By the third series of Gobots, there were only a handful of Machine Robo figures that hadn't been issued. Half-a-dozen wouldn't make it out at all, while some would have to make do with very limited releases. Skyline Robo had been released in Japan in 1985, and would be reissued there in 1987 (renumbered MR-B3) to tie in with the Revenge of Cronos Anime series.

In between, the figure had a very small-scale release, split between a version identical to the Japanese issue, and a version with an all-new Tonka-designed colour scheme (card art of the new version was used for both figures). The figure arrived too late to appear in the cartoon, and only had a limited American release, while Tail Pipe failed to come out in Europe at all. Tail Pipe was released at roughly a 50/50 red/black ratio, though the black version is much rarer by simple dint of only being released on one side of the Pacific. Quite why the figure was held back until so late is interesting - maybe there were already too many cars in the second series?

The upshot of it all, though, is that Tail Pipe is the only genuinely rare small Gobot. The Machine Robo exclusives are just about rarer, and some of the other Gobots might be more common on one side of the Atlantic than the other (Americans may have to import Ace or Bent Wing from Europe; Europeans might have to import Stallion or Van Guard), but you can find the rest of them with little effort. Mine took ages to find, and cost me around £45 (with eternal thanks to Notabot for helping sort out the deal ) - the same guy had the black version for twice that... Another version of Skyline Robo was a white variant, shown in several catalogues (largely in shots for Playsets). Dunno what this was - a prototype scheme seems most likely.

While the Skyline 2000 RS Turbo might be a cult favourite (it says so on Wikipedia, so it must be true), it isn't much to look at - a very ordinary family saloon shape, even if it is two-door. It's not an ugly car, just a little average - but then, generally speaking, Gobots didn't dabble in exotic cars to quite the extent Transformers did, being the line that gave us figures based on the Pontiac Fiero, a rubbish truck, a Dodge Caravan and a Toyota Crown.

Now, normally round about here I'd start whining about the proliferation of red Gobot cars (seven of the thirteen regular cars were red), but in this case at least Tonka made the effort of changing it (unlike Street Heat, who had a perfectly good Machine Robo scheme ignored for no readily apparent reason), and I did sort-of have a choice - if I bought the red version, I'd have food for the rest of the month. As it is, he doesn't look bad in red, with some nifty black trim and rather a cool ensign on the bonnet. The red painted plastic on the roof isn't quite the right tone, and it's a shame there aren't paint apps or stickers for the headlights.

It's a very well-made, sturdy car, with the usual decent amount of detail engraving. The car body is entirely plastic, but it's good stuff, and it means the thing won't chip.

The transformation sequence is very nice - pretty reminiscent of Stallion, though make sure you pull the arms out of the sides first thing.

The robot is very nicely proportioned - quite tall and svelte. Tail Pipe is nicely proportioned too, and the layout is terrific. I do like figures with this sort of transformation, and that he looks good from all angles (with the parts forming a proper, solid torso unit) is the icing on the cake. The thigh-mounted wheels are a nice change from them just being fixed to the rear of the car. The figure has got a decent head design too, a bit different as well - he stands out on his own quite nicely.

Articulation is decent, too, with ball-jointed arms and some movement in the legs. No hands, though, which is a bit of a shame. Overall, though, it's a terrific mode, one of the very best from the line.