draco x wrote:Does anyone remember Go-Bots by the way? That crappy cartoon made me appreciate the Transformers franchise even more-even though Go-Bots came first.
I guess it all depends on how far back you go. Tonka's Gobots line was based mostly on Bandai's Machine Robo line in Japan. That started in 1982 and was ported over here as Gobots in 1983 but I think saw more widespread release in 1984.
Hasbro's Transformers was based mostly off of Takara's Diaclone Car-Robots line in Japan. These toys began to be released in 1982 and were ported over here as Transformers in 1984.
Both lines changed the theme of the toyline in similar ways. In Japan, these robots were piloted by humans while the Gobots and Transformers were both living aliens split into good and evil factions. I know this is chicken/ egging things but the TOYS are about the same age. It's only their American release that differs and I wonder how much the riffed off each other and what was just serendipity.
I like some of the Gobot toys, though. They could have used more poseability but so could the G1 Transformers. Leader-1 and Cy-Kill were pretty awesome little toys.