1972 Horikawa, Dino-Robot in Original Box w/Inserts
One of the most ingenious and certainly unusual Japanese-made robots was the monstrous battery operated Dino-Robot manufactured by, or for, Horikawa. Especially difficult to find in high grade this one is in fantastic near mint condition. It comes complete with its beautifully illustrated original box in excellent condition and includes all three of its original inserts. Best of all....it works great! The Dino-Robot has to be one of the most clever (and probably complex) designs for a battery powered toy. It walks forward, stops, lets out a load roar, and then the head suddenly splits apart vertically at the center to reveal a gorgeously painted evil dinosaur head. The mouth drops down to open showing a large red light bulb tongue which lights up. This continues for a couple second, stops, and the two head halves snap closed. The sound stops and it continues on its way! With this complicated list of sequential actions it's no wonder that it's a tough toy to find in high grade and still working flawlessly. The body, legs, arms, and the beast' lower jaw are all tin litho. The blockhead is plastic and the dino head is some type of vinyl. The battery box in the back has a metal door with a plastic battery holder. I'd guess that the color is primarily a metallic graphite. Not gray, brown, or black, but sort of an in-between combination. All of the silver and red chest doo-dad's are embossed. I love the box for this toy. I guess with the fire and flames creating a path of destruction through a city it was made to resemble Godzilla or something similar. Dino definitely doesn't look too happy as he crushes a passenger bus in its right claw. The cover illustration is repeated on the top and bottom panels along with a listing of the actions. Very demonstrative drawings showing the robots transformation from blockhead to dino-head were printed on both side panels. Two of the three inserts slot into one another. The third protects the blockhead. Size: 11". Sold: Dec. 2015
Price Sold: $ 540
