A recent addition to my Zeroid collection is this Zerak lookalike
from Durham Industries, thanks to a heads up from the mighty Wotan.
As you can see this cheap knock –off toy is pretty much the
same dimensions as an original Zerak, apart from the moulded tracks which hide
a clockwork motor. It should also be noted that the quality of the plastic is
well below an original Zeroid toy.
It appears Durham also did cheap clockwork copies of the other
Zeroid robots, using the miss-spelling - ‘Astroid’ as a collective name for them.
Their simple gimmick was you wound them up using the
sidewinder key. This gave them a forward motion, along with a rotating head.
The head movement worked by means of a long rod attached to a simple gear wheel
running up from the motor.
Comparing the two toys
you’d think that Durham had just gone out and bought an Ideal toy, and just taken
moulds of most of it.
The ‘Astroid’ even fits snugly in Zerak’s control station,
much to Zerak’s annoyance.
Beautiful knockoff that Scoop. I think the wind-up unit is a great idea. The Astroids were also a line of robots released by Tarheel who made the American SWORD toys. Tarheel and Durham were virtually interchangable at one point so I bet there's a Tarheel version of that Zeroid somewhere. AHI made a rubber one too didn't they. Cool pictures. The garden looks lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the extra info Woodsy.Were the Tarheel Astroid robots Zeroid knockoffs too?
ReplyDeleteBtw The lawn could do with a mow : )
No. They're sort of like walking wedges. In day-glo colours typical of Tarheel and Durham, they're were shaped like tins of Corn Beef on legs. They came in a clear plastic case with a base. Very nice too. I bet Durham released them as well.
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting overview of Durham's robots inclusing Astroids [ but no Zeroids pictured sorry]:
ReplyDeletehttp://danefield.com/alpha/forums/topic/3200-durham-industries-robots/?page=2#comment-31947
They do look a rag tag bunch, don't they, I'd probably pass on those : D
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWow hes pretty darn cool! And Durham too, keeping him in the extended family!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to you, Bill I managed to get him : )
ReplyDelete