Planet Robot Limited Edition Space Explorer
By James Grahame
Planet Robot manufactures beautiful limited edition reproductions of the 1950s Yonezawa Space Explorer tin robot. Each series is restricted to a production run of 200 units or less (it looks like the total production run was 1000 pieces). The robots are machine stamped and hand assembled - I was quite surprised to see photos of workers bending tin with pliers, although it helps to explain why less labor-intensive plastic toys are the norm these days.
Prices range from $93 to $103. These were manufactured in October 2005, so very limited quantities of some variations are still available. Treat this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to create your own clockwork army.
