TheReelTodd
Sector Admin
Posts: 0 | Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Monday, March, 22, 2004 7:46 PM
If you're a TRON fan...
If you were a TRON fan in 1982, and loved it more than anything you had ever seen...
If you were a true geek or nerd...
You just might have owned one of these...
I just found mine...
I LOVED playing with this little work of mechanical FUN!
In the search for strange things to incorporate in a current creative project, I could not get this out of my head.
It would be perfect for just a few seconds of odd...
And it's soooooooo cool!
One of my truly favorite childhood toys...
A true mark of my younger (and continuing) geekhood...
A work of art in it's own time...
It's 20 years old and STILL works! (I think - I need to get batteries for it)
Man...
I sure HOPE it works!
I'll CRY if it doesn't!
Ok - BEHOLD...
The AMAZING
ARMATRON!
Who else owned one of these things? Man, how many times did I play "GIANT ALIEN ROBOTIC ARM VS. MATCHBOX CARS" with this thing!!! It could barely pick up some of the cars, but it was STILL loads-o-fun!
Mine is a little dusty right now, but I'm going to get this thing shined up nice! And get me two D-cell batteries!
Why didn't they make this thing with a power chord or at least an AC adapter? I'll never know. It's eaten MANY batteries over the years!
I last used it about 8 or 9 years ago.
And tomorrow... IT WILL RUN AGAIN!!
HAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
I can't wait!!!
Uh... sorry. Fun childhood memory revived... and I'm still kid of an overgrown kid at heard 
 
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DaveTRON
User
Posts: 5,314 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Monday, March, 22, 2004 8:15 PM
I used to race my Hot Wheels past mine and try to pick them off of the track with the arm. Ended up beating the hell out of the arm! Good memories.abortion pills online http://www.kvicksundscupen.se/template/default.aspx?abortion-questions cytotec abortion
DaveTRON
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Sketch
Sector Admin
Posts: 2,939 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Monday, March, 22, 2004 8:43 PM
I still have mine. Need to off clean the dust its recently collected. It was and still is the coolest item I've seen our local Radio Shack carry.
I never knew they were that old. Your's has a different sticker. Mine says "SUPER ARMATRON" and has the arm drawn on the sticker holding a ball.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_bezel/
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DaveTRON
User
Posts: 5,314 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 12:31 AM
Anyone remember the helicopter like these that flew around on a rod? I had one of those, great toy!where to buy abortion pill http://blog.bitimpulse.com/template/default.aspx?abortion-types buy abortion pill online
DaveTRON
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Scuzzy
User
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Posts: 1,608 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 12:32 AM
Oh my User! I remember that thing! I wanted one so badly and remember playing with my friend's when I was at his house, except we played with it and our Star Wars figures. NOthing like throwing Luke across the room (if 3" is "across the room").
Geez, we're old...
...now who remembers that little robot from the NES?  order abortion pill abortion pill buy online where to buy abortion pillabortion pills online http://www.kvicksundscupen.se/template/default.aspx?abortion-questions cytotec abortion
 
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Alan1
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Posts: 701 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester ye
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 7:56 AM
Had the arm! Loved it, miss it!order abortion pill abortion pill buy online where to buy abortion pillabortion pills online abortion questions cytotec abortion
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curtishart
User
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Posts: 231 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 10:29 AM
| DaveTRON Wrote:Anyone remember the helicopter like these that flew around on a rod? I had one of those, great toy! |
Are you talking about the toy that had an up/down lever and a speed lever? I had that. Loved that thing. I think mine was a police helicopter. You tried to pick up plastic figures holding rings or something.order abortion pill abortion pill buy online where to buy abortion pill
       
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Hale-XF11
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Posts: 484 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 11:15 AM
Oh, no..it's all coming back...the envy I felt for my best friend when I was a kid who was the only one I knew with a...what's that called again?...ARMATRON!
