GoBots facts for kids

GoBots was a popular line of transforming robot toys made by a company called Tonka. These toys were sold from 1983 to 1987. They were quite similar to another famous toy line, Hasbro's Transformers.

Even though GoBots and Transformers started as rivals, Hasbro later bought Tonka in 1991. This meant Hasbro then owned the GoBots brand. The stories from the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon and the movie GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords became part of the larger Transformers universe. However, Hasbro only owns the character names and stories. The actual toy designs were originally licensed from a Japanese company called Bandai. Because of this, Hasbro cannot make new GoBots toys using the original designs.

History of GoBots

The GoBots toys were based on figures from Japan called Machine Robo, made by a company named Popy (which was part of Bandai). Just like with Transformers, Tonka decided to make these figures living robots instead of robots controlled by humans.

They split the robots into two groups: the good guys, called the Guardians, and the bad guys, called the Renegades. Each robot was given its own special name, which was different from how they were named in Japan.

Tonka introduced GoBots in 1983, right when robot toys were becoming very popular. The toys sold well at first, but then Transformers became even more popular. New GoBots toys stopped being released in 1987. In 1991, Hasbro bought the GoBots brand from Tonka.

GoBots Toy Releases

Tonka started selling the first GoBots toys in stores in 1983, a year before the Transformers came out. Most of the GoBots figures came from the "600 Series" of Machine Robo toys. These were usually about 5–8 centimeters (2-3 inches) tall. The robots could change into different vehicles, like cars, jets, and even some futuristic designs. This main group of GoBots was sold throughout the four years the toys were made.

Larger figures, called Super GoBots, were also released. These were about 12–15 centimeters (5-6 inches) tall in robot mode. Some of these bigger toys included larger versions of Leader-1, the Guardian leader, and Cy-Kill, the Renegade leader. The toy line also had two "gestalt-style" figures. This means they were made up of several smaller robots that could combine to form one big robot. These were Puzzler (made of cars) and Monsterous (made of monsters).

Tonka also designed some unique GoBots toys. These included the Guardian Command Center and Renegade Thruster playsets, which were like bases for the robots. There was also a motorized Renegade Zod. A spin-off toy line called Rock Lords was also created. These toys were rocks that could transform into robot-like creatures. The Rock Lords even appeared with the GoBots in the movie GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords.

† = release cancelled.

GoBots in Media

Cover to #2 of the Gobots comic series by IDW Publishing. Art by Tom Scioli.

A cartoon series called Challenge of the GoBots was made by Hanna-Barbera to help promote the toys. It ran for 65 episodes from 1984 to 1985. In 1986, after the TV show ended, the GoBots appeared with the Rock Lords in an animated movie called GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords. Hanna-Barbera also produced this movie.

In 1984, two GoBots children's books were published by Golden Books. These books, War of the Gobots and Gobots on Earth, told the story of how the GoBots began.

There was also a Gobots Magazine that included short comic strips based on the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon. It also had fun facts about real robots and quizzes. This magazine was published from 1986 to 1987.

A GoBots video game was released in 1986 for computers like the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum.

Recently, Hasbro has applied for a new Go-Bots trademark. This suggests they might be planning new movies, TV shows, or toys related to GoBots. In October 2018, a new Go-Bots comic book series was started by IDW Publishing.

GoBots Around the World

GoBots were known by different names in various countries.

• In the UK, France, and other European countries, Bandai released the figures as Robo Machine. They used most of the Tonka names.
• In Australia, the toy line was called Machine Men. This name was even used for the cartoon when it aired there.
• In Brazil, the toys were first made by Glasslite as Mutante. Later, another company called Mimo took over the license.
• The show was also translated into Arabic and called Hikayat alamaliqa, which means A Tale of Giants.
• In Japan, Bandai continued with their original Machine Robo line instead of importing the GoBots.

GoBots and Transformers

In 1991, Hasbro bought Tonka, which meant Hasbro now owned the GoBots trademarks. However, the actual toy designs (the molds) still belong to Bandai. This is why it's unlikely that new GoBots toys will be made using the original designs.

Since then, the GoBots names have been used a few times within the Transformers toy lines. For example, a character named Gobots was released in 1993. In 1995, a line of small, Matchbox-sized car Transformers was called "Go-Bots." These included popular Transformers characters like Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.

Some Transformers toys have also been released as "recolors" (meaning they have new paint jobs) of existing Transformers figures to look like GoBots characters. For instance, a Transformers toy called Fracture was based on the GoBots character Crasher.

The name Leader-1 was also reused for a small robot (Mini-Con) that came with Transformers Armada Megatron in 2002.

In the 2018 movie Bumblebee (film), a deleted scene shows a character asking if the Transformers are like the fictional toy line GoBots. This shows how GoBots are still remembered, even within the Transformers universe.

See also

• Challenge of the GoBots (1984)
• GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
• Robo Machines (1984)