Racetron: Chrysbot

By now you the reader should know that my interest in transforming robots goes far beyond Transformers.  While TFs will always be my first love, I also find other transforming robot toys fascinating.  I have discovered some great toys (see Machine Robo and DiaRobo) and I've come across some not so great, cheaply made toys.

That said I stumbled across a section of Counter-X that peaked my curiosity.  Some of the toy lines they spotlighted I was already familiar with, while others were completely new to me.  During my own research of these toys and hunting for specimens for the blog, I came across a line that I haven't been able to find much documentation on....Racetron.

Without searching the package, I'm sure the design and art work cues you in that this was original released in the 80's.

Now it's a robot!  Now it's a racer!  It's a incredible Racetron!!  Collect all 6 in the series and create your own Racetron Warrior.

Wait a minute...collect all 6 and create your own Racetron Warrior?  Yup, this sucker is part of a combiner!

You probably noticed the robot is missing it's head.  The head is part of the car's front grill and simply slides in and out.  Over the years the piece just worked it's way back down into the body.  Anyhow, if you look closely at the legs and the waist you'll notice those pieces are cast of die-cast metal.  A lot of the Go-Bots sized transforming toys I've seen usually don't contain much, if any die-cast metal.  Behind the toy you'll see a red piece of plastic and a small gray gun located in between the legs.

Gotta love the old school art.  It's a tad on the cheesy side, but kudos to who ever manufactured this thing for taking the time for creating something original.  The robot's face gives me a Darth Vader vibe.

On the back of the packaging is where things get interesting...and confusing.  We knew from the blurb on the front that there was 6 robots in the set that formed the combiner.  Here we see the combiner, Racetron?  Wait a minute.  Is the line called Racetron and the combiner's name is Racetron?

The names of the individual robots are pretty bad too.  The manufacturer named each robot after the make of the alt mode.  Chrysbot obviously is derived from Chrysler, but I'm not familiar of the model.

The bottom of the packaging shows off the simplistic step by step transformation process.  Notice there aren't any directions for changing Chrysbot into a leg/foot for the combiner.

Chrysbot includes a combiner part, a hand gun and a decal sheet.  Did you notice anything off about this picture?  Scroll up back to the first image.  I'll wait a second.  The combiner piece packaged behind my Chrysbot is red, not blue.  This makes me wonder if all the parts come in different colors.  The mystery continues!

It's easy to see that Racetron here (if that is his name) surely isn't comparable to a G1 Transformers combiner or even the Go-Bot's Puzzler.  The chest and waist pieces completely cover up two of the robots.  Talking about cheating!  And the head...that looks more alien than it does robotic.  While I'd love to complete the combiner, it's not one that I'd showcase in my Ikea display cabinet!

One of the biggest mysterious behind this release is the manufacturer.  I have a loose version of the toy and it is completely devoid of markings.  All I can find is the 1985 copyright info.  Now what U.M. stands for is beyond me.  All my Google searches lead to no where, even for John Stanley Industries.  I'd love to hear if anyone out there knows more about the background of the Racetron toys.

  

I acquired my loose Chrysbot before I found the carded version, so unless I can find the other 5 with their combiner parts I'm leaving the carded one sealed.

  

The vehicle itself looks nice, but without any paint apps or stickers its very plain and boring.  Part of the grill is chromed along with the outer border of the wheels.  The wheels themselves are a hard plastic with little notches.  Wouldn't a sports car like this have smooth tires?  The plastic used for the toy is light and feels very cheap.  The die-cast metal is solid, but the legs are loose on mine so the front part of the car wants to flop around unless it's sitting on all 4 wheels.

  

Excuse the dust!

When it comes to robot mode...let's just say I've seen better.  The head pulls up and out from the front car's grill, the arms pop out - fairly normal.  The legs split in half and then rotate up and around.  I mentioned the waist on mine is extremely loose, making the legs floppy.  With the die-cast being on the top half of the figure, it makes the toy top heavy.  Combine with a loose waist and he wants to lean forward quite a bit.

The little square you see on his crotch can be folded back behind the robot, but the instructions show it as-is.

The robot's head is thin, flat and plain ugly.  Some black paint was slapped onto the toy for the eyes.  There is no mouth to speak of, just a slight indentation where a mouth should be.

  

The combiner's foot is made by rotating the legs around and flipping the front of the car outwards.  That square metal crotch piece folds out and forms a heel.  Simple design, but it works.  The legs are essentially hollow, yet there are some marks in the cavity where you can tell an outside combiner piece attaches.  This monstrosity of a combiner really has me intrigued and I'll be searching for the other members to hopefully one day assemble this guy.

All in all I find this toy fascinating.  Is it for everyone?  Hard to say.  I scales well with Go-Bots, Convertors, Convert-A-Bots and other similar transforming toys, so if you are a fan of those other lines like myself the you may just yet enjoy the Racetron toys.  Good luck finding them though, they aren't easy to find on the secondary market.