My MST3K Robot Gallery

Any fan of MST3K can tell you that the adorable wise-crackings robots on the SOL are made from mostly, well...junk. Not a critisism, just a fact.

But what junk?

After watching MST3K for a few years, I decided to start collecting the various parts to make each of the main bots. After much searching and trading I finally amassed enough parts to build my very own versions of a Tom Servo, Crow and Gypsy.

Over time, I was asked by other MSTies to make copies of the parts so they could construct their own bots. Later I began making fully asembled bot replicas for the hobby-impared. After a while, interest in the bots waned and I stopped productions of any bots or bot parts.

Recently I have gotten a lot of request for various parts and fully built bots, so I decided to jump back in MST3K bot building.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at info@mst3kguy.com.

Sir Thomas Serveaux

Well, here he is. The one and only Tom Servo. Big, Tall, Sassy & Brassy.

I managed to find some of the original parts for Tom, except for the engine block, Boo Bowl and hands.

Meticulously detailed, this Servo is as close to the real thing as you can get. All the correct Testor's paint colors were used. The control rod, mouth pull-string and arm air bladders were constructed in the same manner as the ones made at Best Brains, so all his movements and actions are just like the real Tom Servo used on MST3K.

Tom's head is made from these easy to recognize Carousel Snack Dispensers. It takes one dispenser plus the lid from another to make the head. They can be found at Mr. Bulky stores, but last time I looked it seems like they changed the style a little. I bought a couple of cases of the old style directly from the manufacturer, Leaf Inc.

Tom's shoulders are polystyrene sheets vac-u-formed over the light bezel of the Eveready Floating Lantern used for the beautiful, cycloptic Gypsy.

The arms are from a Cmore Bunz novelty doll. When an air bulb is squeezed, he drops his pants. I kept the air bladders in Tom's arms, just like he had during seasons 2-4. The springs are homemade from stainless steel spring stock on a lathe.

The hands are cast resin copies. I made my own mold to make additional copies. I've been looking for the original doll that these hands come from. I don't have any info on this doll, but it may be a ventriloquist dummy.

I have yet to hear of anybody that has found the original toy engine block that is used on Tom's chest. I have been diligently searching for this item for years and haven't found anything close. The one I used was originally a scratch-built one from Ed Miarecki, but Ed didn't get some of the proportions and details quite right. I cut and sanded the details off of his block and meticulously added new details, then molded and cast a new block.

I searched thrift shops all over and couldn't find a "Money Lover Barrel" bank any place. Finally I ran classified ads in several national toy magazines, and after a few months I got my first one. Then, about every three months, I would hear from someone with another barrel. Ebay may be your best bet now for finding them.

Tom's hoverskirt was originally a Halloween Trick or Treat bowl. Later they switched to a smaller Decor Salad bowl. I bought a few of those before they went out of production. There are some newer bowls you can find that are a good match. I vacuform mine now from thick polystyrene which works really well.

The black details on the hoverskirt are vac-u-formed from a Tyco Turbo Train engine. I got lucky and found a whole Turbo Train Race set. I put it together and it actually still worked. I've built my own vac-u-form machine for making these skirt details and Tom's shoulders.

The control rod for my servo is a little shorter so that he can sit easily on a flat surface. The pull string is 20lb test fishing line with a chrome ring on the end of it. The squeeze bulb is for the air bladders that extend Tom's arms. MST only used the bladders in seasons 2-4, but I decided to include them with my Servo.

After many request, I recently started making Tom Servo replicas again. Right now I have auctions running for them every week on Ebay. If you are interested in getting a replica click on this link to view my current Tom Servo auction.

Crow T Robot

What can I say about Crow? He's a very complicated robot. He has some of the most difficult parts to find. But I have been able to get all original parts for him .

He is also more time consuming and complicated to build. I've begun some work on my Crow and hope to have him finished sometime in the near future.

The eye socket is made from a Schwartz Bros. Plastics soap dish. These usually are part of a bathroom accessories set that included a tray, hairbrush, toothbrush holder, powder box and tissue dispenser cover. These are still kind of hard to find, but I do see a lot of them for sale on Ebay.

Crow's torso is made from two Tupperware "Floralier" flower vases. These are pretty easy to find. I got 3 or 4 of these sets from local stores, and 3 or 4 others through trades. You can't swing a dead elf on Ebay with out hitting one of these.

The thing that seems to define Crow's "Crow-ness" the most is the Cooper Hockey mask used for his "nest." These are the elusive model XL7-FG face guards. I bought one a few years ago from a trader, and just recently got two more from someone in Canada replying an ad I placed.

Crow's hands are made from two grabber toys. I thought these would be easy to find, but they're not. The ones I see now are made in the shape of various animal heads.

Yet another difficult part to find are these Empire plastic bowling pins used for Crow's beak. They are the older style with an "e" stamped on the top of them. The newer "Crown" style are pretty easy to find. I have a whole set of those. I did manage to trade for two "e" style pins.

I was finally able to acquire one Wallace Leisure Product desk lamp that make up his shoulders. They are from the model WL81 "Alpha" or "Genie" fluorescent lamps. Mine says "Genesis" near the switch.

The lamp are incredibly rare. I've only come across one other bot builder who has one. Consequently, some builders have been swiping the pictures of mine from this site and slapping on their own pages. So now I've added watermarks to the pictures. If you would like to use one of my pictures on you site just ask first.

Gypsy Rose "Me"

The fair and lovely Gypsy. The cycloptic matriarch of the SOL, she works behind the scenes running the higher functions of the ship.

The parts for Gypsy are fairly easy to acquire, but building her requires some skill. The Official Bot Building Guide from BBI is helpful, but some of the measurement don't seem right. I studied many picture and episodes to get her dimensions as correct as possible.

Gypsy's cranium is made from a Century Infant Love Seat. They aren't made any longer, but they must have been popular in their day because they are quite easy to find. They were once an accessory available on some GM cars. I found three seat in local thrift shops. The others I traded or bought from other bot builders. The inner liner of the seat is removed and trimmed to make the lower lip, which is hinged on a painted 3/4 inch PVC pipe. A 3 inch spring keeps her mouth closed and fishing line attached to a short piece of pipe is use to control mouth movement.

Another easy to find part is the Eveready Floating Lantern used for Gypsy's eye. These were really popular a while back, but aren't made any longer. You could buy them brand new up until last year when they changed the style. The plastic cover around the lens in removed and used to vac-u-form the shoulders for Tom Servo.

On Gypsy's back is a control knob made by vac-u-forming polystyrene over a water faucet knob and some 1/2 inch balls. I made a cast resin copy of this to made it easier to attach to her.

The body is made from 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe and fittings covered with 4 inch plastic drain tubing. This is connected to her head by a 4 inch closet flange (toilet drain) with an adapter. At the bottom are handles made from 3/4 pipe and fittings attached to the 1 1/2 pipe.

I've added an AC adapter port to power Gypsy's eye. A three-way toggle switch is used to change from AC power to OFF or to battery power for portability.