Bringing Back the TOMY Space Turbo: Restoring a Complex Mechanical Marvel

[@Ericstrains]

Awesome!

[@outsider238]

Incredible amount of gears in this thing! Excellent job as always!

[@RetroNaipe]

Cool vid. I remember that toys back in the day. They were expensive. I got amaz you gettin it together.

[@rsmrsm2000]

Another incredible toy! I was looking for this for a while. You are unique in showing so much variety. You have a birthday and we get the present! Thanks

[@RandiRain]

Thank you.

[@timd6]

Really great work, you are amazing!

[@RandiRain]

Thanks a lot!

[@wootofdoom]

Those seem so complex for such a simple game. Great job, especially getting them back together. I wouldn't know where to start. Or end. It wouldn't end well, lol

[@Chainsaw1974]

I like all your videos, especially the TOMY or similar electronic / mechanical toys. It is amazing how these games are working, especially how all the gears working. I admire how well you can repair or revise such games, the Space Turbo looks extremly difficult. Awesome, thanks a lot for the video.

[@RandiRain]

I wish I could have explained a little more on how it works, but the video was getting long and I'm going to return to this one.

[@Series1969]

Awesome video! Never seen that game before. Have a very happy birthday Randi!

[@RandiRain]

Thank you very much.

[@williamkious5349]

I wish a company would bring back these mechanical beauties!

[@RandiRain]

That's not going to happen. It's cheaper to just make a video game.

[@ThomasWinders]

@@RandiRain Video killed the radio star!

[@danielwilliamson6180]

Space Turbo should be brought back.

[@ilmestdavisque5391]

...gears, gears and gears... but a (n-other) cleaver, smart electro-mechanical to-m-y :D

[@einherrjar]

this was great, only just stumbled across your channel, subbed.

[@fredWaxBeans11111]

Very cool! Another great video. I don't remember this game, maybe because it was a few years after my electronic game-playing days. By 1985, I was playing with my TI-99/4A computer😊 Tomy made the coolest games.

[@RandiRain]

Yeah, I was playing with my Tandy Coco 2, but later I updated to the Coco 3. Now I don't want to brag, but I did have an autodial 128 baud modem.

[@fredWaxBeans11111]

@@RandiRain Pure awesomeness 👍

[@Ducerobot]

These really are a neat design. And fun!

[@crushedcan5378]

I really like the aesthetic of these mechanical games, they are big old boxes with the screen being black with some colorful highlights

[@dash8brj]

Now a days is just a screen, a uC and a speaker... or an iPad. These motorised/clockwork toys amaze me - imagine being on the assembly line!

[@RandiRain]

You would have to make just as many jigs to quickly put it together than to make the thing.

[@stevendunn264]

Two at once.... Impressive.

[@Lumibear.]

‘Now let’s take out the gearbox’ me: it has a gearbox!? As a kid I wouldn’t have been able to resist taking this apart and I bet it would never have gone back together right ever again, so I appreciate your skill Randi!

[@tarstarkusz]

One assumes a modern version of this, if it exists, would be entirely digital and probably 1/2 the cost of building, even including a 4" LCD screen.

[@RandiRain]

After you've done enough of these, you start seeing patterns that TOMY used.

[@billporter6592]

Nice job .

[@RandiRain]

Thanks!

[@fanmanplays]

For those black stoppers what I use to remove them is a pick it does remove them pretty easily but if your not careful it will go flying across your room lol

[@Error42_]

Never really considered it before, but this is a bit like the Tomy Turbo car toy just with a different controller. Although it does have the extra fire button, which is very clever how they've done it.

[@HeroJournalism]

Wow, very cool - seems to use the same technique or similar as to the electro mechanical arcade racing games of the early 70s; they had a painted animation cell on a loop that projected onto the screen, with shadows of enemy cars to avoid as the scenery 'sped' by, like Auto Race from Chicago Coin (though there were a ton of copycats from all of the big mfctrs)

[@RandiRain]

I didn't get a chance to explain. The video was getting too long. It uses a fresnel lens on the front. With the light at different angles, it looks like it moves.

[@Digital-Dan]

Incredible electro-mechanical kludge. They don't make 'em like that any more.

[@RandiRain]

No, and probably never will again.

[@rizzone]

Increíble, yo reparo juguetes pero con eso no me meto ni loco.

[@RandiRain]

Thanks

[@TrashCanComputerChris]

I want one

[@RandiRain]

Not that hard to find, but even ones that are trashed aren't cheap.

[@ronkrill2038]

small blade screw driver or ice pick get those circlips off

[@smtsoftwaresolutions1966]

Hi Randi Rain. Completely off topic for this video, but more likely to get read. I have a beautiful radio racer Mighty tank. the one you restored in a previous video. The tracks were hard and brittle when I purchased it and fell apart when trying to remove them. Do you sell the tracks you re-created in your video? I'm in the UK and I know postage will be high, looked on your website but not listed. Many thanks. Shane

[@RandiRain]

I've done several tank treads. I still have the molds for them, and as long as they are still good, they can be used. At the moment I don't have any of the rubber I used, so some would have to be purchased. That's $35 right there. Then shipping is at least another $15. Even if I did it for free, it would still be $50 US to start with.

[@smtsoftwaresolutions1966]

Hi Randi and thank you for getting back to me. The postage and material costs are fine. It's a shame not to complete this beautiful tank, it's in great condition exclucing the tracks. Can you tell me the costs for your time and how I can pay you?

[@tarstarkusz]

Are you familiar with a Tomy game similar looking to this one physically, but there is a jet in the "screen" that almost looks like a transparent graphic is being projected onto the viewing area. The jet makes 90 degree turns. I had a couple of these machines bookmarked, but my computer crashed and I simply cannot find these anymore. I don't know the name of the machine.

[@RandiRain]

I've seen them come up on ebay, but they are always way too much for me.

[@tarstarkusz]

@@RandiRain But do you know what it is called?

[@ronkrill2038]

regular transmission there

[@jasongooden917]

You can probably 3D print the missing parts

[@RandiRain]

I can make a mold of it and cast it, but the same problem lies. It's a gear that gets crunched up a lot. It's going to have to be made out of something that is strong on the small scale. It can be done, but I currently don't have any plastic that can handle it.

[@michaelthomas3646]

looks like you are crushing the blue wire for the motor at 12:47 compared to 6:34 Randi, not sure which one you were working on at the time, and while not a moving part won't matter too much, just if it stops working you will know why. looking at the video looks like the blue game you were doing at 12:47

[@michaelthomas3646]

as for the white game, I would suggest looking into the wiring, as you removed the wiring switch on the battery compartment, as a possible suspect as to the game not working, maybe something there that needed to be connected. are they mains operated? then the power connector should have a micro switch in it to stop the batteries from charging. but pretty sure some games/toys I had from the 70's/80's didn't have a micro switch on the power jack so check that first, as you might be right on it charging the batteries if the power jack is plugged in.

[@smtsoftwaresolutions1966]

Sorry, should have said. I have purchased numerous sets from other suppliers and none fit correctly.

[@sysghost]

Having batteries (even non-rechargeable) in parallel is no problem if they're the same. Batteries have an internal resistance, making them balance out with little to no worries.

[@RandiRain]

Absolutely not what I was taught. I just asked chatGPT, and its answer... "No, non-rechargeable batteries should not be put in parallel without a diode. When you connect batteries in parallel, each battery must have the same voltage to ensure even distribution of the load. If there's a slight difference in voltage between the batteries, current could flow from the higher voltage battery to the lower voltage battery, potentially causing overheating, leakage, or even an explosion." The exact thing I said.