Yonezawa – Talking Robot

If you are ever looking for a cool robot from the sixties then this talking robot is definitely the one to go. Build by Yonezawa for Cragstan in Japan in the early 1960s. This robot is equipped with a simple friction drive and the only movement it does is going forward, that’s about it. but its not the movement what makes this robot famous, its his voice, the way he talks, its soooo cool.

For the not robot enthousiastics among us, let me explain something first. in 2017 you go to a shop and you can buy yourself a plastic robot that talks, even a postcard that talks, there is a build in chip with a cell battery and a tiny speaker and it is able to produce whole songs, tekst, and there are even postcards that you can “program yourself”  with your own voice… and that for a couple of dollars, so what is so special about a robot that can say 4 lines…???

Well, in the early sixties microchips were not THAT common so the japanese engineers had to find a different way to produce a talking robot….. they used a vinyl record and a tiny record player… cool or what 🙂 !!! it uses a small record with a needle, a motor and some gears and so and a big speaker, there is no electronica used in this system, it’s all mechanical.

Inside this beautiful robot is a miniature record player with a huge speaker and a record with 4 frases. These are the lines the robot speaks loud and clear:

1. ” I am bulit proof too, hahahahaha”
2. ” I am leaving now to explore the outer limits boys, goodbye, see you again”
3. ” I am the atomic powered robot, please leave my best wishes to everybody”
4. ” I am a mighty man with one milion of horse power inside me, do you get me now”

Now about the robot.. This is by FAR the best example i ever had in my collection ! The robot is in absolute stunning near mint condition and looks unplayed with… that last part has a reason… the talking mechanism is not… like with most of these robots… not working.

In the past 10 years I repaired several of these robots and I was able to get them back talking. I even have spare mechanisms for these robots but.. every time you repair these and put them on your shelves.. after. lets say a month or six… they simply wont talk again.
Opening up the robot is the only solution. the mechanism is simply to weak to be powered by a single 1.5 volt battery and because of the age of the talking mechanism, it’s the same problem with every talking robot… You have to take it fully apart to get the mechanism going properly again and after some time.. it wont talk.

Because of the prestine condition of this talking robot i decided NOT to open up this one to get the talking mechanism going again.. its really a pity to do so.. the robot is in pristine condition and was never opened before… I will leave it this way and if you want to buy this robot, you can tell me if you want it in the current condition or if you want me to get the mechanism going again.. I would leave the robot in its current condition but… thats up to the new owner to decide..

This near mint talking robot comes with its original box that has some internal tape repairs to keep the tears together and prevent them from tearing further. It can be removed easily if you decide to have the box professionally repaired. Overall condition of the box is excellent and the robot is hard to find with its original box anyway.

Talking robots are hard to find with original box. this example appears to be unplayed with and can be graded as near mint.. really NO upgrade needed on the robot, the best example i ever had in my colleciton by far !

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