Toy line by Tonka
GoBots
is a line of
transforming robot
toys produced by
Tonka
from 1983 to 1987, similar to
Hasbro
's
Transformers
.
[1]
[2]
Although initially a separate and competing line of toys, Tonka's Gobots became the
intellectual property
of Hasbro after their buyout of Tonka in 1991. Subsequently, the universe depicted in the animated series
Challenge of the GoBots
and follow-up film
GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords
was established as an
alternate universe
within the
Transformers multiverse
.
[3]
While Hasbro now owns the fictional side of the property (character names, bios, storyline), the actual toys and their likenesses were only licensed from
Bandai
in the 1980s, were not covered by the Tonka acquisition, and are not available for Hasbro use.
History
[
edit
]
The GoBot toy line was based on figures produced by
Popy
of Japan (the now-defunct character division of
Bandai
), named
Machine Robo
.
[2]
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). The figures were all given individual names, in contrast to the simple designations they received in Japan.
[4]
[5]
Introduced in 1983 by Tonka Inc., the GoBots toys were part of the robot "sensation" that swept the nation for a short time.
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
The line sold well initially but was overtaken by Transformers. 1987 was the final year in which new Gobots were released. In 1991, Hasbro acquired the GoBots range from Tonka Inc.
[10]
Releases
[
edit
]
Tonka
released the first batch of figures to stores in 1983, one year prior to the
Transformers
. 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. 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. 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.
Larger figures, averaging around 12?15 cm (5-6 inches) tall in robot mode, were released as Super Gobots. 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. The line also included two
gestalt
-style figures, the car-based Puzzler and monster-based
Monsterous
.
Several other ranges were drawn from existing Bandai figures (such as the Secret Riders
[11]
).
Tonka did design some toys for the line, including the Guardian Command Center and Renegade Thruster playsets, and the motorized Renegade Zod. 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. The Nemesis Power Warrior used a tank for the center body and was released only in Japan. A large playset called the Gobotron Fortress was also shown to have existed in various articles and catalogues, but it has never been released.
A spin-off line,
Rock Lords
, crossed over with the Gobots in the feature film
GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords
, and was issued as a separate toy line by Tonka in 1986.
Standard figures.
Note:
The figures were not always released in numerical order.
|
|
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† = release cancelled.
Puzzler: Six smaller robots that combined into a single larger super-robot, sold both separately and as a giftset.
|
Monstrous: Six smaller robots that combined into a single larger super-robot, sold both separately and as a giftset.
Name
|
Vehicle mode
|
Fangs
|
Monster
|
Fright Face
|
Monster
|
Gore Jaw
|
Monster
|
Heart Attack
|
Monster
|
South Claw
|
Monster
|
Weird Wing
|
Monster
|
|
Boomers
Name
|
Vehicle mode
|
Blast
|
Buggy
|
Rumble
|
Buggy
|
|
Dread Launchers
Name
|
Vehicle mode
|
Chaos
|
X-29
& transporter
|
Re-Volt
|
Hawk
& launchpad
|
Traitor
|
Wasp
& launchpad
|
|
Power Marchers
Name
|
Hitch Hiker
|
Quick Step
|
|
Others
Name
|
Command Center
|
GoBotron Fortress
|
Scales
|
Space Hawk
|
Thruster
|
Zod
|
|
Media
[
edit
]
Hanna-Barbera
produced a cartoon series called
Challenge of the GoBots
to promote the toy line, which ran for 65 22-minute episodes from 1984 to 1985.
[12]
In 1986, soon after the end of the
Challenge of the Gobots
television series, the Gobots co-starred with the
Rock Lords
in an animated feature film
GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords
, again produced by Hanna-Barbera.
[13]
In 1984, two Gobot children's books were published by Golden Books, an imprint of
Western Publishing
. The books, titled
War of the Gobots
and
Gobots on Earth
, were written by Robin Snyder and illustrated by
Steve Ditko
, and chronicled the origins of the Gobots. The Gobots were also featured in the 1986 book
Collision Course Comet - Robo Machine Featuring The Challenge Of The Gobots
and the 1985 book
The Wagner Sirens-Robo Machine Featuring The Challenge Of The Gobots,
both of which were published by
Egmont Books
.
