ROBODUDE Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 I'm new to the forum--my first post ! I have acquired a new Ha Ha toys chief robotman and a somewhat older papasan mystery moon man robot. After turning them both on less than 4 times they stopped moving and would just kind of jerk in place. Is this common with the chief robotman knockoffs??? I know you get what you pay for , but it was weird they both broke down so quickly ! Any info or your own experiences with these would be greatly appreciated ! Thanks a lot ! Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrarobotman Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Hi, Robodude. I have a Chief Robotman repro like you and mine works very well for a few yrs now, first do you have new alkaline batteries in (with vintage toys and roto-matics you should NOT use heavy alkaline batteries) and what kind of surface are you running them on? I have a vinyl kitchen floor with irregular groove patterns moulded in it that makes it difficult for some mystery action robots to run on but mine works well. Also, is your surface level in all directions? My mystery action robots do not respond well with my uneven floor, as they all end up in the lowest corner, just bouncing off the nearest corners it ended up at. Try placing your shoe in front of it and see if it changes direction if so, it's probably working as it should, they do not travel long distances in one direction. Hope this helps. I ran min just now and it will in general, keep a 2 ft wide circular pattern of moving back an forth as I believe it is supposed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 One word....PLASTIC! (gears I mean.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Welcome ROBODUDE!These repros do not have the same actions as the originals as the system inside is far inferior to the old ones and therefore not as intriguing in their actions. The vintage ones appear to look like they're searching for their next direction to go in then follow where they're looking. The repros tend to just have a slight neck-tick back a few times then continue to bump'n'go (if they go). I bought 2 CRM repros when they first appeared in I believe 2008... one stopped working nearly right away and I was lucky enough to have a very helpful and skillful friend () open him and bring him back to life. Originals are now appearing more regularly unboxed on e-bay at decent prices in the $600 range far lower than 10 or 20 years ago. There's one sitting 50 miles from my home on there right now for a good price...if I had the bucks I'd pick it up myself. Similar situation as the Mechanized Robot (Robby) where you can pay $600+ for a repro with plastic gears and uncertain future (although my daughter's still goes fine) or an original for the same $$ which has run for nearly 60 years and still going and smells better.Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Mike, I just realized you have almost 6,000 posts! When do you sleep?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Mike, I just realized you have almost 6,000 posts! When do you sleep??You asked me that 13 years ago, remember?? I DON'T! Haven't since I joined this place. 6001 now. In a few days you'll be able to play with your "Mechanical Moon" 'bot...I won't sleep until you do. BTW Brian shaved off a few thousand USELESS posts by me...I suppose he should've dumped a few thousand more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrarobotman Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Wow! now that is very impressive! So, let's get this right- you've had a few THOUSAND posts deleted?? A few K ? and none could possibly be useless for certain. So, now the question is raised Morbius, DO you ever sleep, I recall some late- nite conversations now that I recall. But even I sleep on occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I spoke with Mike on the phone today for almost an hour, A VERY enjoyable conversation. Mike is a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge and entertaining anecdotes. And if he posts as much as he talks then it is understandable. I have yet to meet anyone with more enthusiasm for the hobby!Oh, and we discussed my latest acquisition, which Mike helped me purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Ultrarobotman, you know very well that if we talk to 'regular people' about this stuff they'll run out the door faster than you can say 'I am the Atomic Powered Robot'. Yes, we all have found each other and it's good that we did...4 decades of collecting and for 30+ years it was difficult if not impossible to find 'others' like yourself. Thank you Robert,YOU are a truly enthusiastic collector. There are not many people I could enjoy talking to for an hour or more about robots like I can with you and other alphadromers, it was much fun discussing the hobby today, thank you for the call and it really lit up my day old friend. As for you going for 'the moon' it just so happened our conversation a week or so ago hit upon this subject and I did a little digging and found this not-so-little gem on the 'net. You are the one who with a strategy snagged it under the particular circumstances and I'm very glad you did. Like Captain Kirk, sometimes you have to 're-program the scenario to a win situation' and you did just that. Congratulations again, post some pics of this fine piece of antiquity when it shows on your doorstep so we can take it all in. Old friend ROBOTHUNTER made it possible for me to add one of these beauties on my shelf 3 years ago when I was convinced I would never accomplish it and told him so. He proved me wrong, time for me to return (as he put it) the Karma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennetzel Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 That's interesting...I have the same problem with my repro Chief Robot Man. It's like they seize up or something. I find that if I force movement on them by giving them a push or two, they slowly start working again. I just chalked it up to cheap parts on a repro robot, but it is frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 If I were doing it again, I'd certainly watch for an original. We have to remember, 2008 or 09 when these re-issues first appeared, the originals were like $1000+ unboxed and $2500 boxed so buying a repop at 1/50 the cost of an original wasn't bad. Now the originals are only 10X the cost, not 50X as they were years ago. I was also disappointed in the minor actions as compared to the vintage ones and the blue one is a solid colour blue, not metallic blue as the original. They're great looking on the shelf though. Ken, ROBODUDE...do yours still have that funny smell from the tires or have I just gotten accustomed to it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Lots of posts on how to make them work right "well better" were made in the past you will have to do some digging. They do not have many plastic gears "just the drive for the head turn, those were brass in the originals and provided a electrical ground path for the dome light that the new plastic gear ones do not have, so a separate ground wire has to be run."but they do have a lot of problems that the originals do not have. I have repaired many of these , its not fun but can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBODUDE Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks everyone for the input ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrarobotman Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Yes,mine still has that smell, but it used to be a lot stronger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks everyone for the input !Sorry ROBODUDE, I didn't mean to hijack your post and take it off subject, no matter how briefly. I think the Chief Robotman repros look great! I They may not always work well, but they display well. The perfect placeholder until that original comes along and because they are so inexpensive they are a great base for modding. Go to John Rigg's Robot Hut Project's page: http://www.robothut.robotnut.com/project.html and you will see many very cool examples of how these robots can be creatively modified. Welcome to the hobby!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now