Saturday, February 1, 2025

Ideal 4777-9 Kresge "Battery Operated Robot" Box

Ideal 4777-9 Kresge "Battery Operated Robot" Box Front

The Kresge "Battery Operated Robot" Box provided a way for Ideal to market the Zeroids to the discount Kresge "Big K" stores in the US. It's a plain thin cardboard box printed on all six sides in blue ink with "Battery Operated Robot" above a somewhat odd open window, that really only offered a view of a Zeroid's waistline. Strangely, the inserts are cut so the robot is at an angle in the box, I'm guessing to show additional detail from the side. I don't know if this was an attempt at preventing dilution of the Ideal Zeroids brand or a security measure to prevent the robot from being taken out of the box.

The Kresge box usually has a "Big K" price sticker on it "KEY 1 2-1 4777-9 68¢" - I believe this provides a clue to the Ideal item number. The robots were sold without accessory hands, missiles or reversing ramp.

Packaging:

The box is taupe cardboard with a small open display window on the front.  "Battery Operated Robot" above the window and "Runs Forward and Reverse" beneath with small text at the bottom "2 "A-A" Batteries Required (Not Included) Imported Parts Labeled to Show Country of Origin"

The sides and back have an image of Zintar with a simplified Zerak head printed in blue with the same text as detailed above. The top of the box has "Battery Operated Robot Runs Forward and Reverse" printed in blue.

Ideal Catalog Specifications:

N/A

Variations:

It's been reported that any of the original three Zeroids plus Zogg were available in this box. I don't believe there was any separation of item numbers for individual Zeroid models.

John's Notes:

I have a couple of these boxes - the example shown is store stock, my first box was a little cleaner but missing inserts and holds a Zerak. They're fairly common.

I've also seen an image of a Zemo that came with this box but I'm somewhat skeptical that the box was original to the Zemo as I haven't seen any anecdotes regarding the original purchase of one in the US or Canada, in this box.

Zermo in Kresge Box?


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