New Soul of Gokin Machine Robo figures aka GOBOTS revealed

wow. Leader-1 looks awesome. I want.

nothing id buy

Leader-1 looks fantastic!! I wish Turbo was a little better. That Cykill is underwhelming to say the least. I'd buy Leader-1 in half a heart beat if the price is right.

~reluctantyouth~

But where's Scooter?

How tall are these figures in relation to TF? About deluxe? Voyager? I have a lot of nostalgia for Leader-1 and Cy-Kill! I can definitely see myself drafting these guys into my TF collection (as I did when I was a kid).

Is that Snoop I see next to Space-C? I'M IN!!!!!

pretty awesome

If theyre deluxe sized I want them all. If theyre MP scale, money saved.

Not gonna be a hipster and claim Gobots as something I have some deep emotional attachment to, despite having a ton of these as well as a child. The old toys and show just don't hold up at all over time for me.

However, all that being said, these look freakin cool. Would definitely pick a couple up depending on price.

Leader-1 and Cy-Kill for sure, the others are a definite maybe.

Interested, but price will dictate how interested.

ScottyP wrote:Not gonna be a hipster and claim Gobots as something I have some deep emotional attachment to, despite having a ton of these as well as a child. The old toys and show just don't hold up at all over time for me.

However, all that being said, these look freakin cool. Would definitely pick a couple up depending on price.

Gobots are hipster??

If Spay-C is white and black, I will hand my money to Bandai in a heartbeat.

ScottyP wrote:Not gonna be a hipster and claim Gobots as something I have some deep emotional attachment to, despite having a ton of these as well as a child. The old toys and show just don't hold up at all over time for me.

However, all that being said, these look freakin cool. Would definitely pick a couple up depending on price.

I think Gobots have aged as well as G1 toys. I think they are prety neat 80s toys with smart designs.

I would love rhat Leader 1, what they did with the chest is pretty smart.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

ScottyP wrote:Not gonna be a hipster and claim Gobots as something I have some deep emotional attachment to, despite having a ton of these as well as a child. The old toys and show just don't hold up at all over time for me.

However, all that being said, these look freakin cool. Would definitely pick a couple up depending on price.

Gobots are hipster??

We're all hipsters.

Rated X wrote:If theyre deluxe sized I want them all. If theyre MP scale, money saved.

That's basically my sentiments too. If they're in scale with Classics and if they're affordable, they're definite must-buys. If they're overpriced like the Masterpieces, then I'll probably pass.

I'm trying to figure out what Jeeg (the yellow and green dude) is doing in there. Don't know much about the character, but I do know he used to be a Takara toy using the Microman magnetic system. anybody know anything about that?

If they do Destroyer and Scorp I am all over this.

I've never been opposed to the GoBots. They made nice cannon fodder/troop builder when i played with Transformers as a kid. Kay-Bee used to sell them for a dollar so I could get as many as I wanted. They weren't Transformers quality, but they had some interesting and even iconic figures of their own.

UltraPrimal wrote:

Rated X wrote:If theyre deluxe sized I want them all. If theyre MP scale, money saved.

That's basically my sentiments too. If they're in scale with Classics and if they're affordable, they're definite must-buys. If they're overpriced like the Masterpieces, then I'll probably pass.

Was looking at the prices of other toys in the Gokin line and its all overr the place, from 30$-200$, so I really cant tell. My guess is around 50$ each.

Those guys look amazing!

If they're not much more expensive than a Takara TF Figure, I'll probably get them.

william-james88 wrote:While the names and characters are owned by Hasbro, the toys and toy designs are still owned by Bandai, and thus it is unknown what these toys will be called.

I see the Machine Robo: Revenge of Chronos logo on the display label. These'll more than likely be Machine Robo figures rather than GoBots, coming from Bandai and being released in Japan (who didn't get the GoBots cartoon since they had their own Machine Robo anime).

I'm surprised nobody mentioned these weird disproportionate Transformers figures.

In the card art there's:
-Really Obese Optimus Prime
-Wheelie
-Impactor
-Magnificus
-Hound
-Ratchet
Plus, SG Ultra Magnus on the shelf.




Just kidding. I know they're not Transformers related, but they really do look like those characters.

Gold Lightan is getting an ES Gokin figure?!!!



