Robby sold for 5.3 million dollars.
Some lucky bugger bought Robby from Forbidden Planet for 5.3 million dollars.
https://newatlas.com/robby-robot-2nd-most-expensive-movie-prop-forbidden-planet/52298/
Including his control panel:
https://newatlas.com/robby-robot-2nd-most-expensive-movie-prop-forbidden-planet/52298/#gallery
![robby_control_panel.png](https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/download/121761/robby_control_panel.png)
https://newatlas.com/robby-robot-2nd-most-expensive-movie-prop-forbidden-planet/52298/
Including his control panel:
https://newatlas.com/robby-robot-2nd-most-expensive-movie-prop-forbidden-planet/52298/#gallery
![robby_control_panel.png](https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/download/121761/robby_control_panel.png)
Comments
I'd be curious what exploitation rights the new owner received for his $5.3 million. I think MGM (or its new parents) still owns the unique copyrights to the design of the robot, as part of its copyright of the original film. The new owner didn't buy the prop from MGM, but from the private owner. While the new owner can display the robot, I wonder if he can use the likeness of the robot for marketing purposes beyond any artwork related to its curation. IOW, no using the robot to sell a new brand of whisky, even though Robby is capable of synthesizing it.
Copyright law is not sane though. So who knows how it goes.
Robby and I are the same age. We grew up together. Always my favorite. I hope he has a good home.
Edit: Hmm... thinking about it. If owning Robby gave one the rights to use his image then the rights holders would have kept hold of him tenaciously and he would be rotting in storage someplace or perhaps been destroyed. Rights holders don't much care about our cultural heritage if there is not a dollar in it.
So maybe the insane copyright law is for the best in this case.
Story has it that 20th Century Fox basically threw out the set pieces and props to Lost in Space when that show was canceled. Robot B9 was literally in the trash dump before someone fished him out. I'm not sure who, if anyone, has that robot now.
We know that Paramount did the same thing with the original Star Trek set, throwing away tons of stuff that today would be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Fortunately, they kept the large Enterprise model, and it's in the Smithsonian today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_(Lost_in_Space)
Sorry, I just had to have it.
I love the control box. It looks easier to use than a tablet with an app.
I looked for a video on YouTube of Robby's various motors, but didn't find anything useful. Fred Barton's site doesn't have many pictures of his replicas.
I'm guessing that whoever bought Robby has enough money that is he is only spending his pocket money on Robby. He still has a lot more.
Meanwhile the seller get's the pocket money and has no more Robby.
Who is the "lucky" one?
The robot also appeared in other movies and some TV shows, even an episode of Columbo, but these aren't what made it famous.
The guy that sold Robby has owned it from the late 70s/early 80s, and put a ton of money into it. It was his passion. I'm sure he's glad to have the money, but like Erco said, it was likely sweet sorrow to see it go.
I don't recall when I first saw Robby, I was very young. Like I said we were born the same year. I feel we have grown up together.
Robby has inspired our dreams ever since.
I feel sorry for the Star Wars generation(s). They missed so much.
https://www.npr.org/2017/11/27/566808613/after-a-successful-hollywood-career-robby-the-robot-sells-for-more-than-5-millio
But we *did* (and I'm very happy about that) get to see the full Apollo program! Directly, no less. The TV medium was supposed to be about informing the public, thus science and nature programs were always available.
Well I never. TV broadcasting in Blighty started in 1936. Even Finland got telly in 1957.
Oh yeah, stuck watching Flipper, Skippy, and Daktari. What a waste of young life that was. Luckily we had Dr Who to make up for it.
I used to sneak down at night and hide in the dark as my parents watched the news at 10pm. Way past my bed time. They used to shut down at 11pm or so, after playing God Save The Queen.
Here's a sampling from one of the BBC testcard tapes:
Okay, some of this is pretty lame by today's standards, and was intended to be light, akin to elevator music. But for aficionados it's gold, collectible in the same vein as original Musak reels. There are some pieces by well-known BBC composers, such as Ron Grainer (The Prisoner), Laurie Johnson (The Avengers), and others.
The US really didn't have an equivalent (for one thing, there isn't a government-sponsored TV broadcaster here). American test cards were either silent, or were accompanied with fairly standard fare, such as a scratchy recording of a Bach concerto.