I've always been more sophisticated in my choices of toys with such greats as Transformers , Zoids, Gundams, MOTU, etc, but recently I've become hooked on something that uncharacteristically deviates from my typical buying habits: Androidz.
In the past, I've never given any of those short-lived cute robot lines a second glance; Cubix, Medabots, Z-Bots, "Rubbish!" I would say. "I will never stoop to such drivel, for I am a collector of such fine things as Tf's, Gundams, and Megazords..." and that was always the end of it.
Then one fine recent day as I overshot the Transformers isle (in my haste to find Animated Rodimus and Ironhide) and ended up in an isle I never had occasion to visit before, I spotted a wide expanse of pegs next to the Phineas and Ferb stuff that was occupied by a plethora of two-packs inhabited by these tiny 2 inch tall robots. Androidz, they were called. "Eh, I got a minute or two," thought I, "these look kinda neat, though I would never lower myself etc etc...". I proceeded to investigate.
The figures are small, to be sure, but have a decent level of detail. They are only articulated in two points on the arms, the legs being moot because they all have a die-cast chassis with wheels built into their bases. They don't have that goofy anime cutesy look to them like the afore-mentioned lines, but instead look fairly utilitarian and functional in the roles they serve in their respective factions. The bots are currently divided into 4 groups-Police, Fire/Rescue, Engineering/Construction, and Strategic Defense/Military. A fifth group is apparently forthcoming according to the website. The packaging is attractive and attention-getting, and actually features a kind of tech-specky graph on back with each robot's strength and weaknesses, as well as the bot's FUNCTION, something TF packaging has been missing for some time.
According to the backstory, an alien probe scans Earth tv and radio transmissions and starts its own robotic society based roughly on our civilization. Only thing is, it seems as if the Military faction is a bit more aggressive than it should be and wants to dominate the Androidz planet (hmm, that kinda sounds familiar...where have I heard something like that before?). The website Androidz Planet.com has quite a bit of Androidz stuff to peruse, such as cgi videos, team images and stats, and the ability to see a cutaway technical view of each bot. You can also enter codes printed on each bot to get stuff like exclusive videos, games, and printable trading cards.
Amazingly, the line, which is produced by ToyQuest (I know, WHO?) has a lot of accompanying vehicles and playsets available in its initial release, which is good because I am a sucker for playsets in which to make my action figures feel at home. The playsets aren't the sturdiest things in the world as the pieces don't lock tightly together, but a little glue helps a lot. So far I've picked up the Police Fortress, but there are four other sets available, one of which is a customizable track system for the bots to scoot around on, like robot Hotwheels. Two packs are 6 bucks, vehicles are 10, and bases are 20. TRU has some exclusive packs that include a couple extra bots and a vehicle which I've worked out to be a 6 dollar total savings as opposed to buying it all separately.
Was it the bots themselves? The packaging? The fusion of cool bot designs and simplistic play mechanics? I have no idea, but I've got a bad case of the Androidz now. It's such a basic line, like something a preschooler might play with, but for some reason I really like them.
Who woulda thunk it?
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