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60+ One-Of-A-Kind Robots From Science Fiction

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James Kinoshita
02/13/09

In reply to 60+ One-Of-A-Kind Robots From Science Fiction
How could a list of robots have C-3PO and not R2-D2? That's kind of retarded. Also, how can you justify so many lame comic book robots? This list seems kind of arbitrary.
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Charlie Jane Anders
02/13/09

@James Kinoshita: It's not arbitrary. It's all the robots we could think of/find that were one-offs. R2D2 is definitely *not* a one-off, he's part of a whole line of R2 robots. C3PO is a one-off, because Anakin built him personally.
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Michael_GR
02/14/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: I'm being unbelievably nitpickery here, but unless I'm misremembering there were other translation droids shown in at least one of the star wars movies, only they were silver, not gold. I always assumed Anakin built C3PO from spares or from a kit, like children today build RC aircraft (if they still do).
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Alasdair Wilkins
02/14/09

@Michael_GR: I argued for C3PO's inclusion knowing it was a bit dicey. After all, the very first minute of A New Hope shows him right next to a similar model (which I always thought was a female version, for some reason). Still, I thought he was worth putting on there because...

1. He was built by a single person out of spare parts. As much as Anakin was almost certainly following an instruction manual of some kind, that does make him unique in my book.

2. He's one of the ten or so most famous robots ever. I wouldn't have bothered to make the argument for some robot most of us had never heard of.
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skippitymonster
02/13/09

In reply to 60+ One-Of-A-Kind Robots From Science Fiction
Warning! How about the Robot (B-1 or whatever) from Lost in Space, wasn't he a one off?
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Alasdair Wilkins
02/14/09

@skippitymonster: Not speaking with much expertise here, but according to Wikipedia, he was "a Model B-9, Class M-3 General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot." When robots had serial numbers, I generally guessed they weren't one-of-a-kind.
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Purple Dave
02/13/09

In reply to 60+ One-Of-A-Kind Robots From Science Fiction
What, no love for The First Robot Capable of Qualifying for a Boat Loan (Futurama, created by Farnsworth, very likely never mass-produced)? Other potentials are Malfunctioning Eddie, _the_ computer judge from Chapek 9 (the Robot "homeworld"), and any robot that fought in the Ultimate Robot Fighting League (excluding Bender).
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Alasdair Wilkins
02/14/09

@Purple Dave: I agonized over Malfunctioning Eddie a little bit (no, seriously, I really did). Ultimately, I guess it comes down to whether you think "Malfunctioning" describes his current state or his function. If he was actually built to malfunction, then he probably counts. But otherwise he's more likely a mass-produced robot who started malfunctioning and opened up a car dealership.

Though I concede that Boat Loan guy. Sounds like a cool dude.
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Purple Dave
02/14/09

@Alasdair Wilkins:
I'm sure he was...until the boat got repossessed. Hey, his only function was being able to qualify for a boat _loan_. There was no mention of him being able to earn enough money to actually pay the loan off. Of course, since he technically hasn't been built yet, we could all just hang around waiting until the day that he does finally get his boat loan and go have some fun on the water...until the tank runs empty (if he can't pay off the loan, do you really think he'll be able to keep the tank full once the courtesy fill-up runs out?). Maybe we should convince him to buy a sailboat instead...
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m_faustus
02/13/09

In reply to 60+ One-Of-A-Kind Robots From Science Fiction
Why is there a Dalek on that poster? I thought these were robots.
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KhaiJB
02/13/09

@NorineEscargot: "What about that bunny-looking robot from Appleseed? I forgot his name."

He's a Cyborg...
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Charlie Jane Anders
02/13/09

@m_faustus: Hmmmm good question. It's a poster/T-shirt design of famous robots that I found online. Maybe someone mistakenly thought the Daleks were robots. If the only Dalek story they saw was "Destiny Of The Daleks," it would be an understandable mistake. :)
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