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In the early 1950’s, sci-fi was all the rage. TV shows like Captain Video and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, and toys like space helmets and ray guns were favorites with kids. But nothing was quite as cool as having your own robot, your own mechanical friend who would do whatever you told him to. There were lots of robots on the market as well, but most were just wind up toys. Robert the Robot was a step beyond.

 

Robert was sixteen inches tall, a red and silver robot figure manufactured by New York’s Ideal Toy Corporation. He was inspired by the sci-fi classic Tobor The Great, and came with lots of cool features. Kids could control his movements by a plastic grip that was connected to his back by a wire. If you turned the crank on the controller, you could make Robert move forwards or backwards, and squeezing the trigger made him turn left or right. Plus, you could open up the robot’s chest when you had to do “maintenance work” and take out a set of tools that were stored inside.

 

Robert also has battery-controlled eyes that lit up, and he could even talk if you turned the crank in his back. Unfortunately, all he could say was, “I am Robert Robot, mechanical man. Drive me and steer me, wherever you can." But for new robot owners, that was enough.

 

Thanks to good distribution and an appearance in Sears’ 1954 Wishbook, Robert the Robot became an extremely popular toy. He’s still popular – collectors have paid anywhere from $200 to $1200 for an original figure. Somehow, the idea of your own mechanical man never gets old.