ROBOTapedia updated 10.22.09

It's the biggest ROBOTapedia update ever! Five all-new robot pages were added to ROBOTapedia on September 18, 2009 including...

Attacking Martian Lighted Eye
High Wheel Robot (1964 Six Gears)
Lost in Space (Remco Blue)
Mr Mercury (1963 Gray w/Blue Metal Arm)
Sparky Robot (KO Yoshia Litho)

PLUS 15 new ROBOTapedia Videos!

Attacking Martian (English)
Attacking Martian (Lighted Eye)
Attacking Martian (Silver)
Battery Operated Robot (Green Directional)
Gear Robot (1964 Variable Speed Control)
Lost in Space Robot (Remco Red) - 2 Videos
Mr. Mercury Gold
Mr. Robot Red - 2 Videos
Mr. Robot Red (Early Blinking Version)
Ratchet Robot
Alps TV Spaceman (1961 Version)
Alps TV Spaceman (1966 Version)
Alps TV Spaceman (1967 Version)

Plus 9 exciting all-new EXTRA pages including exciting discoveries regarding the second version of Mr. Mercury and the final version of the Alps Television Spaceman

Alps Television Spaceman EXTRA (all 3 versions)
Mr. Mercury Blue Metal Arms EXTRA
Mr. Mercury Gold EXTRA
Remco Lost in Space EXTRA
Attacking Martian EXTRA
1964 Marshall Fields EXTRA (Horikawa Gear Robot/High-Wheel Robot)
1963 Stern's TOYS (Horikawa Machine Robot)
1965 Extra (Talking Robot, Ranger Robot, Engine Robot)
Eldon Robbie Robot EXTRA

ROBOTapedia Updated 9.18.09

Six new pages were added to ROBOTapedia on September 18, 2009 including...

Horikawas Great and Small

• First Generation Super Space Giant
• Solid Color Super Giant Robot
• Litho Body Super Giant
• Two-tone Radar Robot Wind-Ups
• Chrome Radar Robot Wind-Up 

He'll Tumble 4 Ya 

• Horikawa Acrobot Robot 

Plus two updated pages!

• Yonezawa Acrobat Robot (Aqua)
• Yonezawa Acrobat Robot  (Blue)

ROBOTapedia Updated 9.08.09

Five new pages were added to ROBOTapedia on September 8, 2009 including...

A Robby by any other name...

• 1958 Remote Control Planet Robot
• 1961 Action Planet Robot (Metal Claws)
• Action Planet Robot (Plastic Hands, ST Version)

Just add milk... 

• 1958 Tobor Mystery Action Robot

Everybody wants Kung Fu Robots 

• 1970-1971 Tomy Karate Robots

Plus as always, don't miss the FIVE new BONUS pages that do not appear on the sitemap, a reward for the loyalists who click on all the links!

Vanna, I'd like to buy a vowel please

It's funny how often we get asked the question "Why ROBOTapedia?" Not in reference to the site itself, nor even the name of the site, but why -apedia instead of -opedia. Good question and here's the answer.

First off I felt ROBOTapedia spells more closely to how encyclopedia (click the link and listen to the Mirriam-Webster pronounciation) actually pronounces than ROBOTopedia would have. We know ə- sound of encyclopedia would have been pronounced as a long o instead because of people's familiarity with the word Roboto. And that brings us to the biggest reason.

You know how anytime the fact that your interest in robots comes up in mixed company (mixed meaning anyone not a collector) that 9 out of 10 times the response is going to be laughter followed by something along the lines of Mr. Roboto, Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto? Having your hobby mentioned in the same breath as a tired old Styx song you hated even when it was new makes you want to scream, doesn't it?

That's why it's ROBOTapedia. :-)

Three New Videos!

I'm at it again... three new videos posted to You Tube last night! Check out 1961 Cragstan Mr Robot with Blinking Dome, 1962-1963 KO Yoshia Chief Robotman, and 1964 Horikawa Gear Robot with Variable Speed Control


All will soon have links from ROBOTapedia but Roblog readers will see them first. More soon!

Cragstan Robot!

It's been a busy week here! I finally have truly fine, working example of a Cragstan Robot in my collection. More than just a silver Mr. Robot, there is a laundry list of differences between the versions, some subtle, some more dramatic, all fascinating.

I did have a very handsome, but not-working example before, and it's just not the same. To me a non-working robot is completely two-dimensional, much like starting at the cover of an album without ever hearing the record inside. The sounds, the light, the actions, even the smells, yes smells, given off by a working robot are what makes the experience magical. Never settle for less.

I just posted a video to You Tube of Cragstan Robot in operation as well as my Green Directional Robot. Amazing how much friskier the Cragstan Robot is over the first version Directional even though they were manufactured just a few years apart.

ROBOTapedia Updated 8.23.09

Three new pages were added to ROBOTapedia on August 23, 2009 including...

Robot Get Your Gun... Horikawa's Fighting Robot

• 1965-1966 Horikawa Fighting Robot
• Horikawa Fighting Robot (Early Second Version)
• Horikawa Fighting Robot (Second Version)

Plus don't miss the two new BONUS pages that do not appear on the sitemap, a reward for the loyalists who click on all the links.