www.TVDAYS.com 9 Volumes of Toy Commercials on DVD at TVDAYS.com www.TVDAYS.com Ira H. Gallen Video Resources 220 West 71st Street NYC 10023 (212) 724 - 7055 www.vidres@aol.com
Remember kids, when you see a 6-story tall robot knocking down buildings, stomping tanks, flinging missiles, and shooting down aircraft, "He's here to HELP you!" This message brought to you by Cyberdyne Systems and Skynet Research.
Robot Commando has GOT to be one of my all-time favorite toys Ideal has ever made. I though it was the coolest-looking toy I have ever seen in my life when I first saw this commercial here on CZcams, and I must say, with this toy being voice-controlled, it looks to be WAY ahead of its time!
I was 6 years old at the time Robot Commando came out. My parents had just divorced and my Dad got custody. So...when my Mom asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said "Robot Commando!". How could she say no? It was a lot of fun. I was a geek in training.
Animal Fun Fact: Clips from this commercial were used in the Shining Time Station episode, "Mr. Conductor Gets Left Out" for a commercial for the Enviro-bot, a robot who fights pollution.
I caught my parents and older brother having a ball with this on Christmas Eve in the basement after I got outta bed late , for a 8 year old, to pee and noticed no one was upstairs.🤔So I heard voices in the basement and I quietly crept down a few stairs and caught them all playing with my toy! I was so happy to know that I actually got it I almost started jumping up and down. 🤗But I went back to bed and played dumb on Christmas morning.🤫
This toy made a memorable appearance on an episode of "Car 54, Where Are You?" Episode titled, "Stop Thief" (aired: Dec. 16, 1962). Captain Block was attacked in his office by Robot Commando, a hilarious gag. I remember the toy because I owned it sometime in the early-1960s, as many boys did who loved fighting objects. "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots" (made by Marx) was another (1964) classic toy that was extremely popular then. Almost 20 years before the electronic gadgets and computer age (for the masses), there were these wonderful toys mostly for boys, but some girls may have also liked them! Those were the days!
When I was a teeny little kid in the early 1960's this commercial was literally my favorite Sat. morning program. I would sit in front of the TV watching Mighty Mouse Playhouse just to see this commercial. Every other Sat. morning commercial back then seemed to be for Chef Boy-ar-dee. Of course I wanted one but never got one.
this robot commando is the prototype. clear lid and arms. also had chrome parts. store version was red blue and yellow plastic parts. this prototype would be worth a great deal of money today.
It did not vibrate. It was like a stick with a flat paddle like thing on it. It would move away from your breath when you said fire with force to complete the circuit. So it was Newton's third law. Action Reaction. I learned to just blow hard to make it work better.
@tvdays yep it did have a red top! and say you still have yours kool! i had one in the early 60s, but mine turned into everything from a giant nemisis for matt mason to a submarine and spacecraft over the years... i wish i still had it. by 71 it was only an empty shell in the toy junkyard underneath my back porch. :( but what fun i had!!!!!
Remember this ad as a kid and wanting it, but never got it. Was more like ‘62 - ‘64 than 1959. Tried to impress a little girl by rolling my eyes like that. Didn’t get her either.
The control had different positions that you put it in like fire ! When you said fire your breath moved a relay that connected the circuit. So you had to say fire with force. I remember the positions were turn right, turn left and fire missles and fire the balls it threw by its rotating arms. Hey its been over 50 years since I had it so I cant remember everything...LOL.
@bukster1 I had one of these. The voice command was nothing more than switch that activated (via vibration from your voice) what ever command was set on the congtroller. So if you set the controller to "Fire Rocket), then yelled into the wired remote it would execute the command.Primative by today's standards. Too bad the robot sounds aren't heard in the commercial. It made an ominous beeping sound. Well...ominous for a 6 year old in the 60's.
I imagine the 'mic' was a reed switch that vibrated to the sound of your voice. The switch contained a magnetic coil that turned on and held the reed in positiom when the reed closed the circuit. Switching modes would re-open this circuit until the next sound caused the reed to close the circuit again. This because otherwise you would have to constantly blare into the mic, and the movements would be very stuttery. The mic, magnetic coil, and motor would've been all been wired in series so you had 2 wires going to the remote control. A rod inside the cable that the remote pulls and pushes to different positions acted as a gear shift to make the robot do different things. If you ever opened an old Radio Shack Armitron, you would had discovered that there is only one electric motor and a very complicated gearbox to make the arm do different functions, and even drive the counter. Very impressive stuff. They could have made it run on a wind up motor if they wanted to.
