Speaking of GoBots...

[ahoran77]

I've recently gone through a GoBot renaissance. I was underwhemed by the GoBot toys when I was a kid ( they paled in comparison to Transformers and even more so to Godaikin) but a few of the figures have apparently left a lasting impression on me and I've recently caved in to the desire to start collecting the MachineRobo series. That said, I've just started assembling my boxed machinerobo toys (only 4 thus far) but I also received a vintage GoBots 3 pack as an early Christmas Gift from my better half. This is an unpunched, carded collection including: Tank, Crasher, and JeeperCreeper (man, the names applied to these little jewels by Tonka were terrible). Anyhow, I'd like to open them but I don't know if keeping them in the original 1984-5 packaging supercedes my desire to play with them. Any thoughts? Is this package particularly valuable intact? Thanks and happy holidays RJ!

[kencoesta]

Keep them in the box and go to ebay to buy some loose ones!
There's got to be some GoBot junkies out there that would pay good money for the MOC/unpunched versions you've got.

[ahoran77]

Totally. Thanks for the advice. There's no shortage of loose gobots on the second hand market (and they're really cheap) now that I think about it. That's a great idea.

[admin1 aka Ed]

Post what you have when you have a chance -love to see them.

[chachipower]

Feb 11, 2010 22:04:18 GMT -5 admin1 aka Ed said:

Post what you have when you have a chance -love to see them.

ditto, I also felt the same way as a kid..like a poor mans TF..these were all over the place in Queens, NY where I lived, bootlegs mostly but Ive been getting back into them lately

[ahoran77]

Thanks for the interest Ed and Chachipower. The photos aren't great but, again, they tell the story. I've been keeping my eyes out for the occasional boxed MachineRobo 600 series and army building with loose Gobots now and then. I'll post a better image of MR-01 as the toy is in great condition and looks pretty sweet with the original MR stickers applied.

[repairtechjon]

Nice stuff! The big powersuits combiners are some of my faves.
Great collection shots too.

[coldiron]

I miss my old Gobots.

[REX-203]

Even as a longtime diehard TF fan, I've always found myself defending "GoBots". I think the toys would have been much more of a success if they never even called them GoBots, and instead aired Revenge of Cronos, keeping the Machine Robo name. While the GoBots show undeniably sucked, the toys were excellent, and in many cases better than TFs of similar size and price.

I'm certain I posted these pics in the Toy Vault galleries, but I hope you guys don't mind me posting them here as well...

[coldiron]

I think if the show did not suck so bad, it might have been done better. However as a kid, I liked the show. I am afraid to watch it as an adult, considering how much I no longer like the g1 TF show in comparison.

[REX-203]

I'm easy, as I still love G1, and even the cheesiest of Voltron episodes, with all its fake international accents and female characters voiced by male voice actors. lol

With that said, Gobots is just plain AWFUL.

If you no longer can enjoy G1, then by all means save yourself of the nausea and avoid Gobots. It is no less than 100 times worse...

... I still love the toys though. ;D

[coldiron]

I will always love the characters and toys of G1, but its painful to hear all the automotive puns and lack of general science information as an adult. I may just avoid the old Gobots shows, though I have really be considering picking up a few of my old toys.

[coldiron]

Check out these GO Bots model kits.
They had modified some Robotech designs. That cykill might be cool to have.
www.toyarchive.com/Gobots/Models.html

[coldiron]

I forgot about Moto Bots. These are another robot I had since I was not allowed to collect transformers as a kid.

[coldiron]

I just watched part of a couple episodes. I actually already did not like Hanna Barrra cartoons, but damn I hate them now.

[coldiron]

There were Zybots as well. Anther toy I grew up with.

[ahoran77]

Yeah, it's really a shame that the MachineRobo license was so mismanaged in America. Tonka failed miserably on so many accounts when marketing these toys (from the big picture concepts - the laughable Hannah Barbara cartoon show; to the visceral fine points - like the mundane blister packaging and pedestrian transformation instructions). The toys are awesome and, as I've noted before, they stand as little gems in the realm of enigmatic chogokin - perfectly expressed in their anonymous identity (MR-##) and lovingly encased in miniature styrofoam sarcofogi. In an alternate universe and had the GoBot line been marketed more successfully, I think diecast robots (Godaikin and otherwise) would've had a profound impact on the American market and could have been the catalyst for better domestic toy production. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Transformers and all of that, but there's a distinct integrity about the MachineRobo line that the Microman/Transformers have never been able to touch.

[coldiron]

So far I have been loosing my ebay auctions. I hear there is a local that sells gobots, so I might have to check that out.

[coldiron]

I just read up on the history of gobots.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobots#History
They should have kept them as mechs that were piloted instead of trying to be like transformers.

[REX-203]

I dunno. Not sure I'd like the idea of them being piloted mechs. There are just too many of 'em for that, it seems. So I think it makes more sense that they're a sentient race, with that size of population.

It's just too bad that Revenge of Cronos was not conceived until after the Gobots disaster. If that would have aired here, Machine Robo would possibly be more popular today.