Brian.. Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 Before Fireball XL5 there was a strange, wonderful space marionette series called Space Patrol. In the US it was renamed Planet Patrol to avoid confusion with an earlier program. I'm old enough to remember its appearance in the early 60s. It was wonderful viewing and in many ways it was ahead of Fireball. Electronic sound effects, suspended animation and the oddest gyroscopic spaceship. In other respects it was annoying: silly creatures and endless repeats of stock footage. Here's the first version. His legs need adjustment but he's almost there. Oddly enough the puppet seems to have been built around a clockwork motor. As it is moved around by the puppeteer a clockwork mechanism turns the hip disk around. There are very few toys connected with the series and I think have the only robot --- Yeaaa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 Cool stuff, Brian. I noticed there were variations of the robot throughout the episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Now that is one very unique one-eyed robot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinplate6 Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Fascinating bit of TV history, Brian; this show, which was not associated with, nor produced by Gerry Anderson, is of the same quality. The city in the end credits is far more impressive than any seen on Fireball XL-5, but that s-s-stuttering b-b-bird was as annoying as Zoonie the lazoon. This robot you made seems spot-on, from what I can see in the footage, and I agree with the clockwork comment; there were definitely moving gears in the hips. I think these cyclops' are far superior to the Granitoid robots as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 The clock work effect in the show stops and starts in a way that makes me think its not clock work but a string "line" wound around a small drum in the robot that is pulled from above on que. All the faces look a lot like jerry mahoney not sure that I would say its a better show from the prop stand point but I did enjoy watching the you tube . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Ahh, so here it is then Brian. The finish on the body and head looks very good....I love it! You know where to post it too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Zerox Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 More needs to be seen of this brilliant Cyclops Robot which also featured in the Space Patrol sticker book. As far as I know the only piece of SP merchandise to feature the Robot. Well made Brian, you have created an excellent Robot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golddalek Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Interesting...A friend of mine would love a copy of that robot. He's really into Space Patrol. I grew up watching re-runs of Fireball XL5, but after being introduced to 'Space Patrol' on youtube, I found it is just as good. Nice stories. If you ever decide to sell prints, let us know....unless it was a one off. Nice job (yea, I know it's a year old post 👀 ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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