Vintage 1960s black HORIKAWA Machine gun type Space Explorer Robot - Mechanical tin robots proved to be extremely popular in the 1950s and 1960s. This one came to us from a client and whilst did show some signs of movement, the machine gun mechanism failed to operate, the robot didn't walk properly and the motor assembly was making an awful screaming noise. The restoration included completely disassembling the toy, servicing the motor & various cogs, straighting the steel frame in the right leg & torso, replacing the wiring and cleaning all of the battery contacts. The robot was then reassembled and tested. The result was a fully working example of this wonderful toy which was returned to the client to be enjoyed once more.
Matsushiro Land Cruiser 4WD The Winch - This amazing toy from the 1980s came to us from a client in non-working condition. Our client had told us that one minute everything was working perfectly and then it just stopped working and was unresponsive to any radio control commands. Given this is an off-road toy, the most immediate thought as perhaps a loose connection or something similar. The jeep was disassembled and on first inspection no issues were identified. The next step was to ensure that the right amount of voltage was reaching the circuit board components and the various motor mechanisms on the model. All of these tests proved to be as expected and the mechanical mechanisms all functioned when the appropriate voltage was applied directly. In the end the problem was traced back to the L9367 chip which is essentially the brain of the toy. This clever little circuit takes radio waves from a remote control and redirects what it hears to various pins on the chip which then activate different functions on the toy. After exploring the chip with multimeter, several pins were found to be failing. A replacement chip was ordered, inserted onto the board and the entire toy reassembled & tested. Everything was found to work as expected and the toy was returned to the client for future use.
Space Turbo - Back in the late 70s and early 80s most portable electronic games were mechanical rather than digital. My client had two such games that whilst powered up refused to run. In both cases a number of cogs and gears had cracked or had missing teeth. These were replaced and both toys were given a service. They are both working perfectly and have been returned to the client so that they can enjoy them once more. They were so pleased with the outcome they have asked about future projects and have already sent our next challenge to us.
Matchbox 'Steer n Go' - Straight from the late 60s and early 70's this toy enabled you to take control of your matchbox car and drive it like the real thing. You could steer it, you had two forward gears and one reverse, you even had a key for the ignition. This set came to us in a broken and non working state. The restoration included repairing the entire steering mechanism, creation of new battery contacts in keeping with the style of the toy, replacement of much of the wiring and a service of the motor. Now fully working once again, it was a real priviledge to work on this project which is now ready to tbe returned to the client.
Dinky Toys - Back in the 1960s and 1970s, toy manufacturers were constantly coming up with new and exciting ways to engage kids with their toys. Dinky and these toys were no exception. All of the aircraft have working propellers which can be fired up by 'flicking' one of the blades, the ambulance has a working flashing light which is activated by pushing down on the model and moving it forward and NSU Ro 80 has working head lights & tail lights which are also activated by pushing down on the model. Restoration has included either cleaning or replacing the battery contacts or in the case of the aircraft taking apart the motors and giving them a service. All of the models are fully working, in lovely condition and are ready to be returned to the client.
Eagle Force R.I.O.T. tank from 1982. Whilst I never owned one of these myself, I have found that working on this toy for a client has been really enjoyable. Originally this item arrived as a non working model. A closer inspection revealed that the slide switch and its contacts were rusted as was part of the internal mechanism. The lightbulb at the end of the turret was not working and the turret itself was broken in two. Whilst the wiring was acceptable, I decided to rewire the entire assembly. I replaced the slide switch with a new one and cleaned the rust away from all of the contacts and motor mechanism. I also reset the turret and replaced the blub with a new LED. The mechanical mechanism needed adjusting so that the turret swivelled back and forth as the tank moved forward. The casing was given a good clean and new decals created from the one remaining original decal. The end result is a fully functioning toy which once again trundled across my kitchen table and will be sent back to client for their renewed enjoyment.
Kenner AT AT Walker 1980. Recently restored back to a pristine and fully working model for a client. This toy was taken apart piece by piece and retro-brightened. The chin guns, bulb and bulb cover were all replaced with original parts and the legs freed up to achieve improved posable positioning. The chin gun mechanism needed rewiring & oiling and a replacement set of decals were applied. Finally the entire model had to be reassembled. The client was extremely satisified with the outcome and now has the satisfaction of an amazing display piece.
Kenner Millennium Falcon 1980. Recently restored back to pristine condition for a client. This toy came to us as pile of pieces which was cleaned, retro-brightened and restored whilst sourcing a large amount of replacement original parts at the clients request. The battle alarm was also repaired to provide that authentic 80s sound. It is as close as you can get to an out of the box example from the 1980s and will make an amazing display piece. The client was very satisified with the outcome, commenting that it looked like 'new'.
