Mechanical Toy Battle Royale!

[Hepcat]

Hep, I often walk the neighborhood in a skirt......and my popularity is never questioned.......sanity, well maybe....

I'm betting parents hide their children when you're out and about though.

[bigbud]

Hep.......ex-Marine.......I'm usually on em before they can get inside. But to be less imposing I give em a big grin..........Love, Buddy

[Hepcat]

Hopefully you mean that metaphorically when you say that you're usually on them.

[bigbud]

Hep......you are to be watched......closely......Love, Buddy

[curseofthewerewolf]

I hope some of you who know more about Big Loo than I do can help me. My son has been asked to make an offer on one that the lady finally sent him photos of. He had his right knee operated on (ACL) and can't drive right now, but he wants ME to give him an idea of what to maybe offer her.

I can post the pics she sent. I am "thrifty" (OK, cheap) and would want this for myself, not to turn around and sell. This may be one of those cases where the person thinks they are sitting on a gold mine. I see someone just posted a used one on eBay which may or may not help us (about $80 shipping for that one). That one looks worse.

It is awkward that my son can't drive himself there unless he can get a roommate to do it. My wife is just coming back from visiting him to take him for a follow-up visit. Bad time to start college classes (not many...he's working towards his MBA). Any suggestions/advice are greatly appreciated and this my be my best chance to get one, though I'm not holding my breath.

If you see obvious problems, I'd appreciate knowing. I'll try to check against some reference photos.

The links at the bottom are to larger images:





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[Scatter]

Send the images via PM to BigBud. Not only is he a terrific guy, he's a 1960s toy idiot savant.

[bigbud]

Scatter is my buddy, so he says nice things about me. I've got a pretty good knowledge of toys from the 50's and 60's and I do love my own Big Loo.....in fact I'm one of the only 4 votes on this thread voting for Loo as the king of the 60's mechanicals. Loo of course is huge. Mine stands 38" tall. The problem with any Loo is in his many functions......he has so many, and the parts associated with those functions are easily lost or broken off. Loo hales from 1963, and originally retailed for around $10.  Found today, in the same condition as in '63, Loo could fetch a price approaching 2 grand.....boxed. So a used loose Loo is as valuable as his condition AND what parts/accessories are still with him. Let's start with what I can tell from your photos......Frontal view...I can only make out one eye bulb of the 2 ...replacement of an eye would be difficult...damage on the golden collar with much green showing through on collar and lower breastplate. Various scratches into the plastic on legs. Platform foot area looks undamaged....that's good......alot of Loos are cracked in the foot area. The lime green missile launcher in the foot/base area is broken.....3 1/2 " prong with spring are missing. the 6" white w/ black rubber tipped missile fit over that prong. The center round depression on the base held Loo's compass. I can see rust on the wire mechanism in Loo's straight right arm. That wire runs from his pincher hand to his shoulder where there is a loop....your finger pulls up on that loop to activate his pincher hand. Arm is attached with a metal screw cap, so the arm should come off and the rust could possibly be steel-wooled off (that's what I'd do). TO THE BACK.........From the top....looks like Loo's cool whistle that inserts into the top slot is missing. Below that is the battery cover for Loo's eyes. Takes 2 batteries (C type I think). May be good news there....looks like the battery cover's lime colored tuning lockdown tap is present and possibly the other lime colored item on the cover which is the on/off switch. The batteries and switch only work Loo's red blinking eyes. Next down from the cover is where Loo's talking crank was located. It is common for this handle to be broken off, and your Loo looks to be missing his. Going lower......the words "Big Loo" in what is obviously black marker are unfortunate. The gold of Loo's collar and breastplate are important to us Loo aficionados. Any attempt to remove the marker would be a mistake. Just very unfortunate it is there, but not much can be done about it.  Next down are the two dart retaining mechanisms for darts shot out of Loo's chest. I can tell the one on the left is broken and will not hold a dart, while the one on the right looks complete and a dart should click into position for firing. Lower..... the Morse Code sticker is there but ragged. The Morse code itself is in rectangular hole to side of Morse code chart. A very simple device......you flick the visible wire and it clangs against a bell inside Loo. Just below Loo's Morse code chart is a hole that goes through to the other side. This held a red soft plastic syringe shaped water squeezer. You could squirt someone in front of Loo while pushing in on the water squeezer from the back. Water squeezer obviously missing. The tray area in Loo's feet held 4 red balls which were loaded into his left shoulder and fired out his hand by flicking a metal flipper under Loo's elbow.  Also, I can't be sure from the photos, but there should be 4 lime colored wheels under each corner of Loo's base.
     Alot to digest Curseof.  Missing.......whistle, 2 original darts, 6" missile, 4 red balls, Green Moon Grenade (yea, I didn't mention that earlier)....5" long, compass in base and red syringe water squirter in his belly.
  Broken........Crank for Loo's talk box, one of two dart firing mechanisms and the foot platform missile launcher and spring. Plus I'm betting I see the tabs for foot wheels missing on one corner.
     Take this for what it is worth, I don't like calling myself an expert at anything. But I have seen several Loo's, and I did put on a very educated search before buying mine many years ago. Were I being offered this Loo for purchase I would go as high as $200.......maybe if I were really head-over-heals crazy about Loo in person- $250. The positive is that Loo is a rather difficult item to find available and he is a very impressive figure with-or-without all his many items. The negative is that this Loo has obviously seen heavy playtime and is missing mucho parts and accessories. Good luck.......let us know what happens!   Buddy

