Robo Machine facts for kids

Robo Machine was a super cool toy line of transforming robots released in Europe by Bandai from 1982 to 1988. These toys could change from vehicles into robots and back again! Robo Machine also had a short return from late 1992 to 1993. This toy line first brought Japanese Machine Robo toys to Europe. Over time, it became similar to Tonka’s Gobots toy line in America. You could find Robo Machine toys in places like the UK, France, and Germany.

How It Started

When Robo Machine first began, it directly imported toys from the Japanese Machine Robo series. These early toys, like the ‘600 Series’ figures, came in clear plastic packages. They had simple names, just like the Japanese toys. The toy codes even kept the "RM" abbreviation, which was "MR" in Japan. The packaging for bigger toys told a story: the robot machines were used to protect Earth from alien bad guys called "Devil Invaders." Special "Battle Suits" for the robots were also released during this time.

The GoBots Connection

In 1983, a company called Tonka bought the rights to sell Machine Robo toys in America. They changed the line into GoBots. Bandai, who made Robo Machine, started to use some of Tonka's ideas. For example, they began giving each robot its own name, often using the same names as the GoBots.

During this time, many more types of figures came out, including bigger "Super GoBots" and combining robots like "Puzzler." When the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon started showing in Europe, the toy line changed its name a few times. It was sometimes called Challenge of the GoBots – A Robo Machine Product. The European toys then became very similar to the American ones, using the same names for all the figures. Eventually, the toy line slowly faded away.

Robo Machine in Comics

The only Robo Machines story made just for Europe was a comic series. It appeared in the British Eagle comic from November 1984 to July 1985. This comic showed a fight between the good guys, Ex-El’s Security Forces, and the bad guys, Stron-Domez’s criminal Robo Machines. As the comic went on, it started using names from the GoBots, like "Guardian." A human character named Charlie Bampton joined the story later. He had special powers like ESP (knowing things without seeing them) and telekinesis (moving things with his mind). Later stories were more connected to the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon.

How Robo Machine Was Different

The Robo Machine toys in Europe had some cool differences compared to the toys released in Japan and America:

• Some Japanese toys were released in Europe but not in America. For example, a toy that looked like an Apollo rocket was sold. Also, three "Double Machine Robo" toys were released as "Combinators."
• Many toys had different colors than their American versions. For example, Slicks and Night Ranger kept their Japanese colors. Other toys, like Gunnyr, got brand new colors just for Europe!
• The Blackbird Robo toy was supposed to be a bad guy called Snoop in the American GoBots line. But it never came out there, even though Snoop was in the cartoon! In Europe, this toy was released as Sky-Spy.
• Bandai used the Robo Machine name for other robot toys that weren't really part of the GoBots story. This included a remote control robot called Robot Arm Machine and another called Robot Kong. Even toys from other Japanese lines like Godaikin and Dancougar sometimes used the Robo Machine brand.
• Some figures had different names from their American GoBots versions:

However, later on, most of these names changed to match the American GoBots names.

• Some groups of toys also had different names. The "Powersuits" were called "Battle Suits." Also, the names Puzzler and Zod were used for combining robots and other action figures.

The Return of Robo Machine

A selection of figures from the Robo Machines toyline

In 1993, Bandai tried to bring the Robo Machine line back. They used toys from the Machine Robo CG Robo series, plus some older toys from the 1980s. Since Hasbro owned all the GoBots names by then, the new toys mostly had numbers or descriptions instead of names. This return wasn't very successful and was stopped after just one year.

About the Robo Machine Toys

The Robo Machine toy line had a total of 27 transforming robot figures. Bandai released them in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands. In Italy, another company called Giochi Preziosi handled the release.

Out of these 27 figures, 22 were re-releases of toys that had been part of the original Robo Machine line. Sixteen of these were "regular"-sized figures, simply called "Robo Machines." Six were "De Luxe" figures, which were bigger. Plus, five new figures that had only been released in Japan before were sold as "Light & Sound" Robo Machines.

Regular-sized Robo Machines

Sixteen regular-sized Robo Machines were released. They often came in groups of five. The first group changed its lineup at some point, swapping 'Harrier' for 'P-51'. All of these toys had been released as Gobots between 1983 and 1986. Most of them came from Bandai's Machine Robo '600 Series' in Japan. The exact names could be different depending on the country. The names below are for the United Kingdom.

De Luxe Robo Machines

Six "De Luxe" Robo Machines were released. These were bigger figures that had been sold as "Super Gobots" in America. Three of them (De Luxe Beetle, De Luxe Sports Car I, and De Luxe Sports Car 2) came from the Machine Robo DX series. Two (De Luxe F-15 and De Luxe Space Shuttle) were from the Big Machine Robo series. One (De Luxe Motorcycle) was only released as a GoBot before. The names below are for the United Kingdom.

Light & Sound Robo Machines

Five "Light & Sound" Robo Machines were released. These toys originally came from Bandai's Machine Robo CG ('Change and Glow') Robo series from 1992. These were the only toys in the new Robo Machine line to get actual names (at least in the United Kingdom; other countries might have used numbers). These cool figures had flashing lights and siren sounds!