On some of my pages, if the pictures seem to cover the text, you might try increasing your screen resolution. Or not. I'm trying to think of a better fix for this.
In the early '80's I bought a Tomy Hoomdorm, which if I recall correctly was one of four (maybe more, but my swiss-cheese brain only remembers four) air-powered pneumatic gizmos marketed as "Space Pets." These may have been manufactured from 1981 to as late as 1984. Anyway, I have a vague memory of the commercial; all four gadgets hopping and sliding around some sort of a futuristic, possibly space-stationish set, whilst an appropriately-outfitted mother berates her also-appropriately-outfitted (I'm thinking shiny clothes with decorative fabric heat-sinks) son about them. It's possible I invented that out of whole cloth, though. They were the High Hoppin' Hoomdorm (which hops like a grasshopper), the Stretch Legged Stoomdorm (which moves with a kind of scissor extending assembly), the Fleet Footed Floomdorm (which sort of jiggles pie-shapped feet which push it along), and the Lurch Along Loomdorm (which raises up by means of scissor action again, then falls forward and retracts its feet). I thought they were so cool I went and got a Hoomdorm, which I thought was the coolest one; being the cheapskate that I am, I decided I didn't need all of them. Twenty years later I regret that decision disproportionately.
Surprizingly enough, I still have that toy, and it still works just fine; jumps maniacly about like a demented frog. Now my son wants to play with it, but I feel like I have to supervise him because these things seem so rare. I dread the day when it finally breaks. Finding out anything about them is next to if not right on top of impossible. I stole these pictures from this guy's web page; I'll take a picture of my hoomdorm and replace his with it, but for now, this is what it looks like.
If you know anything about these, or have pictures, or maybe where I might be able to find one or two in working order, please let me know.
Like Greg did. He saw the page and wrote this:
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Hi Scott- Recently I found my 3 old Tomy pneumatic toys that had been sitting in my basement for a while. I have a Stoomdorm, a Loomdorm, and a Hoomdorm. The only one still working well is the Hoomdorm, which hops like a frog. The Stoomdorm works somewhat, but doesn't have enough power to go very far. If you hold it upside down, it will do the scissor-legs thing for a little while and then stop. The Loomdorm holds air, but as soon as you turn it on it just goes "PH-H-H-H-H-T" and all the air comes out. Do you know much about these? Can they be repaired? Were there many made? I know I have not seen many around, and you are correct that there isn't much info on the web either. (How many things can you say that about?) Currently my three-year-old thinks they're amazing (even the Loomdorm that doesn't work), but I'd love to find out if they can be fixed or if any parts are available. Have you found out anything exciting out about these since you put your web page into service? Mine are in great cosmetic shape- I could take some digital photos of them if you wanted to see any. My son of course is most interested in the leaky Loomdorm. Thanks for reading this far! I appreciate any help or info. |
He was even cool enough to send me some extremely professional looking pictures he took of the three he owns. As you can probably guess, I'm envious. Here's what he said:
Scott- Sorry this took me so long, but I finally have the photos of the Tomy 'dorms. I took them shortly after I heard from you last, but I keep forgetting to e-mail the photos. Anyway, here they are. I have cut them down in size, since my digital camera is a 2.1 megapixel unit, but you may want to reduce them even further if you plan to put them on your web page. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out, though. I also have the larger originals, if someone were to have a use for those. They make really nice prints. There are two shots of the Loomdorm, since that seems to be a lesser-known type. Let me know what you think.
-Greg
Here are his pictures:
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And here's another Tomy Space Pet link: Jeff's Robots-Tomy Stoomdorm.
Some interesting news is that someone wrote to me saying he had SIX different space pets. I wrote back asking for more information and maybe pictures, but never heard back. At this point, I'm skeptical; perhaps he misremembered, or confused toys, or is just trying to psych out a befuddled old man for kicks. But who knows? I suspect he's confused Space Pets with Air Jammers, which were air powered cars made around the same time by Tomy.
I've now collected several of these from Ebay, which I probably shouldn't mention because now everybody will buy them out from under me. I have all four, which is satisfying, and I've learned that at least the Hoomdorms were manufactured in two places; Singapore made some for distribution in Australia, and Japan made some for the US. There are very slight differences in the product between the two places of origin, that I've notice; the trigger is shaped slightly differently. Also, the box is slightly different; the air reservoir depicted on the Australian box appears to be transparent, and the identfying reservoir label depicted on the box is worded and arranged differently. In addition, there's the obvious differences in the "Made In" stamp on one of the feet.
I've also gotten some of the included sheets of instruction, and noticed variations in those, apart from the variations due to the different toys. The instructions were printed in at least 1981 and 1983, which implies a surprizing three year manufacturing period; surprizing in that there appear to be so few of thess around. Also, the air pump depicted in the Lurch Along Loomdorm package is very similar if not identical to the pump supplied with Tomy's Air Jammer series of cars and motorcycles. I did get a pump with one of the Stoomdorms that says "Air Jammer" on it (which at the time I assumed to have been a mismatch; I thought maybe someone had a Stoomdorm but lost the pump which went with it), and have another Air Jammer style pump without the Air Jammer label that came with another of the Space Pets.
I don't know if it's just the luck of the draw, but I've gotten two Stoomdorms, neither of which work. My one Loomdorm works, which is nice, since it appears they don't, always. One of my two Floomdorms work. And all my Hoomdorms (I think I have six now) work, which is odd, since they seem to move the most violently; it just seems like these should have broken before any of the others. The pumps also vary in their condition.
Hoomdorm Variations
Even MORE variations
Fixing your pet
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