Defendor (Gobots)
| GoBots | |
|---|---|
Gobots box logo
|
|
| Creator | Tonka |
| Original work | Machine Robo |
| Films and television | |
| Animated series |
Challenge of the GoBots GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Toys |
GoBots Rock Lords |
| Related franchises | Transformers |
GoBots was a line of transforming robot toys produced by Tonka from 1983 to 1987, similar to Transformers. Although initially a separate and competing franchise, Tonka's Gobots became the intellectual property of Hasbro after their buyout of Tonka in 1991. Subsequently, the universe depicted in the animated series Challenge of the GoBots and follow-up film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords was established as an alternate universe within the Transformers franchise. While Hasbro now owns the fictional side of the property (character names, bios, storyline), the actual toys and their likenesses were only licensed from Bandai in the 1980s, were not covered by the Tonka acquisition, and are not available for Hasbro use.
The Gobot toyline was based on figures produced by Popy of Japan (later Bandai), named Machine Robo. In another similarity to Transformers, Tonka decided to make the figures sentient robots, rather than human-piloted mecha as they had been in Japan, and divided them into two factions – the good Guardians and evil Renegades (although early figures were simply described as ‘Friendly’ or ‘Enemy’ on the packaging). The figures were all given individual names, in contrast to the simple designations they received in Japan.
Introduced in 1983 by Tonka Inc., the Gobots toys created the robot "sensation" that swept the nation for a short time.
The line sold well initially, but was overtaken by Transformers. 1987 was the final year in which new Gobots were released. In 1991, Hasbro acquired the Gobots range from Tonka Inc.
Tonka released the first batch of figures to stores in 1983. The bulk of the Gobot line was taken from the Machine Robo ‘600 Series’ line of figures, which were around 5–8 cm / 2-3 inches high on average. The robot figures transformed into a mixture of generic and specific contemporary machines, plus a handful of Second World War fighter aircraft, and a number of futuristic designs. This unnamed assortment, usually referred to as ‘Regular’ Gobots, was used throughout the four years Gobots were produced, and was later supplemented by figures from the Machine Robo Devil Invaders sub-line, plus some aborted Machine Robo figures and some commissioned from Bandai by Tonka.
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