GoBots thread

[Gomess]

No sir. I got that Puzzler bio from an American friend.

[Shockwave]

...That said, can we agree that for the most part the original Gobots were better toys than the original Transformers?

No. I will not be agreeing to this. From what I owned and what I saw I was extremely underwhelmed by Gobots back in the day and have seen nothing since to convince me otherwise. I'll take TFs > Gobots any day.

[Gomess]

Well, at least we've got more diverse views here than most forums!

[BWprowl]

...Puzzler is definitely one of the best transforming gestalts (as in, gestalt with individual transformer parts) I've ever seen. He and Devil Satan 6 / Monsterous are both a lot of fun. And... better than Devastator... 8|

I know where you live Prowl. And, it will only take me so long to find your snack treats.

Puzzlor did have a gun that did not fit anywhere on the individual figures. But, the gun was not stictly needed for the complete mode. And, even if we assume it was needed, compare the gun to about 25% of Devastator's mass or Menasor's hands and feet. (In theory, you could cheap out on Menasor's face, chest plate and crotch plate. But, the hands and feed were non-negotiable.)

No contest. Puzzlor wins.

I'm just gonna repost my rant from 2010:

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.

Puzzler can suck it..

[Gomess]

Puzzler can suck it..

At least he *can*, thanks to his articulation!!

...But come on. *1985*! Compare him to other combiners of that year.

I'm not about to say he's a better combiner than Magnaboss or JRX. =\

[BWprowl]

...But come on. *1985*! Compare him to other combiners of that year.

I'm not about to say he's a better combiner than Magnaboss or JRX. =\

Hey, I never said he was worse than the 1985 TF gestalts, but here's the thing: with the possible exception of Devastator (who I mostly like for his individual components anyway) I hate pretty much ALL the old TF gestalts! All the Scramble City guys suck in my eyes, with Predaking and Monstructor being better, again, mostly on the merits of their individual components. Ditto Liokaiser, though he's a bit better overall. And ALL of them use that lame-ass 'core with a bunch of limbs stuck to it' combination scheme.

I just want my gestalts to feel like they're actually combining, merging, transforming together, what-have-you. These guys always just feel like a cop-out. Give me some pegs and I could turn any five TFs into a gestalt like that. I want to see them put some *effort* into it!

[Mako Crab]

I used to have Pocket, but his arms are so teeny tiny, that I can't imagine that his kung fu being very strong. He was a cool little toy though. The cartoon origin for Puzzler was pretty sad though. They were all just a bunch of mindless drones controlled by a remote control. And the remote control was stolen from Cy-kill by the greasy used car salesman that sold the Puzzler cars to Cy-kill. Oh, and his nagging wife kept telling him how he needed to grow a spine and be a real man. Gobots was a funny show.

I also have JRX (Rail Racer, but same diff), and I gotta' say, that guy is the coolest gestalt ever. I really like him! J4 was my favorite of the bunch in Car Robots, but in Robots in Disguise, his voice is completely different. No longer young and exuberant, they gave Midnight Express (J4) Tracks' voice and personality! I just don't know what to think about that.

[Gomess]

No longer young and exuberant, they gave Midnight Express (J4) Tracks' voice and personality! I just don't know what to think about that.

You could think "dubs generally aren't concerned with capturing the spirit of an original voice performance". Hell, it's not like the voice acting industry in the US comes close to the Japanese one, so it's unsurprising, right? There's no real provision for it. At least there were no Kansai dialect TFs in Car Robots that became Texans or Kentuckians in RiD. That seems like a dubbing tradition. =|

...Don't think the HB Gobots cartoon was ever shown in Japan. But they DID have a Machine Robo anime!


The "human" is a Machine Robo too. He just looks more human for some reason. The ones that turn into jets are actually members of "the Jet Tribe". Yeup. The guy on the far left is a Japan-only toy named... TRIPLE JIM

Tux!

Crane Brain! Now we know where his brain is.

[Dominic]

No. I will not be agreeing to this. From what I owned and what I saw I was extremely underwhelmed by Gobots back in the day and have seen nothing since to convince me otherwise. I'll take TFs > Gobots any day.

For the purpose of this discussion, I am parsing the toys from the rest of the franchise.

GoBots were better engineered than Transformers. I treated my GoBots much more roughly than my TF figures. Guess which *still* had higher attrition? Poor Windcharger..... But, Turbo lasted for a couple of years before the tires (which I abused pretty badly) gave out.

...But come on. *1985*! Compare him to other combiners of that year.

I'm not about to say he's a better combiner than Magnaboss or JRX. =\

Actually, compare Puzzler to anything from the pre-Beast era. No contest.

And, I have always thought that Magna Boss was clunky. I would still take Puzzler.

The cartoon origin for Puzzler was pretty sad though. They were all just a bunch of mindless drones controlled by a remote control. And the remote control was stolen from Cy-kill by the greasy used car salesman that sold the Puzzler cars to Cy-kill. Oh, and his nagging wife kept telling him how he needed to grow a spine and be a real man.

Yeah. But, yeah, I guess this technically makes Puzzler's components robots.


Dom
-might actually check on some of that Japanese "Machine Robo"...

[Gomess]

The wonders of the internet mean you can learn a lot by yourself, but I'm not blowing smoke when I say I know as much about Machine Robo as I do Japanese TF. Which, if you'll recall, is a lot!

...And I'll try to be *really* clear when distinguishing between popular theory and canon this time. =3

EDIT: Really wound up those pics from Counter-X's site aren't all showing up. Crane Brain's crotchcrane looks fantastic. And Tux!!!