Ideal Robot Commando

[SH MIKE]

I saw this photo on Ebay and noticed the Blue "Torpedo" in the front. I have a Robot Commando in a box that came with 2 of them. I always thought it was from another toy but now I wonder?

Has anyone else seen this blue "Torpedo" with a Robot Commando?

They fit inside the head. Hollow rubber with the letters USMC raised

on the side. The top and bottom have holes in them.

(I already asked this question in the wrong forum).

[robothut]

Well the one I had as a kid and the 2 mint in box Comando robots I have had since then did not have these blue bombs, so I would say they are just another toy the kid had that would fit on the rocket launcher so were left in the box all these years.

[Nikola Tesla]

There is something SO familiar about that little bomb, and the opening in its nose. Having struggled with my memory of the early 1960s once again, I do recall a little bomb toy from those good old days---The other elders in here should remember, too. It looked like and was the same size as the air-drop bomb you have pictured---but it featured a metal attachment in the nose, wherein you would insert an explosive capgun cap. When you tossed this vicious little toy up in the air, it always came down on its heavier metal nose, producing a satisfying POP as the cap detonated. There were later variations on the design, but I guess it was eventually deemed unsuitable for our peace-loving society, and I haven't seen another one since the early 1970s. So could this be a leftover from the cap-bomb toy, minus its metal nose attachment? Nice color-match, whatever it is.

B)

[SH MIKE]

I just find it odd that 2 different Boxed Robot Commandos sold over 10 years apart from different parts of the country have the same unknown accessory with it??? Strange.

[Nikola Tesla]

From the photo, it looks like the blue bomb has a roundish protrusion from the tail section. Does the diameter of that protrusion match any accommodating holes or slots on the Commando? There looks to be a hole about the right size in the shoulder---just a thought.

[SH MIKE]

The hole in the shoulder cap is for the red balls (missiles). There are some Robot Commandos with solid shoulder caps. An earlier version? Maybe those Blue "Torpedos" were from an early version or a some store exclusive? The Base of the Blue bomb does stick out a bit but is much smaller.

[steve]

I still have my Robot Commando received on Christmas 40 years ago. While that blue bomb looks quite familiar,(and yes I remember exactly the toy you are talking about Nikola)it did not come with my robot. For all of us clamoring after the Osaka mini Diamond Planet's(or the maxi ones)we have Robot Commando to thank for their design.

[SH MIKE]

Speaking of Robot Commando, is this smaller version shown in the red circle a model kit? I have an 80's kit called "Baby Thunder" but I think this is an older photo. I also have a photo showing a different box top and I noticed that this older one seems to have a wired remote showing in the instructions. Photo to follow this one.

[SH MIKE]

Older kit?

[SH MIKE]

Baby Thunder

[Joe K.]

Mike - If you have a copy of Tom Frey's Toy Bop, see page 143. Remco made a toy in 1960 called the Marine Raider Long Range Mortar. It discharged "4 authentic mortar shells" that look very much like your Robot Commando projectiles. They, too, are marked USMC, but instead of blue, they are white.

The same toy is also in More Boys' Toys of the Fifties & Sixties, in a 1965 Montgomery Ward "Talk of the Town" Christmas Catalog. The black and white photo shows that the mortar shells were changed to a different color; green perhaps...or blue???

[robothut]

Yes Japan did make a wind up version "BABY THUNDER" and a battery operated version of Robot Commando. I have been looking for one for 20 years.