There was a plastic diaphram inside the control unit and when you spoke into it the diaphram would vibrate and send a little push down the wire to the Robot and the rest is electrical history. it's like a trigger to move the armature that was pirched to be released!
@bukster1 The remote to this toy had a control knob you slid up and down the remote itself to give it commands. The vibration created from your breath into what looked like a tinfoil backed mouthpiece on top would put it into action and complete your command. And this was '63'or'64' not 1959. Thanks for the great memories. I had one
@DUSTYBASS TheGreat Garloo was mine and the Robot Commando was my little brother`s!We still have them both ,in the original boxes,only because they had to remain at my Grandma`s house(that was the stipulation!!!!! Good thing, too!LOL!
Remember this to and ma said no! She claimed she voted Republican but was Catholic and thought "if we all prayed for peace russia would change" me I wanted to NUKE THE BASTARDS! Anyway never got this cool robot but managed to have a good size military force of plastic tanks and "ground pounders" and plastic jet fighters. My Italian Greyhound's eyes do the same thing the Robot does, at times when in the backseat of the car and have to let her sit on my lap while driving...then she's ok.
Remember kids, when you see a 6-story tall robot knocking down buildings, stomping tanks, flinging missiles, and shooting down aircraft, "He's here to HELP you!"
This message brought to you by Cyberdyne Systems and Skynet Research.
He makes demolition projects go MUCH faster
Gifts from Santa for my brother and I. Definitely in the discussion for best Christmas ever. 60 plus years ago…..
Ideal Toy Company (1907-1997). One of the Big Four toy makers: Hasbro, Marx, and Mattel.
I was seven when I got a Robot Commando for Christmas. I was the envy of the neighborhood!
Robot Commando & Astro Base were my 2 Favorite toys EVER - Michael McClary, Professor of Trumpet 🎺, Georgia Perimeter College & GSU
You know what was probably the best thing about this toy? When you picked it up and looked underneath it, it said made in the U.S.A.
I remember mine with GREAT fondness. Played with that toy for many, many happy hours.
Robot Commando has GOT to be one of my all-time favorite toys Ideal has ever made. I though it was the coolest-looking toy I have ever seen in my life when I first saw this commercial here on CZcams, and I must say, with this toy being voice-controlled, it looks to be WAY ahead of its time!
I was 6 years old at the time Robot Commando came out. My parents had just divorced and my Dad got custody. So...when my Mom asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said "Robot Commando!". How could she say no? It was a lot of fun. I was a geek in training.
Animal Fun Fact: Clips from this commercial were used in the Shining Time Station episode, "Mr. Conductor Gets Left Out" for a commercial for the Enviro-bot, a robot who fights pollution.
My brother and I each had one and they were good to play with.
Your wars pitting one against the other would have been fun to see!
I caught my parents and older brother having a ball with this on Christmas Eve in the basement after I got outta bed late , for a 8 year old, to pee and noticed no one was upstairs.🤔So I heard voices in the basement and I quietly crept down a few stairs and caught them all playing with my toy! I was so happy to know that I actually got it I almost started jumping up and down. 🤗But I went back to bed and played dumb on Christmas morning.🤫
What a funny, touching story! Who was Robot Commando attacking?
This toy made a memorable appearance on an episode of "Car 54, Where Are You?" Episode titled, "Stop Thief" (aired: Dec. 16, 1962). Captain Block was attacked in his office by Robot Commando, a hilarious gag. I remember the toy because I owned it sometime in the early-1960s, as many boys did who loved fighting objects. "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots" (made by Marx) was another (1964) classic toy that was extremely popular then. Almost 20 years before the electronic gadgets and computer age (for the masses), there were these wonderful toys mostly for boys, but some girls may have also liked them! Those were the days!
When I was a teeny little kid in the early 1960's this commercial was literally my favorite Sat. morning program. I would sit in front of the TV watching Mighty Mouse Playhouse just to see this commercial. Every other Sat. morning commercial back then seemed to be for Chef Boy-ar-dee.
Of course I wanted one but never got one.
I had one of these... used it to keep my kid brother out of my room... it worked! ;D
this robot commando is the prototype. clear lid and arms. also had chrome parts. store version was red blue and yellow plastic parts. this prototype would be worth a great deal of money today.
We had one of these and loved it. The commercial takes liberties with the truth and gives the impression it is voice controlled.
“No enemy can destroy him”
Godzilla:oh really
It did not vibrate. It was like a stick with a flat paddle like thing on it. It would move away from your breath when you said fire with force to complete the circuit. So it was Newton's third law. Action Reaction. I learned to just blow hard to make it work better.
