The Sixties was another great decade for vintage toy robots in America. The incredible advancement of science and technology during this era fed the growing obsession of these mechanical beings among children. Classic popular ’60s battery operated robot toys from this era include Marx, Taiyo, Horikawa, and other classic brand robots from Japan. If you… Read More »
During the ’50s, majority of the battery operated and motorized wind-up tin robot toys were manufactured by several Japanese toy companies. These exported small tin toys were inexpensive and attracted a lot of interest from children. Because they were able to cheaply mass produce robot toys for American children, the Japanese toy industry boomed during… Read More »
Like many other manufacturers in Japan, the company Nomura began in the tin toy industry in the late 1940’s after World War II to help reconstruct the economy of their nation. Nomura is famous for their tin robot toys such as Tetsujin 28 aka Iron Man and Astro Boy. In addition, coming off the success… Read More »
Founded in the 1950’s, the company Yonezawa Toys was one of the largest toy manufacturers in Japan during the post-war era. Yonezawa produced thousands of small tin mechanical and battery powered toys until the early ’70s. Their robot toys are known for doing more than just walking. For example, the “Winky” robot walks as its… Read More »
When we take a nostalgic moment to look back at some of the classic children toys produced around the world, the robot toys manufactured by Louis Marx and Company are undoubtedly the most beloved by toy collectors. Marx introduced this toy-line in the 1950s and 1960s to capitalize on the space and robot craze of… Read More »
Fans of classic science fiction movies will fondly remember Robby the Robot as the iconic mechanical character from the classic 1956 science fiction movie, Forbidden Planet, directed by Fred Wilcox and starring Leslie Nielsen. The popularity of the film and its high tech robot inspired a series of toy lines during the 1950’s and 1960’s.… Read More »
The Wonder Festival Toy Convention (aka “Wonderfes”) featured an amazing showcase of action figures, model kits, and robotic toys. These robot toys, commonly known by collectors as “mecha,” are popular with Japanese toy collectors. The interest for these robotic collectibles has crossed the Pacific, attracting a large fan base in North America. This fascination for… Read More »
In Japan, Horikawa was one of the most prolific manufacturers of battery operated tin toys in the industry after the second World War. Their brand are recognized by the company’s logo “SH” on their products which includes collectible tin toys such as robots, rocket ships and space stations. Horikawa was so popular as a toymaker… Read More »
During the 1950’s and 1960’s post war era, Yoshiya was a major toy manufacturer in Japan. The company stayed in business until the 1970’s. Yoshiya was also known as Kobe Yoko Ltd. and produced several friction, wind-up, and battery powered mechanical toys during their run. Many of their robot toys are now popular with toy… Read More »
The Japanese toy company Bandai during the early 1970’s created a toy division called Popy. Although they initially made tin toys such as the Grendizer robot photographed on the left, Popy started to incorporate die-cast metal into their action figure robot toys to reduce production costs during the ’70s. The metal was zinc based and… Read More »