PLEX

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PlexLogo.gif

PLEX or Plex is a Japanese design company, the successor to Popy. While nominally an independent company they have been part of Bandai Namco Holdings throughout their history, and have designed basically any Bandai toy you'd care to mention - including nearly all of Machine Robo in its' many incarnations (the only exceptions being two electronic toys licenced from Galoob; even the other retooled and repurposed figures such as Baikanfu or Pro Truck Racer had been designed by Popy or PLEX) and thus the majority of GoBots and Rock Lords (excepting those created by Tonka).

History[edit | edit source]

The company's roots began when the Popy Planning Office Company was set up in 1981. When Popy was merged back into Bandai in 1983 it effectively became Bandai's in-house design workshop. In 1985 it was renamed Studio PLEX and then in 1990 simply PLEX. At around this time the studio's name began appearing on the packaging, paperwork and copyright stamps for the Bandai toys the studio designed.

Toylines[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

RoboWheels.jpg
  • Among their other work, PLEX also designed the 2001 Hot Wheels Robo Wheels series as part of a collaboration between Bandai and Mattel. The line consisted of Hot Wheels vehicles that opened up to reveal innards that transformed into robots, similar to Matchbox's 1980s line Parasites. The figures were initially planned to also be a new iteration of Machine Robo in Japan but that plan was abandoned and only the Western version came out.

External Links[edit | edit source]