ASTROMAN - DUX

Plastic battery up remote control robot. Circa 1960. Advances with walking motion with a light in the chest. Functions include bending over, opening and closing arms. West Germany.

The transparent green plastic components are attached to the metal chassis. The head is made of a luminous plastic. The plastic antenna is notoriously fragile. Components, particularly the clear plastic dome, are inclined to distort.

The German patent for this toy was issued in 1959. The original design was for a kit robot, designed so children could take it apart. The motor was a normal wind-up, the body, arms and legs were made in plastic.

At the 1960 Toy Fair in Nürnberg the robot appeared and was a flop: too expensive and too complex. The designer, Herr. Knoch made only 200 pieces. Later he made the now familiar design in plastic and this was a bestseller.

Anecdotally the robot was received as a present in 1960 but the first firm dating is in a Dux catalog for 1962.