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.
