R.O.B. the Robot: Your thoughts

[treismac]

How many of you out there in DP Land own R.O.B.? What are your thoughts about this iconic Nintendo figure of yesteryear? Does he make Gyromite or Stack-Up fun? Does he work well or is he broke down? Does he make your collection look that much more bad ass? Was he worth the money?

Here's the deal: I dig collecting Nintendo, and I dig robots. Buying R.O.B. would be a no-brainer if he wasn't so pricey. I suffer buyers remorse real bad if I buy something frivolous and, ultimately, lame. Of course buying a plastic robot that only plays two games for a retro video game system is a frivolous purchase, but is a lame one too? What are your thoughts?

[Duke.Togo]

I've had my ROB since '87 so price wasn't the issue, but I can see that getting into it now is pricey. Is he fun to play games with? Hell no. It's a gimmick, plain and simple and should only be sought after to complete a collection or for kicks. Mine still works fine, but I've seen several used ones that other people have picked up with stripped gears.

If you decide to take the plunge, enjoy and remember that he works similarly to the Zapper, you'll need a CRT.

[Panzerfuzion]

Would love to own it as a collection piece but I've played it with it and it's not very fun. Like the above poster stated it was a gimmick.

[SonicBoom]

Well, I Own one. Got him at the Flea Market for 5 Bucks so price isn't a issue. He isn't fun to play with but i enjoy seeing him screw up stack up. I'd say if you can get him for cheap, Cool, But if not, Pass on it.

[goatdan]

How many of you out there in DP Land own R.O.B.? What are your thoughts about this iconic Nintendo figure of yesteryear? Does he make Gyromite or Stack-Up fun? Does he work well or is he broke down? Does he make your collection look that much more bad ass? Was he worth the money?

Here's the deal: I dig collecting Nintendo, and I dig robots. Buying R.O.B. would be a no-brainer if he wasn't so pricey. I suffer buyers remorse real bad if I buy something frivolous and, ultimately, lame. Of course buying a plastic robot that only plays two games for a retro video game system is a frivolous purchase, but is a lame one too? What are your thoughts?

I have two ROBs, and I love them. In fact, I can pretty much say that no matter how many ROBs the GOAT Store gets in, they won't leave...

Having said that, they are worthless as a playable toy. Gyromite is cool for about two minutes of seeing how it works, and is just boring. Stack Up is insanely expensive to get all the parts for, and about the same in the fun factor department as Gyromite is. But... you can get a ROB without any accessories for usually between like $20-30 before shipping. The stuff, in my opinion, only serves to make the robot really big, and while I have one complete set, it's packed away and I haven't used it or looked at it in a long, long time. But my two ROBs, they sit on top of one of my arcade machines and happily survey the land.

If you don't mind it being completely useless, buy a Robot only, and stick him in your gameroom to keep watch over it

[Graham Mitchell]

I actually found him fun to play Gyromite with as a kid, but I don't think I could stand it now. The pace of the game is WAAAAAY too slow. However, if you haven't played Gyromite, try it! It's pretty fun and you don't need the robot at all. It's fun for 2 people to play as well, where one person basically acts as the robot and opens gates manually. This keeps the pace up, and you might really enjoy. It's Gumpei Yokoi's answer to Lode Runner, complete with Metroid splatty sounds and a solid NES soundtrack.

Stack-Up, on the other hand, is unplayable without the robot and all the blocks. I've never played it with all the equipment so I can't comment.

[Panzerfuzion]

If you're on the older side and grew up in the 80's it's a great piece to have, I'm pushing 32 and remember all the cool robots they had back in the 80's.



Plus the great robot arm toy

[vintagegamecrazy]

ROB is one of those things that I always wanted to add to my collection but couldn't afford it. I vaguely remember trying it out at some friend's house as a kid but we didn't get very far with it. I know it's useless today but it would still be a nice conversation piece and something that I'd at least spend a little bit of time with if I owned it. Maybe sometime, and only if I can find one with all of the parts.

[Hawksmoor]

R.O.B. is good....

