Yonezawa’s 1967 Space Explorer is a unique and ingenious toy robot that transforms from an unassuming TV console into a 12-inch robot with special effects. With the flick of a switch, its head emerges from the box with blinking lights, revealing a novel 3-D scene of an astronaut in command as it waddles forward.

What sets it apart is not just its visual spectacle, but the complexity of its mechanism housed within the seemingly ordinary box – in some respects it can be considered a direct predecessor to transforming robots that rose to popularity more than a decade later. Available in two colors, black and red, Space Explorer remains a prized and unique collectible today.