Dude turns into a cigarette lighter!

Actually Gobots are owned by Transformers. Cy-kill has even made appearances in the comics

Cobotron wrote:I'm trying to figure out what Jeeg (the yellow and green dude) is doing in there. Don't know much about the character, but I do know he used to be a Takara toy using the Microman magnetic system. anybody know anything about that?

But the animation studio Toei owns the character designs and licensed them to Bandai this time, I think. Likewise, the Brave cartoon designs are Bandai's via Sunrise (which how we have Super Robot Chogokin and now Soul of Chogokin GaoGaiGar), but the toy designs are still TakaraTomy's. The maker of the original toy lines does not necessarily dictate the owner of the total franchise.

In case anyone is wondering, the characters seems to be based on their portrayal in Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos. I can see:

Shuttle Robo (Spay-C)
Bike Robo (Cy-Kill)
Blue Jet / Jet Robo (Fitor)(nice touch on the swords)
Rod Drill / Drill Robo (Screw Head)
Battle Robo (Tank)
Eagle Robo (Leader-1)
Super Car Robo (Turbo)

I can't identify the two that don't have their alt modes shown, unfortunately, though I think the very top one might be Buggy Robo (Buggyman).

*EDIT* The top one is Mixer Robo (Blockhead) and the other is Blackbird Robo (Snoop).

happylock wrote:Actually Gobots are owned by Transformers. Cy-kill has even made appearances in the comics

Hasbro owns the Gobots franchise, Hanna-Barbera owns the cartoon designs, Bandai owns the Machine Robo franchise and the molds and designs from which the Gobots are made. It's a wacky copyright world.

happylock wrote:Actually Gobots are owned by Transformers. Cy-kill has even made appearances in the comics

Wait a sec, if you read the article I wrote you will see that they only own the characters, as well as the name Gobots, but not their toys or toy designs. Hence why these would be released as Machine Robo figures and not gobots. Also, thats why there was never a Hasbro reissue of the Gobot toys.

These are a must buy for me. I Grew up with gobots. I Love Transformers.. But GoBots were my first. These hit me on a sentimental level.
(Except Turbo.. F' that bot)

Here's a bit of trivia for you guys ...

Have you ever checked out http://www.gobotron.com before?

Really glad to see these.
Hopefully the price point stays affordable and I can scoop some up.

Bandai why do you have tempt me with the existence of this line? Depending on reviews I may have to try these and the kotesu jeeg. Being a mecha fan is really expensive

How strange. Hasbro recently applied for some GoBot trademarks, got the fandom talking about GoBots, and now we're getting new high-end figures of them... from a different toy company. Hope Hasbro actually plans on making some GoBots (actual ones, and not simply label preschooler toys that), otherwise they kinda just raised interest for a rival toymaker's products.

By the by, I wouldn't really count on them having metal. I hope this line does take off and they do the Gyandlar or Devil Invaders as well:

Casmodon (Vamp)
Falgos (Pincher)
Zarios (Scorp)
Gildis (Creepy)
Baldas (Bladez)

And of course, Devil Satan 6 (Monsterous)

I really need to finish watching the anime, RAW.

Hang on a sec, guys.

Things might not be what they seem.

According to some of this fandom's more Japanese-adept members, these might not be coming from Bandai as Soul of Chogokin figures, but might instead be part of some other line being made by some Hong Kong-based company.

This is based on how they were in the same display case as that Steel Jeeg, which is definitely coming from Hong Kong-based company Action Toys.

Sabrblade wrote:Hang on a sec, guys.

Things might not be what they seem.

According to some of this fandom's more Japanese-adept members, these might not be coming from Bandai as Soul of Chogokin figures, but might instead be part of some other line being made by some Hong Kong-based company.

This is based on how they were in the same display case as that Steel Jeeg, which is definitely coming from Hong Kong-based company Action Toys.

So does that mean licensed and official or 3rd party, unlicensed and unofficial?

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Hang on a sec, guys.

Things might not be what they seem.

According to some of this fandom's more Japanese-adept members, these might not be coming from Bandai as Soul of Chogokin figures, but might instead be part of some other line being made by some Hong Kong-based company.

This is based on how they were in the same display case as that Steel Jeeg, which is definitely coming from Hong Kong-based company Action Toys.

