Tinman Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I was wondering how often you put some batteries in or wind them up and make them go? I'm guessing you don't leave batteries in the robots or leave them wound...right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I test my vintage battery ops at least twice - three times a year. No, Don't leave the batteries in. You are right - don't leave windups wound either, although I do tend to leave a little tension on the wind up spring. Why...well...I feel like it! :D Actually, leaving a little tension on the spring keeps the molecules in a state of suspense, confused, so they don't age as fast and your spring will never break! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 i think no longer than 6 months is a good time frame. After that lubricants can go hard and gum up the mechanisms.If you have a fragile toy like Mr Mecury or Sace Explorer you can hold the toy and support it while it goes through it's actions, it does not need to have it's wheels on the ground. 30-60 secs should be enough to give the toy a decent runRtps. If the ROBOTS DO stick and gum up a toy dealer once showerd me a good trick. Put in a fresh set of batteries and give a short shap smack on the ass!Often the jolt will just be enough to get the gears moving. Another method if you can see the gears through a hole or tab opening, is to gentle try and turn the gears a little when the toy is on, that sometimes helps the motor to break free too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Wow, Tinman just rrealised you've had as many posts in one month as I have had in 2 years!Rt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 I also collect Hot Wheels. The HW boards are always very active so I'm kind of used to that kind of traffic. Actually, I wish this board had a bit more spunk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.I. Gosses Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 As nearly everybody either starts or finishes their contribution with the magic formula:"... I, of course do not want to give offense", I fear that the spunk in your life will have to come mainly from the your own hot rods. I'll see what I can do for you on the Alphadrome freebeebot, OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 Sorry, but I'm not tracking with you H.I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotnut Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Tinman, at last count I have over 150 battery operated toys.This is a relatively small amout as some collectors on thisboard have 10 times that amount. Most of my toys are instorage, so I keep changing my small display to keep itlooking fresh. I personally don't routinely run my robots,but I do run some of them for the fun of it. The reality is,all of your battery operated toys will eventually stop workingand there's nothing you can do to prevent it. The action ofputting batteries in and out of your toys and running themregularly can actually do more harm than leaving them idle.I've repaired vintage toys for many years and have seenmy share of cracked battery holders, missing tabs andcracked gears. I have never had a toy that I couldn't getgoing, even if it had sat for years. This is just my opinionand "we all know what that is worth". I would suggestthat you run your toys whenever the spirit moves you.If you end up with a large collection, you will realize thatroutinely running all your toys will get you no father ahead.If in ten or twenty years, one or two of your robots stopworking, it shouldn't be a disaster. Many robots with plasticgears are actually damaged with regular use. A few monthago I visited a friend that wanted to show me a rare andexpensive robot in action. Even though he ran it only aweek before, it refused to work when he brought it out.This was no biggie, because a few pokes with a metal probegot it running in no time. Like they say, don't sweat thesmall stuff. I just can't imagine our friend at the Robothut,routinely running several thousand robots... :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 I was wondering how often you put some batteries in or wind them up and make them go? I'm guessing you don't leave batteries in the robots or leave them wound...right? ...as often as they like. Here they are warming up as a group........ :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 Sorry, but I'm not tracking with you H.I. i never have!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Young Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 I agree with Robotnut. It took me some years to come to this conclusion. First of all, I have too many toys to go through, and second, the stress of worrying (or fixing or damaging) a nonworker is not worth it. If the toy worked when I bought it, I don't get bent out of shape if it stops. There's nothing wrong with it, its just hibernating. I recall discussing this on another thread-- "NonWorking Vs. Working" or something like that. If I can give newbies some advice, don't worry about every nick, scratch and gummed up motor, just enjoy the darn things for what they are. Unless, of course, you love tinkering. Then, dive right in!PS: The only thing that drives me nuts are missing parts. I just can't seem to get over that one (Bart helped me out with some of his great repro pieces, so he knows!). I think most collectors prefer complete toys, it seems to be a prerequisite for collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted April 2, 2005 Author Share Posted April 2, 2005 i never have!! :D Cool, I thought I was the only one! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Cool, I thought I was the only one! :lol: Come now,in defense of my friend and fellow collector Henk, (not that he needs or appreciates a defense!), One must recognize that genius takes many forms, some not so pleasant, some not so obvious, and Henk is a definate fan of the obscure and the obtuse, with just a dash of the arrogant prince of collecting that he is. Combine this with the language barrier( after all, he is from the Netherlands) and a very twisted sense of humor and Voila! There you have it! H.I. Gosses! (God forbid, it sounds like there are two of them!) He should change his name to H.I. Goss! Henk, Thanks for the card and footpad. Yes, I have changed it out and the old one will be returned. Thanks, my friend! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotnut Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Sonny Young, I can relate to your P.S. comment.I never buy incomplete toys, unless I buy them to sell.I have no problem if a toy is non-working or has play wear,but it won't be part of my collection if it has broken ormissing parts. I most cases, the price of an incompletetoy and the replacement parts, will usually cost morethan a complete vintage toy. $450 for a replacementLost in Space robot dome, WOW ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 I run my b/o toys every few weeks -- partly because I don't want to let the motors gum up, and partly because I just like playing with them.The w/u toys... they get run less often. They just feel like they're more likely to die if I push their mechanisms too far, so I only run them every once in a while... just to check and see if they're still alive. So far, so good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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