Christmas Countdown: Japanese tin Robot the " Attacking Martian" by Horikawa

Without doubt one of my all-time favourite toys was the battery operated Attacking Martian Robot by Horikawa which I was given as a Christmas present by my parents around 1966/67. Unfortunately, my robots battery box was broken which eventually resulted in the toy not operating and being consigned to being a childhood ornament before being given away to a friend.

The Attacking Martian robot by Horikawa was a worldwide retail success in the mid 1960's (until around 1969/70)and became a must have toy for many young kids at this time. It came in three colours, brown (my version), silver , and (the much rarer) gold with chest doors that would open to reveal "working" light guns. I had forgotten all about this robot until around 2010 when I came across a series of robot replicas on sale in a shop in Glasgow which my other half (bless her) bought me (see below) as part of a Christmas present that year. This spurred me on to try to track down any information on the robot toy I had and loved so much as a kid back in the mid 1960's. Not as easy a task as it may sound as I found out that there were numerous Japanese robots on sale in the UK at his time

It wouldn't be until 3 years ago when on a trip to Brighton I came across the magazine below. There in the pages of this book/magazine was a picture of “my" robot along with details of what it would cost (on average) to purchase a mid-1960's model- between £300-£600. Sometimes a picture and my memory of those times will just have to suffice!