[curseofthewerewolf]

By the time my son had replied to her he had already told her $250. I had advised exactly what you said price-wise w/o seeing this updated thread--start at $200 and maybe work up to $250. My son is not as cheap as I am and it was going to be hard for him to maneuver with his knee having been operated on. She said yes and he picked it up today. I does have all four wheels underneath, but he didn't ask her if she tested it with batteries (she said she was) or look  in the battery compartment.

He's also not as obsessive as I am. Glad you mentioned about the marker, as I would be tempted to try and carefully remove it. I just sold some art, so  considering I was only ever going to get one if I lucked out or if someone traded me one this was almost like trading. I told my son once he got there he could look it over more and then maybe act like he only wanted to pay $200 (I tried). Especially if something was obviously funky that we could not see via the photos.

I'm sure it was hard to pick it up and look being on crutches, etc.  That REALLY cramped his style and made things more awkward.  So he has him now. It makes me kind of nervous till I see it, but I had sent him reference photos and listed things wrong/missing I saw.

I'm glad he is NOT as "thrifty" as I am, but he could stand to be a little more that way.  All I know is I trust his judgement and we felt like we had to move pretty quick.  I don't want to harp on "Why didn't you?" since I know how that usually goes.

And I was too far away (he was about 30 minutes from the lady). I had emailed her also before she sent him the photos, but she did not respond back to me (I told her he was my son and that I'd like to see photos, too).

Uh, and something of mine just now sold on eBay for more than I expected, so I really feel like that $50 difference probably evened out. BIG LOO!!!

Thank you for your information and advice! It's not like we lucked out at a garage sale, but it has been exciting! I'm proud of my son for finding it, etc.!

[bigbud]

A "well done" to son of Curseof! I know what you mean about having to move on it. Time lost is time for another buyer to come sneaking around. Loo will be a great topic of discussion when visitors see him. And, you can have a wonderful life-long search for the missing accessories.   Buddy

[curseofthewerewolf]

Now I need a King Zor...

I had left behind a Robot Commando years ago at a resale shop and that was before I had a home computer. My son was upset that I wouldn't pay $50 or $40(?) (which ever he was wanting--maybe it was $40--I think so). He would NOT budge.

The next time we went back (on a trip) it was still there. I got a lady there to ask what was the lowest he'd take...same price, so I bought it and I'm glad I did. Has problems and missing  balls (ouch!) & rockets, but it cleaned up really nice. It looks like it would work, but could never get it going (nice and clean contacts, etc.).

I have gotten some battery-ops going (never have had a whole lot), but no luck. Some the people said didn't work or didn't work at the shop or sale, but I got 'em going.  I was more obsessed then and did spend quite a bit of time trying on 'RC,' so unless someone has a great suggestion, I have not had the urge to try again.

My wife may bring Loo back Tuesday. I kind of want to find a box for them to put it in before putting it in the car. My son just called again--I can tell he is excited about it.

[Scatter]

Congrats on the Loo!! I told you Bud was THE MAN when it comes to 60s toy goodness!!

[bigbud]

I told you Bud was THE MAN when it comes to 60s toy goodness!!

You just concentrate on loading our packs for the march on Canada......we fill em with Little Debbie Zebra Cakes and after we plunder we'll fill the empty packs with Hepcat model kits! (We can leave the Little Debbie wrappers behind at Hep's...Heh! Heh!!)  Buddy

[Hepcat]

So you're offering me Little Debbie in exchange for my model kits? How can you be so sure that I fancy redheads?

[bigbud]

Hep, you are shrewd.......it is obvious this invasion may not be as simple as Scatter and I once envisioned......Buddy

[Hepcat]

Monsterfink's take on these fellows still brings a smile to my face:

Great Garloo



King Zor



Odd Ogg