With the 600 Series selling well, Popy decided to expand Machine Robo's horizons, and initiated the Scale Robo DX line. It was based on realistic vehicles, and thus it was logical that Datsun's popular Fairlady 280Z was drafted into the line. The figure was produced in an all-red scheme, with a recolour version featuring a darker, metallic red and a black roof.

The latter then came out in Europe as part of Robo Machine, before the former was drafted into the Gobots line-up in 1984, and becoming the Guardian Zeemon.

The character got an important, if not particularly large, role in the Challenge of the Gobots cartoon, where he becomes the Guardian political leader - further episodes would reveal that he was the first Gobot to receive his new form from The Last Engineer, and also that he lost his transformation ability (and thus role as an active Guardian) through Cy-Kill's treachery. Other episodes

The 280 Fairlady-Z is the nicest car ever. There, I said it. Zeemon isn't a bad version of it, either. The vibrant red, as opposed to the slightly dull colouring of the European version, adds an extra touch of panache - it's not as flash and cool as Prowl or Smokescreen, but it is nice to have an interesting 'civilian' version of the car.

The sculpting of the thing is really good, too - the layout of the DX figures means the car mode is made up of solid sections, with the join-lines generally being in fitting places - at the front and back of the doors, around the bottom of the hatchback, along the windscreen. Add in the working boot (nothing inside, but a handy place to store a pound coin), the excellent detailing (including , the driver and some classy stickers, and you've got a pretty decent toy car.

The only fly in the ointment is the paint apps on the roof - being on transparent plastic, these just don't look as solid as the rest of the car. A bit of a shame, but a fair trade-off for the nifty T-Bar roof.

As mentioned in the Herr Fiend review, this figure transforms in a totally identical fashion to the Porsche 928S toy. Except this one's better - more Datsun, you see.

The robot mode is stockier than its' relative, however, leading to a better-proportioned figure thanks to the bulkier torso. It still lacks personality compared to Bug Bite or Von Joy, but then he does look pretty close to his cartoon visage - where he didn't look like he had much charm either. The pilot would be pretty difficult to remove on this one (two screws this time, one of which would be hard to get at without ruining the finish on the bonnet or totally dismantling the figure), but then it doesn't stand out too badly. The colours continue to work well, with the increased black and chrome parts working rather well.

Ultimately, he is a bit weird looking, and lacks articulation - one more, it's only in the arms. The diecast legs look a bit odd and ungainly for some reason, probably because they're a bit shorter than on the other 'roof-head' DX figures.