Convert-A-Bots: Sporty Sedan

One of the things that I enjoy most about having this blog is discovering and sharing toys that are at least new to me. Of course this means I have bought a few things for the sake of the blog, but today's topic is one that I gladly jumped on.

While I try not to get too distracted in my collecting, choosing to focus on primarily Transformers, sometimes I can't help to wander over into the realm of generic transforming robots. We all know of Go-Bots, but what about some of the other similar scaled transforming toy lines. While doing some research on a little die-cast transforming truck I got awhile back, I discovered a small line of transforming toys created by a company called Village Toys. Trying to find some background info on Village Toys hasn't turned up much, but color me intrigued.

Turns out these Convert-A-Bots can be found pretty easily on the secondary market, however it seems a lot of people mistaken them for Go-Bots or Convertors or even Zybots. I was surprised that I found a carded specimen. He didn't stay sealed for very long though...

The packaging actually lists these as Mini Convert-A-Bots and as you can tell from the very generic back. the various toys in the series are called different things. Those Pow-R-Bots look very familiar. I'm sure my mom bought me one of those from Revco (and old local drug store) back in the day.

This is really all I know about the manufacturer. They were based out of Illinois and apparently a division of a company called J Shin Corporation. All of my Google searches bring up for Village Toys are of dolls surprisingly. Really surprised to see these were made in Korea and not in China. Seems like everything comes from China these days!

The packaging is very non-descript. I could gander and say the red grid background was used to cash off the early success of Transformers, but this release predates Transformers by at least a year so that isn't the case. Packaged in robot mode, you can see a small sticker sheet included behind the robot. Notice there isn't an official name for this robot.

There we go, freed from his plastic and cardboard prison where he has spent the last 31 years! Hard to believe this toy is that old. Out of the package I was surprised at how sturdy he felt. The die-cast metal used for the chest is very solid and the paint seems of good quality. Obviously the silver paint applications to the face are a bit sloppy, but that doesn't surprise me at all. Plastic feels light, but not too cheap. Wheels are actually rubber...or something that resembles rubber. They aren't rubbery soft, but they aren't hard like the wheels on a Hot Wheels car. The two factory applied stickers seem to be holding on very well.

  

  

There aren't any included instructions on how to transform the toy from robot to car, but then again if you need instructions you may just want to put the toy down now and walk away. I'm not a huge car guy so I can't really make out what make or model this car is supposed to be, so I'll just refer to it as a sporty sedan.

The almost glittery dark grey plastic looks nice in person. The car features a translucent plastic windshield, side windows and a sun roof. The back windows are molded into the body of the car and sadly they lack any paint apps. The front grill and wheels are made of a silver painted chrome like plastic. If you look carefully it's almost like some of the wheels are either too big or too small for the tires...or is it the other way around? The car rolls freely on a hard, smooth surface. The molded car interior's blue plastic works well with the dark color of the car.

The included sticker sheet has black window stickers along with some stickers that most likely are to be applied to the bottom of each side of the car. I was going to labeled this review as Soarer based on the stickers, but officially I don't think he has a name. I almost applied the stickers, but after 30 years I wasn't sure if they would even stick to the toy.

Overall this is a pretty cool little transforming car. It's very easy to see how he could be mistaken for a Go-Bot or another similar toy. There aren't any distinguishing markings on the toy, so I don't know if Village Toys created the mold for this toy or simply "borrowed" it from another company. I fear the latter may be the case as the little truck I have is from this same line, but is nearly identical to a truck from Select's Convertors line of toys.

If you are a fan of the small Hot Wheels size transforming toys then I think you would like this, however to most collectors this would be a throw away novelty at best. For me however, it finds a nice little spot in my odd-ball collection of transforming robot toys.