119 replies to this topic

[nasa]

Sent chills up my spine....Great story....congrats nasa

[Dirk]

My wish grew stronger to get some more information about the manufacturer of this great robot and that fantastic box! Unfortunately, I didn't find enough time for making such an enterprise, with all the other things like my job, the house and family taking up all the time.

So, the time passed by, and thankfully, after another six years, the ROBOTER 700 crossed my path again. At a well known internet auction house in England – a nameless plastic robot was offered. The pictures were very bad – mostly black and white and very tiny. It had the correct shape of a ROBOTER 700 – so, I took the risk and placed a bigger bid on it. However, I was not the only lurker who had spotted that robot – and I had great luck to be the winner at the end of the auction. (SO SORRY XRIS!)

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Edited by Dirk, 13 November 2010 - 04:47 PM.

[Dirk]

Curious and very excited, I was waiting to receive my valuable package. In the pictures, the robot seemed to be a little small. Now, I realized that he is the same size of the DUX ASTROMAN. I will show a comparison picture later. One hand was missing and so was his nice antenna. Otherwise, the robot seemed to be complete. The wind-up mechanism was still working very well. I impatiently opened the robot to have a look inside.

I didn’t expect such a big clockwork mechanism! The leg mechanisms were driven by that clockwork. It was necessary to move the arms back and forward, and the head could turn from the left to the right. The walking mechanism was amazing to me. The legs move back and forward, while little brass wheels were coming out of his feet. These are steered with a sort of eccenter inside his legs. I was very astonished upon opening his head to find a small battery compartment. Unfortunately, I never found the correct size of batteries to fit in that compartment.

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Edited by Dirk, 13 November 2010 - 04:53 PM.

[Dirk]

Outside the head, the original bulbs had lost their paint. Inside the head, the original paint was still present. On my next visit in Darmstadt, GERNOT found out that the bulbs had a bi-metal switch inside. We tested them, and both are still working.

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Edited by Dirk, 13 November 2010 - 04:56 PM.

[Andyman]

Great story, Dirk! More!

[martijn]

I like it I like it dirk!
I remember I followed the auction, it was a thrill to see it suddenly appear,
quite a historical moment, kind of like the 2 flower bots appear suddenly.
and for the rest, I have much good memories of this beautiful robot, first time we meet

Edited by martijn, 10 November 2010 - 05:07 PM.

[Sparkrobot]

Fantastic story Dirk,,,,,,,,Glad You got the robot in the end,as you are probably one of a few ,possibly the only person to have the original box for this robot.
I remember when it appeard on the auction site ,,I was lurking ,but as you said so were quite a few other collectors...
More stories like this please ,,all part of our robot collecting history.

[Dirk]

Then, I decided to find out some information about the trademark. Many collectors were sure they were going to find out some information very easily, but in the end, nobody had a clue. It was a remarkable coincidence that these little dancing dolls crossed my way again one day. The same trademark, obviously two dolls with a key inside a circle. Again – no maker’s name on the box. I collected some more of those; they always had that wind-up mechanism. A rotating weight inside will make them shiver and dance around when placing them to the ground. Now, my decision was made – I had to find out more about that company!

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Edited by Dirk, 13 November 2010 - 04:58 PM.