Martial Arts Robo

From GoBots Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

The Martial Arts Robo were an assortment of figures in the Machine Robo and Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos toylines, released by Bandai in Japan.

MartialArtsRoboToys.jpg

The figures did not conventionally transform. Instead they consisted of a vehicle 'shell' that opened to reveal a non-converting robot around the same size as a Machine Robo Series toy, while the shell could fold away and be to form a backpack. In a way they were a bit like Pretenders, though the inner robots were considerably more poseable, if less integrated with the shell. Each inner figure was styled after the uniform associated with a certain martial art, hence the name of the range; for the period the inner robots possess superlative articulation, with turning heads and waists and four moving joints on each limb, enabling them to effectively mimic many of the moves of the martial art they were designed after. Three Martial Arts Robo were produced in April 1986, towards the end of the original Machine Robo toyline. These were reissued and joined by three new designs for the Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos line, where all six were assigned to the Cronos Tribe. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering their strangeness, the figures were not issued outside of Japan.

Toys[edit | edit source]

Machine Robo[edit | edit source]

Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

TVLandMartialArtsRobo.jpg
  • The original plan was for the Martial Arts Robo to be conventional transforming figures with the robot modes styled after martial arts uniforms; concepts of these got well underway and it would seem at least three got to some sort of hardcopy prototype stage as photographs appeared in TV Land. However, at some point these were scrapped and reworked, possibly to make the figures more articulated. Sadly Sumo Robo got lost in the shuffle; presumably even after reworking the nature of sumo wrestling meant he would struggle to fit into the same play pattern as the other Martial Arts Robo.