Machine Robo, Revenge of Cronos: Steam Robo #10

Ever since Action Toys first launched their "masterpiece" like series of Machine Robo toys in 2015 (?) based on the Revenge of Cronos anime, I've been wanting to pick up a few if for no other reason than being curious.

While I've moved on from the larger, more complex designs and transformations of Takara Tomy's Masterpiece Transformers, the smaller scale of these new Machine Robo figures better fit into my collecting style. I've always been fond of the original MR/GoBots toys so it's not like I'm entering this new line completely blind.

Steam Robo isn't my first Action Toys Machine Robo purchase, he is the first one that I actually opened! Yeah, I've got a bad habit of sitting on new purchases for way too long. Anyhow, Steam Robo is the 10th figure released in the line and up until recently when the line had new life breathed into it, this locomotive was the last figure released for awhile. 

Fans outside of Japan probably recognize this guy as Loco, one of the Renegades in the GoBots series. I am amazed at how much Steam Robo looks like the source material, yet sleek and modern. The stickers on Loco have been replaced with nice paint apps and are an exact match, down to the D-5147 designation on the chest.

Where Loco was short and basically a brick, Steam Robo now stands taller, thinner and is packed with articulation. The head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, thighs, knees and feet all feature some sort of articulation. I've never been the best at poses figures (for photography or not), but as you can see above Steam Robo is putting Loco in his place.

At first the transformation from robot to locomotive gave me fits, but once I figured it out it was a thing of beauty. I'm especially impressed at how the legs unfold to form the sides of the locomotive. The figure stays together quite well in this form and is rather solid. The die-cast metal wheels roll freely across any hard, smooth surface. The level of detail sculpted into the figure, especially in this form is very impressive. 

I'm very impressed with Steam Robo, so much that as soon as I was done fiddling around with him that I opened Bike Robo (Cy-Kill) immediately. You could tell how far the engineering has come since the earlier releases. If this foreshadows some of the coming figures (Buggy Robo, Blue Jet) we are in for a treat. Steam Robo comes highly recommended...however he does command nearly doubled what he originally retailed for.

Rock Lords: Narliebat

Rock Lords, a spin-off of GoBots, was a series of transforming rocks. Yes, you read that correctly. If that wasn't odd enough Tonka decided to create companions for them, Narlies. These odd creatures were prominently featured in the animated Rock Lords movie.

Unlike the rest of the Rock Lord toys that were basically created by Bandai / Popy and imported from the Machine Robo series in Japan, the Narlies were wholly unique and created by Tonka themselves. This wasn't an unusual move as they previous released new characters and toys in the GoBots series as well.

The toys were unique. Covered in different colored "fur", their mouths, tail and feet were all made of plastic. Underneath the toy was a large wheel. When you would push the toy across a smooth hard surface, the mouth would open and close and the tail would essentially "wag". Add to this that the toy wasn't full of stuffing underneath all that fur. As you would move it along the ground, you could feel the mechanism working inside. This would give it a feeling as if it were alive! There was also a noise the wheel would make when turned...almost a cranking sound.

The Narlies were released in two series', with the first being the more common. The second series contained four more Narlies, all being evil this time around. I'm guessing the toy line was starting to die out around this time and due to poor sales or distribution, this second series of Narlies is really difficult to come across now on the secondary market. It's a real shame too as the designs are much more interesting in my opinion than the ones in the first series.

Narliebat is based on, well, a bat. The toy surprisingly has a good bit of detail. Just look at the ears, mouth and the wings on his side. While most of the detail is in the molding, his nails and wings are highlighted with some pink paint applications. Being that this toy is over 20 years old and most likely played with by a kid at some point, the paint on mine does show some wear. The very tip of his tail has been snapped off, however with all the fur it's kind of hard to tell. 

I understand that not every Rock Lord fan likes the Narlies. At first I didn't care for them myself either, but as I started to round out my Rock Lords collection I found that the Narlies were some of the only toys that I didn't own. I only picked up a few, including Narlielion, before I stopped due to space restrictions. However they are fun little toys and the non-educated Rock Lord fans will most certainly ask you about them when they see them on display in your collection.

