I was able to meet up with Lee Deigaard, the artist who created the memorial to Topsy the Elephant mutoscope and Aaron Beebe, who is the curator of the Coney Island Museum. Lee used a vintage mechanism that she rebuilt and then fitted a new reel that she made. It was great to see things in action and how it was fitted together. The reel mechanism is pretty much what I had envisioned, but I was not aware of how the spring-loaded "thumb," the piece that holds back the cards comes into play (the topology is somewhat complex) and that there is also a catcher of sorts (the inclined metal plate below the bulb) that is angled so that the cards get slightly wedged after they flip; prevents backlash.
Overall, I think it will be do-able, the most complex part of the Topsy mutoscope is the coin operation mechanism, which the one I plan to build will not have. I like how history and concept integrated in this piece. It's both fascinating, heart-rending and poetic.
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