Dec 13
on Dec 13 in Uncategorized by Dan
[Open the door / Close the door]
Challenge of the GoBots
“The GoBots, the GoBots”
On the face of it the GoBots were nothing but a cheap knock off of Transformers. Certainly that’s what it seemed like at the time. But on further investigation it appears the GoBot toys went into production an entire year before Transformers did. The TV shows were made at the same time however, 1984. That was the glorious year that the American Federal Communications Commission did away with regulations prohibiting toy companies from broadcasting cartoons based on their products. And there was George Orwell going on about how 1984 would be a joyless dystopia!
Head to head GoBots stood no chance against their Autobot and Decepticon rivals: Optimus Prime vs Leader-1, Megatron vs Cy-Kill (who turned into a motorcycle, do you see what they did there? *sigh*), the Transformers movie starring Orson Wells vs the GoBot movie starring Telly Savalas; the list goes on. The poor old GoBots just seemed more… pathetic somehow
The GoBot TV show lasted only one season, although to be fair there were sixty six episodes. They tried to revive the franchise in 1986 by lauching the Rock Lords: robots that could transform into inert rocks and pebbles. It didn’t take off for some reason, I can’t imagine why.
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I’m waiting for Michael Bay’s version of the GoBot movie so I can truly contrast and compare.
Oo oo oo, now I remember having a toy that transformed (or would that be go-botted?) into a rock, and should be in the box a toys ‘for the next generation’ that you looked through and stored for me for such a long time. Or may be it’s just a rock. :(