Gobots: Re-Volt (Dread Launchers)

Towards the end of the Gobots series of toys come the Dread Launchers. Released in 1987 and made exclusively for the Western market, these Bandai designed toys seem to be veyr polarizing in the Gobots community. I personally love the idea behind the Dread Launchers and like the toys, but then again I take my online name (and avatar) from one of the Transformers Duocons! The whole gimmick with Dread Launchers is that you have two robots pieces that come together and form a large, 8 inch tall robot. It's basically Tonka's version of Hasbro's Duocons (Transformers).

Re-Volt is comprised of a robotic hawk and a landing pad...I think. It's hard to tell and at least in my opinion it's left to your own imagination as to what this vehicle thing is supposed to be. There is clearly a landing pad area as shown w/ the gray/yellow circle outline sticker. There are wheels sculpted into the sides however to give you the idea that it can be transported. Could you call it a crawler or a transporter, as in what carries and moves a space shuttle?

The two pieces are made with a combination of plastic and die-cast metal. It's made well and my specimen has held up well for nearly being a 30 year old toy.

I'm not really sure why a robot hawk would need a crawler, but here you go. There are two tabs on the landing pad area that connect to the holes in the bottom of the hawk's legs/feet. This allows the hawk to attach to the crawler and keep it intact as you move the crawler around. There are some small, hard plastic wheels on the bottom that allow the crawler to move.

Transforming each piece into it's portion of the robot mode is rather easy, especially the crawler. The bird becomes to top half of the robot. The bird head folds back to reveal the waist connector piece, Fold down the tail feathers and wings and you're ready to attach to the bottom section.

The crawler is basically transformed already. Rotate the cockpit forward, stand it up and flip down the feet. You'll see a set of tabs in the middle of the waist area, allowing you to clip on the top half.

While I like the overall look of the robot, I do agree with many Gobot fans that this is an odd combination and I can see how it's not for everyone. The wings are still poseable in robot form, however the wings are in their default position as you can see above. The figure has some articulation in the shoulders, elbows and hips. The movement is limited, but again for a 30 year old toy it's not bad. The hands are the bird claws and they can open and close as you see fit.

Re-Volt is quite large when compared to a standard size Gobot. It scales a little better against a Super Gobot, but either way any of the 3 Dread Launchers are going to stand out in a Gobots display. These toys aren't for everyone, however I like them. Re-Volt is probably the weakest of the three, so if you are curious about these toys my suggestion is pick up Chaos or maybe Traitor. Be aware though that the Dread Launcher prices have increased on the secondary market in recent years. I can't see paying what Re-Volt's current price is, but to each their own.

Rock Lords: Narlielion

Rock Lords, a spin-off of GoBots, was a series of transforming rocks. Yes, you read that correctly. If that wasn't odd enough Tonka decided to create companions for them, Narlies. These odd creatures were prominently featured in the animated Rock Lords movie.

Unlike the rest of the Rock Lord toys that were basically created by Bandai / Popy and imported from the Machine Robo series in Japan, the Narlies were wholly unique and created by Tonka themselves. This wasn't an unusual move as they previous released new characters and toys in the GoBots series as well.

The toys were unique. Covered in different colored "fur", their mouths, tail and feet were all made of plastic. Underneath the toy was a large wheel. When you would push the toy across a smooth hard surface, the mouth would open and close and the tail would essentially "wag". Add to this that the toy wasn't full of stuffing underneath all that fur. As you would move it along the ground, you could feel the mechanism working inside. This would give it a feeling as if it were alive! There was also a noise the wheel would make when turned...almost a cranking sound.

The Narlies were released in two series', with the first being the more common. The second series contained four more Narlies, all being evil this time around. I'm guessing the toy line was starting to die out around this time and due to poor sales or distribution, this second series of Narlies is really difficult to come across now on the secondary market. It's a real shame too as the designs are much more interesting in my opinion than the ones in the first series.

Narlielion is based on, well, a lion. The toy surprisingly has a good bit of detail. Just look at his snout, chin and those sharp teeth! He even is sculpted in a way that it looks like he is about to pounce. While most of the detail is in the molding, his teeth and nails are highlighted with some pink paint applications. Being that this toy is over 20 years old and most likely played with by a kid at some point, the paint on mine does show some wear. However it's been a cool conversation piece in my collection for years.

