Looking after the Money

SUBTITLES AVAILABLE

Here are two toys, both around 25 years old, that will help you look after your money. Well, the coins at least.

The first one is called the Robotic Banker, and is an early example of a robotic toy. Placing a coin in the slot closes a circuit, and starts the action. The robot arm swivels round, picks up the coin, moves to the left, and drops the coin in the slot. That's the robotic bit. But remember - the toy also had the word banker in the name. And this toy gives you financial advice as well! After the robot arm has dropped the coin in the slot, it presses a lever, which sets the possible answers spinning round and round, until it finds the right answer for your question. Tim asked the Robotic Banker if he should buy gold (although you cannot buy much gold with one penny of course) and the answer from the banker was... definitely!

The second toy is a coin sorter. Place a coin in the slot at the top, and as it cascades down, the ingenious set of wheels and levers tip it first one way and then another, until somehow the coin ends up in the right slot at the bottom. The fact that the mechanism is on display is a major part of this toy's charm.