So, as I mentioned earlier in the week my DVD player of the last decade decided to go and die on me, and it’s been more or less in the forefront of my mind. See, I don’t subscribe to a cable service and my TV is sort of ancient, so I’m not readily streaming Netflix to it or anything. I’m sort of at a crossroads since I have to make a decent-sized purchase. Do I get an el cheapo DVD player or do I finally pop for a Blu-Ray player? If I buy a Blu-Ray, shouldn’t I get an HD TV as well? Stands to reason right? While thinking about my options I was thumbing through some 32 year-old issues of People magazine that a very gracious co-worker recently gave me and I stumbled upon a pretty nifty Hitachi VCR advertisement. What does all this have to do with this week’s League assignment? Well, this week’s theme just happens to be robots, and the ad features a pretty awesome looking droid…
This sad little guy was introduced in 1981 during the beginning of the Home Video boom. Folks were starting to adopt the technology, and as with any expensive electronics purchase long-lasting equipment was top on many consumer’s lists of desirable qualities. Trust me, I’m debating that same question right now. I’m still of the ilk who looks for hardware that will make it in the long haul. My TV is almost old enough to enlist, and I have a boombox that’s been able to vote for as many presidents as I have! Sigh. I’m slowly being pulled, kicking and screaming, into the new millennium.
Back to this Hitachi robot pitchman. Not only was he featured in their print campaign, but he was also in their TV commercials, like this from the same year. Also, It doesn’t escape me that the design of the Hitachibot looks a hell of a lot like C3P0 and Maria from Metropolis had an illegitimate kid who never quite reached the peaks of success that his parents did…
If I had to guess, I’d bet he was probably hanging out with other robotic flash-in-the-pans like Twiki from Buck Rogers and Vicki from Small Wonder, sucking down antifreeze and boosting car batteries for fun and profit…
Wondering what the other League members are talking about? Well, transform and roll out to some of these sites…
Rich, The Nerd Nook, lists his top 10 favorite pop culture bots!
Goodwill Geek, Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks, breaks out his impressive robotic toy collection!
Charles, Geek Show Ink, shares his thoughts on the Rascal Robot!
Victoria, Vikki Verka, talks a bit about the Chōjin Sentai Jetman!
Jamie, Whatever I think of!, talks a bit about Hymie from Get Smart!
