SPACE COMMANDO - NOMURA - JAPAN

Tin windup astronaut. Advances with walking motion as his left arm swings. Clear plastic dome. The rifle has a distinctive hinged construction.

This simple astronaut design was used as the basis for a long line of other robots. The legs and feet and the arms and rifle can readily be seen on such items as the Naito Shoten (AN, AHI) spacemen, the Linemar Porthole Robot and other Nomura battery op astronauts. It emphasises the complex relationships between the manufacturers.

On sale in December 1955.The Porthole Robot has been dated to 1957 and this is very similar in shape and litho detailing. This robot appeared in one of the early episodes of the "Twilight Zone"; in "One For The Angels" it is being sold along side the Mechanized Robo