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The Shunt Minibot was one of several minibots released as merchandise. Like the other House robots, Shunt was one of the first generation of minibots, released in 2001.

Features[]

ShuntRight

Plough side of the Shunt Minibot, facing left

MiniShunt

Plough side of the Shunt Minibot, facing right

Like many of the first generation minibots, this toy does not have any moving weaponry. Both the axe and the battle-damaged scoop are static. This toy is based on the Series 3-7 version of Shunt, evident by the iconic "diamond-edged" axe. The side wheels are simply for decoration, as there is a pullback motor on the underneath of this toy with two smaller wheels. The scoop is made from a softer material than the die-cast bodywork, and the exhaust pipe is vulnerable to coming off during play.

Releases[]

Pack3

Shunt in its three-pack

Shunt and Razer

Shunt in its two-pack

As part of the original wave of minibot toys, the Shunt minibot was first released in a three-pack alongside Matilda and Pussycat, as well as in a two-pack with Razer. Shunt was also released in all three of the five-pack releases.

Differences to the real robot[]

Shuntminbot

Scoop side of the Shunt Minibot

Shunt side view

Side view of the real Shunt from Series 4

One notable difference between this toy and the real robot is the colouring of the wheels. It is a common theme among these minibot toys that the wheels are the same colour as the main body, and this Shunt toy is no exception. The exhaust pipe on this toy points straight up also, whereas the top of it bends outward, facing the bulldozer blade. The axe is also painted gold on this toy, as though it is a part of the body, however Shunt sported a grey axe during the main series. This minibot appears to have a much higher ground clearance than its real life counterpart, because of the pullback motor underneath the body of this toy. Due to this, the static scoop is not flush to the ground, as seen in the above image.

ShuntRear

The "front" of the Shunt minibot

ShuntFront

The "rear" of the Shunt minibot

An often unnoticed aspect of Shunt in reality is that the plough end of the robot was actually the House Robot's front side, with the axe firing towards the rear of the machine, despite the robot finding more practical use out of its rear side. For convenience with play, the Shunt Minibot considers the actual House Robot's rear side to be the front of the machine, and the pullback motor is positioned to push the curved scoop side of Shunt forwards when released. This essentially means that the Shunt minibot operates "backwards" in motion, although the packaging of the Shunt minibot would portray the robot with its triangular plough facing forwards.

Trivia[]

Minibox

Shunt in one of its five-packs

ShuntPussycatMatilda02

Shunt in its three-pack, in updated packaging

  • Although the pullback motor suggested that Shunt's curved bucket was the front of the machine, the packaging of the minibots still faced Shunt's triangular plough forwards, which was actually the front end of the real House Robot.
  • Due to its higher amount of releases than any other minibot in the range, Shunt is perhaps the common minibot ever released.

Navigation[]

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