Man, that thing ruled. I had always thought, are they really allowed to sell such technology as a toy? At the time I thought it was the most advanced piece of machinery I had ever seen. It's cool to see a picture of it again after all these years.where to buy abortion pill http://blog.bitimpulse.com/template/default.aspx?abortion-types buy abortion pill online
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curtishart
User
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Posts: 231 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 1:28 PM
I remember seeing this and thinking it wouldn't be far off they'll have fully articulated robots for the average consumer.
Even thought I could build a robot with a few of those 
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those that don't.
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TheReelTodd
Sector Admin
Posts: 0 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 6:49 PM
I bought some batteries today.
I put them in my slightly cleaner than yesterday Armatron...
and...
NOTHING!
NO POWER!
Oh no!
I opened it up and noticed that the "-" (negative) side battery contact was all corroded. I filed it down a bit...
and then...
YESSSSSSSSS!
It STILL works!
Haaaaaaaaaaa!
I started having a ball as all sorts of memories came back!
I don't have the little things it came with anymore - it came with some plastic reactor-looking parts in a clear casing - kind of like two electrode-like balls with the reactor parts underneath. These things could be disassembled and reassembled with the arm - it was LOADS of fun!
At work today I looked up Armatron on the net. It seems there are still plenty of these things out there and they're only going for about $10.00 on ebay. What a shame! I mean, I'm not even considering selling mine - LOVE IT TOO MUCH, but I figured these techno-morsels of the early 80's would be doing a bit better than that now!
I took some video of my vintage toy today just minutes ago:
The motion has been sped up 4 times, because these suckers are slow! They're fun, but very slow - that was one of the drawbacks of these plastic, gear-driven, mechanical arms. I was such a geek as a kid, I actually used to EAT with it! Yes, I had it hold a plastic fork or spoon and feed me my food!
Sketch Wrote:I still have mine. Need to off clean the dust its recently collected. It was and still is the coolest item I've seen our local Radio Shack carry.
I never knew they were that old. Your's has a different sticker. Mine says "SUPER ARMATRON" and has the arm drawn on the sticker holding a ball. |
Yeah - I looked that up. I think it was basically the same thing, with different decaling, perhaps the 2nd generation (or 2nd wave of manufacturing to be exact). It seems these things were sold for several years, NOT just the early 80's. Dust it off and have some fun, my friend!
| DaveTRON Wrote:Anyone remember the helicopter like these that flew around on a rod? I had one of those, great toy! |
YES! I had one of those! In the late 70's, I got one for Christmas! It was AWESOME! It had a hook thing on the bottom, and there were little objects to pick up with it. I thought it was cooler than anything because it REALLY flew (though tethered by a plastic part supplying the prop-drive). I remember for some reason it flew REALLY fast backward, and would often get caught in the rug if I had it going too fast backward and it embedded it self on impact. Sadly, that was one toy that didn't last more than a few years.  BUT I enjoyed it to the max while I had it! 
Scuzzy Wrote:Oh my User! I remember that thing! I wanted one so badly and remember playing with my friend's when I was at his house, except we played with it and our Star Wars figures. NOthing like throwing Luke across the room (if 3" is "across the room").
Geez, we're old...
...now who remembers that little robot from the NES? |
Yeah - we're old alright! Scary, huh?
The NES robot... you mean "ROB"?
curtishart Wrote:I remember seeing this and thinking it wouldn't be far off they'll have fully articulated robots for the average consumer.
Even thought I could build a robot with a few of those |
Actually... they do. Well, you kind of have to be slightly loaded to afford one, but Sony has a few consumer model, fully automated and articulated robots. There is some video of them on www.TokyoDV.com in the "News" video listing. They can even recognize faces - COOL stuff!
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TheReelTodd
Sector Admin
Posts: 0 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 6:53 PM
Whoa - I missed it!
That was (the post before this) my 200th POST
Woo hoo!
This is my 201st.
Just got a bit excited there... you know how it is.
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harpo989
User
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Posts: 0 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 6:55 PM
wow, that's cool looking... I'm gonna jump to eBay right now!
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Harpo989: The original fConer. (Now with (0rr[up73d fruit flavoring!)
