fall inside a hole
Toybox Working Robot Busy Robot Factory (1984)
First written December 18, 2024New photos and videos added April 2025
The Working Robot Busy 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, older 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.
To get my Mr. Robot running properly again, I removed the original dry-rotted traction tires and replaced just the outer one with a spare Big Loader traction tire (having both installed caused him to get held up on corners). I used some leftover cutup 3D print sprew to replace the clip on the one side of the body shell - the clip on the left helps hold the body shell in place particularly during the end of the flipping section where it holds the robot level as it finishes the descent.
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.
I 3D printed some simple clips that slot in under the track and hold them together. There is still some tape residue from where a previous owner taped the sections together. 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.
Here is the busy little robot scuttling around. He gets a little caught up on corners, but I love the way he rolls along cycling the ball around, flipping over and reversing direction... Mesmerizing in the way all Big Loaders are. This is possibly my favorite Toy Town/Toybox toy, combining Big Loader's reversing mechanism with their own flipping cog system.