[treismac]

If you don't mind it being completely useless, buy a Robot only, and stick him in your gameroom to keep watch over it

I think this might be the way to go. Thanks!

[CRTGAMER]

I "destroyed" the collect-ability of mine by making ROB direct controllable. Used three double throw momentary contact mini toggle switches on the bottom of a NES gamepad.

Now I can operate ROB like the Armatron.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

We probably had about 50 or 60 R.O.B.s "discarded" at Funcoland during my tenure (we didn't take them for trade unlike practically any other NES accessory), and I can count on one hand how many of them had 100% functional gear/motor mechanisms or a complete set of parts.

In addition to that most of them and/or the gyro spin-up device had severe battery compartment damage/leakage.

I've never personally owned a fully working one (had a few busted trophy versions) but if you can get one on the cheap along with Gyromite and you have a nice CRT TV that R.O.B. will work with it's a neat little novelty.

[nickerous]

When my sister and I had enough money to buy the NES in 1986, the only one we could find in town was the deluxe set. We were quite upset over not having Super Mario, but Duck Hunt was good. The most fun we had with Gyromite was laughing over the fart sounds the game made when your character was squished. I remember setting ROB up maybe twice. He's still in my Mom's basement, but he's quite dirty now. I'm almost certain he would not work anymore. The most fun we had with ROB itself was making the gyros spin with the attachment and stop it with our finger.....just like the manual said not too.

[treismac]

I "destroyed" the collect-ability of mine by making ROB direct controllable. Used three double throw momentary contact mini toggle switches on the bottom of a NES gamepad.

Now I can operate ROB like the Armatron.

Do you have a video that you can share that shows your modified R.O.B. in action? I'd love to see it!

[treismac]

When my sister and I had enough money to buy the NES in 1986, the only one we could find in town was the deluxe set. We were quite upset over not having Super Mario, but Duck Hunt was good. The most fun we had with Gyromite was laughing over the fart sounds the game made when your character was squished. I remember setting ROB up maybe twice. He's still in my Mom's basement, but he's quite dirty now. I'm almost certain he would not work anymore. The most fun we had with ROB itself was making the gyros spin with the attachment and stop it with our finger.....just like the manual said not too.

If ol' R.O.B. ever tells you that he wants a hot shower and a new home, send me a private message, nickerous, and I'll sign all the appropriate adoption papers and pay the necessary fees.

[Polygon]

I've never experienced playing with one, but I've heard enough to know I wouldn't pay good money for one. If I could get one cheap it would be a cool display piece in my gaming room, nothing more.

[fluid_matrix]

If you're on the older side and grew up in the 80's it's a great piece to have, I'm pushing 32 and remember all the cool robots they had back in the 80's.

I wanted one of those for the longest time when I was a kid. Never got one though. Guess my parents didn't love me.

As far as R.O.B. goes, it was, IMO, nothing but a quirky marketing gimmick. I still have a near CIB Deluxe set (minus the gyro warning labels) in my collection.

[BlastProcessing402]

When I was a kid, a friend of mine, first kid in the neighborhood to own an NES, had the ROB/Zapper set. We set ROB up one afternoon and played with it for a while, but it wasn't very fun and that was also the last time we ever played with ROB.

We only played Gyromite, so maybe Stack Up was mindblowing, but I doubt it.

Still, I'm glad Nintendo was able to use ROB as the trojan robot to get NES into stores.

[theoakwoody]

I bought 2 on Ebay about 10 years ago and they both worked fine. I enjoyed the novelty of gyromite but would never have wasted money on stack up. I got in this collector craze when I got my first job and had nothing else to blow money on except video games and my car. I bought the U-Force, Power Glove, and a ton of other worthless accessories and played with them for about 10 minutes and then threw them back in the box. I don't regret it one bit, along with all that Sega Master system shit I bought(3d Glasses, all card games, all 3d games). Then I realized that I'm not anal enough to be a collector and that I don't take very good care of the stuff I have and so I stopped collecting. Now I'm just a hoarder.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Today, ROB is a decoration. Back then, his main purpose was to help Nintendo break into the post-crash video game market in American. Mission accomplished.