Monday, August 24, 2009

Toy of the Week Monday, August 24, 2009

Sometimes the level of sophistication in a Japanese toy alone is enough to make me purchase it.  When I happened across this vintage 1980's robot in a specialty shop in an outer ring suburb of Saint Paul MN, I knew I had to have it-- not for the design of the robot, but for the construction.  This minuscule marvel was like nothing I had ever seen in an American toy.  
First of all, it was made entirely of metal.  It had a satisfying weight, and it felt cold in my hand.  It's tiny joints were movable-- in fact its shoulders move in multiple axes-- all told this robot has an incredible FIFTEEN points of articulation.  The robot is held together with small screws and steel pins.  There are also some details on the robots back that are machined from solid metal stock-- a construction practice that is never seen on American toys.  The packaging was befittingly tiny, but impressively high quality.  when you remove the inner box from it's cardboard sleeve you realize that the robot is in fact packaged in a miniature hard plastic case with a clear hinged cover.  Neatly stowed in the case next to the robot is a tiny metal sword.

This is without question the smallest robot in my entire collection, yet it still manages to be one of the most impressive.  It is worth a closer look so I invite you to saunter into the Robots gallery of the Cabinet of Curious Frivolities and thoroughly inspect Dynaman Metal Roboss.

Full steam ahead...

No comments:

Post a Comment