http://www.opamerica.com Presenting a rare working vintage T.N. Nomura Earth Man battery operated robot. In some robot books, it’s called Astronaut. Circa 1957. This toy is light yellow and red with a red control. He is designed to take two C batteries, then he walks, his arms raise and the ray gun flashes red. The back has the Numura logo (TN) along with the words Made in Japan. Paint is in very good shape with only very light scratches and scuffs.
Measures a full 9″ inches tall.
I found an interesting write up about this toy in the book Vintage Toys: Robots and Space Toys:
“Here’s yet another interesting entry in the ‘who made it?’ derby between Nomura and Naito Shoten. Earth Man, a nine inch, battery operated toy with corded remote control, walks along, and when commanded, raises his gun and fires. The toy shares components with Nomura’s wind-up Space Commando toy (1950s), and appears to share feet and possibly leg emblies with the Naito Shoten Deep-Sea Robot family (1950s). Colorful and distinctive lithography graces this astronaut toy, where a combination of flashy and subdued colors work together to create a more mature presentation than is typically found on such battery-ops. Rare is the Japanese space toy that actually refers to astronauts as ‘earth’ men, so Nomura’s creation is somewhat unique in that regard. Not an inexpensive toy by any standard, Earth Man is held in high esteem among knowledegable collectors for only the best of reasons: operational and lithographic quality.”
Duration : 0:1:10
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