tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post2252684392842656030..comments2024-01-25T15:49:41.150+09:00Comments on Famicomblog: Japanese Gobots! Machine Robo Series Gyro Robo (Cop-Tur)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-69069884735596709622015-02-12T02:01:26.811+09:002015-02-12T02:01:26.811+09:00Sean,
Just ran into this post as I was doing a g...Sean, <br /><br />Just ran into this post as I was doing a google image search for large gobots images. I agree that the smaller packaging for the 600 series is far more elegant than the US version. Gobots' perceived inferiority in the US, in my eyes, was mostly due to Tonka's marketing of the series. They didn't put much effort into worldbuilding - names like Spay-C and Dive-Dive don't really stand up to Optimus Prime and Megatron - and the cartoon was a degree or two more goofy than the Transformers one. Plus, Hasbro had those little biographies on the packaging, whereas the Tonka packages just described the characters as either "friendly" or "enemy."<br /><br />It didn't really help that Gobots was marketed as sort of a cheaper alternative to Transformers, when really the quality of those toys actually makes them more durable than their large, more expensive counterparts. This is one reason why an original Megatron might run you $150+ but you can get a Cy-Kill for $30 or less. <br /><br />I could go on - this era of toy history is endlessly interesting to me - but I'll leave it there. <br /><br />- Jonesy (Zycrow)Draculahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00587852177919783864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-73417716382078686982014-08-13T17:50:32.327+09:002014-08-13T17:50:32.327+09:00Thanks! I didn`t know they were called Machine Me...Thanks! I didn`t know they were called Machine Men in Australia! They are indeed a cool piece of toy history :)Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13681778110046124243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-31230706374417301162014-08-03T13:00:35.647+09:002014-08-03T13:00:35.647+09:00Great little read! I enjoy both the Transformers a...Great little read! I enjoy both the Transformers and Gobots, or Machine Men - as they were known in Australia. I completely agree with your views on this great little piece of toy history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-3449473624047794752011-05-21T18:55:03.605+09:002011-05-21T18:55:03.605+09:00Hey look! The missing comments have magically retu...Hey look! The missing comments have magically returned!<br /><br />Skyrunner - I'm afraid I don't know too much about how the Transformers movie was received in Japan as I was out of the country at the time. The Diaclone and Microman toys were more or less exactly the same as the early Transformers, so I don't think it is at all correct that they were designed for younger kids than the Transformers. In fact, I was only about 7 or 8 when I got my first Transformers in the early 80s, so they were meant for quite young kids there too.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13681778110046124243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-15647381121061282282011-05-14T20:23:23.069+09:002011-05-14T20:23:23.069+09:00Hmmm... Google Blogger was out last night and toda...Hmmm... Google Blogger was out last night and today I find that half the comments on this post, including some by me, have vanished. Apologies to everyone who posted, I assure you that it was not I who erased them! Please re-post if you care to!Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13681778110046124243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-34137338352704793082011-05-13T01:03:50.326+09:002011-05-13T01:03:50.326+09:00Here's a question: I heard that over in Japan ...Here's a question: I heard that over in Japan Transformers were always meant for much younger kids and as such was always more comical and lighthearted, a stark contrast to how serious its story was here. With that said, I heard once that Japanese audiences to the movie(s) were caught off-guard by how serious the movies were considering the facts above. Can you shed some light on that?<br /><br />And of course when I say "serious", I mean about as serious as you can get with giant robots kicking each other and turning into cars.skyrunner14https://www.blogger.com/profile/01229439263777499255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-7424628312485320472011-05-12T08:17:28.766+09:002011-05-12T08:17:28.766+09:00We did miss out on a lot of stuff as Canadian kids...We did miss out on a lot of stuff as Canadian kids, didn't we? Actually the Gobots were popular where I was (Eastern Ontario) and most of us had them well before the Transformers came out, but the cartoon never made its way to us. Must be a regional thing or something. I don't think the Transformers cartoon did either.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13681778110046124243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-90520418756550110432011-05-12T06:30:19.639+09:002011-05-12T06:30:19.639+09:00Also being Canadian I was unaware of Gobots in my ...Also being Canadian I was unaware of Gobots in my youth, but i sure loved the shit out of the transformers. I had many Transformers as a kid, such as Blaster and Optimus Prime, and now that they are long gone I can certainly appreciate the awesomeness of a find like this, even I am have no emotional response to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-41925498486674375002011-05-07T17:18:50.662+09:002011-05-07T17:18:50.662+09:00Haha, yes, that certainly sounds about right! I ag...Haha, yes, that certainly sounds about right! I agree, it worked as a cartoon for kids but the film was just stupid. I don't particularly mind the odd stupid film but this one was just STUPID stupid! That scene where there's two or three giant robots tip-toeing around outside that dillhole's house... good lord... :PRetroKingSimonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05609689348601442117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-28826945960325644072011-05-07T17:13:17.873+09:002011-05-07T17:13:17.873+09:00Yes, I kind of remember hearing about the Gobot ca...Yes, I kind of remember hearing about the Gobot cartoon, but it is one of those things us Canadian kids missed out on!<br /><br />And yup, it was the live-action Transformers film that I was referring to. I think the Transformers are about the most ill-suited subject matter you could possibly base a film on. As cartoons they worked (for kids) but putting it in live action really just highlighted how ridiculous the whole story (and everything about them) is. I think Roger Ebert's review summed it up best:<br /><br />"The battle scenes are bewildering. A Bot makes no visual sense anyway, but two or three tangled up together create an incomprehensible confusion. I find it amusing that creatures that can unfold out of a Camaro and stand four stories high do most of their fighting with...fists. Like I say, dumber than a box of staples."Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13681778110046124243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6892786114932769023.post-67757774679879747992011-05-07T17:02:43.962+09:002011-05-07T17:02:43.962+09:00Nice find! I, too, was a Gobots fans when I was yo...Nice find! I, too, was a Gobots fans when I was younger, much preferring them to the more popular Transformers. I can't remember which ones I had now as they're long gone but I still have fond memories of them. I had a feature-length cartoon too.<br /><br />And if you're talking about the live-action Transformers film from a few years ago, I agree - it was awful. I have actively avoided exposure to the second...RetroKingSimonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05609689348601442117noreply@blogger.com