Last year, I wrote about my five-year stint as the owner of a pair of pizza robots– the kinds that danced and sang back in the seventies, eighties, and nineties while you played arcade games or waited for your pizza to arrive. Last October, I provided a quick update. Today, I finally have another.
Continue reading “Another robo update”
It’s hard to believe, but I owned my own set of classic pizza robots for five years- the ones that danced and sang right before your piping-hot pie arrived at the table. I’ve had a few curious people reach out since I gave them up, and I finally have a quick update on my robots’ fate.
Continue reading “Robo Update”
I’ve published five installments about how I got into pizza robots. Last I wrote, I was wrestling with the question of whether or not it was fair for me to keep them. After some soul-searching and reflection, I realized that it wasn’t. I sold them a couple weeks ago.
Continue reading “How I got out of pizza robots”
I discovered pizza robots when I was seven or eight and whipsawed back into the fandom in my twenties. It wasn’t long before I lucked into a robot of my own! Billy Bob of the New Rock-afire Explosion spent two decades in a trailer and was mechanically sound. Turns out, he spoiled me: after I bought another, I realized that Fatz may never perform again- at least as long as I own him.
Continue reading “How I got into pizza robots: Part 5”
In 2019, my friends bought seventeen abandoned New Rock-afire Explosion robots from Odyssey Fun World in suburban Chicago. Against all odds, my Billy Bob was one of the first of them to come back to life! Most of the other robots seemed destined to stay comatose, but I sought to change that when I bought Fatz.
Continue reading “How I got into pizza robots: Part 4”
Getting my old robot to stand up for the first time in twenty-five years was an enormous accomplishment for someone who didn’t know what he was doing! Unfortunately, sporadic patches of mangy fur weren’t enough to make it resemble Billy Bob of the New Rock-afire Explosion. After I confirmed he was mechanically sound, I set out to give my robot a glow-up.
Continue reading “How I got into pizza robots: Part 3”
My first encounter with pizza robots happened when I was a kid. My initial excitement gave way to anxiety as their performance dragged on. I’d made my first trip to the uncanny valley, and boy, was it disturbing. Years later, I’m still surprised to see the pair of them every time I walk into my kitchen! The only way to deal with fear is to face it, I guess.
Continue reading “How I got into pizza robots: Part 2”
A few weeks ago, I was stirred from bed by an inexplicable thirst. I lurched out of my room and padded to the kitchen. Cracking the fridge open, the gentle spill of light revealed an astonishing sight—a bear and a gorilla! Thankfully, it was just Billy Bob and Fatz, my pizza robots.
Continue reading “How I got into pizza robots: Part 1”