Greetings ~
Back in the 1990s, I owned and operated a hobby shop in downtown Akron, Ohio. I closed it down on New Years Eve, 1999. I had shelves full of plastic scale model kits left over and brought them all home. I have always been a modeler. I have always enjoyed building model cars, trucks, ships, wooden buildings and airplanes and many other items. I packed the kits in a room in my basement and have over the years pulled one out to build when the weather was nasty such as days of rain or snow storms. It's nice being retired now and not having to go out in bad weather. I just go down to the basement workshop and start on a project. Sometimes, that project is a model kit.
It's February, 2020 now and we got a nice snow storm that began last night and is still going on today. My wife and I have everything we need in the house so there's no reason to go out. So, I decided to go downstairs and pull out a model to do. I found this one, the Lost In Space B9 Robot with Dr. Smith and have decided to build it. I have a "somewhat" history with the show and the robot.
Originally, I watched the show back in the 1960s. Then in 1999, I met Bob May at my Akron store. We became friends and even exchanged e-mail and phone numbers. Bob spent a lot of time in my store and my wife and I went to dinner with Bob and his wife. There was a huge convention room in the complex where my store was located and Bob, his wife and Mark Goddard, (another star from the original show), was there to take part in the Sci-Fi convention. On Sunday my wife and I sat with the Mays as Bob signed autographs and had his picture taken with fans all day. I learned a lot from him about the show and the robot.
I had the monster model kits at my store and Bob signed a robot for me plus a model box. He also gave me several gifts before heading back home to California. Over the next ten years, Bob and I stayed in touch briefly here and there. Then in 2009, I got the news from TV that Bob had passed away. I was so sorry to hear that.
I have several B9 robot figures, even a life size one plus I built the scale model that Bob signed for me. But this kit is a little different as it includes the Dr. Smith caractor. I never met Jonathan Harris who played Dr. Smith on the show. All I know of him was that Bob said he was a nice guy and good to work with. Jomathan Harris was a long running caractor actor in Hollywood with a list of TV and movie credits that would choke a Buffalo.
Bob told me that he had begun by working as a stuntman in Hollywood and then, when the studio could not find anyone that would fit into the body of the robot, they spotted him and asked if he would try it out. Bob agreed and, because he was short, he fit perfectly. That's how he got the job on Lost In Space. And, as they say, "the rest is history".