They may be smaller than expected but the amount of movement and detail in these Machine Robo figures by Action Toys is impressive.
Let me start this off by saying I wasn’t a GoBots kid. I knew about the toys, I think I even had the drill guy and some kind of Porsche that had a funky robot mode. I even seem to remember giving the cartoon a try but it didn’t stick. Vague memories of a scooter guy being annoying and the cartoony faces throwing me off even as an eight year old. No, I was a steadfast Transformers follower through and through.
Doing some research I now know that the Porsche was Baron von Joy and it does look exactly as a I remember it.
You may have had a different experience, but for even prepubescent Robo this was just lazy. Pretty much a car bent in half. And I think that sums up my GoBot experience as a child. Laziness. Cheap knock-offs of the far superior Transformers toys at the time. They had their charm I’m sure, but given the choice I always chose Transformers. Unless there were no TF to be found. That’s probably how I ended up with the drill and Captain Windshield Face.
But a few weeks ago new pictures of the Machine Robo line from Action Toys started popping up and I started feeling myself gravitate towards them. I knew the biggies like Cy-Kill and Leader-1 (or Bike Robo and Eagle Robo as I now know they were called) and I had a faint memory of Screw Head (Rod Drill) but good looking toys are good looking toys. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get you interested in a property you would have otherwise glossed over.
Plus it’s awesome to have “Robo” constantly being flashed in your face. Just me? Okay.
The figures are based on the Revenge of Cronos which apparently had altered representations of the characters, differing from both the GoBots cartoon and the original toys. There is enough resemblance to spark some nostalgia but different enough to not bring back that childhood disdain for the property. At least in my case.
The only thing that throws me off is the height. 4.5 to 5 inches seems small but at the same time I may be unfairly comparing this line to Masterpiece Transformers. Granted, even at this size the articulation looks fantastic. Some of these poses are spectacular.
Rod Drill (or Screw Head)
Battle Robo (or Tank)
Eagle Robo (or Leader-1)
Bike Robo (or Cy-Kill)
BigBadToyStore has pre-orders up for all four figures. $40 to $46 may seem like a lot, but remember they are imports. They also each come with some pretty nifty looking display bases to use in both vehicle and robot modes. Basically though, they seem to be great figures in general. Like I said, I was never a GoBots kind of guy but these may have just swayed me.
I’m sorry, Optimus.
I’m so ready for these. If they were half the price I’d be all in on the line, but I guess it’s nice that I can pick and choose which ones to get because I have too much crap already (no it isn’t). If you think about it, these sort of are in scale with MP Transformers size wise (comparing Go-Bots toys to G1 Transformer toys).
It’s a LOT too much.
Have there been any import preorders up for this series yet? I don’t see them on Amiami or HLJ at all. I’m wondering since (I think) there’s no licensing issues, if Bluefin is distributing these to the US? I’ve only seen preorders on US sites so far.
Yeah, I was planning on getting Cykill until I saw the price and the size. Even factoring theres some die cast parts, it’s a bit much. I really liked Cykill as a kid-had both sizes and the model kit-but, if you factor out the nostalgia, there really isn’t much bang for your buck, in this instance.
Scooter was kind of tricky, but he was one of my favorites because he was in scale with my GI Joes.
Already preordered without question. I was into the GoBots, mainly because they were simplistic, which is the opposite reaction you had. I loved that Tank the tank basically bent over and he was a tank. No complex transformation delaying my play time. Bend over, Tank! Bam: Tank. Basically everyone’s transformation sequence was “bending over” which is the laziest porno ever but a nifty way to play. Also Baron Von Joy would be the greatest porn name ever. So basically what I’m saying is there’s not enough GoBot porn.
I like them, but they are $50 for a five inch toy.
Everytime we make a special case for price it just becomes a standardized explanation from that point on.
I would love Cy-Kill, but he’s too expensive.