REVIEW: Welcome home, friend of Will Robinson! PLUS: Pix aplenty of Diamond Select Toys’ awesome Robot!
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I think — I think — that the very first pop-culture toy I owned was a Lost in Space Jupiter 2.
One that I made myself — by stapling together two paper plates, cutting out a doorway and drawing some details on top and below. I made a number of them because they obviously weren’t too sturdy.
I can’t be 100 percent sure, but it was definitely right around the time I got my first Action Jackson, Corgi Batmobile and Batman and Robin soakies.
I much prefer this theme by the way …
Now of course this is all a cheat but I’m just pointing out how early on Lost in Space was a part of my life: Probably around the age of 4 and 5. Definitely by kindergarten.
We used to watch Lost in Space in reruns on New York’s Channel 5 every day. We never missed it. I watched it. My sister watched it. Our friends watched it.
It never really occurred to me that there would be Lost in Space toys until later, when I’d see ads in comic-book back issues — though the only other TV-show View-Master set I owned besides Batman was Lost in Space.
I owned a Space Family Robinson comic from Gold Key because it was the closest I could find to the show.
In the intervening decades, of course, I’d see toys here and there. But then I just got a gander at Diamond Select Toys‘ new talking Robot and I had to have it. Simple as that.
And now I do!
Robot is about a foot tall, speaks around 20 phrases, lights up and rolls around (not automatically) on the coffee table. He retails for about $50, give or take.
I love it!
The arms extend and you can pose them in alarm — claws open or closed — as he calls out “Warning! Warning!” or “Danger, Will Robinson!” at random.
He’s a superb addition to my home “museum” of mid-20th century pop-culture artifacts.
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It’s interesting how little I actually remember of the show itself — other than just how cool Robot was.
Favorite character? Don West. Favorite episode? When Robot — I didn’t even know he was technically called B-9 — got really big and Will and Dr. Smith went inside and then Robot shrank and they had to race to get out.
Marta Kristen = Early crush
Freakiest episode? When Athena (called Lorelei originally, Wikipedia tells me), the lucite-helmeted green alien floated outside the windows of the Jupiter 2, scaring the bejeezus out of Dr. Smith — and me.
God, I hated Dr. Smith.
Eventually, Lost in Space passed into the ether for me: I didn’t even know it was my wife’s favorite show when she was a kid until I got Robot. Others have kept the flame alive and it’s a kick to see it pop up on Me-TV now on Saturday nights. I haven’t really tried to sit and watch it — because what little I’ve seen isn’t exactly, shall we say, compelling.
Perhaps I should give it another try. Because now I have one of the coolest toys missing from my childhood.
June 7, 2015
I would have liked a short video of the toy in action. Also, I know its probably nit-picking but why didn’t they give the Robot a metallic finish. Hell, a coat of silver paint would have be better than grey plastic.
June 7, 2015
Good points all.
June 8, 2015
This robot uses old molds from the 1997 Trendmasters robot that was released during the New Line Cinema Lost in Space movie of the same year. There are much cooler robot toys out there including the Moebius model kit of the robot. It doesn’t move but is strikingly accurate.
Lost in space was a favorite for many, especially for the mid-century/future tech and there’s a club dedicated to building full scale robot replicas. You did not know the robot was called B9 because it wasn’t. The club I just mentioned made that name stick by singling out an obscure line of dialogue from the show.
I’ll warn you as you attempt to revisit the show, while there are a very few episodes that focus on the sci fi aspect, the large majority of them are terrible to embarrassing. You may want to just live on your memories.
However if you don’t, Lost in Space is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year and its being commemorated with a digitally re-mastered, ultra deluxe BluRay release this September.
June 28, 2015
Although it looks like somebody “eye-balled” the old Trendmasters B9, the Diamond Select ‘bot most definitely doesn’t use the same molds. Everything about the Diamond Select B9 is different. It’s not so different that it makes it obvious…but it’s all different…like the 11 openings on the lower torso grill on the DS robot vs. 9 on the Trendmasters. It’s not something that jumps out at you but those didn’t come out of the same mold. Most obviously, for some reason, the Diamond Select robot has grossly undersized legs or an oversized torso (depending on how you look at it). The Trendmasters robot was much more accurate in that regard. The Diamond Select effort is a step backwards which is surprising since they’ve had 17 years to improve on the Trendmasters robot. But I collect Lost in Space robots, I’m still happy to have the Diamond Select in my collection (I have ten Trendmasters robots:seven 10.5″, two 7″ and one 24″).
September 13, 2023
I really like this Robot a lot. I agree, it would have been nice to see new molds. The Robot has a lot more function than the old Trendmasters version. But outside of enlarging the upper torso a bit (to fit the new electronics), it has basically the same look. The Robot does have 15 phrases (If you keep the button pressed in for a few seconds, he will say all the phrases all in a row and then turn itself off), lights all over, and turns itself off after about 5 minutes when left alone. I think The Lost In Space Robot from Diamond Select is pretty damn cool!