GoBots get a bad rap. It’s not surprising considering that they’re essentially “the other transforming toyline” and quickly took second fiddle to the juggernaut that was Transformers, but much of the bad rap they seem to get is for being nothing more than what they were. Like Transformers, they were initially a completely different Japanese line (Machine Robo) that was imported by Tonka, Americanized, given a cartoon, and pumped into toy aisles nationwide. But GoBots were much simpler than Transformers, requiring only a few pulls and twists at most for a vehicle to turn into a robot and vice versa.
Leader-1
Cy-Kill
I’m assuming the scorn I’ve read comes from their simplicity, but the simplicity was part of their charm. Personally, I had the same issues with them that I did with Transformers: scale issues (a scooter the same size as a fighter jet?), articulation issues (in some only the arms raised), and some odd, stilted robot modes (some of these guys don’t have hands). But ignoring the downfalls of transforming toys of the times, GoBots were a lot of fun and the definition of 1980s hand-candy. Being much smaller, they were space-efficient little toys. And being smaller meant being cheaper, coming in around the same price as the smaller Autobots.
Turbo
Cop-Tur
As is typical with so many lines, I wasn’t able to be a completist with this line. My interest waxed and waned with how involved I was in other toy lines, so the fickle nature of childhood meant that I ended up leaving a lot of GoBots on the shelves in favor of that bright shiny new Quick Kick or Flint figure. GoBots were cool, but they couldn’t compete with the holy trifecta of Gi Joe, Transformers, and Masters of the Universe. Toss in Super Powers, Secret Wars, and other lines, and it got very crowded very quickly. GoBots had to get in line.
Scooter
Tank
But, as you can see from some of the unfortunate instances of paint rub, I loved these little guys. The trick to not noticing the scale deficiencies was not to have the jet and the bike transformed at the same time. If you always kept one guy in robot form while he was being attacked by another in vehicle mode, it was easier to pretend. And with a couple of moves and a nice whirring sound effect you’ve got two robots fighting each other and blasting each other with their fist lasers or whatever. It was way easier than prolonging the transforming noise while shifting the shapes of Transformers.
Geeper Creeper
Zero
Pathfinder
Screwhead
Their names are as on-the-nose as their transformations. Tank was a tank. Cy-Kill was a cycle. Cop-Tur was a Copter. Scooter was a scooter. I’m sure there’s an Internet nerd firing up his snark right now because of this, but it never bothered me. Nothing wrong with a little literalism in names. Besides, Cy-Kill is an awesome name.
Stinger
Smallfoot
Flip Top
I’m glad I managed to get the main cast with both the leader of the good guys and leader of the bad guys, along with a core group of their respective teams. There are others I wish I had been able to get, but I either never saw them or some other toy line grabbed my attention.
Buggyman
Pincher
Scorp
Turbo was my first, beginning a long love affair with red sports cars. It was around this time I was fascinated by the Turbo Teen cartoon and wished that I could turn into a red sports car also. Turbo was a total impulse buy at Best department store. I don’t believe I had heard any advance warning about the line, which made it a total surprise. We had just moved into a brand new house and I remember getting home late that night and ripping him out of his package and running Turbo over the unfinished wood top of our new kitchen table, shifting him from car to robot and back again. Being a Hot Wheels/Matchbox fan in addition to being a robot fan and (obviously) an action figure fan meant I essentially got two toys in one.
The last GoBots I got were from a three-pack that was on clearance at Kay-Bee along with the official carrying care that was already marked way, way down. I didn’t know at the time they would be the last, but they were clearanced for a reason: GoBots were dying. The cartoon was over, and with no comic or major media left, with Transformers being the transforming robot of choice for most kids, and with the diminishing aisle space that the end of the ’80s was bringing, they didn’t really stand a chance.
GoBots as a toy line didn’t consume me as other lines did. They were a firm secondary line for me, something to buy if the main lines had nothing new I wanted. Because of that, I’m not swimming in them as I am with Star Wars or GI Joe. But for a handful of years they were trustworthy and colorful, with a unique quality all their own, and they gave me hours and hours of fun. So who cares what anybody else says?
