Want to own a ‘Forbidden’ sci-fi icon? Robby the Robot is going up for auction

Having appeared in Forbidden Planet, The Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, and numerous other science-fiction shows, Robby the Robot is one of the most iconic pieces of sci-fi memorabilia in TV history. And now it is going up for sale.

Robby the Robot will be one of the centerpieces of the upcoming “Out of this World” auction hosted by Bonhams. The seven-foot tall robot is operational and is expected to sell for somewhere in range of seven figures when it goes to auction on November 21.

Adding to its potential value is the fact that Robby the Robot was, at the time of its construction, one of the most expensive sci-fi props ever built. Made mostly of plastic and featuring working electronics which could be controlled remotely or via the person inside the suit, the prop cost Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer around $100,000.

As the New York Times points out, Robby the Robot was the only member of the Forbidden Planet cast to receive sole billing in the movie’s opening credits and has made appearances in numerous TV shows since his film debut. Even if you haven’t seen any of the works the prop has appeared in, you will likely recognize Robby’s iconic design.

As iconic as Robby is, it wasn’t always a pleasure to work with. Earl Holliman, one of the last surviving members of the Forbidden Planet’s cast, described playing alongside Robby as “kind of awkward.” This was mainly due to the fact that Robby’s lines had to be delivered by the script supervisor.

Bill Malone, the prop’s current owner, said he bought Robby in 1979 and has kept the robot in his home ever since. After joking about having coffee with Robby every morning, Malone said that he wanted to ensure that the iconic prop was taken care of.

“I’m of an age where I’m still healthy and doing good,” Malone told the Times. “But I think it’s time to think about his future. We’re sending Robby to college.”

Robby is far from the only classic piece of sci-fi history that has been auctioned off. Recently, we reported on the sale of Xenomorph eggs and the sword of Conan, which would make for the greatest cosplay ever.

Forbidden Planet is one of my favorites, and I re-watch it regularly. And the Id monster trying to attack the spaceship is one of the best scenes ever. However, the movie does kind of fall apart at the end, like the writers wanted to just get it over with.

First off: Towards the end, when the Id monster is coming to the house, and Morpheus tells Robbie to kill it, Robbie knows that the monster and Morpheus are one and the same. The conflict slags down all the robot’s circuits. A robot that only someone with a boosted intelligence, like Morpheus, could build. Yet, 24 hours later, after Morpheus is dead, Robbie is clanking along perfectly, and even flying the spaceship home.

Secondly: As the Id monster is breaking into the house, Morpheus, Altaira, and the Captain run into the Krell lab. Now, we’ll ignore the idea that the lab, where Krell young are brought to be tested, is ALSO the monitoring point for the planetary power supply for the thought-creation machine. But, more importantly, after they closed and locked the triple-layer Krell metal blast door, (on the childrens schoolroom?) the Id monster begins melting through the door. So, how did Altaira and the Captain escape, afterwards? With the door welded shut?

But now comes the biggie: After Morpheus realizes HE is the Id monster, and that humans are not ready for the knowledge of the Krell, he instructs the Captain to initiate a Planetary Self Destruct System!

WHOA!!!!

Even assuming a rational race would construct a Planetary Self Destruct System, (not f&%king likely) would they place the initiator in a schoolroom where their children go?

More importantly, how did an alien researcher, who by his own admission, had only discovered a few, small parts of the Krell’s technology, know where to find the PSDS initiator, and how to operate it? Isn’t that the sort of information you want to keep hidden from all but a select few?

One other thing: When the Captain wanted to radio home for instructions, they removed an important part of the space drive to do so. Then the Id monster came and wrecked said important part. The engineering Chief said he didn’t think it could be repaired in the field, and then the Chief was killed. Who got the space ship put back together in time to get outside of the 100 million mile blast radius of the PSDS? The Captain was off chasing Altaira, the Chief was dead, and the XO was also killed by the Id monster when it was attacking the ship.

Maybe it was the cook? At least he was smart enough to get Robbie to make up some “real Kansas City bourbon!”

(N.B., they don’t make bourbon here in Kansas City!)

Sorry, but you can’t leave The Day The Earth Stood Still out of the mix, even if it was a few years earlier (1951).

I thought TDTESS was really boring. Could never sit through the whole thing.

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I like the original movie version of TDTESS, and have read Farewell to the Master. But, for the movie, they actually ripped off another story.

Just think:

A Superior Being descends from the sky, and tries to get out among the people to tell them they are screwing things up, and if they don’t stop, bad things are going to happen to them. The Superior Being is accompanied by an Unearthly Force, which rules over the Superior Being, and all other beings.

The authorities are so disturbed by what the Superior Being is saying that they have him killed.

But the Superior Being is brought back to life temporarily, by the Unearthly Force, and warns the people one last time to mend their ways, or they will be punished by the Unearthly Force. Then the Superior Being ascends back into the sky.

Where have we heard this story before?

But the movie that really got to me was “The Thing”.

I was attending Fleet Sonar School at the time that movie came out. Thought it was great, except that the creature reminded me too much of Frankenstein. The best scene, IMO, is when they first open the door and this barbed arm comes out trying to grab the guy. It made me jump.

The PX had two shows a day so I went back in for the second show, and when that arm came out, I turned around and looked at the audience. Almost as one person, the whole crowd recoiled back like a tidal wave in reverse.

A shipmate of mine was one of those "I ain't skeered o nuthin" types and when I told him about jumping at that scene, he just laughed.

So . . . I talked him into going and made sure we sat down in the front row with the kids. When that arm shot out, he shrunk down in his seat and threw his arms across his face. From then on, whenever he started his brave talk, I reminded him of that movie.

I too, noticed all those extremely large holes in movie logic. . . but it's called a willing suspension of disbelief. One other I noticed was that it was in just one night that the Monsters from the ID arose and killed all the Krell off. . . there were no precursors to give these masters of genius mind power warning that they had somehow created within their own minds Frankensteinian dream monsters that were going rise up and destroy themselves and their entire species. Yet in the movie, the Monster from the ID of Dr. Morpheus (ah, what a hint "Morpheus = "son of the Roman God of Sleep") did only minor damage before attempting to doing major damage. How could the super intelligent Krell miss the warning signs? What was the trigger that set them at each others' throats? Did they have an equivalent of the NFL taking knees?

Finally what member of the Krell race survived to record this catastrophic event?

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