The closest thing to a Gobot comic book was the
Gobots Magazine
, produced by
Telepictures
Publishing. This included a short comic strip, based on the
Challenge of the GoBots
cartoon continuity, as well as features on real-life
robots
, quiz pages and the like. It ran quarterly from winter 1986 to winter 1987, managing five issues. Unlike the
Transformers
comics, it was aimed at a very young readership.
In the
UK
, a
Robo Machines
comic strip was produced, using many of the characters from the Gobot line, but following a different continuity than the cartoon. This was written by
Tom Tully
, and ran in the second volume of
Eagle
from November 1984 to July 1985. After
Fleetway
discontinued their licence agreement, the property was leased to
World Distributors
, who produced annuals following the cartoon continuity in 1986 and 1987.
A Gobots video game was released in 1986 by
Ariolasoft
for the
Commodore 64
,
[14]
Amstrad CPC
, and
ZX Spectrum
[15]
[16]
computer formats. Gobots software for other computers, home video game systems or coin-operated arcade game systems is unknown at this time.
It was announced that Hasbro has applied for a new Go-Bots trademark (this is not a renewal) under "distribution of motion pictures, ongoing television programs" and "Toys, games and playthings, namely, toy vehicles and accessories for use therewith.
[17]
In October 2018,
IDW
began publishing a
Go-Bots
mini series written and illustrated by
Tom Scioli
.
[18]
Worldwide
[
edit
]
Unlike Transformers, Gobots was released in several guises around the world.
- In the UK, France and a number of other European countries, Bandai released the figures as
Robo Machine
, utilising most of the Tonka names. Later on, when the
Challenge of the Gobots
cartoon arrived, this was changed, or modified (often resulting in clumsy branding such as
Robo Machines featuring Challenge of the Gobots
or
Challenge of the Gobots - A Robo Machine Production
).
- In Australia, the line was released as
Machine Men
. The
Machine Men
name had been used also by Bandai in an item to market
Machine Robo
in America in early 1984, but after issuing six figures the line failed. However, Bandai's Australian release was successful enough to retain the
Machine Men
branding, which was even added to the cartoon when that began airing.
- In Brazil, the line was initially produced by Glasslite as
Mutante
. The license was later taken over by
Mimo
.
- It was also translated into
Arabic
and retitled
Hikayat alamaliqa
, or
A Tale of Giants
.
- In Japan,
Bandai
opted to keep with the
Machine Robo
line, rather than importing the Gobots due to licensing issues.
Transformers
[
edit
]
In 1991,
Hasbro
took over
Tonka
, and thus the Gobot
trademarks
; the molds for the action figures remain the property of Bandai, having only been leased to Tonka, and some were reissued in 1993 for the European
Robo Machines
line. Since then, the trademarks have been used several times ? a character called
Gobots
was released in 1993, a range of figures in 1995 was called the Go-Bots, and Hasbro subsidiary
Playskool
issued a line named
Transformers: Gobots
in 2002. To this date, there have been a few exclusives referencing GoBots, but they have all been recolors of other Transformer molds as opposed to new figures. Examples of this are the Transformers 2007 movie-themed Fracture (based on Crasher) and Backtrack (based on Night Ranger; unreleased, but shown in promotional materials) and Revenge of the Fallen figures Deadlift (based on Spoons) and Reverb (based on Dart). Also, Botcon 2007 Bugbite, an off-white repaint of Classics Bumblebee, was released as the second Bug Bite toy in Transformers. The first Bug Bite was a Japanese-exclusive white repaint of Generation 1 Bumblebee which retained Bug Bites VW Beetle vehicle mode. The color change to white was due to Bumblebee and Bug Bite sharing the colors yellow and black in their original competing releases.
The name Leader-1 was reused for Transformers Armada Megatron's mini-con in 2002.
While Hasbro has used current toy technology to update their G1 Transformer characters over the years, it is unlikely that Gobots will receive similar treatment, as the molds?and thus, the original character designs?belong to
Bandai
.