@tvdays yep it did have a red top! and say you still have yours kool! i had one in the early 60s, but mine turned into everything from a giant nemisis for matt mason to a submarine and spacecraft over the years... i wish i still had it. by 71 it was only an empty shell in the toy junkyard underneath my back porch. :( but what fun i had!!!!!
Remember this ad as a kid and wanting it, but never got it. Was more like ‘62 - ‘64 than 1959. Tried to impress a little girl by rolling my eyes like that. Didn’t get her either.
Robot Commando was not introduced until 1961.
i HAD ROBOT COMMANDO AND MY BROTHER GEORGE HAD GREAT GARLOO. WHAT A GREAT CHRISTMAS THAT WAS!!!!!!
The control had different positions that you put it in like fire ! When you said fire your breath moved a relay that connected the circuit. So you had to say fire with force. I remember the positions were turn right, turn left and fire missles and fire the balls it threw by its rotating arms. Hey its been over 50 years since I had it so I cant remember everything...LOL.
@bukster1 I had one of these. The voice command was nothing more than switch that activated (via vibration from your voice) what ever command was set on the congtroller. So if you set the controller to "Fire Rocket), then yelled into the wired remote it would execute the command.Primative by today's standards.
Too bad the robot sounds aren't heard in the commercial. It made an ominous beeping sound. Well...ominous for a 6 year old in the 60's.
Well shoot! I was gonna get one! Dang it.
@@nam1esiw Don't let me stop you. There's one for sale on Ebay for $3500.
thanks for sharing tvdays
America's answer to Japan's version of Tetsujin 28-go and that little boy hopes that his counterpart, Shotaro Kaneda is not up to the challenge.
We could buy them at Woolworth,and in my case O'Neil's at Summit Mall in Akron, Ohio's west market street.
55 yr ago.
😲 Wow 😳🤣🤣
in 1959, they were called "ro-robutts"
I imagine the 'mic' was a reed switch that vibrated to the sound of your voice. The switch contained a magnetic coil that turned on and held the reed in positiom when the reed closed the circuit. Switching modes would re-open this circuit until the next sound caused the reed to close the circuit again.
This because otherwise you would have to constantly blare into the mic, and the movements would be very stuttery.
The mic, magnetic coil, and motor would've been all been wired in series so you had 2 wires going to the remote control. A rod inside the cable that the remote pulls and pushes to different positions acted as a gear shift to make the robot do different things.
If you ever opened an old Radio Shack Armitron, you would had discovered that there is only one electric motor and a very complicated gearbox to make the arm do different functions, and even drive the counter. Very impressive stuff. They could have made it run on a wind up motor if they wanted to.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
So how did the remote work? It couldn't have had speech recognition back then.
1959? They should film this toy ad with soviet model tank and planes.
There was a plastic diaphram inside the control unit and when you spoke into it the diaphram would vibrate and send a little push down the wire to the Robot and the rest is electrical history. it's like a trigger to move the armature that was pirched to be released!
I got this for Christmas in '63 or '64 . . I don't believe it was available yet in 1959.
this robot looks like the robot in the japanese scifi movie 'the mysterians' that came out just the year earlier... coincidence... i think not!
@bukster1 The remote to this toy had a control knob you slid up and down the remote itself to give it commands. The vibration created from your breath into what looked like a tinfoil backed mouthpiece on top would put it into action and complete your command. And this was '63'or'64' not 1959. Thanks for the great memories. I had one
I had this one and a dinosaur/lizard that shot out ping pong balls. Lost all the balls and weapons after awhile. Next it was all the GI Joe gear.
Shining Time Station brought me here.
@DUSTYBASS TheGreat Garloo was mine and the Robot Commando was my little brother`s!We still have them both ,in the original boxes,only because they had to remain at my Grandma`s house(that was the stipulation!!!!! Good thing, too!LOL!
it goes like 6 feet and the batteries need replaced.
The iron giant
Can we get a Robot Commando vs King Zor Battle?
Heck I had one........dang
fucking hard core
VINTAGE ROBOT COMMANDO BATTERY OP ORIGINAL BOX RARE NR
9 Bids $380.00
This is the E Bay listing for our old under $20 toy!!!!
I'm getting severe Armageddroid from My Life as a Teenage Robot vibes here. Anyone else?
Putin for sure got one of these
megatron hahahahahI origin))
"Kill the neighbor's cat, RoboCommando"
Remember this to and ma said no! She claimed she voted Republican but was Catholic and thought "if we all prayed for peace russia would change" me I wanted to NUKE THE BASTARDS! Anyway never got this cool robot but managed to have a good size military force of plastic tanks and "ground pounders" and plastic jet fighters.
My Italian Greyhound's eyes do the same thing the Robot does, at times when in the backseat of the car and have to let her sit on my lap while driving...then she's ok.