RoboDerby Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Hiya gang. Today I purchased a very inexpensive robot toy on eBay. Though, this isn’t something I would normally consider adding to my collection, my curiosity was sparked as it has printed on the box, “Atlanta, Ga,” my current city of residence and the words “The Tin Museum Collection.” It had me curious as to whether there is or ever had been a tin toy museum here in Atlanta. After an internet search, I have come to the conclusion that “Tin Museum Collection” is not a reference to an actual museum, but rather just a name added to indicate this particular series of toys. However, I also discovered that the distributor, Westminster, inc is indeed located in Atlanta and apparently still in business. Though tin toys specifically appear to be a very small part of their overall product line, it was still interesting to me to learn of this company’s presence here in Georgia. The toy itself is stamped “PlayGo” and “Made in China.” Granted, this isn’t necessarily a particularly notable piece of robot toy history. But, nonetheless, for anyone slightly curious about this distributor, here are a couple of links to articles written about the company as well as photos from the eBay seller of the robot that I purchased. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ajc.com/business/toys-serious-business-atlanta-westminster/djYBHy3SuGdRc0rrwM7TfN/amp.html https://www.atlantamagazine.com/culture/the-retro-fun-of-westminster-inc-toys1/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 What a great looking AstroBot!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Is there a date on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 51 minutes ago, Andyman said: Is there a date on it? I haven’t been able to locate a date on this guy. The company itself seems to go back to 1973. However, if I were to guess, based on very little info mind you, I’d think this robot was made anywhere from late 1990s to the 2000s. But, as I say, this is a guess based on little to no actual information. I would be curious to find out though if anyone else is familiar with this robot. If anyone else is interested, there is one more of these currently on eBay for less than $10. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Windup-Space-Astrobot-ROBOT-Walking-Moving-Hands-Toy-w-Box-Plastic-J807/143365044774?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20180816085401%26meid%3D4cdbc02f86f5462ab193083afa563238%26pid%3D100970%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D14%26sd%3D143365044774%26itm%3D143365044774%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100970.m5481&_trkparms=pageci%3A9d4ddfc1-eafe-11e9-be21-74dbd18061ec|parentrq%3Ab350f0fe16d0aadad8a32da7ffeb0e51|iid%3A1 Also there is an Astrobot Minor of which there are several currently listed. However, I find this one less appealing. Here is a photo of Astrobot Minor from another site that has it available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6Stelab9 Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I like those toys. Here the link to the topic about Playgo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 3 hours ago, 6Stelab9 said: I like those toys. Here the link to the topic about Playgo. Ah nice. Thanks for the link 6Stelab9. Cool to see more of the PlayGo lineup and the package variations. Looks like I may have been pretty accurate with my guess on the dating of the toy after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Well, the PlayGo Astrobot arrived today. I must say that it is smaller than I expected. However, for a wind up toy it is quite a good pin walker...until I broke it on the third wind that is. I don’t believe I overwound the spring. Rather it feels as if some of the teeth on the gears inside were easily shaved off by winding as now when I try to wind it up the gears seem to slip inside preventing more than about a half a turn of wind before it releases. Oh well, it was not at all expensive and kind of a cute little guy anyway. Still though, a bit bummed to have broken a new robot. Sorry little fella to have rendered you a “display only” addition. At least I got video while he was working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 This is a cool robot. The great character of that face and the satisfaction of those detailed litho panels make up for the later period. I have no hard evidence regarding the date but for some reason the font says 90's to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 You flip the arms around to the front when its walking so the arms lift and lower was the plan. I have the 3 Metal Robot by PLay Box, not sure if I have the PlayGo versions. Will have to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 3 hours ago, robothut said: You flip the arms around to the front when its walking so the arms lift and lower was the plan. They are from the 1990's have full set of them some place in the hut. Nice! Thanks for putting a more educated date on these John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe K. Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 And then there were these: They have the same plastic leg and torso parts as the blue PlayGo robot. They wind-up the same way, with the cams alternately lifting the arms. Different litho, arms and head. Missing from the trio above is a fourth version; all blue (purple) body with red and blue litho chest, leg panels and face. (see the robot on the left) Made by Play Box. As seen here: https://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-1716500/lot-of-3-metal-tin-walking-robots-wind-up-toy-play-box.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 15, 2019 Author Share Posted October 15, 2019 Well lookie here. I even found one of these robots in one of John’s conversions from the project book. Nice one John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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