RoboDerby Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 Many thanks to Roboto for giving us such a detailed photographic account of Robert Johnson’s robots. It is because of his thread here, that I was able to spot these treasures and add them to my collection. Two of them are one offs and one is a variation on the Patrol Robot that I believe isn’t pictured in Roboto’s extensive thread. It appears the seller was not aware of the lineage of these particular one offs as he made no mention of Robert and stated that these robots were “someone’s” projects. Here are the one offs as they are now, a bit worse for the wear I’m afraid, but, salvageable I think as the functions are reportedly all still operable. ( I won’t receive them until next week to know for sure.) The devil’s head needs to be reattached and the other is missing its head altogether. Lost unfortunately. But I will try and recreate the head as accurately as I can using the head from a HaHa Roby robot. The plastic purple mesh will be easy enough to find. But I could use some help trying to figure out where the eyes, ears, and the red siren and clear plastic dome on the head might have come from so that I can try and source them for the restoration. Any ideas friends? Here are Roboto’s photos of the two in their original glory. Finally here is the Patrol Robot variation. Sold as nonfunctional. I am undecided whether or not I will open it to make repairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 Great pickups! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Robot Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 I am very curious about what looks to be a small fuel filter by the one bot’s mouth, and why the tube leading to it seems to have liquid in it. ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Robot Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 It’s pretty clear that the maker used found parts, in addition to the traditional toy parts. Although the sizes don’t match, the clear outer dome looks to me like it might be the outer part of another small fuel filter. The red siren globe inside it looks similar to some running light covers for trucks/trailers that I saw when searching for my own custom bot parts, though it’s been so long I couldn’t say where I saw them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 22 minutes ago, Action Robot said: the clear outer dome looks to me like it might be the outer part of another small fuel filter. The red siren globe inside it looks similar to some running light covers for trucks/trailers that I saw when searching for my own custom bot parts Thanks for the lead Action Robot! I’ll explore your suggestions to see what I might find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 What a great find. I will have to check out a few other photos that I saved and see what I can find. I did find this other version with those cool looking funnel eyes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 15 minutes ago, Roboto said: What a great find. I will have to check out a few other photos that I saved and see what I can find. I did find this other version with those cool looking funnel eyes! Thanks Roboto! If you happen to have any higher resolution images of the headless fella and would be willing to email them to me, please send me a PM and I will give you my email address. I am going to try and recreate the head to match Robert’s original. It would be quite useful to be able to see the head and specifically the dome in better detail. Thanks again for posting the original thread. I really enjoy seeing the variety of Papa Sans that you so kindly shared with the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 20, 2019 Author Share Posted October 20, 2019 I was thinking that I had figured out where to source several of the parts that I need to reproduce the missing head from the non devil one off, Lighthammer I believe is what this robot was called. I was thinking the head might be sourced from a HaHa R-35 or the HaHa Roby. I have the R-35 on the way. So I’ll know soon enough if the size is right. But I notice that the mouth on the Lighthammer is longer than that of the R-35 and I have not been able to find a repro with this mouth piece. It is the same mouth from the Roboter and the Alphadrome member Robot. The ears appear similar to the cheap Mechanical Galaxy wind up. However in Roboto’s photos the ears of the Lighthammer look as though they may be translucent while those of the Galaxy are opaque. The square base where the head meets the shoulders has another round neck piece just above it. This is clearly the same structure as that found on the HaHa Astro Spaceman. The dome may be the same as that on the Schylling Moon Explorer, but of this I am unsure. Though I suspect that I might find a suitable dome elsewhere as well as the bullet style red inner dome. The purple plastic mesh I think I have located as well suspecting that it is the same material that is used for needle craft. I’m not positive what Robert used for the eyes. But I am currently wondering if they might be like the shoulder caps that cover the tin tabs on robots like the Cragstan Mr. Robot and the directional robot. Though the style of these caps specifically do not match those examples exactly. I’d appreciate any thoughts that you all might have regarding these pieces, especially in reference to the mouth and eyes. Also, if anyone thinks that they might have any of the parts I will need or even cheap/ junker robots like I have mentioned above, please let me know. The cost of purchasing each of these robots will add up if I have to get them all off of eBay and I really don’t like the idea of dismantling good working robots, repro or otherwise, to source the parts unless this is my last option. Though if I do end up dismantling good robots, I am likely to use the remaining parts in future projects, especially the body of the Astro Spaceman. I would be grateful for thoughts on where to source everything and ideas on what robots the various parts might have come from. The mouth has me stumped unless it was a part made solely and specifically for Papa San. Here is Roboto’s photo of the head again as well as the Galaxy, Roby, Moon Explorer and Astro SpaceMan that I mentioned. Head? Neck Ears? (need red eared version) Dome? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Had some great conversations with Robert in 2005 when Robotnut and I met him at Chicago during Botstock. The next year Kelly and I received our Alphadrome Robots and he was kind enough to also include this wonderful greeting card with one of the robots... just before Christmas 2006. RIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 1 minute ago, Morbius said: Had some great conversations with Robert in 2005 when Robotnut and I met him at Chicago during Botstock. The next year Kelly and I received our Alphadrome Robots and he was kind enough to also send this wonderful card just before Christmas 2006. RIP What a cool card Mike! I already have a couple of Repro robots on the way to begin the restoration on the Light Hammer. Fingers crossed the head of the R-35 repro is the proper scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Hi Jeremy I am not sure but I think the head off the mechanical robot may be a bit small? It’s probably more like the one off the alphadrome robot? The mouth filter you can maybe get from a model makers website or make one. Of course, when you get your 3D printer you could print it all off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Ranger said: Hi Jeremy I am not sure but I think the head off the mechanical robot may be a bit small? It’s probably more like the one off the alphadrome robot? The mouth filter you can maybe get from a model makers website or make one. Of course, when you get your 3D printer you could print it all off. I was thinking the size of the Mechanical might not be correct. But, as it was cheap, I figured I’d buy it and take a look. Unless I found a real junker I’d hate to dismantle another Papa San for the job. Worse case scenario, I imagine I can manage a tin cylinder for the head. The neck might be a trick and I’m not sure I can accomplish the mouth cleanly. But I’ll give a shot at fabricating the pieces if I can’t source them elsewhere. Also, if I can’t locate translucent red ears, I did consider trying to cast them in resin using the ears from a Galaxy to make the mold, again assuming the scale of the Galaxy ears is appropriate. I may also need to find a new neck piece for the devil as it appears some of the tabs might be missing on the current one. I’ll look into the model makers website idea as well. May be where I source the clear dome also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinluver2 Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 Arrived today! The devil needs a little clean up around the neck and the neck needs to be reattached. Also, one ground wire needs to be reattached to work the light in the chest. But he really is wonderful. I am unsure as to whether or not Robert was responsible for the cape or not as it does not appear in Roboto’s original photo. The action on this robot seems to be fully functional and strong running, not to mention a delight to enjoy. It walks with lit head, then stops while chest lights and a second light in the head flashes. Really cool! Video to come. The Light Hammer of course requires more attention, what with having lost his entire head, thus requiring a reproduction head for restoration. However, this robot also functions quite well, though there are a couple of unresponsive bulbs that will need to be investigated. The paint on this one is absolutely beautiful. The pictures don’t do justice to the metal flake black that is used for the body and the red is a bit richer and perhaps a shade or so deeper than that of the Alphadrome members bot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalRobotHead Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Very impressive looking robots, thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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