Twinkle Motorized Robot - MC Toy

'Pull Back & Go Action'

This is not a final page. Due to the quantity of work required, this is a placeholder to at least provide some reference.

Twinkle Motorized Robot is very likely what you get when a company has leftover inventory they've been selling for almost a decade and need to spice it up.

All examples so far sighted were created for the Woolworths variety stores in the United Kingdom. While Woolworths is a United States company, the UK arm was sold in 1982 and became a separate business. If observations are correct, this would explain why the Twinkle Motorized Robot line seems to be exclusive to Woolworths UK vs. other Woolworths entities. By the time the line was released, UK Woolworths was no longer connected to the original US company. Neither the Australian or South African Woolworths businesses are related to the US or UK stores. It is quite possible non-Woolworths version cards were also created for broader distribution.

Back to the toys; the Twinkle effect is sprayed onto the toys after assembly and on top of the stickers. This tends to lean further towards the thought that MC Toy Twinkled existing dead stock to breathe new life into an aging product. The spray varies from a strong, limited colour range chameleon paint to a iridescent glaze-like coating. Figures such as the Wave 2 Train shown below have the body painted with a predominantly blue chameleon paint that, depending on viewing angle, also has hints of pink, purple and green. The Jet however retains its grey plastic colour and instead received the translucent, iridescent spray. This appears to have been a choice per model and not a haphazard selection vs. spray. That said, the same model can have a different dominant chameleon spray seeing some mostly gold, green, etc. depending on viewing angle.

For all their splendor, their spectacle is practically one sided as the figures are only sprayed on the front of the robot mode. While this may sound ghastly, in effect, with the wheels on a flat surface, their mode change sees all non-sprayed areas hidden. Only from behind in robot mode does the glamour fall away revealing the true colour of the plastic and often overspray creeping around the edges.

MC Toy's Twinkling of things wasn't exclusive to these robot toys and at the end of this page you can see examples from two different car lines. One was released at the same time as the Twinkle Motorized Robot figures and the other a year later under the Maisto branding in 1992.

All include both die cast metal and plastic components as well as the synonymous pull-back motors

See toy line main index and history for further details and toy heights. The MC Toy Motorized Robot page (this site) has related specifics.

Region Codes Used: UK United Kingdom - Location codes only shown where items were known to be released.
This list is accurate yet likely to be incomplete. If you are able to confirm release in other regions please get in contact.

TWINKLE MOTORIZED ROBOT

WAVE 1
ATV Trike MC Toy UK (red & black) 199?
Dump Truck MC Toy UK (orange) 199?
Dump Truck MC Toy UK (orange with blue cab) 199?
Jeep MC Toy UK (army green) 199?
Jeep MC Toy UK (red) 199?
Pick Up MC Toy UK (red) 199?
Pick Up MC Toy UK (yellow) 199?
Pick Up Camper Truck MC Toy UK (black) 199?
Train MC Toy UK (black & red) 199?
Truck MC Toy UK (blue & white) 199?

WAVE 2
ATV Trike MC Toy UK (black & silver) 199?
Jeep MC Toy UK (red & white) 199?
Jet MC Toy UK (grey) 199?
Pick Up MC Toy UK (red & yellow) 199?
Pick Up Camper Truck MC Toy UK (white & pink) 199?
Train MC Toy UK (blue arms) 199?
Truck MC Toy UK (purple & white) 199?

Above list is correct yet likely incomplete. Created from confirmed released figures.

Release Date is at time of writing (2025) unconfirmed. That said, as the inclusion of Maisto branding (on a sticker) on MC Toy cardbacks began in 1990 and the MC Toy Motorized Robot line that first included the new variant colours seen in this line had those branding stickers were released 1990 before Maisto branding was added in print to cardbacks in 1992, it's likely the Twinkle line was released 1990/91. At the bottom of this page are two examples of other Twinkled products with the first similar to the Motorized Robot line and the second showing the Maisto branding and the 1992 date.

Waves one and two differ in both cardback and figures. The cards for Wave 1 show the link to Woolworths on a sticker while Wave 2 has these details printed on the card. Wave 1 is made up of the original Motorized Robot figures in their original colour schemes, while Wave 2 includes both the original and 1990s Motorized Robot colour variants; see MC Toy Motorized Robot page this site.

A Gift Set including the following Twinkle figures has been confirmed released; ATV Trike (red), Dump Truck (orange), Jeep (red), Jet (grey), Pick Up (yellow), Pick Up Camper (black), Train (black & red) and the Truck (blue & white). Distribution for the gift set is unknown and the sighted example does not appear to have markings linking it to Woolworth. That said, the Wave 1 figures below have the Woolworths details on a factory applied sticker, so the Gift Set may have included this at some point. If not, it could hint at a further distribution beyond Woolworths and possibly beyond the UK. The box has the same rainbow design as the Twinkle Mini Racer example at the bottom of this page and does not match the robot toy cardbacks.

While the cards are multilingual, so far there have been no examples sighted sold outside the United Kingdom. The seemingly related Twinkle Mega Moto-Bot line was sold in Italy and could be an indication we're yet to see the Twinkle Motorized Robot line also more widely distributed.

The Yellow appearance some of the figures show, largely on white plastic areas, is an effect of the iridescent spray and more visible on camera than in person. The figures could be mistakenly thought to be UV damaged, however it's purely how the spray appears on a white or light grey base from certain angles.

Motors -See Motor Guide page for details vs. codes below

Wave 1

ATV Trike (red & black) DD63 / Dump Truck (orange & blue) DD64 / Jeep DD65 (green) / Jeep (red) DD67 / Jet DD68 / Train (black & red) DD74 Truck (blue & white) DD75

Wave 2

ATV Trike (black & silver) DD73 / Jeep DD65 (green) / Jeep (red & white) DD67 / Jet DD68 / Pick Up Camper (white & pink) DD69 / Train (blue arms) DD71 / Truck (purple & white) DD70

Stamping - see bottom of page for logo guide

ATV Trike (red & black) - Main toy stamped Logo 1 with both the figure and motor having a vacant, oval COO stamp area
Dump Truck (orange & blue) - Main toy stamped Logo 1, Reg.No.1018899, no COO stamp and motor has as empty oval stamp area
Jeep (green) - Main toy stamped Logo 1 with both the figure and motor having a vacant, oval COO stamp area
Jeep (green with gold wash) - Main toy stamped Logo 1 with both the figure and motor having a vacant, oval COO stamp area
Jeep (red) - Main toy stamped Logo 1 with both the figure and motor having a vacant, oval COO stamp area
Jeep (red & white) - Main toy stamped Logo 1 with both the figure and motor having a vacant, oval COO stamp area
Jet - Main toy stamped Logo 1 with both the figure and motor having a vacant, oval COO stamp area
Pick Up Camper (white & pink) - Main toy stamped Logo 1, Reg.No.1018900, no COO stamp and motor has as empty oval stamp area
Train (blue arms) - Main toy stamped Logo 1 with both the figure and motor having a vacant, oval COO stamp area
Truck (purple & white) - Main toy stamped Logo 1, Reg.No.1018899, no COO stamp and motor has as empty oval COO stamp area

COO - Country of Origin

CREDIT it's with special thanks to Neil Parker of the United Kingdom who kindly provided many of these examples