Super GoBots
Super GoBots were an assortment released in the GoBots and later Robo Machine toylines. They were typically between 5-6 inches tall in robot mode and featured a mix of plastic and diecast.
While Super Gobots ran for all three series of the line each year's figures had a distinct and separate origin. The first series were drawn from the Machine Robo DX/ScaleRobo DX sub-series of Machine Robo. As Super Gobots most would become infamous - firstly as most had the head formed from the passenger compartment, which jibed with the humanoid robot aesthetic that had become the norm in American robot toys and then secondly because of the fragility caused by their thin diecast skeletons and chromed arms. While their unconventional looks are appreciated by enthusiasts how the odd looks and easy breakages did little for the line's reputation at the time.
The second series used the Big Machine Robo figures, which nominally featured larger versions of figures produced in the 600 series. Two were direct upsizings and released as such by Tonka, becoming the Super Gobots Cy-Kill and Leader-1, while the Big Shuttle Robo was issued as a larger version of Spay-C despite featuring a completely different transformation and robot mode. The other two were issued as new characters; the Super GoBots version of Staks omitted the Japanese release's trailer, which was instead released as the Staks Transport set - also released with Super GoBots branding..
The third series were all exclusive to the Western lines and were commissioned by Tonka, though one - Vamp - was a scaled-up version of an extant figure and again marketed as such. Like the Secret Riders and Dread Launchers the third series saw a belated step-up in quality of packaging too, featuring brief biographies on the back and including both a catalogue-style poster checklist and a subscription form for the GoBots Magazine.
Numbering[edit | edit source]
Like the standard GoBots ,the Super GoBots featured a numbering system on their packaging. However it made even less sense, the first series arbitrarily starting at 025 and counting up to 030, overlapping with the numbers of the regular figures. The second series then moved forward, starting from 020 through to 024 and adding 031, but the third series just continued from the third, covering 032 to 038. Why exactly any of this was done is unclear.
Toys[edit | edit source]
GoBots[edit | edit source]
Series 1[edit | edit source]
026
Zeemon
027
Herr Fiend
028
Bug Bite
029
Destroyer
030
Psycho
Series 2[edit | edit source]
Series 3[edit | edit source]
032
Throttle
033
Raizor
034
Vamp
035
Super Couper
036
Spy-Eye
037
Clutch
038
Night Fright
Europe[edit | edit source]
While most of the ScaleRobo DX figures had been issued in Europe already in 1984 as the DX Robo Machine/Robo Machine DX figures, Bandai's attempt to make a greater connection between Robo Machine and Challenge of the GoBots saw a selection of the Scale Robo and Big Machine Robo figures issued in 1985 with the Super GoBot logo printed on the front of the boxes, with the entire third series following in 1986. Both groups featured some variations but used the American names. The European releases were not numbered and featured all-new box art.
