Asakusa – Thunder Robot

I found this robot, of course, in Italy where it belonged to an inventory of robots and space toys. The collection was a high end collection and all the toys had been taken care for for many years. The collector decided to sell his robots recently and I bought most of them. this thunder was part of that collection.

Thunder Robot was build in Japan in the early sixties by Asakusa.
Asakusa was a small Japanese Manufacturer that was mainly known for building tin Battery operated model cars. They produced ONE robot in 1957 called Thunder Robot… we all whished they produced more robots because Asukasa`s Thunder Robot became THE Robot Icon of the golden Age, the sixties.

This somewhat bullet shaped robot is all torso and no head or… no torso and all head ? We will probably never find out because there is not much know about Asakusa in Japan. The rare shape of this robot is for sure what makes this robot unique. Did the Asakusa creators found their inspiration in the Maya culture, who knows….

The actions of Thunder Robot leaves nothing to the imagination, its made for total destruction…. Walking around Thunder Robot suddenly raises both arms and reveals 2 “hidden Guns” He starts to fire with a loud ra-ta-ta sound and shaking guns. When all enemies are destroyed, Thunder Robot lowers his arms (guns) and walks forward with flashing lights in search of new enemies.

Asukasa`s Thunder Robot is one of most copied robots from the sixties. Reproductions are mostly made in China ( Ha-ha toys )
Reproductions lack the asakusa stamp underneath both feet, the lenses of the eyes are different, battery compartment is different, paint, on-off switch is mounted in a different way, lights in the guns are white ( original has red lights ) and there is more…

The condition of this very rare thunder robot is near mint and only a minor corrosion spot on the inside of the battery cover is keeping the robot from higher grading. I have had several Thunder robots in the Dutch Caves but this one is by FAR the best one I ever had ! Looks hardly been played with, no damage, wear or scratches and the robot works like NEW ! The robots antenna is original. Clean battery compartment with some minor cracks ( common for these robots by the way ) You will really have a hard job to upgrade this example !!!

Because of a very short production run and a very poor distribution, Asakusa`s Thunder Robot became one of the “Holy Grails” of many collectors. Rare and VERY Scarce and almost impossible to find in this excellent and 100 % working condition.

CFP:  Contact me For Price               at                boogo.nl@gmail.com