Saw these listed on the Bay.
Never seen them before so I kept the images.
ZELROBOT.
The description says its Japanese.
It reminds me of Micronauts toys.
I really like the rocket launcher on a pedestal. Is there any other toy like that?
What do you think of ZELROBOT?
Hi Woodsy is the clear box with the red dial in the top photo some kind of power unit? -Mark J
ReplyDeleteI really don't know MJ sorry. I just saved these two pics from Ebay. I assume the toys are battery-powered somehow.
DeleteThat clear box is indeed the power unit. It is a wind up motor to be precise. What is really hard to tell is the size of this robot until you check the catalog out. The box is roughly 9"x7"x7" as it seems to be the big deluxe set. That puts our intrepid robot around the 3-4 inch mark.
DeleteHere's the catalog http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/topic/4679-1984-masudaya-catalog-zel-robots/
Here's the patent details: http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/topic/10820-1976-patent-for-zel-robot/
A few more pics http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/topic/4658-zel-robots/
They remind me of a cross between Micronauts and Zeroids.
The logo style reminded me of something else. Sure, simplistic tilted letters red on yellow is quite common in anime/manga but I knew I had seen it somewhere else. A bit of digging brought quick results. Galoob made several series of robots called Z-Bots. These were even smaller and the articulation was usually just hips and shoulders. Quite a few of Z-bots were influenced by previous robot designs (Robby, R2, B9, Analyzer etc) and they came along well after the Zel Robots so I suspect they may be partly influenced by them.
Deletehttps://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71CIoGyKF%2BL._SY355_.jpg
Also, why are so many robots given names beginning with z?
We have zoids, zel robots, z-bots, zeroids, Terrahawk's zeroids, are there more?
fab research Lance. Really insightful. I love obscure toys like these and always wanted MC to be a home for info on them. I never had any Z-bots - I'm too old - altho' I sold a few - but I adored Zeroids. I wonder if the Z is to do with Zero, the opposite of One with Man being One and Robots being Zero? Maybe even a final letter in an alphabet like Omega, a sort of opposite to Alpha ie. us? Good question though! and thanks for the Alphadrome links! Superb!
DeleteZelrobot was made by Masuydaya, a big japanese toy company, but also sold in the US under another name, Plazrobot or something. Similar in tone to Micronauts, it uses a similar idea to Zeroids, where the robot powers the accessessories
ReplyDeleteGreat knowledge Bill! or should I say Z-Bill!
DeleteI have one of these from when I was a boy. They were definitely sold in Canada in the 70's under the Zelrobot name. What was the price on ebay, do you remember? I might be looking to sell it with some other vintage toys. I am missing the bullets, but I think the rest is intact.
ReplyDeleteI don't know sorry Deedo. Have a look on Ebay Canada at the sold listings and you will get an idea. Best of luck.
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