Silver “War” robot from Park Plastics

Recently received in a box of Alien and Predator figures from Kenner was this 5 inch robot from Park Plastics. The style is really reminiscent of Flash Gordon and other 1920's-1930's sci-fi movie serials, very art-deco/empire styled sculpting on this automaton that looks like it's ready for war. The figure is very simple in the articulation department; left shoulder cannon swivels 360 degrees (note the missile that goes in mine is missing and I cannot find a picture of what it looked like to replace it)and right arm only bends at the elbow. The rest of the figure is hollow with a single wheel in each foot allowing it to be rolled forward and backward with ease.

The figure, as you can see, is molded in silver and black plastic with black and red paint applications. When researching the origins of this figure I only found another one just like mine (even missing the missile) on fliker.com. After several attempts to reach the owner of the picture, I was left with another dead end and about 3 unanswered emails. Other attempts to research Park Plastics were only met with confusing results. All three reliable results showed Park Plastics being a commercial plastic manufacturer without any history of toy making or production. Any further information that readers of this blog could render would be appreciated.

Marty Toys Bendable Robot 1985

I have really never found out much about this bendable robot I found at the bottom of a box of a Star Wars collectibles I bought one day back in 2004. The guy I bought it from had spent time overseas, mainly in England, and was fairly sure that's where it came from. Over 7 years of researching I had only found one other character from the line; a squat, saucer shaped robot with stubby arms and legs molded in the same green rubber. Unfortunately, the owner of that particular eBay auction thought very highly of it and wanted around $80 for the figure. This, in my personal opinion, was far too steep and I refused to pursue it further. The auction closed without a single bidder and the robot was never re posted from what I could tell.

From what reputable sources I found, Marty Toys was an American based toy company that started in the late 70's and didn't make it into the 90's from what I could tell. Upon further researching I found their specialty was rubbery toys. Most of them along the line of UFO or gumball machine toys but this series looked like it may have been among their first foray into retail store shelves. After digging a little deeper I found carded examples of rubber finger puppets and some Rat Fink-esque figurines. It seems my search for more information on this toy has hit an inevitable dead end of sorts. Over the last 7 years, I have still yet to come across any others even like it.

I personally admire the figure for how unique it is, but how very reminiscent it is of simpler toy lines from the early 1970's like Major Matt Mason. The usual construction of any bendable toy is a wire armature encased in a pliable plastic or rubber and this is no exception. One solid color without a trace of paint on either representation I've found, so I think it's safe to assume these were never meant to be colorful. The robot stands around 4 ½ inches tall and his fists have holes drilled into them like it was meant to hold some sort of weapon; but without seeing a carded example, this is only a speculation.

I have to admit the sculpt is very intricate for what in the toy world is considered a “throw away” toy. If you think about toy history, bendable toys or “bendies” are usually meant for small children and they end up broken within weeks; wire armatures snap or the rubber dries up and becomes brittle. I have to say I feel fortunate since the box of figures this came out of was in an outside storage unit that didn't have any climate control features and this figure is in pristine condition. I welcome any more information any readers have on this toy.

Miscellaneous green PVC robot by unknown maker

We all have those strange items in our collection that we can't find any sort of origin on. I've spent years doing research for my collection and this is one of a handful of pieces that I cannot find out a damn thing about. All I know is I got it at a yard sale roughly 20 years ago for something like a dime. The robot has no visible markings, made of a rigid green PVC with a clear but solid dome, chromed chest piece and computer brain. For what looks like a gumball machine toy, it has a rather involved paint scheme. With painted shoulder stripes, feet, “utility belt” and tanks on it's back it's a little better quality than what's usually found in a quarter toy machine today. It has no points of articulation, feet are molded to a flat plank like a little green army man and tons of detail shoved into a 2 ½ inch toy.

I've posted pictures of it on several message boards and forums only to find out no one else has any real knowledge on the toy other than it's really cool and they'd like to buy it. Without any markings I can only assume by the “hulked out” Robbie the Robot style it dates from the late 60's to early 70's. I would love to know more about this piece; like who made it, where did it come from and is there any more figurines in the line.