Denotes that the figure was not released as part of Machine Robo. Note that the figures were not always released in numerical order. A large playset called the Gobotron Fortress was also shown to have existed in various articles and catalogues, but it has never been released.Ī spin-off line, Rocklords, crossed over with the Gobots in the feature film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords, but were issued as a separate toyline by Tonka in 1986. The Nemesis Power Warrior used a tank for the center body and was released only in Japan. In addition to these, two versions of the Power Warrior were made for both the Guardians and the Renegades, using molds from the Machine Robo line and recolored. Tonka did design some toys for the line, including the Guardian Command Center and Renegade Thruster playsets, and the motorised Renegade Zod. Several other ranges were drawn from existing Bandai figures (such as the Secret Riders ). The line also included two gestalt-style figures, the car-based Puzzler and monster-based Monsterous. Some of these were drawn from the Machine Robo Scale Robo DX line, some from the MR Big Machine Robo line (these included larger versions of Leader-1, the Guardian leader, and Cy-Kill, the Renegade leader) and some designs not released in Japan. Larger figures, averaging around 12-15 cm (5-6 inches) tall in robot mode, were released as Super Gobots.
#Gobot crane plus#
This unnamed assortment, usually referred to as ‘Regular’ Gobots, was used throughout the four years Gobots were produced, and was later supplemented by figures from the Machine Robo Devil Invaders sub-line, plus some aborted Machine Robo figures and some commissioned from Bandai by Tonka. The robot figures transformed into a mixture of generic and specific contemporary machines, plus a handful of Second World War fighter aircraft, and a number of futuristic designs. The bulk of the Gobot line was taken from the Machine Robo ‘600 Series’ line of figures, which were around 5-8 cm / 2-3 inches high on average. Tonka released the first batch of figures to stores in 1983. 1987 was the final year in which new Gobots were released. Gobots were also largely considered by fans and the marketplace to be overly simplistic when compared to the more sophisticated Transformers line whereas Transformers characters had iconic names (e.g., Megatron, Starscream, Optimus Prime) and multi-faceted transformation cycles (where the robot often didn't resemble the vehicle), Gobots characters had much more obvious names (e.g., Scooter who changed into a scooter, Tank who changed into a tank, Dozer who changed into a bulldozer, etc.) and simplified transformation cycles (e.g. The line sold well initially, but was overtaken by Transformers, something often attributed to Hasbro's much better promotion and media tie-ins – for example, Gobot figures had no character profiles on their packaging, whereas Hasbro included tech spec biographies for each character on the back of the card or box.
The figures were all given individual names, in contrast to the simple designations they received in Japan. In another similarity to Transformers, Tonka decided to make the figures sentient robots, rather than human-piloted mecha as they had been in Japan, and divided them into two factions – the good Guardians and evil Renegades (although early figures were simply described as ‘Friendly’ or ‘Enemy’ on the packaging). In 1983, Tonka decided to import the line into America after realizing Hasbro were doing the same with Takara’s Diaclone and Microman's Microchange lines, which became Transformers after crossing the Pacific. Unlike the MR Number, the Gobots Number and Card Number are only printed on the card (package) not on the toy itself.The Gobot toyline was based on figures produced by Popy of Japan (later Bandai), named Machine Robo. In addition to the MR Number, Challenge of the Gobot also had their Gobots Number and Card Number. These MR number served as the toy catalog number or the order in which each action figure was produced. For this reason, every Gobots action figure had their MR (Machine Robo) number stamped next to the copy right as way to associate with their original root, Machine Robo line. As Machine Robo became more recognizable, it was later imported into the U.S. Before Challenge of the Gobots even exist, there was a toyline called Machine Robo and was available only in Japan.
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