Gizmodo: johnny 5

LEGO Johnny 5: Not QUITE Alive, But Still Pretty Damn Charming

Mark Wilson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:30:00 EDT

It would have been impressive if Johnny 5 were merely sculpted from LEGO bricks. But Brickshelf user rack911 did one better and created a Johnny 5 with fully working treads and a—we'll call it partially functional—laser cannon. But appreciate the art carefully, dear reader. Johnny 5's no-nonsense, wisecracking personality has been documented as a stronger pheromone than that of even the fabled Spanish fly. And licking an LCD may or may not cause electric shock. [Brickshelf via OhGizmo]

Short Circuit's Johnny Five On Auction Block Starting at $100,000; Steve Guttenberg Sold Separately

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:30:00 EDT

Johnny Five—hero of Short Circuit, Short Circuit 2, and all the Short Circuit sequels that have been playing only in our hearts since the franchise died in 1988—is indeed alive, and for sale on eBay.

The five-foot-tall totally sentient robot is made of aluminum and steel, with "vaccu-formed styrene panels" to conceal his robot sexy parts. Much like WowWee Alive Elvis, the eyes and eyelids are activated with servo-controlled electric motors. A separate exo-skeleton device was built to house his fairly standard looking R/C controllers. All of this is original stuff, so like ridiculously out-of-date.

But it is a piece of history, as the auctioneer says. And it's unique. Although 15 robots were made, most weren't the full deal:

This is the only complete Johnny Five that survived, and is the only one known to exist. It is accompanied with a letter of authenticity from Eric Allard, the robotic special effects supervisor who made this robot for the film.

Go on, I dare you to buy it. [eBay]

Johnny 5 Still Not Alive, But Now He's Got a LEGO Brother

Jason Chen — Tue, 01 May 2007 21:45:00 EDT

Technically this is called the JohnNXT 5, though even Steve Guttenberg's minority friend won't be fooled that this isn't the real Johnny Five. LEGO fan Daniele Benedettelli built this entire thing out of LEGO Mindstorm NXT parts, which if our calculations are correct, means this probably costs as much as an actual robot to make.

If you want to build your own (who wouldn't), check out the materials list to get started. – Jason Chen

Project Page [Danielle via MAKE]