Wind Up Gear Robot (Horikawa / 1960s / Japan / 9 inches)

Now this is a colorful robot!



The Wind Up Gear Robot isn't the first gear robot made by Horikawa, and it wouldn't be their last. The company definitely got a lot of mileage out of its gears, but that's great because, let's face it, gears and robots go together like... well... gears and robots.



This is one of Horikawa's famed "Fly Eyes," so called because of the trapezoidal, perforated pieces of tin on their faces. The company made a lot of them, with all sorts of functions, over the course of its multi-decade manufacturing run. There are so many Fly Eyes out there, in fact, that many collectors have sub-collections of nothing but this particular style of robot. And those collections are probably bigger than my entire collection combined!



You can tell that this is one of Horikawa's later robots by the plastic head, arms, legs, and feet. The body is still tin, as is the lithographed panel behind the clear, plexi chest shield. I used to not really love too much plastic on my vintage robots, but over the years I've come to accept that, regardless of what it's made of, a cool robot is a cool robot.

I think it's a lesson we can apply to many parts of our lives, yes? Yes.

I won this robot -- and one other -- at an auction recently. It was a fun experience; I was phone bidding for the first time. For all the auctioneer knew, I was bidding in my boxers. I wasn't, but I like that I could have been!

Mr. Zerox (Horikawa / 1965 / Japan / 9 inches)

Mr. Zerox is a robot with a lot of personality. Just look at those shades! Look at that jaunty cap! Stylin!



Popular culture in the Fifties and Sixties was obsessed with atomic energy, and toy manufactures capitalized on this by sticking variations of the word "atom" in the names of everything they produced. Heck, in the world of robots alone I can think of four examples off the top of my head: Mr. Atomic, Atomic Robot Man, Mr. Atom, and Atom Robot.

Making less of an impact on people's imaginations? Photocopy technology. And yet, and yet, Horikawa decided to embrace this mad science by naming a robot after the Mac Daddy of all photocopy companies, Xerox. Of course, they changed things up by using a Z instead of an X. Perhaps to avoid lawsuits? Or maybe the Japanese company spelled the name phonetically. Who knows? Horikawa's departure from the world of atoms and all things atomic was bold, and darn it, I salute their gumption and individuality!


Note the separate, contoured eye piece. You can just make out the circles underneath it where Horikawa would have put the round eyes found on similar robots.

Mr. Zerox has a fun, if straightforward, action. Flip the switch on this battery powered robot and it walks forward while the green window on its chest lights up. After a few steps, the front door flips forward, and two guns pop out and flash while making a rat-tat-tat sound.



The center bulb between the two guns is what actually lights up. 

Horikawa was one of the longest running toy companies, producing robots for more than four decades. Horikawa made so many robots, in fact, that many collectors have sub-collections of the toys within their robot collection. This is one of the earlier pieces, marked as such by its all-tin construction and small stature. I definitely wouldn't call it a rare toy, but it's not too common either -- especially in decent condition.


A nice burst of colorful litho accompanies the chest guns. The "SH" symbol stands for Horikawa.


The grill on top of the hat helps the rat-tat-tat sound come through loud and (annoyingly) clear.

I was late in coming to this robot. In fact, I was late in coming to Horikawa robots altogether. I'm not exactly sure why, I think I just wasn't familiar with them. But as I delved deeper into the hobby, and as I became exposed to more and more robots, I discovered the Horikawa's undeniable charms. Creative actions, iconic designs -- all the elements of a great toy robot.

By the way, in case you didn't notice, I've decided to abandon my old photo background. The shelf of toys was getting played out, so I'll be messing around with some new ideas in the coming posts. Keepin' it fresh!

Space Fighter (Horikawa / 1971 / Japan / 9 inches)

It was a long time before I learned to appreciate Horikawa robots. When I first began collecting, they all sort of looked alike, with their squared bodies, chunky legs, and "fly-eye" style heads. But the truth is, while Horikawa did repeat many of their design elements from robot to robot, they managed to devise a staggering variety of actions, resulting in a wide range of toys that each manage to stand out from the pack.