So does that mean licensed and official or 3rd party, unlicensed and unofficial?

They would be officially licensed even if Bandai really isn't behind these. Action Toys seems to be legit, rather than like those that we refer to as "third parties".

With so little info on these, it's really hard to tell which of the two companies these Machine Robo figures are coming from.

I actually considered getting some Gobots and adding them into my Transformers ranks (Destroyer would make a fantastic Decepticon army builder if he weren't so exensive in good condition). These guys look pretty awesome, even to someone like me with no emotional attachment to the Gobots.

I really hope they do Defendor and Puzzler at some point. Defendor was a wonderful chunky 80s robot and Puzzler (AFAIK) was infinitely superior to most other combiners of the time.

Now I need to watch the Machine Robo anime...

These guys look great.

That Screw Head would make a good stand in for the Heroic Autobot Powerdasher Drill Dasher.

I`d be really interested in buying a Monstrous if one was ever developed.....big time.

those look awesome, glad to see someone finally doing the series justice.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Hang on a sec, guys.

Things might not be what they seem.

According to some of this fandom's more Japanese-adept members, these might not be coming from Bandai as Soul of Chogokin figures, but might instead be part of some other line being made by some Hong Kong-based company.

This is based on how they were in the same display case as that Steel Jeeg, which is definitely coming from Hong Kong-based company Action Toys.

So does that mean licensed and official or 3rd party, unlicensed and unofficial?

They would be officially licensed even if Bandai really isn't behind these. Action Toys seems to be legit, rather than like those that we refer to as "third parties".

With so little info on these, it's really hard to tell which of the two companies these Machine Robo figures are coming from.

Action Toys was mentioned in the news story.

It might not be Bandai since I didn't see the Soul of Chogokin logo anywhere or the Super Robot Chogokin logo. These look really cool and if they're MP car size don't be surprised if they come 2 to a box since any soc set I've seen is huge and up in size. A lot of people don't realize that Machine Robo out sold and had better ratings than Transformers in Japan, and a large number of our Renegades were actually good guys like Cy-kill. Liftor and Screwhead as Blue Jet and Drill Bot were actually sorta leaders of the good guys. The main hero was a Cyborg named Baifukan or something like that, which had a nesting doll gimmick for the toy. That was released years ago in the SOC line.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:It might not be Bandai since I didn't see the Soul of Chogokin logo anywhere or the Super Robot Chogokin logo. These look really cool and if they're MP car size don't be surprised if they come 2 to a box since any soc set I've seen is huge and up in size. A lot of people don't realize that Machine Robo out sold and had better ratings than Transformers in Japan, and a large number of our Renegades were actually good guys like Cy-kill. Liftor and Screwhead as Blue Jet and Drill Bot were actually sorta leaders of the good guys. The main hero was a Cyborg named Baifukan or something like that, which had a nesting doll gimmick for the toy. That was released years ago in the SOC line.

Not quite...

Since we have no sales records we can't tell how well it did compared to Transformers. What we do know is that Machine Robo started 1982 and was canceled in 1988 after the lackluster Battle Hackers series (canceled after a mere 31 episodes), which means Transformers actually outlasted it: 6 years for Machine Robo (1982-1988), and 7 years (1985-1992) for Transformers.

Revenge of Cronos was quickly made in 1986 as a counter to the Transformers cartoon airing at the time. In it, the characters were split into:

- Cronos Tribe: the humanoid robots without any transformations
- Jet Tribe: all the aircraft Machine Robo
- Battle Tribe: anything else (and I do mean anything)

The main protagonist, Rom Stol, is from the Cronos Tribe and has two "exo-suits" at his disposal: the blue Kenryu and the larger red Baikanfuu that work like a Russian Matryushka doll (In fact, they were retooled from Toshi Gordian ). He's supported by Blue Jet and Rod Drill, and various others.

This is AMAZING news! I'm really looking forward for that line. I do hope the prices will be relatively reasonable. Also, what size? Deluxe, voyager, or leader?

As long as the price is right, I can see myself getting every single one of these things.


But how the hell do I do that when I'm trying to save up for a wedding?!?

Robogeek1973 wrote:As long as the price is right, I can see myself getting every single one of these things.


But how the hell do I do that when I'm trying to save up for a wedding?!?

