Gobot toys full#
Gobot toys series#

Gobot toys series#

But instead, kids inevitably compared them to a series that did a far better job of giving storylines and personalities to a bunch of plastic toys. If Tonka had spun them the way they'd been spun to great success in Japan - as high-precision playthings, the robot equivalent of Swiss watches, cutting-edge technology miniaturized to the size of a Hot Wheels car - they might have stood a chance. It didn't matter that some of the best minds in the Japanese toy biz created them, that they featured some pretty amazing gimmicks for their price and size. It didn't matter that the GoBots had an incredible pedigree - this was way before 'Made in Japan' became a badge of honor. 'Or perhaps they're Amish or something.') ('Maybe they're having some issues at home,' we'd theorize. But behind their backs, we'd wonder about how their parents had gone so, so wrong in the toy aisle. Sure, there were a few oddballs who admitted to liking them, like that kid down the street who bragged about having every single one. It didn't help that Tonka, the company that imported them from Japan, gave them names that sounded half-assed even to fourth graders: 'Fitor.' 'Cy-Kill.' 'Cop-tur.' Or that the animated series they sponsored looked like something we'd made in art class ourselves. But because everyone knew the Transformers were cooler. Man, where to start? Back when I was a kid, showing off your GoBots was a quick way to get your ass laughed off the schoolyard. Out of the blue, one of them blurted: 'what the hell ever happened with the Machine Robo toys in the US? They were HUGE here! But in America.' Until one night, a few years back, when Patrick and I were having drinks with a couple of Bandai execs.

Actually, they're kind of historic.ДЄnd kind of forgotten, even by a robo-nerd like me. They were designed by Katsushi Murakami, the guy who oversaw the Chogokin series. They were created by the legendary toymaker Popy.

Gobot toys full#

They debuted in Japan in 1982, a full two years before the Transformers would make their splash abroad, and came with, what seems in retrospect, an incredible pedigree. The GoBots - or Machine Robo, as they were called in Japan - are a bona-fide piece of otaku history.