A steel-jawed, 1930s-era robot greets visitors to the Bilotta Collection at Sawgrass, its chest sporting a Bakelite knob around a voltmeter.
The robot rumbles around electronically, lifting one tubular leg onto a small battery-powered metal robot at its feet.
The German movie prop is just one of many robots and toys that Ozzie Bilotta has amassed over nearly 40 years, after his collecting addiction began at an antiques show in Fort Lauderdale.
“They were battery-operated tin toys from the 1950s, and I was drawn to their beauty and how they worked. I just thought they were beautiful. From that moment on, it was a passion that has continued ever since,” said the New York native, 59. “It’s been a long journey. The passion is still there, so I integrated it with holidays and travel. Whenever I went to another state, I would make sure to visit antique stores. Then it turned into trade shows.”
Today, the collection at 151 Sawgrass Corners Drive is valued at about $7 million and is open to the public for about $35 per visit.
Ozzie Bilotta, owner of Bilotta Collection, talks about the giant and miniature robots in his collection of vintage and sci-fi toys in Ponte Vedra. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Growing up in the 1960s as a child of modest immigrants, Bilotta saved many of his toys, which instilled in him a spirit of preservation. He carried that passion for decades, gradually seeking out iconic items at toy shows, county fairs, auctions and model railroad events.
“It was also fun,” he said. “Little by little, we started collecting. My wife started finding publications like toy magazines and different books, and it just grew and grew from there. It was a really slow burn that just kept going. It’s like peeling an onion, because you start with one thing and then you find more that you like.”
As he collected, he discovered other types of toys and sci-fi memorabilia that interested him, and then he met other collectors who helped fuel the hobby, he said.
He still remembers the piece that started it all in 1986: “Smoking Grandpa,” a tin toy made in the 1950s by the Japanese company Marusan, depicting a jolly old man sitting in a rocking chair, smoking a glowing pipe.
“I’ve since upgraded, so I don’t have the originals. I was just out of college and on a tight budget,” he says. “It has a very unique smell. Now I love it because it brings back memories and reminds me of my dad.”
On the right, a robot with eyes made from classic car taillights peers down at multiple cases of Japanese-made robot, spaceship and car toys in another display area; many are in rare, original boxes with colorful artwork. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Among his early purchases were battery-operated Horikawa toys such as Fighting Robots and Attacking Martians from the late 1960s and early 1970s, for which some friends were “shocked and astounded” that he paid $40 for them at the start of his collecting career.
“At the time, that was considered a huge amount of money, and robots weren’t that old back then compared to now,” he said. “I’ve always been a fan of monsters and sci-fi, so the art on the box was also a really big draw for me.”
Bilotta has lived in Florida for 20 years, half of that time in the Miami area, before moving to Ponte Vedra Beach in 2019 with his wife, Christine, and son, Andrew. He worked in commercial real estate and has bought, traded and sold items in what has now grown into a personal collection of more than 2,000 items.
The collection eventually grew to the point that he needed more space, which led to him purchasing the Corners at Sawgrass office complex across from the Tax Collector’s Office, reserving an entire building for his collection.
“We probably have 85 percent of it here,” Bilotta said. “All the pieces for the arcade are here. As far as the toys go, we probably have 400 to 500 pieces left, but the key pieces are here.”
The entrance walls are decorated with original posters of Forbidden Planet, Invasion from Space, and Invasion of the Saucer Men. As you walk through the many rooms, you’ll find a variety of interesting things, including rare arcade machines, a 1950s sci-fi rocket ride that kids can ride for 25 cents, and lots of vintage toys.
A rare “25th Century Buck Rogers” wind-up tin rocket toy is on display along with other metal spacecraft and car models. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Some of the tin toys, including toy ray guns and rocket ships, date back 100 years. There are also shelves with a rare “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” wind-up tin rocket toy and a collection of early Mickey Mouse figures that still retain the Disney character’s original look. His favorite is the Popeye tin tank toy, one of only five in the world, with olive oil spurting out of the turret.
He bought it in the early 2000s, then sold it, then bought it again in 2022.
“It’s really cool to have the Popeye tank again,” he said.
In another gallery, you’ll find more modern anime characters from American TV shows like Speed Racer and Astro Boy, as well as characters that never aired on Japanese TV. There’s a whole Batman collection on display, including toy cars, figurines and even a toy tank. Next to that are tin toys from kids’ TV shows like Supercars.
The exhibit also features early Japanese animation, such as “Gigantor,” a 5-foot-tall blue-and-red robot from a 1960s cartoon about a robot piloted by a boy who saves the world. The gallery also features life-size replicas of B-9, the robot from “Lost in Space,” Robby from “Forbidden Planet” and Gort from “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
A room full of famous robots is part of Sawgrass’ Bilotta Collection. From left, they’re Gort from “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” B-9 from TV’s “Lost in Space,” Gigantor from the cartoon of the same name, a spaceship advertising display and the Robbie Robot from “Forbidden Planet.” | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Robbie, a dome-shaped robot that flashes lights, spins its antennae and talks, may be Bilotta’s favorite robot, he said.
Other rooms include pinball machines, early 1900s fortune-telling machines (including one that still spits out “Grandma’s Forecast” cards), and “Ask The Brain,” a creepy, bald robot scientist who laughs and giggles as he tinkers with a computer, flashing lights and blaring sound effects while he gives you a fortune for a dollar.
“Oh, what’s this? A human being asking his brain for advice?” he says. “So let me start by asking a question: Can you imagine what the inside of this booth smells like after you’ve had a corn dog? Hahaha?”
The Brain is a fortune-telling arcade game from the Bilotta Collection. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Bilotta’s son, a history major at North Carolina State University, helps assemble the collection, and his mother helps manage it.
Bilotta said he opened the 3,000-square-foot collection about a year ago to “inspire the next generation of collectors, keep this culture alive, show these artifacts to people who’ve never seen them before, provide something fun/nostalgic, and finally, communicate the historical importance of the past two centuries.”
“There are so many, it’s hard to say if I have an overall favorite,” Bilotta admits.
“My favorite part is the whole collection. Do I choose them based on value?” he says. “I’m most attached to the original collection that got me started, but now I have a lot more pieces, including original art, movie posters, kiddie vehicles, and life-size robots.”
Dalek robots from the Doctor Who sci-fi series are on display in one room, along with Astro Boy toys (right) and a vintage coin-operated spaceship ride. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
The collection isn’t over yet.
He recently purchased a set of three robot musicians made by the Belgian company Gebroders Decap in 1963. The wall-sized works feature three figures: one playing drums, another a saxophone and a third a thin horn, supported by a pipe organ and flashing lights.
The interior may need to be redesigned to accommodate Bilotta’s Sawgrass collection, but he says he’s ready for it.
