Anyone got a Mattel Power Shop?

[OldNYJim]

It’s the latest and greatest new toy from 1964…

It works as a bench sander, a lathe, a drill…even a bandsaw!

I’m certain a lot of us have ‘real’ versions of all these tools already…but I still REALLY wanted one for my shop:

I already used it to sand a part I made for my little Mattel Vac-U-Form (ironically - one Mattel toy fixing another) but this is actually a surprisingly decently powered tool, considering it was aimed at kids.  Motor is decently torque-y, and definitely good enough for a lot of what we do.

Mine was missing a bunch of attachments, which I need to pick up, but it’ll definitely get put to work on occasion in my shop.  I love the idea of using an old vintage tool to work on similar-era kits.

Anyone else still using one of these for anything?

[Bainford]

Well, that's pretty wild. I had no idea Mattel was making this stuff. It looks like it would be very handy around the model bench. A heck of a lot easier than turning/sanding/polishing with my bench-top drill press.

[Zen]

Yeah, pretty cool for sure. Just can't picture the bandsaw part??

[Mark]

Ideal Toys had a similar idea in the early Seventies, but it involved individual hand tools (saw, sander, router, and so on).  They were good for making balsa sawdust, but didn't have enough grunt to do anything beyond that.

[Ace-Garageguy]

That's pretty cool. I had no idea those even existed. Really like your quote "I already used it to sand a part I made for my little Mattel Vac-U-Form (ironically - one Mattel toy fixing another) but this is actually a surprisingly decently powered tool, considering it was aimed at kids.  Motor is decently torque-y, and definitely good enough for a lot of what we do."

I do have a Vac-U-Form that I still need to do some upgrades on.   

[ranma]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

Ideal Toys had a similar idea in the early Seventies,

 Image Via You tube,  ideal toy's 1969.

Edited February 5 by ranma

[OldNYJim]

14 hours ago, Zen said:

Yeah, pretty cool for sure. Just can't picture the bandsaw part??

So, the output on the motor has a little metal hoop that makes it act like a cam, and then you bolt on a clamp, secure it with a wingnut, and the cam drives the saw blade up and down:

I don’t actually HAVE those pieces yet - this was a super-cheap purchase but was missing a lot of the parts…but luckily the parts are really plentiful on eBay and it doesn’t seem like there’s anything unobtanium with these.  I bet consumables like the saw blades are probably the hardest to find, but I’ve seen even those come up for sale frequently and inexpensively…

13 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

That's pretty cool. I had no idea those even existed. Really like your quote "I already used it to sand a part I made for my little Mattel Vac-U-Form (ironically - one Mattel toy fixing another) but this is actually a surprisingly decently powered tool, considering it was aimed at kids.  Motor is decently torque-y, and definitely good enough for a lot of what we do."

I do have a Vac-U-Form that I still need to do some upgrades on.   

I picked up my Vac-U-Form recently, but it was missing the plastic bed that the parts sit on…but a little CAD and some printing later and I have something that I think will work:

I used the sanding function on the Power Shop to smooth off the bottom edge to remove all roughness where the supports were on the print - it made super easy work of that resin!

I think the vacuum on mine isn’t as good as it could be - I’m going to take a better look at it and find a good sealant to see how good I can get this little thing.  

I don’t really NEED it to work wonders - I have access to a 12x24 machine, but I WOULD like this little fella to reach his full potential and to find a good project for him to work on… 

[Ace-Garageguy]

18 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

,,,I don’t really NEED it to work wonders - I have access to a 12x24 machine, but I WOULD like this little fella to reach his full potential and to find a good project for him to work on… 

Love your attitude on this. So many useful things just get tossed in the trash with no thought whatsoever...

It may be small and originally intended for kids, but it has the potential to be a real tool capable of making high-quality parts.

As Snake45 would have said: model on.  

[NOBLNG]

On 2/5/2025 at 8:03 AM, Zen said:

Yeah, pretty cool for sure. Just can't picture the bandsaw part??

It is not a bandsaw at all. Mattel actually calls it a jigsaw, but I believe it would more accurately be called a “Scroll Saw”.  Jigsaws are portable hand held devices with the blade attached at one end. Scroll saws are bench mounted with the blade attached at both ends.

[oldcarfan]

When I was little, my dad had a Mattel Vac Form and a tiny lathe that could do brass and aluminum. He was an aircraft mechanic so he used the full size versions and somewhere he got these for his hobby building. I would love to have those tools now!

[Bugatti Fan]

Those were the days, when kids were sensible enough and trusted to use proper miniature power tools like the Mattel Powershop to work with!

But there is hope for model makers wanting a versatile modular piece of kit that can be configured to make different miniature machine tools from the  basic set, and can be added to with different optional accessories.

It is named a UNIMAT 1.   Have a look at their website to see the versatility of this little unit.

It is obtainable from two stores that I know of in the UK with similar sounding names, Hobbies and Hobbys.         In the USA I would suggest that Micro Mart may probably be the place to look.

[Aaronw]

Neat little multi-tool. I have never seen one before.  Kind of like a kids version of a Shopsmith. I imagine it was trying to be a budget option vs the Unimat. Any idea what the price was new in the 1960s? Sears sold the basic lathe / mill / drill press Unimat for $149 in 1972. I'm guessing this was significantly cheaper, $25 or 30 maybe?  

 

On the vacformer this piece is metal on mine. Does the hot plastic not try to adhere to the 3D printed part?

