pdjones512 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 recently purchased a zoomer off ebay with a pristine box....i receive it and theres 2 things that bother me about it and i wanted to see if someone with a bit more experience can lend a helpful eye on this one.....i will post photos shortly when i get home. 1)the battery compartment door is missing the words "place battery here" was this originally a waterslide decal? could it half rubbed off? was it paint? shouldn't it be on every authentic vintage zoomer? 2)inside the battery compartment the "spring" on the back of the battery door isn't made of the coil/spring wire that you commonly see (or that i've always seen) on any open battery door of a zoomer, its more of a flat sheet metal cut into a spiral and pulled outward to form a "coil" photo soon to come 3)the box, its pristine, and the seller claimed it was original vintage....he claimes that none of the repro boxes have staples on the sides to hold the sides together. the box smells old (but that can be faked), the most troubling thing is that where the word "patent" is written on the face at the bottom between the TN and the showa logos, that word is reversed....? odd, most of the boxes i found online were repros by robot island that had the swirl logo, but toy tent had one with the identical reversed "patent" writing. also, was this box produced during a time of dot printers? or should all the colors be solid slab of color like a lithograph? thoughts???? any help you could lend would be invaluable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Sorry to hear you've got some doubts about your toy. Always a frustrating situation. Crappy way to be introduced to the boards, too... But you've come to the right place. If anyone can help you, it'll be this bunch of collectors. First... do you have a link to the original auction? That might help us while we're waiting for your photos. Looking at my Zoomer -- two-tone with lightbulb eyes -- I can say the "Place Battery Here" label is lithographed onto the battery door. There's no way it can be removed without leaving some trace of a scratch mark or something. Does yours say "Japan" on it? On mine, it's stamped between the legs, towards the front of the robot. I'm not sure if it says this on the repros, though, so this might not help. Re: the spring inside the door... I've only seen the coiled spring, I've never seen the cut metal as you've described. I don't have a box for mine, so I can't help you there. However, I'd be careful about using one of Toy Tent's as a sample -- he makes a lot of reproductions so you need to be certain that what you're looking at is legit. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdjones512 Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 as you can see the spring is flat and rounded, not coiled wire. i don't have a photo of the battery door but per your reply the "place battery here" is litographed in with the color of the robot and would be impossible to remove without completely scrubbing (and subsequently--repainting) the battery door? bottom of box shown with backwards "patent" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Are those the photos from the auction? I've never seen that type of coil before, but that doesn't mean it isn't legit -- a lot of weird stuff has popped up over the years, it's entirely possible that this is one of them. It certainly looks kind of old and patina'd Re: the words on the battery door: Correct, on mine they're lithographed in black. To remove them would cause damage to the underlying finish (unless there's a method of removing just the top layer of litho... which seems tough). However, we have two different versions of the robot -- and the differences might be more than just color. If the battery door matches the finish on your toy, there's a good chance it's legit. Perhaps in the all-blue version, the battery door wasn't lithographed. It also might have that different coil. You really need to find someone who has that color variation in order to be certain. The toy itself -- from the limited picture you supplied -- seems to have a patina to it. Not impossible to fake, but you can usually tell when something's old, and when it's been aged artificially. On the other hand, it's very difficult to tell from that photo. Do you not have the robot in hand yet? Honestly, it's tough to make any sort of assessment without having a good look at the toy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blechroboter Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Welcome aboard pdjones512 :) ! Don´t have a Zoomer, so I can´t help you that way. But in the past we had two larger topics about the Zoomer. Perhaps this might help? Also I´ve never saw that type of coil at any toy in 40 years. Perhaps it´s selfmade? Whatsoever, here are both the Zoomer topics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Here are pics of my reproductions from Planet Robot who made them to original specs. The battery cover has no wire since the cover is part of the frame which made the contact to ground. It looks like your original may heve been repaired at one time. And yes the outer cover has the wording in a printed finish. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 What the Reproduction box looks like from Planet Robot. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Pdjones: Mine has the same coil spring that yours does, it also has the "place battery here" litho. Did you check for "japan" stamped on the underside of the body between the legs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratchet Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I also have a flat coiled spring in mine. I always figured it was a repair. Not so sure now.. :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdjones512 Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 the zoomer does have the japan stamp underneath between the legs....but i've seen a few online that say "exact" reproductions, i would assume that it doesn't take much to just stamp the word japan under a robot, no? or is that some code of conduct in the repro community to purposely not stamp something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Sounds like yours is legit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkrobotik Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Sounds like yours is legit. I think your right Doc. Pdj,,, just open the battery door and look inside with a torch. The signs of age will be fairly apparent I think ,, or not as the case could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdjones512 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 there's some minor corrosion inside the battery box....however this spring thing really bothers me from an originality standpoint. does anyone know were these "flat" springs ever produced from the factory? or is it likely an older repair that was made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkrobotik Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I've certainly never seen one like it but what does Ratchet's look like ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratchet Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I bought mine a few years back from Morphys Auction House. I believe the spring to be a repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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