Vintage Design-Toy Robots

Whatever field they are from; Vintage designs fascinate me.



Like this rare and very old Zathura robot, probably from the 1940/50’s.



Vintage Robots have a special aura, as their design characterizes the
effects of the industrial revolution in peoples minds – a mixture of
mechanical monsters and superheroes. Especially japanese toy robots,
insired by the numerous creations of the film industry, show this
approach and set the standards



The Takara company's highly articulated Abitate T-10B, also called
Blockhead, is a die-cast mecha based on a character from the 1981
Japanese series Fang of the Sun Dougram.
It came in a box featuring the intriguing slogan, "We never approve
your independence from our federation."



This DX Tetsujin 28, literally Iron Man No. 28 in English, was based
on the 1963 Japanese anime of the same name. Some of the episodes
aired in the United States the next year, under the title Gigantor.



Popy's Chogokin King Joe, is based on a villain from the Ultra Seven
show in the Ultraman series that aired in the late 1960s.



Robot toys hit a peak of mainstream popularity when Hasbro introduced
the Transformers, but the roots of those bots lie in designs like Popy's
Chogokin DX Sun Vulcan Solar Combination from 1981.



Another transformer, Popy's Chogokin Goggle V GB-76, turns into a yellow
truck and was later reissued in the Etarnal [sic] Heroes Series.



First starring in Forbidden Planet, Robby the Robot went on to appear in
everything from a Columbo episode to Earth Girls Are Easy, becoming a
popular and endlessly reproduced emblem of robotkind. Once wound up,
this Action Planet Robot version of Robby takes clumsy steps and shoots
sparks under the red mouth shield below its head grill.



When switched on, this Horikawa Silver Astronaut, probably from the 1980s,
walks forward, pausing every few steps to spin its torso with its green canons
leveled at all attackers.



No chance to talk about robots without mentioning Mechagodzilla, the kaiju
monster that aliens built to do battle with the real Godzilla in 1974.
Released in 2003, this model comes loaded with features like pop-off knee
missiles and an opening mouth and chest hatch.





More great toys can be found on kaijuzoo