A spring powered analogue mechanical toy robot that still works perfectly after nearly a hundred years-- with it's nearly lost history displayed on a current era tablet gadget. There's something almost artistic or poetic about that. It's almost the type of thing Asimov might have written about, or some expressionist might have painted at one point in time.
Many thanks for taking the time to do this, my father passed away a few years ago and left me this in his will… he was given it by a well traveled uncle circa 1938/9..really appreciate this fascinating insight into its background!
My great uncle, American, was not just the basis to James Bond but also the creator. He was a secret agent in Tokyo in 1941. He would buy these in the Ginza district and dismantle them for parts for timers on bombs. He was arrested while buying one. You can see them referenced in the character Dr. NO, who had the same pincer hands and his heart was not in the normal location as a Tin Man. Liliput was mentioned in the beginning of the novel to describe Bonds gun. The robot is referenced again in Madeline’s room in No Time To Die. She had aluminum foil robot toy men on her shelf and played with a Tamagotchi. The creator of the Tamagotchi was born September 1941 when James would have been buying these robots.
Whoa, I was scared it was going to fall over ! 👀 Looks like it gets stable after a few steps. Great performance. I was not expecting much, but Pin walking gave it a unique animation.
