olaf and his wife Krishun would go on selling trips with a van full of various themed characters to sell. They would stop at trading posts, gift shops, and various tourist attractions all across the West, in search of new customers. Between then and now, advancements in our products such as talking and moving movements, the introduction of new products such as the Zoltar Speaks® fortune teller, Man in Outhouse, and animated animals have grown the company into something far more than its beginnings.

Today, our team at Characters Unlimited is proud to provide customers all over the world with quality, hand-crafted, static and animated characters of all kinds. We work with companies of all sizes and budgets. Some of the companies that we are grateful to have worked with include Bass Pro Shops, Circus Circus, SLS Las Vegas, Cedar Fairs, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Chuck E. Cheese, The Big Texan Steakhouse, and many more.


We are only limited by your imagination.

We pride ourselves in our slogan and will do anything in our means to help make your dream project a reality.