Vintage Toy Robots: How To Spot The Real Lilliputs From the Repros

In our interview with Justin Pinchot, we didn’t have room for a couple of facts and photos:

The original Robot Lilliput box (above) is beautiful, conveying the sense of wonder that children had for these mechanical toys.

Below are a couple side-by-side comparisons to help you tell an original Lilliput from a repro. Here’s how Justin described it in an email to us: “On the Lilliput, you will notice the ‘Tin Tom Toy’ logo on the repro is different from the ‘KT’ logo in a fan shape found on the original. The repro also does not say ‘Made in Japan’ or even just ‘Japan’ anywhere on the toy, unlike the original. The repro is taller and wider as well, and is constructed slightly differently. Oddly, the repros still fool many people.”

For more tips, as well as lots more amazingly cool photographs of Japanese tin robots from the 1950s, read the rest of our informative interview with Justin Pinchot.

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