Santa-Pede Challenge

So Hack-a-Day is rehosting their Santa-Pede Challenge since there were zero entries the last time around. I figured I would at least pick up one of those annoying santas and tear it apart, just to see what I could do.

Once I got home and tore into the poor guy, I started thinking that this was all looking very similar to Calebs creation. Going back to the contest I found out that somehow I had managed to buy the exact same Santa that he had.

I decided to tear into it anyways, just to see what I had to work with. Turns out Caleb was right.. the mechanics inside this toy are a great starting point for a walking robot. He had cut and melted a lot of pieces to make his legs, but by simply bending the coathanger arms a little the toy will creep along backwards on its own.

I can't very well copy what he made, so now I'm stuck on ideas. The walking aspect is already done, and all I did was bend some wire! That's not going to get me any credit! I'm thinking that the stuffing may need to come into play somehow, but I'm still not sure. So, for now, the project is on hold until I can figure out what to do.