The Space Fighter is one of my favorite, late-era Horikawa robots. It looks fairly simple, with its chocolate colored tin and plastic body, cream colored doors, and minimalist lithography, but the robot really shines when you turn it on. First, he walks along while his body bounces up and down above his legs. It's jaunty, it's silly, it's the kind of walk that says, "Hey, I haven't got a care in the world. Bright days and wild nights, that's my life in a nutshell! It's all good."

But then he stops and swings open his doors. Twin energy cannons burst from his chest and begin flashing and firing like he's at the OK Corral. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the violence ends, his chest closes up, and the Space Fighter, confident that his superior firepower has reminded all the other robots who's boss, continues on his merry way.

Now that's a toy!

I first fell in love with the Space Fighter when I saw one at the Toy Robot Museum. The curator, Joe Knedlhans, was nice enough to show me how his worked, and I immediately decided that I had to own one myself. It took a few months, but I eventually snagged one off eBay. (Where else?) Mine actually came with its original box, but I sold it to a fellow collector. I needed to recoup some of the money I'd spent on the toy, and she needed the box to pair with her own Space Fighter. A win-win situation.

Many Horikawas are often referred to as "Fly Eyes" due to some of their robots' unique facial features.

The toy was also available in silver, though I can't say which one's rarer. Both have identical actions. It's not a particularly rare robot, but it's often found in non-working condition. The mechanism that makes it bounce is surprisingly simple, but all that jolting action sometimes shakes loose some wires. The robot literally shakes himself to death.

Yikes!

Adventures Into The Land of Robots! Toy Robot Museum & Morphy Auction House

Art lovers have the Louvre. Dinosaur buffs have the American Museum of Natural History. And space toy collectors have the Toy Robot Museum. Guess where I was on Saturday? 

The Toy Robot Museum in all its glory!

I'd planned this trip months ago, and was joined by two other local collectors -- Steve Jaspen (who was interviewed for the Attic's first "Top-Shelf Titan" article, here) and Karl Tate (who wrote the article on Apollo-inspired space toys, here). Chatter about it on Alphadrome brought other collectors from the area out of the woodwork, and soon the Geek-O-Meter levels were rising fast as about eight of us descended on the museum. It was going to be a good day.

Located in Adamstown, PA, the Toy Robot Museum features well over 2500 pieces, from the very old to the very new. Cases line the aisles, stuffed with every color, shape, style, and model of toy robots. The overflow, which includes posters and related ephemera, climb the walls and cling from the ceiling. Robot-themed video games and pinball machines beep, chime, and clatter, competing with the click-click-thwok-buzzzz of a vintage Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots game. 

A case full of classics: two variations of Electric Robot and Son (Marx, 1955), and (bottom) the great Robert the Robot (Ideal, 1954) 

Joe's museum has every version of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. He's even set one up so kids (of all ages) can play with it.

Overseeing it all is the museum's curator, a boisterously cheerful collector named Joe Knedlhans. Catch him in the right mood -- and by that I mean "awake" -- and he'll gladly spend an hour talking about his favorite toys. Joe is an endless font of knowledge, whether he's answering questions about a vintage Robert the Robot or a brand new Wall-E movie tie-in toy. 

The man, the myth, the legend: Joe Knedlhans!

Joe's favorites: Robert the Robot. Seen here are all three variations. Over time, Ideal simplified the toy's design. 

The rare Robert the Robot flashlight.

The equally rare Robert the Robot record. This example has never been played.

Ideal also produced a Robert the Robot tractor. An uncommon, beautiful toy.

