Robot:Planet Robot

Action Planet Robot, a plastic windup bundle of menace, lumbers forward while shooting sparks from its chest and mouth. Manufactured by the Japanese company Yoshiya, known as KO, Planet Robot was among the best of a flurry of toys capitalizing on the success of MGM's 1956 classic "Forbidden Planet" and the Robby the Robot craze it inspired. "Forbidden Planet" was the first science fiction movie intended for adults. Based on Shakespeare's play "The Tempest," "Forbidden Planet" relocates the tale of a scientist with magical powers to a remote planet in the 23rd century. In the process, the film offers a critique of American's Cold War fears about foreign superpowers with extraordinary capabilities. Robby the Robot, mechanical sidekick of the scientist, Dr. Mobius, provides ironic commentary on the fears and frailties of mere mortals throughout the movie. Still popular long after the film's 1956 release, as this late-'60s toy implies, Robby became the quintessential robot of the science fiction genre, inspiring HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" and C3PO in "Star Wars."