mike van Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 This robot worked, right out of the box, no repairs needed, but had 25 years or so of dust & grime on it. No NICOTEEN though. He's got plastic hands but metal legs & feet, I don't know what year that makes it. For cleaning I used liquid Turtle Wax on all the metal and Armor All on the plastic. You have to put the wax on as light as possible, after it dries you have to get it all out of all the seams & edges. I have an assortment of small soft brushes that work well for this. My lousy photo doesn't do the robot justise, he really looks good now. He walks, his arms swing, the eyes rotate, the tv screen changes & where his mouth would be is lit with a moving light. Now, if I could find him a Door Robot to keep him company some day. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Wow. That's a beauty, Mike -- Great job with cleaning it up! You've got the first version of the toy -- metal legs, metal feet, smaller hands, smaller (just barely) TV screen, metal battery door, and metal antenna.Congratulations! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Beauty of a score Mike! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Very nice Mike! I picked one up last year (older all-metal version). Mine came from the original owner who had saved it in storage for over 40 years. It is almost mint and works just fine with a little antenna manipulation. I still want to get the newer, plastic feet and battery box version. Although they are newer, they actually command a little more money than the all metal version. I think this is because the all-metal one is so much more common. It must have been a really popular toy when it first came out.Did they actually make two versions of the radar dish for the newer Spaceman? I've seen them with either a red radar dish or a grey radar dish. Or did the red one come from some other toy and just gets used as a replacement sometimes...?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Robert -- the Red dish is original to the later version of the space man (plastic legs, etc). I've never actually seen the gray one, so I can't comment on that. But the red dish is definitely common (in terms of antenna). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Congratulations Mike! It looks super. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 :) Wow mike van, what an excellent shine on that robot! A nice and important robot, indeed. Did you say that he has the tin battery box cover? -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duxastrogirl Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Nice looking guy...Now I have a question...You used Turtle Wax to clean it? Is it safe to clean robots with that? I am always afraid of cleaning them with something that can damage the paint/litho... :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike van Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 Robert, they must have been really popular, there seems to be a lot of them out there, unlike the other Alps robots that sell so high. This one I got for 211.00. The ebay photos wern't to good, what looked to me to be rust in the battery box [all tin L7] was just the color of the fiber boards.Alps Robot DAGirl, as long as you don't rub too hard, i've never had wax harm any paint. Old white T shirts make the best cloths, soft & no dye. Q tips work for tight spots, sometimes the cloth wrapped on a small flat [popsicle] piece of wood. I probably spent 2 hours cleaning this robot. It has the "style" I really like in a robot. I'm surprised they don't trade higher, I see alot go for under 300.00. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 :) They really are a great robot, mike van. About fifteen years ago at a toy show here in the midwest, I saw my first one in person, and blindly gave about $300. to 400. for it(big money!). Well, when I got it home, started to clean it up, discovered that it had been dropped on its head at one time or another. The robot was slightly crushed at every individual piece, had a very cheap repro head made for it out of some bad type of plastic( or sugar!?), other than walking, nothing else about the robot worked. I have spent years getting it into workable condition, repairing or replacing bent parts, the space scene still doesn't move smoothly, etc. Earlier this year, I got another robot like it that is in excellent shape from Ebay for, I think the price was about $140. I for one am glad that they sold well, most everyone can afford to add one to their collection. -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Wow! you guys got some good deals for yours. I paid $280 for mine without the box. Of course, the price fluctuates up and down on these.... :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotnut Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 Mike Van, very nice job !I always carefully clean any new robots I aquire, butI've never polished them. I like the the slightly "tarnished" look of a vintage toy, but they do look sharp all shined up.Today I picked up this Alp's TV Spaceman and it has mewondering. I've seen the all metal version and the versionwith the plastic battery cover, legs, feet and antenna, butthis one appears to be a missing link. It has metal antenna,and legs, but plastic battery cover and feet. What gives ?Is this a third version or did I get duped into a "married"piece ? :huh: www.robotnut.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike van Posted August 18, 2004 Author Share Posted August 18, 2004 I haven't been at this long enough to know any of the timelines, some of the others might though. from the photos, ours could be twins. I do have one guess though, I know with AC Gilbert Erector Sets, that if near the end of a year, and certain parts were running out, rather than making more, the newer or next years were used. Make any scence? I had a 1928 #8 set, huge one, wood box, 40 lbs. The only thing was, it had the '29 White Truck parts instead of the '28's. One of the Erector gooroo's filled me in that this was common practice near the end of a year. I supose the same could be true for the robot mfg's. If they had the metal "antennas" left, would they use them up, or scrap them & start using the plastic ones? Who knows? :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 :) Hi Robotnut, congrats on winning the Alps TV Spaceman today. Yes, I believe that earlier this year there was a lenthy discussion about the three variations. There was an all tin with small round tv screen, a tin with plastic feet and battery cover and slightly larger tv screen, and a tin body with larger hands, soft rubbery legs, plastic feet, batt. cover, and the different diameter antenna shaft with the plastic antenna on top of it instead of the 'marconi' style metal top piece that the earlier robots had. I can't remember off the top of my head if the third version had an even larger still tv screen opening or not. -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotnut Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 My Alps Television Spaceman arrive yesterday and all I can say is WOW !The seller gildasart was amazing. She shipped the robotfrom California to Michigan in two days, with insurance andtracking for $9 ! In the auction 5914514067, she said therobot appeared to be in excellent condition but did not work.This robot looks like it had never been played with, no dents,no scratches, no cracks. All I did was polish the battery contactsand "tickle" the gears and he was off running ! Althought acommon robot, I've been trying to get one of these for years.Like many robots I'm after, most of the ones I find are eithertoo expensive or in real bad shape. I guess "good robots cometo those who wait"... :)Almost forgot, the plastic face shield is a cool purple/pink color... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.