After the popularity of Butterscotch I seem to have got a reputation for adding fire to things (even though it was FireTim that did the pyro half of Butterscotch). So when the Mythbusters posted a link to a fire breathing pumpkin I was bombarded with questions about when I would be building one. Not being the type to do what others expect me to do I rejected the idea of doing a pyro pumpkin outright.
Though I was set on not building a fire breathing pumpkin it did make me think about building other things inside of a pumpkin.  Then it hit me just two days before Halloween. I needed to build a pumpkin that would forcefully deliver candy to Trick-or-Treaters much in the same way they would deliver eggs to my house if I did not provide candy to them. From that point on I had a mission. Throwing sleep and other responsibilities to the wind I went to the bowels of the LVL1 bone yard to hack together a candy launching pumpkin.
After design concessions due to time and help from fellow LVL1ers (thanks FireTim and Jon the Kilted) I was able to defend my house this year. Although I never saw the pumpkin Mythbusters link and I am sure it is cool I considered this a spite project similar to JAC 101 Micro-Laser Cutter. I just hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.
I have posted an instructable for this project to help others defend themselves next All Hallows' Eve… but really, why wait. Go to that instructable and start defending yourself for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Christmas. There is nothing like a fruitcake chucking Santa to keep those damn carolers at bay.