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harpo989
User
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Posts: 0 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 6:55 PM
wow, that's cool looking... I'm gonna jump to eBay right now!
congrats on 200 posts, thereeltodd! this is 213 for me.
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Harpo989: The original fConer. (Now with (0rr[up73d fruit flavoring!)
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TheReelTodd
Sector Admin
Posts: 0 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 6:57 PM
harpo989 Wrote:wow, that's cool looking... I'm gonna jump to eBay right now!
congrats on 200 posts, thereeltodd! this is 213 for me. |
Don’t you mean 213 AND 214?  Whoops!
Congrats to you as well!
Funny, the higher the number gets, the higher you want it to go, eh?
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DaveTRON
User
Posts: 5,314 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Tuesday, March, 23, 2004 8:11 PM
Tell me about it! I can't wait to get to 900 now! It's only 6 posts away!
DaveTRON
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CalvinSpiff
User
Posts: 0 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Wednesday, March, 24, 2004 12:21 PM
WOW! I've never seen an ARMATRON before!
Isn't there an interactive thing?
CalvinSpiff VERSION 175846984630476903874.875640467036975689
I'M DEPRESSED!
REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS! =)
BUT I'M STILL DOING MY JOB, FOLKS. 
-
Spaceman Spiff... Brit-Tron fighting for TRON.
    
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Trace
User
Posts: 1,530 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Wednesday, March, 24, 2004 1:14 PM
Looks like you're only 5 posts away, DaveTron. 
Wow! I've never heard of an Armatron. Looks like just the thing my bro would've liked. 
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MutoidMan
User
Posts: 2,232 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Wednesday, March, 24, 2004 5:43 PM
That ARMITRON is from Radio Shack, correct?
I never had one, but I remember wanting one.
However...
In the late 1970's I did have the Big Trak and the Big Trak Transport from Milton Bradley. It was a programmable (it had a CPU) robot tank and a trailer with a tilting feature. Very, very, very cool! I loved this thing! It was my very first programming experience and I wish I still had it.
Here are some pics:
Big Trak at Bug Eyed Monster
The next site has pics of the US version (grey) and the UK version (white):
More Big Trak pics
This last page has pics of the UK Big Trak and actual sounds when the page loads!
Big Trak sounds!
"We are, after all, not God." - Cmdr. J. J. Adams
"C is for cookie. That's good enough for me." - Cookie Monster
"If money is the root of all evil, I'd like to be a bad, bad man." - Huey Lewis & the News
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TheReelTodd
Sector Admin
Posts: 0 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Wednesday, March, 24, 2004 5:47 PM
| DaveTRON Wrote:Tell me about it! I can't wait to get to 900 now! It's only 6 posts away! |
900 posts... man, it will be some time before I get to that number!
** in voice of Yoda **
"When 900 posts you reach, look as good you will not, mmmm?"
CalvinSpiff Wrote:WOW! I've never seen an ARMATRON before!
Isn't there an interactive thing? |
I'm not sure exactly what you mean. But what you can't see in the above video, is that I'm using the controller joysticks to operate the arm just off camera. The joysticks are seen in the first Armatron image I posted. The robotic arm itself has no automatic response to anything, no on-board CPU, it just does whatever you tell it to by moving the control sticks.
Trace Wrote:Wow! I've never heard of an Armatron. Looks like just the thing my bro would've liked.  |
You know - I NEVER met a guy who didn't think Armatron was the COOLEST! No matter what age - robotics are ALWAYS fun! Even cheaply made, plastic, clunky robotics!
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MutoidMan
User
Posts: 2,232 | Re: Who remembers this *handy* "TRON" of yester year?
on Wednesday, March, 24, 2004 6:01 PM
Just goes to show that real geeks love Big Trak!
Big Trak on Mars!
"We are, after all, not God." - Cmdr. J. J. Adams
"C is for cookie. That's good enough for me." - Cookie Monster
"If money is the root of all evil, I'd like to be a bad, bad man." - Huey Lewis & the News
Most recent PC game collection update: 04/12/2012. Check it out!
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