I understand that not every Rock Lord fan likes the Narlies. At first I didn't care for them myself either, but as I started to round out my Rock Lords collection I found that the Narlies were some of the only toys that I didn't own. I only picked up a few, including Narliebat, before I stopped due to space restrictions. However they are fun little toys and the non-educated Rock Lord fans will most certainly ask you about them when they see them on display in your collection.

Machine Robo DX: Volkswagon 1303S Beetle

Growing up in the 80's I was familiar with the Tonka's Gobots line. While I had a few of the toys as a kid, I never owned many of the larger, Deluxe sized Gobots. One of the early releases was a yellow Volkwagon Beetle, Bugbite. I always found this odd since Transformers had their own yellow Volkswagon Beetle too, Bumblebee. I'm not sure which one came first as both toys have a history that traces back to Japan.

Recently I had the opportunity to purchase a very reasonably priced boxed specimen of the Super GoBot that would go on to be known as Bugbite. I couldn't pass it up and I'm glad I didn't. I'm told that this is the German release of the Machine Robo release. Bandai had partners all over Asia to help distribute their products so it makes sense that Germany would want to help get one of their products into as many hands as possible.

While the condition of the box shows some wear, it doesn't detract too much from the overall beauty of the packaging layout. I love the back of the box. The glossy wire grid type pictures of the car and robot against a flat black background looks nice. I'm not sure what the significance of the number in the lower right hand corner is.

For a toy nearly 30 years old, this thing is beautiful! Now I've always been partial to the old VW Beetle body style, but this is a very cool looking toy in vehicle mode. Made of die-cast metal with real rubber tires, this isn't a cheaply made toy.

 

Turns out there is a little bit of chrome wear to the front and rear bumpers, but other than that this specimen is near mint. The side decals, the VW logo decal on the roof and the license plate all look brand new.

The only included accessory is chromed double barrel gun that clips over the front windshield. This mostly fits via a friction connection. This can also be used in robot mode as you'll see later.

I tried to capture the marking stamp underneath the toy the best I could. 1984 Bandai, Popy. This also reassured me that this is an official release and not some knock off.

   

For such a compact vehicle as the VW Beetle, the robot mode is fairly tall. It measures near 8 inches tall. I wish I had thought to do a few comparison pictures. I was never too keen with these "Super GoBots" using the cab of the vehicle as the head of the robot, but the look is starting to grow on me a bit. I didn't point it out earlier, but here you can see a little chromed man sitting in the driver's seat.

Transformation is pretty straight forward. Pull the legs down from the body and rotate the back wheel wells 180 degrees. The arms are folded up just under the front of the vehicle. These fold outward, and then unfold the whole arm assembly. The cab of the vehicle separates from the body of the vehicle, allowing the front and rear sections to fold down respectively. The cab sits on a hinge that allows it to move forward into place as the robot's head.

The weapon attaches in the same manner in robot mode as it does in vehicle mode. I wish he could wield the weapon in his hand, but his little fork like hands just can hold the weapon. Overall I love this piece. I find this figure to be far more interesting than any version of Transformers' Bumblebee. I'm not sure I'll get another chance to add another pre-Super GoBots release into my collection, but I'm so glad this one "fell into my lap". Highly recommended, in any way you can pick it up.

Footnote. There is also a red version of this toy, but it was released in very small numbers and can command a big sum of money on the secondary market.

Gobots: Street Heat

I was never a fan of Gobots growing up, opting for Transformers of course. However as I grew older I started to appreciate many of Bandai's Machine Robo designs. There was a point in time where you could purchase new, sealed on card Gobots for just a few bucks. My how times have changed!

When I was a kid you didn't dare get caught in public with a Gobot, unless you actually liked being picked on! With today's collecting market it is acceptable for Gobot toys to be amongst your transforming robot collection. With this surge in popularity, the prices of loose toys has gone up as well. I don't usually actively search them out anymore, but if I find a good deal then I'll usually pull the trigger and snatch them up.

I may have had a few of the early Gobots growing up, but Street Heat was never one of those. As cool as Leader-1 was, I was always attracted to the cars. Blame it on the Autobots. Street Heat is one of the Guardians, otherwise a good guy. His alt form is that of a real world Chevrolet Camaro, modified for drag racing. Being a Chevy guy this one always appealed to me.

