frobozz Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Recently I aquired a box full of rusty robots and rockets. All of them are boxed and the artwork has the same style across the boxes. I am wondering if anyone recognizes the manufacturer. I assume these are (very) recent reproductions. One of them, the smoking robot, has a HaHa toys in the battery compartment. The rest of the toys has no brand anywhere. I have googled all over but cannot for the life of me find the same kind of boxes. Any help is greatly appreciated. Regards, Marc Haarlem The Netherlands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Welcome Froboz. Could you post a picture of the contents of that Missile Robot, please? We'd be interested. Yes, you're right, these are recent products. They are reboxed reproductions that seem to turn up regularly in the Netherlands. It would appear that the entire batch has been given the rusty varnish treatment - the robot and the box - to make them look old. The intention is to deceive unsuspecting collectors into believing they have found a vintage robot. They also fool many dealers who are convinced that they are sitting on a fortune. Whenever you see that faded pastel colored box art and that number in the oval you should be on your guard. It's particularly annoying when dealers insist that these are original items. Ironically they gave the Zathura robot the same treatment and devalued it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frobozz Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Hello Brian, Many thanks for explaining. These boxes even turn up at at auctions. I.e. the smoking robot (a small version that does not smoke). Here is the Missile Robot: Kind regards, Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frobozz Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Might I add that I was one of the people who thought he was sitting on a fortune. I probably bought a whole batch, that is: 2 Smoking Spaceman (on battries) 1 Smoking Robot (windup non-smoker) 2 Missile Robot 10 (yes, ten) Sky Express 2 Planet Robot (looks like a Robbie, 1 Red, one Black) one of the 3 is a Lady robot 1 Space Robot (small) 1 Astronout with Raer(sic.) Why would anyone go through so much hassle as to produce so many different robots (quite accurately I must say) with boxes is beyond me. Besides that I own: a Space Dinosaur, Plastic. Shoots discs. I repaired it so all functions work. Battery Operated. a Jupiter 13" walking robot. Needs to be fixed. All four missiles included. All robots are with box, not that the repro's would have added value with that..... Regards, Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 I would guess these sellers think of their items as "ART" and should be viewed as such. When collecting vintage 'bots get familiar with the printing style of the original boxes, the hues of the colours and construction appearance of the box. The artwork on the originals is usually fantastic beautiful art quite often better than the toy itself. Learn all you can, there have been many re-issues over the last 10 years, learn to spot the differences. Some are being sold as vintage pieces, which theoretically they're not incorrect, but they shouldn't be passing these off as 50 year old pieces. Welcome to Alphadrome! A great learning experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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