VIDEO: ROBBY THE ROBOT SELLS FOR $5.3 MILLION
One of the best-known robots in movie history should move to the top of the list of the most expensive movie props ever sold. Now that robots have progressed from science fiction to reality, it is not all that surprising that Robby the Robot's price has surpassed all but one of the most iconic props in history.
The complete Robby suit, control panel, his jeep, numerous spares, alternate original "claw" hands, and the original wooden stage shipping crates, were sold (November 21, 2017) by Bonhams in New York for US$5,375,000 including buyers premium.
The only movie prop to have ever sold for more is Marilyn Monroe's "subway dress" from The Seven Year Itch (1955) which was sold by Profiles in History for $5,520,000 (inc. buyers premium) in 2011.
In 1956, Robby's construction costs reportedly accounted for seven percent of the Forbidden Planet's $1.9 million budget which calculates to $133,000 in 1956 dollars: roughly $1.2 million today.
You can have a look at the video below where Robby the Robot arrives on the scene for the first time, and marvel at how times have changed!