Between the toys and their owner, it's absolutely impossible to visit the museum and not have a great time. I love seeing all the robots I'd never necessarily collect, but still think are cool. And in many instances, visiting Joe's has prompted a new appreciation for certain toys. I can think of four robots in my collection that I only own because I had a chance to see them at the museum. Of course, the downside is that every visit to the museum ends up costing me way more than the $2.00 admission price! 

For more on Joe and his Toy Robot Museum, you can watch a video piece I produced, here.

There were other reasons to be in Adamstown on Saturday; besides hitting the museum, we decided to visit Morphy Auctions, which is located just down the road to the south. They were holding their preview for a huge -- huge! -- auction of over 700 vintage space toys, and it was a unique opportunity to check out some of the rarest toys, many with their original boxes. (The auction also includes thousands -- yes, thousands -- of new and vintage Japanese vinyl and die cast character toys.)

Morphy's didn't disappoint, and we were suitably flabbergasted by the cases of toys stretching out in front of us. Robots, rockets, flying saucers, space tanks, futuristic cars -- they were all jumbled together, often without much rhyme or reason, fighting for space and our attention. A riot of shapes and color, I found myself picking over the same shelves again and again, discovering new toys each time. Fun, yes. Exciting, surely. But seriously overwhelming. 

Amazingly, Morphy's wasn't displaying all the toys -- they were still cataloguing everything, and don't expect to wrap up for another few weeks! 

The auction is scheduled for some time in November. As it continues to come together, I'll post more information. Also, look for news -- and a behind-the-scenes article -- about yet another massive auction, this time from Smith House Toys, in the near future. I tell ya, it's a great time to be a vintage space toy collector!

After seeing all those toys at Joe's and Morphy's, I was itching to bring home something for myself. Luckily, the road running through Adamstown is littered with antique stores and I've had some luck in the past, snagging a couple beautiful -- and rare -- space guns for amazing prices. I crossed my fingers, and my friends and I began our hunt.

Sadly, though, our antiquing went nowhere. We'd found some nice toys, but the prices weren't great and none of us felt compelled to buy anything. It looked like I'd be driving home without a addition to my collection after all. (Cue chorus of Awwwwwww. Thank you for that heartfelt show of sympathy...)

My fellow collectors and all went back to the Toy Robot Museum to hang out before dinner, and I decided to poke through Joe's gift shop. It's a small section towards the front of the shop, filled with all sorts of robot- and science-fiction related toys, games, videos, mugs, books, knick knacks, and whatever else you can think of. Joe's also got one special case built into his front counter, and that's where he stores some of the better toys: Vintage stuff as well as higher-end modern pieces. 

And that's where I saw them: A pair of rare Strato Scout Space Phones! Score!

I collect vintage space walkie-talkies (they'll eventually appear in the Attic, I promise) and even though I already own the Strato Scout model, Joe's was a variation I'd never seen before. The price was right -- and, frankly, I like supporting my friends -- so I grabbed them up quick. 

And then I did the smartest thing I've done in a while: I asked Joe if he had anything else lurking in his storage room. See, the last time I visited the museum, I happened to mention that I was looking for an original, first-generation Robert the Robot, and if it wasn't too much trouble, I hoped Joe could keep an eye out for me. Before I'd even finished the sentence, Joe had jumped up and dashed out of the room. He was back a moment later with a beautiful example of the toy, which I bought on the spot.

So I decided to try again. And, like last time, Joe dashed out of the room only to return with another great robot: Mr. Zerox (Horikawa, early 1970s). It's a later version robot, appearing towards the end of the great space toy era, but still one that I wanted pretty badly. I'll write more extensively about it in the future, but for now, here's a shot of the robot and the Strato Scout Space Phones:

The day ended with dinner -- all the visiting collectors plus Joe -- and then one more trip back to the museum (because it's hard to get enough). And then it was time to drive home. 

I'd call it a perfect day all around, and it reminded me that, as much as I love the toys, most of the hobby's fun comes from hanging out with all my friends.

...

Okay, you got me. I'm in it for the toys... But the friends are great, too!