I never had an Armatron. I was too old in the 80's but 15 years earlier I would have loved one to pick up my Major Matts.
Such a simple idea, a toy robotic arm and grabber that can be controlled. It's sort of Transformerish-looking too. I assume it's Japanese.
I wonder if it's still being made?
The pet arm pops up in a lot of films too. Tony Stark has one in Iron Man and it somehow seems almost human in its mannerisms, which is an odd thing. Maybe we can relate to anything that looks like a human arm, even a clunky robot one, and grow fond of it.
Did you have an Armatron?
Ive got one of these and the later Mobile Armatron version, which is a kind of one armed robot on a tank base. Its such a fun toy, with full mobility on the arm and end effector, it came with a small unit with parts you had to assemble in the correct order too. I think the basic toy has long been overtaken now by more complex mechanics and computer controlled gizmos, but the original is still the best. I have a robot arm bank as well, which is much simpler, but has a similar principle. Bill
ReplyDeleteCool collection!
DeleteI have a japanese styled robot bust with an armatron styled right arm and control buttons on his waist plinth.
ReplyDeleteI also had a later Electronics hobby shop version of the Armatron, with an extra interface that allows you to link it to a Home computer for pre-programmed fun!
Due to my electronics technofear, it all remained in the box unopened!
....it probably runs on Windows 3.5...
Hee hee! Windows 3.5!
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