[Big John]

A friend recently gave me his old Vac-u-form. I was dismayed that the vacuum was created by pushing down a leaver that moved a piston under the table/platen. The least they could have done is have an optional hookup for moms Electrolux!

[Brizio]

I saw it years ago in a antique mall. I think it had also a box. I though it was pretty cool, and surprise that was offer as a tool for kid. But that was another era... I though als since it was made for kids, maybe was under power. Glad to know it works well.

[OldNYJim]

On 2/6/2025 at 8:16 AM, NOBLNG said:

It is not a bandsaw at all. Mattel actually calls it a jigsaw, but I believe it would more accurately be called a “Scroll Saw”.  Jigsaws are portable hand held devices with the blade attached at one end. Scroll saws are bench mounted with the blade attached at both ends.

Yep, my bad, you’re absolutely right!

8 hours ago, Aaronw said:

On the vacformer this piece is metal on mine. Does the hot plastic not try to adhere to the 3D printed part?

I would be interested to see what that plate looks like on yours!  I THINK the original part was plastic.

This was a test to see if the 3d printed resin would hold up…only did a couple of tests so far but A-OK so far!

2 hours ago, Big John said:

The least they could have done is have an optional hookup for moms Electrolux!

There’s a guy on eBay who does an upgrade/conversion service on these, and that’s part of what he does.  I think I want to keep this one stock-ish though - I like the self-contained simplicity…

[OldNYJim]

Oh, and if you guys like these…here’s a cool thing I spotted online this weekend - Mattel toy injection molder!

[1930fordpickup]

I would think the jig saw blades , sorry scroll saw blades are or were standard sizes back in the day. 

When I looked at the yellow base i clicked in my empty noggin. I have seen one of these bases in a garage somewhere. There were 4 of us that had no idea what it was.

This looks like mattels last effort to sell someone under 18 a toy. 

[Bugatti Fan]

Aaron, the Unimat you are referring to is probably one of the more up market miniature Unimats back in the day. An all metal lathe with milling attachment. The all metal Unimat lathes are discontinued having got to a Unimat 4

The Unimat 1 I am referring to is a modular machine where the working parts are bolted onto extrusions, and can be configured to make different machines from the basic unit set. Still currently available and a lot less expensive than a proper dedicated miniature lathe/mill.

[Mattblack]

I had a miniature power tool set like the one above, I don't know if was by 'Ideal' or a different UK brand. Don't recall it having a circular saw in it, I do remember the 'bench' was the box for all the bits.

[OldNYJim]

6 hours ago, 1930fordpickup said:

 

I would think the jig saw blades , sorry scroll saw blades are or were standard sizes back in the day. 

 

 

Interesting!  I assumed they were probably made FOR this machine, but yes, that’s true…that probably would make it easier to find replacements at least

[Mark]

9 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Oh, and if you guys like these…here’s a cool thing I spotted online this weekend - Mattel toy injection molder!

That used "plastic" that had a low melting point.  Don't chase one of them down expecting to melt styrene scraps in it...

[OldNYJim]

15 hours ago, Mark said:

That used "plastic" that had a low melting point.  Don't chase one of them down expecting to melt styrene scraps in it...

Yep, correct - Plastigoop!

Not a super useful tool for car guys, but I WOULD like to get to play with one anyway…

[Aaronw]

On 2/8/2025 at 7:50 PM, CabDriver said:

I would be interested to see what that plate looks like on yours!  I THINK the original part was plastic.

This was a test to see if the 3d printed resin would hold up…only did a couple of tests so far but A-OK so far!

 

I haven't used mine in some time, so have to figure out what "safe place" I put it up out of the way. The piece we are talking about is often missing, so mine is a replacement, made from perforated steel sheet metal. I've had mine about 15 years, and at the time I bought it there was a guy on ebay selling replacement parts and even an upgrade for using a shopvac. I haven't seen him on ebay in some time.

I left mine stock, and later bought a more modern small vacuformer. The little Mattel machine is a nice affordable tool though.

 

I found this photo online, but this is pretty much the same as on mine. 

 

[Robberbaron]

LOL... "Thingmakers"

[Aaronw]

On 2/9/2025 at 12:46 AM, Bugatti Fan said:

Aaron, the Unimat you are referring to is probably one of the more up market miniature Unimats back in the day. An all metal lathe with milling attachment. The all metal Unimat lathes are discontinued having got to a Unimat 4

The Unimat 1 I am referring to is a modular machine where the working parts are bolted onto extrusions, and can be configured to make different machines from the basic unit set. Still currently available and a lot less expensive than a proper dedicated miniature lathe/mill.

 

Yes the original Unimat is what I was talking about. Most that people encounter are just a lathe or a lathe / mill / drill, but early on they offered parts to make it a little table saw, sander, jig saw. Those accessories are now very expensive when you can find them.

 

 

The Unimat 1 is a completely different machine, much cheaper. Amazon and Ebay is full of Unimat 1 knock offs, 4 in 1 , 6 in 1 toyish machines, probably much closer to the Mattel than the old Unimat.

 

I bought one of the knockoffs a couple years ago just out of curiosity when I found one for about $80. Not great, and pretty awful as a metal lathe, but as a little drill, sander or scroll saw it would probably make somebody happy.

Of course a Dremel drill press will be a much better drill, a Harbor Frieght 1x30" / 5" combo sander a better sander, and a cheap 16" scroll saw will again be far more capable, but that is a lot more money and bench space.