Robert graduated with a B.S. in industrial engineering from Lamar University in 1968 and became a plastics manufacturing engineer in his family business. He worked his way through college by selling fireworks and ironing clothes for other students. He married his high school sweetheart, Donna, and they have three children. Robert is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Jacksonville.

As part of his manufacturing career, Robert built four manufacturing plants, earned 32 U.S. and 128 foreign patents, and created more than nine hundred jobs for East Texans. Robert’s father, Talley Nichols, founded Nichols Industries, Inc., in 1948, and along with Circle N Toys, manufactured toy cap guns and other childhood delights until 1965, when he sold the company to Kusan Toys. The plant closed its doors in 1982, but the collectible guns are still sold on eBay and Robert continues to honor the lifetime warranties that came with the toy cap guns—even if there is some understandable confusion as to just whose lifetime the warranty specifies.

Moving into the political realm, Robert served on the Texas Transportation Commission for 8 years and was first elected to the Texas Senate in 2006. He currently represents 19 counties including the greater part of East Texas and Montgomery County. Robert serves on an impressive number of important committees in the senate: Transportation Committee (chair), Finance, Business and Commerce, Criminal Justice, Local Government, and the Select Committee on Redistricting. He is a member of the Texas Judicial Selection Commission, the Legislative Audit Committee as well as a former Vice-Chair of the Sunset Advisory Commission.

Although some Rotarians thought that Senator Nichols would discuss politics, he took a different direction and instead talked about toys. In a charming, humorous, and informative manner, Robert recounted the story of his family’s successful toy cap gun business. In an era of cowboys and cheap grade “B” Westerns in the theater, Robert literally grew up in the toy factory. Although the factory did not manufacture any toys during World War 2, they produced the Silver Pony in 1946 to accommodate the demand for toys after the war. The Silver Pony was modeled on the Colt 45, affectionally known as the “Peacemaker” or “the gun that won the west.” It was a two-thirds scale model. As demand for the toys grew, the family had to assemble both an assembly line as well as a sales force. Robert’s mother worked as the artistic consultant, without pay, and Robert also served as a designer by supplying the child’s perspective. Unfortunately, his design for a gun with a red grip turned out to be the worst selling toy gun ever. His recommendation to add curlicues, however, was well received. As company sales increased, stores and catalogs, such as Sears & Roebucks, carried their products and the company rolled out a new gun each year. When asked to produce a twenty-nine-cent gun in 1949, Circle-N produced the iconic Stallion 45 for $2.95 instead. After an initial cold reception at a toy convention, orders skyrocketed and the Stallion became the all-time favorite cap gun ever made. Other guns were popular such as the Spitfire Dynamite derringer with garter belts for little girls and several that were gold plated when gold was $32.00 an ounce.

As markets changed, demands for toy guns declined, and sales dropped. Western movies and cowboys were replaced by outer space and detective shows. The toy line shut down in 1982 when the last cap pistols exited the assembly line, but the legend lives on in Robert’s collection, and in those collectibles revered and offered for high prices online and for enthusiasts everywhere.