Rebuilding the Gobots

[Mako Crab]

I guess this kind of goes in this forum since Gobots have been integrated into the overall TF universe. Okay then.

Every once in a while I like to kick around the idea of what updated Gobots would look like today. Basically, what would their alt modes be? Thought it might be a fun way to kill a few hours.

I'm just going to pick some random guys I like off the big TFU list.

First up: SPARKY

I always liked Sparky on the old cartoon. One of the many good female Guardian characters. Her alt mode is a red Fiero, I think. There are a ton of red characters on Gobots though. Don't know why, but to try and help Sparky stand out from the sea of redshirts, I was thinking maybe give her some accents, make her a two-tone, or change her color entirely. For a new alt-mode, I was thinking something small and sporty like her original. At the same time I'm trying to stay away from alt-modes used by TFs recently like the Solstice. So maybe something like... a Mazda RX-7 or RX-8. What do you think?



And in yellow.



Sporty enough?

[Dominic]

I would like to see a Puzzlor figure that is at least as good as the original. (Given Hasbro's track record with merge groups. that is even less likely than getting any Gobots.) Keep the basic transformation and combining schemes, but use modern vehicles, or even non-licensed cars. Either way, Puzzlor. NOW!

As an aside, female Go-Bots are more tolerable than female Transformers. So actually bringing back GoBots would be a good way to satisfy the fanboys who want female characters without having the (pretty stupid) female TF characters.

Dom
-things Go-Bots could work as an update of Power Masters or Head Masters.

[Onslaught Six]

-things Go-Bots could work as an update of Power Masters or Head Masters.

Like, the Gobots themselves would become the heads/engines?

[Dominic]

I thinking more along the lines of making the figures with some kind of removable "organic" component that would unlock a gimmick or even the transform process itself, like a Minicon or a Nebulon. I could also see some kind of Microman style figure being wrapped in robot bits, similar to those Japanese (movie) Prime and Bumblebee figures.


Dom
-really wants a re-issue of that old Command Center. That thing was....wrong.

[Mako Crab]

Another day, another Gobot. How about...

DIVE DIVE

Anyway, I think we have a good opportunity to really change up a character with Double D here. He turns into a submarine, but unless he does some serious mass shifting, he's still the same size as everyone else in robot mode. Why not give him something a little less cumbersome? Why not something like the Aqua Personal Subermsible!



It still maintains the basic shape of a sub, but it's much smaller and a little out of the ordinary. Of course, this is just a concept sub at the moment, but that shouldn't stop us from using it. Maybe something like this or a more traditional research submersible with the claw arms and everything. What do you think?

[Dominic]

I like it.

Say, why has Bandai not re-issued "Go-Bots" as "Machine Robo"?

[Mako Crab]

Couldn't tell you on that last point. To my knowledge, Bandai has kept the MR line going for quite some time. Machine Robo Rescue came out in 2004, so there's that. Pretty recent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5USK9g1N3U

Anyway!

I feel like doing one more tonight. Who sounds good? Maybe... sure, let's do CRASHER

Easily my favorite character ever on the show. Crasher was gleefully destructive and really loved her work. Plus she had the lightning boot! Or is it the seismic boot? Whatever, it was cool and it always screwed up the Guardians. According to the wiki, her original alt mode is a Porsche 956. Nothing terribly wrong with that, although for her I'd want something that's actually street legal.
Hm. Renegades taking on street legal forms. Seems so out of character for her, but whatever. Thought I heard someone mention the new lambo?


This is the 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo. In this color and angle, it looks pretty good, although I have to admit I'm not a big fan of the wedge shape of the car. I always thought the Ford GT-40 would be a good fit for her, but Alternators went and used that model already! Surely there must be something else that would work? Mmmmaybe the 2010 Saleen Raptor?



And in black

I think this might do it. It still has the nice curves in the fenders like the porsche, and the sort of wedge shape of the lambo. Of course, it must be in black (maybe with white accents to acknowledge her repaint).

In Crasher's case, she's already been upgraded as Fracture with a Formula 1 alt-mode, but I could never picture a skinny little open-wheel F1 racer ramming through walls and crashing into other cars for fun. She needs something a little more solid looking. What do you think?

[BWprowl]

I like it.

Say, why has Bandai not re-issued "Go-Bots" as "Machine Robo"?

Insanely complicated licensing/rights issues maybe? I dunno.

And as a response to your previous post (and something I'll keep commenting on every time you bring it up until I understand) what is your *deal* with Puzzler? Last time we discussed gestalts, you ragged on JRX because his components "didn't combine cleanly enough" or somesuch. But man, look at Puzzler:



His stuff doesn't integrate any more cleanly! At least JRX had a unified color scheme, loads of articulation, and not a car hood coming out of his crotch. All Puzzler has over the G1 Combiners is some fists and a head stashed in his components, and even with integrated parts he couldn't manage a more interesting combination scheme than any of the G1 guys (I'll say over and over how much I hate generic combination schemes until Hasbro makes something truly interesting again). And we don't even know how well this thing holds together! It looks like the torso is formed from Tic-Tac just pegging into Jigsaw's *painfully obviously a connection point* siren assembly, and the way it looks to be made, I can't imagine it being too secure.

Too long; didn't read- Dom's crazy and Puzzler sucks. Also, Pocket, the yellow Lamborghini who forms his right arm, has a headsculpt suspiciously similar to Sunstreaker.

Man, I'd like to think of an update for my favorite Go-Bot, Good Knight, but we're already getting Hubcap in ROTF, and that's pretty much perfect.

[138 Scourge]

I would be okay with a new incarnation of this fella. Breez was a piece of crap Wendy's toy that was part of their Gobots promotion, and yet, somehow, he completely ruled. I liked him, anyway. Also, his bio said, basically, that he spewed toxic crap just everywhere and spread it around with his rotors. And the rotors wound up on his hands in robot mode. So yeah, all around neat character. I'd say the upcoming Power Core "Searchlight" toy could stand a repaint in tan, orange, and green, and there we go.

...Wow, I generally think GoBots can pretty much suck it, but going over the list, they had some neat stuff going on.

Holy Crap, look at this! It's Go-Bot Octane!

[Dominic]

That thing is better than any Octane toy ever made actually.

Insanely complicated licensing/rights issues maybe? I dunno.

As I understand it, Bandai owns the molding. And, ultimately, that is what I am talking about in this case. Hasbro has the IP, and is making some use of it. But, as someone who appreciates engineering in toys, it really frosts my weenie that those moulds are locked away.

I have fiddled with JRX. He is kind of clunky. And, yes, Puzzlor is a bit clunky as well. But, that toy was light years ahead of any contemporary G1 merge team. And, it still has fewer left-over parts than most any TF merge team.

I saw a Puzzlor at BC07, and could not afford it. (The $60 asking price was a steal. But, I just could not justify it at the time.) Now, I kind of wish I did spend the $60.

Dom
-Puzzlor is my white whale.