Knats and Spiders

The Italian toys link on Woodsys early post to show the various space toys reminded me of one of the weirdest looking and yet most innovative toys in my collection. The oddly named Knat 001 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Spider Patrol Tanks from the Joe 90 episode 'The Professional' in which Joe must break into a secure compound to steal gold. The building is patrolled by autonomous tanks called Spiders and this toy has a lot in common with them. It should have originally come with several card stand up targets, each having a reflective strip on the middle. Without these, I substituted a budgie mirror and placed it on the floor against a chair leg.

I put batteries in the Knat - all instructions are in chinese or japanese, so it was all guesswork and let it roll. A searchlight came on and it trundled off towards the chair, turret swivelling. Not entirely sure what to expect, i sat back to watch, assuming the usual bump n go action. As the Knat drew level with the mirror, it stopped, turned the turret fully towards it and blasted it dead on with a dart! Looking closely at the toy, it appears that it has a photocell on the turret and when it detects the reflection of its searchlight, it automatically unleashes a missile.

I moved the bird mirror around the floor and it rolled off, shooting at the mirror each time it spotted it. Fab! Although everything on the box is in chinese script, the logo on the base is clearly visible and is our old friend 'Modern Toys' makers of so many space toys.