Easy, make them as part of the registry

william-james88 wrote:

Robogeek1973 wrote:As long as the price is right, I can see myself getting every single one of these things.


But how the hell do I do that when I'm trying to save up for a wedding?!?

Easy, make them as part of the registry

Hmmmmmmmm

Robogeek1973 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Robogeek1973 wrote:As long as the price is right, I can see myself getting every single one of these things.


But how the hell do I do that when I'm trying to save up for a wedding?!?

Easy, make them as part of the registry

Hmmmmmmmm

Congrats RG73! Get them as cake toppers. The bride will love it!

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:It might not be Bandai since I didn't see the Soul of Chogokin logo anywhere or the Super Robot Chogokin logo. These look really cool and if they're MP car size don't be surprised if they come 2 to a box since any soc set I've seen is huge and up in size. A lot of people don't realize that Machine Robo out sold and had better ratings than Transformers in Japan, and a large number of our Renegades were actually good guys like Cy-kill. Liftor and Screwhead as Blue Jet and Drill Bot were actually sorta leaders of the good guys. The main hero was a Cyborg named Baifukan or something like that, which had a nesting doll gimmick for the toy. That was released years ago in the SOC line.

Not quite...

Since we have no sales records we can't tell how well it did compared to Transformers. What we do know is that Machine Robo started 1982 and was canceled in 1988 after the lackluster Battle Hackers series (canceled after a mere 31 episodes), which means Transformers actually outlasted it: 6 years for Machine Robo (1982-1988), and 7 years (1985-1992) for Transformers.

Revenge of Cronos was quickly made in 1986 as a counter to the Transformers cartoon airing at the time. In it, the characters were split into:

- Cronos Tribe: the humanoid robots without any transformations
- Jet Tribe: all the aircraft Machine Robo
- Battle Tribe: anything else (and I do mean anything)

The main protagonist, Rom Stol, is from the Cronos Tribe and has two "exo-suits" at his disposal: the blue Kenryu and the larger red Baikanfuu that work like a Russian Matryushka doll (In fact, they were retooled from Toshi Gordian ). He's supported by Blue Jet and Rod Drill, and various others.

Actually yes we do. Go onto YouTube and look for Protoman's panel from one of the TFCons where he gives a detailed history of Machine Robo. The orignal cartoon out performed Fight Super Robot Life Transformers in the ratings and the toys did better too. You got all the names right for the heroes, I couldn't remember Baikanfuu. By the time Japan started making its own TF cartoons Bandai had moved on to something else; either Macross or Gundam which I know was around then anyway.

Cobotron wrote:

Robogeek1973 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Robogeek1973 wrote:As long as the price is right, I can see myself getting every single one of these things.


But how the hell do I do that when I'm trying to save up for a wedding?!?

Easy, make them as part of the registry

Hmmmmmmmm

Congrats RG73! Get them as cake toppers. The bride will love it!

Hahahaha, she already has plans for the cake topper.

Ermahgerd Gerhberts!!!!!

These actually look pretty cool. I don't know if I'll get any of these but they are tempting, especially Leader-1.

Since we actually have gotten a few 3rd Party Gobots, my first thought is whether this brings their manufacturers any closer to being sued. These new toys look way better than not-Turbo and not-Cykill, so it wouldn't be any huge loss; it's just that the legal issues surrounding Gobots today are frankly more interesting than your average Challenge of the Gobots episode.

One thing that's perplexed me about some 3rd Party stuff is that (besides the late, great Impossible Toys) they'll often stray from media accuracy, which is odd because I always thought the whole point was to make stuff that TF media made us want, but HasTak weren't meeting demand with accurate representations of. Like with Uranos's not-Fireflight having a face like the original toy, when a show-accurate face would've been closer to what fans wanted and further from both Hasbro's physical product and potential legal action.

The point I'm getting to is, if this line did make the core COTGB characters as accurate as possible to Hanna-Barbera's show models (mostly getting their faces right), could that invite a lawsuit from Time Warner? I do seem to recall Shout! years ago having a preorder up for a Gobots DVD set that abruptly disappeared several months before Warner Archive listed theirs, so do WB have a unique stake in this too? Just how many ways does the Gobot tug-of-war pull?!? No wonder Gobotron was ripped in half...