The Energon Pub

Hopes this is the right Forum for this.

Long LONG time watcher first time Topic starter.


Saw this on my Facebook feed 2 min ago from TFW2005. Apparently Hasbro
put down two NEW trademarks for Gobots on the 21st and 24th.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/hasbro-applies-for-a-go-bots-movie-and-toyline-trademark-181936/

Huh Interesting. SO I wonder if this does come to pass, will the Gobots be formally merged into
future TF stories, or will they be "MOSTLY" apart like G.I.Joe and Transformers. If so that would be interesting. Hasbro having two active robot brand lines sounds unlikely from a business stand point. And it would save on money to have existing toy molds that "look similar" to Gobots be re-purposed as them too instead of making even more new molds for very similar characters.

JasonCanty79 wrote:Hopes this is the right Forum for this.

Long LONG time watcher first time Topic starter.


Saw this on my Facebook feed 2 min ago from TFW2005. Apparently Hasbro
put down two NEW trademarks for Gobots on the 21st and 24th.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/hasbro-applies-for-a-go-bots-movie-and-toyline-trademark-181936/

Huh Interesting. SO I wonder if this does come to pass, will the Gobots be formally merged into
future TF stories, or will they be "MOSTLY" apart like G.I.Joe and Transformers. If so that would be interesting. Hasbro having two active robot brand lines sounds unlikely from a business stand point. And it would save on money to have existing toy molds that "look similar" to Gobots be re-purposed as them too instead of making even more new molds for very similar characters.

Keep in mind companies sometimes trademark things for the sake of just having it (and not letting others get away with it). Also, is something going on with the parent line, Bandai's Machine Robo?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

JasonCanty79 wrote:Hopes this is the right Forum for this.

Long LONG time watcher first time Topic starter.


Saw this on my Facebook feed 2 min ago from TFW2005. Apparently Hasbro
put down two NEW trademarks for Gobots on the 21st and 24th.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/hasbro-applies-for-a-go-bots-movie-and-toyline-trademark-181936/

Huh Interesting. SO I wonder if this does come to pass, will the Gobots be formally merged into
future TF stories, or will they be "MOSTLY" apart like G.I.Joe and Transformers. If so that would be interesting. Hasbro having two active robot brand lines sounds unlikely from a business stand point. And it would save on money to have existing toy molds that "look similar" to Gobots be re-purposed as them too instead of making even more new molds for very similar characters.

Keep in mind companies sometimes trademark things for the sake of just having it (and not letting others get away with it). Also, is something going on with the parent line, Bandai's Machine Robo?

Yeah (regarding to Hasbro), They probably heard something through going around and just in case Bought new Trademarks for Gobots to just hold on to it. Though I wouldn't mind Small-Foot, Pathfiner, Snoop, as figures.

If anything, "Gobots" will probably end up being some kiddie side-line thing (a la Rescue Bots). I don't see them making something so similar to one of their most successful brands without just making it a direct spin-off.


On a somewhat unrelated note, it would've been amusing if Age of Extinction used the term for the KSI bots. "Gobots" sure sounds like it came from the same people that gave us "Transformium"...

Noideaforaname wrote:If anything, "Gobots" will probably end up being some kiddie side-line thing (a la Rescue Bots). I don't see them making something so similar to one of their most successful brands without just making it a direct spin-off.


On a somewhat unrelated note, it would've been amusing if Age of Extinction used the term for the KSI bots. "Gobots" sure sounds like it came from the same people that gave us "Transformium"...

Yeah, Transformium was bad. Come on guys, Cybertonium! It was even a G1 term! Not as bad as Avatar's "Unobtanium" though. I mean, really? Really?

Ok, GoBot's discussion, I'm all for it. I pretty recently decided to collect GoBots due to nostalgia(quite a few were passed down to me from my bro), and the fact it's a defunct line. And the mainline Machine Robo originated ones are really pretty awesome! It's been thirty years, there's no more competition, let's integrate things further! We've already gotten a few homages, why not some actual new molds?

Duke of Luns wrote:Ok, GoBot's discussion, I'm all for it. I pretty recently decided to collect GoBots due to nostalgia(quite a few were passed down to me from my bro), and the fact it's a defunct line. And the mainline Machine Robo originated ones are really pretty awesome! It's been thirty years, there's no more competition, let's integrate things further! We've already gotten a few homages, why not some actual new molds?

I could see Bandai actually throwing a wrench in that. In fact, a couple of Machine Robo characters have been released as high end figures, like Fewture Models Blue Jet (known as Fitor in the US) and SoC Baikanfu, so the designs are still in commercial use by Bandai.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Duke of Luns wrote:Ok, GoBot's discussion, I'm all for it. I pretty recently decided to collect GoBots due to nostalgia(quite a few were passed down to me from my bro), and the fact it's a defunct line. And the mainline Machine Robo originated ones are really pretty awesome! It's been thirty years, there's no more competition, let's integrate things further! We've already gotten a few homages, why not some actual new molds?

I could see Bandai actually throwing a wrench in that. In fact, a couple of Machine Robo characters have been released as high end figures, like Fewture Models Blue Jet (known as Fitor in the US) and SoC Baikanfu, so the designs are still in commercial use by Bandai.

I've seen a couple different Blue Jet's, though Baikanfu I don't really know anything about. Don't think there's a complete sub of Machine Robo on youtube, so I never really looked into it too much.

Still though, Hasbro owns the rights to the GoBots characters, and as long as they make brand new molds I don't see how it could be a problem. For example, they just made a new Roadbuster and Whirl, but aren't the Dorvack molds owned by someone else? Though there could have been some mutual deal I guess, since I know an SD version and a non-transforming version of the VV-54 AR Calibur were released in Roadbuster colors, complete with Autobot symbols.

*Edit* Goodness, I forgot about Jetfire! Not only is the original G1 mold owned by Bandai, but Harmony Gold owns the likeness to the Macross Valkyries in the U.S. Yet despite this Hasbro still just released an updated version. So as long as a new Fitor doesn't look that exact I think they could still make one.

Couldn't they do something like this, though?

Clearly a Go-Bot but not flat-out copied. Kinda sounds like they're in a similar position Whirl and Roadbuster were in, and against all reason those two got some of the most slavish updates yet!

I wouldn't see why not. There just may not have been a demand to make brand new molds when there was still a number of key or popular characters to be remade into classics, though a handful of redecos like Fracture and Dead Lift(Spoons homage) have been made.

And Stretch(Tux) is a great example of a Gobot that's on par or superior to Transformers in terms of design. Durability(overall, Tux doesn't seem so bad) however, Transformers usually has the upper hand.

Well, hopefully they'll come out with the series out on dvd; and maybe come out with a new cartoon. I didn't like this series as much as the transformers, but some of the episodes had some great action sequences.

SO long as they are upgraded and modernized.

This sounds like a great idea if they can make a cool story for Gobots