Introduction
Robie the Banker is an electronic coin bank that was sold by Radio Shack during the 1980s. It was first created by Japanese toy company Tomy (and named Mr. Money). Radio Shack bought distribution rights in the US and renamed it Robie.
It made for a popular Christmas gift for kids, and gave them a bit of an incentive to start saving their spare change, as Robie dances and licks his lips after eating a coin.
What you need
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It may look slightly creepy, but Robie taught me about money at a very young age, and incentivized me to save my spare change.
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Sold in the US by Radio Shack in the 80s and 90s, this gift from my Grandma was a huge hit at our family's Christmas gathering.
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But enough reminiscing! Let's tear this thing down to see what makes Robie tick.
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Using our handy-dandy Spudger, we perform a craniotomy on Robie by carefully prying off the top plastic cover in order to get at the screws underneath.
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Robie's body is split into two halves, which are held in place by clips and tape.
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Using some tweezers, removing the tape is a piece of cake.
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Unfortunately, the battery contacts are soldered to the motor assembly, so any repairs or replacement of the motor will require a soldering iron and some basic soldering skills to remove it entirely.
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But once those two wires are removed, separating the motor assembly from the base is a cinch.
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3 Comments
I love to take things apart too. Sometimes I even fix things that are not broken…
Fun to see a relatively low-tech teardown. But I didn’t learn anything about how the innards actually make Robie move. Should I expect that from a teardown?
