Robo Machine (1983-1988)
Checklist V0.1
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Very much a work in progress, and very much open to correction and addition! Robo Machine is an astonishingly large headache to cover in something like this. Due to the lack of resources for Gobots or Robo Machine, research is difficult, with my would-be knowledge often being revised due to simple stuff like a Robo Machine figure popping up on ebay when I was previously unaware it came out this side of the Atlantic. So this is all to be taken with a pinch of salt. The other problem is the nature of the Robo Machine brand. The line started off as an import of Machine Robo, with anything else robotic thrown in - over the years, figures from other Bandai transforming robot lines such as Winch Robo and Godaikin were issued under the banner. I'll be using my discretion and not listing everything released as Robo Machine that's blatantly come from an utterly separate toyline. Around 1984, Bandai began adding factions and names (usually the Gobots ones, though some characters did get brand-new ones). By 1985, with Hanna-Barbera's animated Challenge of the Gobots show beginning to creep into Europe, the line was effectively rebranded Challenge of the Gobots - A Robo Machine Production (the latter underneath in much smaller type), becoming more of an import of Gobots. This led to rather a schizophrenic brand. Despite this, Robo Machine was a respectable seller, notably in France and the UK. Unlike Gobots, it was never really a serious contender to Transformers' crown, but it didn't have the same boom-and-bust life either, mainly ending in 1988 due to a lack of suitable figures to release. With thanks to Chris Olsen for his help! |
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The regular figures came out in Europe from 1983 to 1986. There were several different versions issued. The first wave of figures came out very much as imports of Machine Robo, the blister cards bearing simple, prosaic 'names' ('Police Car', 'Bulldozer' and so forth) and the 'RM' code (then the same as the Mr code, but obviously with the letters reversed) in a big chunky font with a space background and a photograph of the toy in both modes. Soon afterwards, the space image was replaced with a blue/purple gradient background. From around 1984, the cards retained the gradient, but the RM code was joined by a character name. The next redesign saw a planet-style background, together with character names and codes and a faction - Friendly Robot or Enemy Robot (much like the first batch of Gobots). Then, in 1985 the figures rebranded to Challenge of the Gobots - A Robo Machine Production, still using the planet background. At around this time, due to the introduction of figures not released in Japan, the numbering system began to unravel a little. Right at the very end the card background was changed again to flat blue, with just the logo and the pictures of the toy in both modes. Phew. Now, several figures issued before the toys became 'named' weren't reissued later on - I've yet to ascertain which, so for now everyone's referred to by a character name even if they didn't get one in the Robo Machine line. Robo Machine didn't get any exclusive moulds as such. The Machine Robo figures not released in Japan didn't come out in Europe either (though in the case of Mini Cooper Robo, this was probably a missed opportunity). The closest the small RM figures came to getting one over on Gobots was that their release of the Blackbird Robo came out without a hitch. However, Robo Machine managed an eclectic mix of colour variants, sometimes sticking with the Machine Robo version of a figure, sometimes using the Tonka version, and sometimes coming up with one of its' own. The figures which had been issued in Japan always came with their full Machine Robo sticker sheet, unlike the American Gobots releases. In return, though, several figures America got didn't come out at all in Europe - Pumper, Fly Trap, Small Foot, Crain Brain, Scratch, Stallion, Van Guard, Tail Pipe and Treds never being part of the range. In (brackets) underneath is the early designation 'name' for each figure, if known.
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Much simpler. The first three Machine Robo Devil Invaders were (as in Japan) released in a separate subset, retitled Enemy Invaders. It would appear these weren't still in circulation when Bandai began rebranding figures to fit in with the Gobots line. By the time the last two Devil Invaders were released, Bandai had began styling the line after Gobots, and they came out in the main series.
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This began as a straight repackaging of the Battle Armor 5 figure (in the Japanese colours), and two different boxes were made. The second of these featured no preview window and a disconcerting notice with 'colours may vary' on the front - this varying would involve the figure inside being the Gobots recolour Renegade Powersuit Grungy, albeit unnamed and without most of his stickers.
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Taken from the Winch Robo line rather than Machine Robo, these two figures had friction motors and extending winches. They would actually appear as part of Robo Machine in 1984, two years before Bandai would recolour them as Dash Robo for Machine Robo (Tonka would issue these recolours as the Secret Riders in the Gobots line).
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Larger versions of the above, taken from Winch Robo but never used for Machine Robo or Gobots. The figures just about scrape into 'counting' here due to their tenuous connection to the Dash Robo/Secret Riders. Winch Truck stands about a foot tall; Winch Helicopter was smaller at around 8' (and was a directly scaled up version of the smaller Winchers Helicopter). Both required AA batteries to work their features, which included a walking motion.
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Sourced from an unknown Bandai line, this figure was issued as a stand-alone motorised vehicle, but after its' Robo Machine release the figure was co-opted into the Dash Robo and the Secret Riders in Japan and America respectively.
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Almost an Anglicised release of the Command Center, but without the electronics.
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Now, this is just a straight repackaging of the American figure. It's getting easier...
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Simply the European release of the Staks Transport pack, pairing the Super Gobot with a diecast trailer. Note the reversion to the American spelling.
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