GoBots aka Machine Robo Action Figure Toys
Those who were born in the early 80s or late 70s would be familiar with this robot toy line and its cartoon show. GoBots was somewhat similar to Transformers in which the robot action figures could be transformed into different vehicles like cars, trucks, planes and helicopters. Go Bots initially started out as Machine Robo, a puzzle toy line developed by Popy Pleasure in 1982. Katsushi Murakami designed the toys as small vehicles, which could be reconfigured into robots. The small figures sold well for the price of ¥600. Eventually, the small action figures from Machine Robo series were informally called as the “600 Series”.
Since the first release of the toy line was a success, Popy released larger robot figures with the ScaleRobo DX figures, which were now based on real life vehicles. In 1983, Popy was reabsorbed by Bandai which continued to expand the line and added a few improvements to the growing toy robot industry. Bandai eventually exported the line to Australia, America and Europe towards the end of 1983. Machine Robo was renamed as Machine Men in America and Australia and as Robo Machine in Europe. However, Bandai failed to make an impression in the American market. They eventually chose to license the figures to Tonka. Tonka then renamed the toy series to Go Bots.
Continue reading the rest of this article, or take a moment to shop for classic GoBot robot action toys for sale!
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 Gobots   US $39.00Sale Ends: 5h 8m |
 1984 Bandai GoBots GoBot Coptur Cop-Tur Helicopter US $.25Sale Ends: 8h 31m |
 Vintage Gobots 1984 Dive-Dive #15 MR-33 US $.25Sale Ends: 8h 31m |
 vintage lot GoBots BuggyMan Cop-Tur Turbo Tank Spoons US $3.99Sale Ends: 8h 35m |
 TONKA GOBOTS BARON VON JOY MINT IN UNOPENED BOX US $14.95Sale Ends: 12h 32m |
 Transformers Vintage G2 GOBOTS Aquaspeeder Complete US $24.99Sale Ends: 13h 5m |
 1985 Power Warrior Grungy Original Gobots Loose US $40.00Sale Ends: 14h 6m |
 SUPER GOBOTS STAKS MIB NIB UNOPENED TRANSFORMERS US $4.99Sale Ends: 14h 24m |
 gobot bug bit US $.99Sale Ends: 14h 32m |
 GO BOTS GOBOTS LOT COLLECTION BANDAI VINTAGE HTF PARTS US $.99Sale Ends: 14h 38m |
 Gobot: Crasher, great condition! US $1.29Sale Ends: 15h 7m |
 Set Vintage 1984 Gobots DIVE-DIVE #15 MR-33 Go Bots US $4.99Sale Ends: 15h 16m |
 Gobot: Defendor, great condition! US $.99Sale Ends: 15h 29m |
 Gobots Lot Cars Geeper-Creeper Jeep Transformers go bot US $3.99Sale Ends: 15h 35m |
 Gobots Lot Shuttle Air Plane Transformers Go Bot Loose US $3.99Sale Ends: 15h 38m |
 Gobot: Voltron Blue Lion US $.99Sale Ends: 15h 39m |
 Super Gobot: Cy-Kill US $.99Sale Ends: 15h 49m |
 Original Gobot: Slicks- great condition! US $.99Sale Ends: 16h 10m |
In order to boost sales, Bandai created a back-story for their robot action figures. The robots were refugees from the destroyed planet of Romulos. They are defending the planet Earth from the monster robots, Devil Invaders, from Casmozone. However, there was no cartoon series produced only a few animated commercials and manga strips. In America, Go Bots is suffering heavy losses from their competitor, Takara which licensed Hasbro to sell their robot action figure line, the Transformers. Hasbro also tied up with Marvel in order to create an animated series about the robot action figures. This boosted the sales of their action figures, which lead to the slow decline of Go Bots action figures in the American market.
In order to meet the competition, Tonka paired up with Hanna-Barbera to create an animated series. However, the cartoon show produced for the American television is different from Bandai’s original storyline for the action figures. The Gobots were divided into two factions the Guardians and the Renegades. The plot was pretty generic, with the Guardian defending the Earth against the evil Renegades. Among the memorable characters are Leader-1, Turbo, Scooter, and Small Foot from the Guardians and Cy-Kill, Crasher, Cop-Tur, and Fitor from the Renegades. Strangely though, not all Gobots action figures were featured in the show. Some only got minor roles and an occasional guest appearance. They only appear whenever their unique abilities are required, but they are never featured in the main storyline.
A series of Gobots magazine was also published between the winters of 1986 to 1987 by Telepictures Publishing. It was a quarterly magazine, rather than a comic series, featuring sci-fi articles, a five-page comic strip and an “Ask Leader-1” section. Fans who are nostalgic about this 80s toy line and animated series are collecting rare action figures. The beautifully painted box art is even a bonus treat for collectors.
Classic Gobot action figure toy commercial from the '80s.
