Popy launched their Machine Robo range in 1982 with a few more sci-fi orientated vehicles than would be the norm after the company was absorbed by Bandai. One of these was Bike Robo, a futuristic motorcycle, devised by one Katsushi Murakami, a designer at Popy Planning. The figure was popular enough for Bandai to launch the 1985 Big Machine Robo range with a scaled-up version (a recoloured version, with a dark grey chest section, had already appeared in the first 'Best of Machine Robo' 5-pack).

In the meantime, Tonka had launched Gobots (after Bandai's own Machine Men, an attempt to market the figures in America which had included Bike Robo as 'Cycle Man', had flopped), with the figure chosen to represent the Renegade leader Cy-Kill, issued as Gobot #1 in late 1983, the scaled-up version following in the second series of Super Gobots. The figure was also included in the first Renegades Giftpack. For the final line of Gobots in 1986, Cy-Kill was reissued in a lurid black and lime green colour scheme. Purportedly this was because Tonka thought he didn't look villainous enough (like all of Tonka's recoloured figures, this version wasn't released in Japan). Oddly, though, the red/white/blue colours had remained for the Challenge of the Gobots cartoon series, where Cy-Kill was the main aggressor.

The character also appeared throughout the Robo Machines comic strip. He's now arguably the most iconic character from the Gobots line (we're talking relative here), and has turned up in cameo form in a couple of Transformers comics (most recently, in IDW's recent Megatron: Origin mini-series). Before that, however, he made a bizarre appearance in Eagle's showpiece Dan Dare comic strip. Weird... Bike Robo wasn't quite as famous in Japan, ironically enough, but did get to appear among the Battle Tribe in the Revenge of Cronos Anime, tying in with the toy's reissue in Japan (under the code MRB-12).

As futuristic stuff goes, Cy-Kill's alternate mode is very smart. The design looks nice, though imagining a rider on the thing is a little hard - is the head meant to fit behind that windshield, or what? The colour scheme works nicely, and there's a large amount of chrome, doing a good job of picking out the details of the motorcycle.

Contrary to what the cartoon may have you believing, the robot features are well hidden, notably the face. The only real faults are in terms of wear and tear - chrome, obviously, disappears easily, while the rear exhaust pipes and handlebars tend to be snapped off on a lot of examples.

Make sure you get the engine if you want the thing to transform properly too - the shape won't hold without this on all but the tightest examples. Overall, the mode is a success, with careful detail work obscuring that the mode is a robot lying down holding a couple of wheels.

Switching to robot is very simple, but also a little frustrating - every time I prise the legs apart to hook out the rear wheel it feels like the legs are just going to snap, while jimmying out the arms also feels too delicate.

Still, he looks sharp - the whole look is less comical and more rigid compared to the cartoon model, though he looks close enough to it to satisfy childhood memories. The head sculpt is excellent, while the engraved robot mode details work nicely (though the two holes for the engine block spoil the look a little). I love the wheels on the shoulders too - much better than the way the larger version just has them fold away.

However, what Popy giveth with one hand, they taketh away with the other, and there's nowhere to stow the engine block. Only the arms really move, though he can sit down. Chrome wear, especially in the shoulders, is the biggest worry, and the chromed parts are quite brittle.