In 1995, a line of Transformers called Go-Bots (small, Matchbox-sized car Transformers which had racing axles) were released, including
Bumblebee
,
Double Clutch
,
High Beam
, Ironhide,
Megatron
,
Mirage
,
Optimus Prime
,
Soundwave
,
Sideswipe
, and Frenzy. Of the 6 molds produced, 15 Go-Bot characters were released, including the 1995
BotCon
convention exclusive figure, Nightracer (a recoloring of Go-Bot Bumblebee). Subsequent uses of these molds were renamed Spy Changers.
Gearhead was used to demonstrate the Hasbro Go-Bots line at
Toy Fair
1995. They were described by the pitch-man as "
The all-new, most mind-blowing, laser-slashing, robot-bashing product line ever!
"
[19]
Guillermo Gutierrez in the 2018 film
Bumblebee (film)
asks the protagonist Charlie Watson if the Transformers are like the fictional toy line Gobots in a deleted scene on the Blu-Ray. The film is set in 1987.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Living: Hot Toys with a Special Twist"
. Time. October 1, 1984. Archived from
the original
on July 21, 2008
. Retrieved
2010-09-06
.
- ^
a
b
"GoBots"
.
CollectionDX
. Retrieved
2023-03-28
.
- ^
Sorenson, Jim; Forster, Bill (July 13, 2010).
Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II
.
IDW Publishing
.
ISBN
978-1600106835
.
- ^
Bellomo, Mark (2010).
Totally Tubular '80s
. Krause Publications. p. 90=93.
ISBN
978-1-4402-1282-6
.
- ^
Arrington, Carl (1984-12-03).
"Deck the, Halls with Squads of Robots: Hasbro Takes on Tonka in the Toy Wars of 1984"
. People.com
. Retrieved
2012-10-20
.
- ^
Billboard - Oct 5, 1985
- ^
"Living: Hot Toys with a Special Twist"
.
Time
. October 1, 1984. Archived from
the original
on July 21, 2008.
- ^
Hall, Jane (1987-03-23).
"TV's New Toys Send Critics Scrambling for Their Guns : People.com"
. Peoplepets.com. Archived from
the original
on 2013-11-04
. Retrieved
2012-10-20
.
- ^
Dougherty, Philip H. (1984-01-25).
"Advertising - GoBots Set U.S. Invasion"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
2012-10-20
.
- ^
Going, Going, GoBots by Matt Carara, Toyfare Magazine #123, November 2007, page 80-82
- ^
"STA: Gobots: Secret Riders"
. Toyarchive.com
. Retrieved
2011-09-27
.
- ^
"Challenge Of The Gobots: The Original Miniseries : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video"
. Dvdtalk.com
. Retrieved
2012-10-20
.
- ^
"
'Care Bears,' 'Gobots' No 'beauty' But Likeable - Chicago Tribune"
. Articles.chicagotribune.com. 1986-04-04
. Retrieved
2012-10-20
.
- ^
"Gobots at gamefaqs"
. Retrieved
2011-09-27
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Sinclair Infoseek"
. World of Spectrum. Archived from
the original
on 2013-02-26
. Retrieved
2011-09-27
.
- ^
"Challenge of the Gobots"
. World of Spectrum
. Retrieved
2011-09-27
.
- ^
"Hasbro Applies For A Go-Bots Movie And Toyline Trademark"
. Transformers World. January 26, 2015.
- ^
"GO-BOTS Return in All-New Comic Book Series"
. IDW Publishing. December 27, 2018.
- ^
"TOY FAIR 1995 PART 3 BATMAN & TRANSFORMERS"
. YouTube.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-13
. Retrieved
2011-09-27
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Toy lines
| Predecessors
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Unicron Trilogy
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Crossovers
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Related
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Media
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Video games
| Generation 1
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Other
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Cybertron
series
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Crossovers
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Characters
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Fan engagement
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Intellectual
properties
currently
managed
by Hasbro
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Distributed
worldwide
by Hasbro
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Subsidiaries
and brands
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Other media
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Conventions
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See also
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- 1
(U.S. and Canada)
- 2
(except Japan and parts of Asia)
- 3
(except U.S., UK, France and Germany)
- 4
(except Japan)
- 5
(except Japan and parts of Asia)
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