fall inside a hole
Toybox Working Robot Busy Robot Factory (1984)
First written December 18, 2024
The "Working Robot Robot Factory (はたらきロボくん ビジーロボット工場) was a Big Loader-style toy released by Toybox in 1984. The toy combines the reversing chassis of the Tomy Big Loader toys with the spinning cog system of previous Toybox toys from when they were known as Toy Town.
The box shows several of the neat areas of the set like the hopper and flipping track section.
Set contents| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mr. Robot |
 |
| 3 | Balls |
 |
| 1 | Track A |
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| 1 | Track B |
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| 1 | Track C |
 |
| 1 | Track D |
 |
| 1 | Track E |
 |
| 1 | Track F |
 |
| 1 pair | Somersault Rail |
 |
| 1 | Hopper |
 |
| 2 | Hopper supports |
 |
| 2 | Track supports |
 |
| 1 | E track support |
 |
| 1 | Sign |
 |
| 1 | Sign support |
 |
Mr. Robot himself was produced in both color combinations of chassis and body - the other is shown on the cover. Mr. Robot's arms are sprung inwards to assist him in moving the marbles around.
The chassis really is pretty much the Big Loader chassis with the Toy Town cog mechanism bolted on top - the hanging metal pins and reversing mechanism is present, although the gears hanging near one of the powered wheels that engages with the racked sections of Big Loader have been removed as they are not needed. Mr. Robot takes two AA batteries like other Big Loader power cars. Removing the battery holder section from the chassis allows the side cogs to be lifted right out and the colored skirting removed. Removing the screws on the bottom reveals the Big Loader power chassis mechanism.
Like other similar toys, the track is made up of several unique sections that really only go together one way to perform one set of actions. The track fits together using a simple round clip system similar to other Tomy and Toybox toys, although several of the connections have broken on my example. Part of the set is elevated and there is space to store the other colors of balls. There is no way for Mr. Robot to swap balls on his own, unfortunately.
Different pieces form a chute to transfer marbles around and a vertical section that lets Mr. Robot flip his way down from the upper level.
The set has three colored marbles that can be used in the factory one at a time. In classic Toy Town fashion, a sign displaying the name of the toy is included to install over the track (and help hold the vertical section the right width apart).
The original instruction sheet is two-sided with Japanese and English... Its definitely possible that this set was exported, but it seems to be fairly hard to find in Japan as it is... In any case, its handy to already have an official English translation. It was printed in July 1984.