His red color has a touch of maroon putting it somewhere in the middle of bright and dark. His exposed engine and exhaust pipes underneath this doors are chromed. His windows are painted silver.

pic courtesy of Counter-X.net

In Japan as part of the Machine Robo series, Street Heat had a different paint scheme. I really like the blue on this mold. Even the flame stickers I can deal with. This is one I'd love to personally own someday.

Transformation to robot mode is achieved with just a few simple steps. Unlike some of the other Gobots, his transformation is a little more elaborate than just pulled out the legs and arms. Articulation wise he is limited, but I'm guessing most people know that. Overall he's got a good looking robot mode. Even his chromed head sculpt looks cool.

It seems that in today's market a good majority of loose Gobots command between $8 and $20. If you decide to go after him or any others, just make sure you inspect the photos well as the die-cast can tend to make some of the joints loose over time. Also many of the toys had chromed parts to make sure you pay attention to chrome wear as well as sticker and paint wear. I actually upgraded my Street Heat with this version as my previous one had some noticeable chips to the gray paint on the windshield.

...waiting for the green flag to drop!

eBay store fully restocked!

Every year I've tried to list some goodies on eBay the week of Thanksgiving. Well this year I was a little later to the party than usual, but as of today I've loaded up my eBay store with new Transformers figures, TF parts, Marvel Legends figures & Build-A-Figure parts and lots, lots more. In fact I've listed so many items I ran out of my free listings I get w/ my eBay store subscription, so more new items will be added next week. Some of the items were listed via auction format, but the majority are new stock that will remain in the store until they are sold.

Items of interest include an empty Energon Wing Saber box and even his hard to find pair of missiles! Several cheap Unicron Trilogy figures and Mini-Cons added too. Transformers aren't your style? Then I've got a few loose Gobots up for grabs and I've got the hard to find and equally awesome GI Joe Sigma 6 figure, Lockdown, on auction. In the Marvel section you'll find a few new Marvel Legends and a few BAF parts and even a few of the Disney Vinylmation figurines. I've also re-listed several loose M.A.S.K. figures and a few vintage Masters of the Universe figures and accessories. To round things out you'll also find a few Mattel WWE figures and some of those Funko Mystery Mini Walking Dead vinyl figures.

As always, you can find a link to the store in the sidebar to the right, or just click here! I ship fast, most cases the same day as long as payment is made by 12 noon to 1 pm! Find that item to fill someone's stocking or just grab something for yourself.

Rock Lords: Marbles

Being a huge fan of Transformers one might think I also like or at least had a lot of GoBot toys as a kid too.  Wrong.  While I remember having a few GoBots, I never cared for them as a kid.  Today as an adult, I found a certain appreciation for the toys, especially knowing the history of the toy line from Japan.  So while I didn't have many GoBots, I did have several Rock Lords.

Yes, Rock Lords.  "Robots" that turned into living rocks.  Even back then I caught flak from some of my friends for having Rock Lords.  That still hasn't changed.  I don't care, I still love the toy line and I'm getting ever closer to completing the line.

  

Marbles is the last of the "regular" Rock Lord characters that I needed.  He hailed from the second series, hence the reason why I probably never had him as a kid.  Marbles made an appearance in the GoBots versus the Rock Lords movie and oddly enough he was shown featuring psychic powers.  Marbles rock type is that of Cristobalite.  In Japan he is known as Mask Rock.

While most of the Rock Lord characters have very interesting designs, Marbles here just looks freakin' weird.  His face looks like a sketch of something that could've been found in Roswell, NM.  His head as a while reminds me a lot of this guy:

For the comic reading challenged, that is The Leader from Marvel Comics.  He is one of the Hulk's adversaries.  See the resemblance?

I almost skipped over the listing for Marbles as the pictures in the auction just showed the figure itself.  After reading the description carefully I saw that the seller forgot to include his weapon in the pictures.  Glad I'm not the only one that happens too!  Most of the weapons for the Rock Lord toys are goofy looking, but I like Marbles' gun.  Even better I like how he "holds" it.  With his arms being molded on the inside of the rock, he can't wield a weapon in the traditional way.  Located on the top and bottom of his hands however are two small peg holes.  These peg holes allow for his weapon to clip in and gives the appearance that Marbles is holding his weapon.

While Marbles is far from my favorite Rock Lord, I'm glad to have finally got a complete specimen for my collection.  Getting him for $6 was just the icing on the cake.