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Spurred on by discussions we had at the last Auckland meet-up, I had an urge to disassemble my vintage Imperial Troop Transported to see if I could get the sound effect system working.

As some will know, this was the first Star Wars toy to have "recorded" dialogue and movie sound effects. It came out in 1979...long before digital sound sampling or integrated circuits in toys of any sort. How then? ...it actually has a teeny-tiny record and record player inside!

Following are a few pictures of the internal mechanism. Breaking it down to it's individual components, I was able to ascertain that the wiring was all intact, and none of the mechanical parts were broken. Even the turntable belt (aka rubber band) was intact, but had slipped off the motor spindle. The motor needed a bit of an oil, as its screeching drowned out the recorded sound bites. Other than that, a bit of careful reassembly and it is all functional.

This vehicle, by the way, has been reported as going to make an appearance in the Rebels cartoon series (source).

Here's the main chassis with the motor mounted, and underside of the turntable arm. This is the acoustic amplified and speaker mechanism. This is the record itself. Each red button loads the needle in to a different track. The speaker in place. Speaker housing. The whole assembly.

And the proof!

[youtube]fT2jX9Bypdk[/youtube]

While I've got the body in pieces, I'll give it all a good clean. I got this particular toy second hand. It had no stickers with it or on it, so I can give all the plastic pieces a good scrub down. Just gotta get hold of some replacement stickers (have my eye on a few sources on eBay).

Nice work, not too tricky. This reminds me, I must get around to removing batteries from some of my noise making figures so they don't corrode the internals.

Robo wrote:Nice work, not too tricky. This reminds me, I must get around to removing batteries from some of my noise making figures so they don't corrode the internals.

That's happens?!
Does it do anything besides make the audio/lights unworkable?
I never tend to check for batterys or use them in most the stuff but i have a couple..

Robo wrote:Nice work, not too tricky. This reminds me, I must get around to removing batteries from some of my noise making figures so they don't corrode the internals.

Good idea. I have a motorised LEGO AT-AT that I forgot to do take them out. Now it just looks cool, but doesn't go anywhere.

Dawfydd wrote:...Does it do anything besides make the audio/lights unworkable? I never tend to check for batterys or use them in most the stuff but i have a couple..

The leakage can be either acidic or alkaline, depending on the battery, and needs more than just a simple wash to decontaminate. It can corrode right through metal parts like the springs in the battery holders, eventually. If it leaks out of the battery compartment, it could damage fabric or paper stickers etc.

In the case where batteries are supplied with a toy (eg, straight from the factory in China), it's often very cheap batteries, which are more prone to leaking.

That's awesome Matt! A little record player?!
Who woulda thought. Very cool.

Bazzack wrote:That's awesome Matt! A little record player?!
Who woulda thought. Very cool.

Thanks. Yeah, I didn't know how the sounds were generated, or that it would be fixable, until I saw some photos of the internal mechanisms over on the Rebelscum vintage forums.