By Rob Bricken in
Daily Lists, Toys
Monday, Feb. 16 2009 @ 5:04AM
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Like any success story, the Transformers toys have led to countless imitators. Back in the '80s, when Hasbro's robots in disguise were in the first height of popularity, the Autobots and Decepticons filled the good aisle at Toys R Us...but walk around to the next aisle over, and you would find all the weird, off-brand toys that were made to cash in on popular trends and were most likely D.T.O. (Destined To Obscurity). The numerous robot toylines that magically sprung up in the mid-1980s after Transformers hit it big could fill a book, but here are the 10 most excellent examples of toylines that tried to rip off Transformers and failed miserably.
10) GoBots
Before any of you 8 hardcore GoBots go into a nerd rage and slam your mouse cursor into the comment button, hear me out. I know that Transformers and GoBots debuted at about the same time and neither one can truly be said to have ripped off the other. Tonka's GoBots managed to last a respectable amount of time on toy shelves but it was eclipsed by the success of its main competitor. Perhaps it was because Transformers had more compelling fiction and more larger, sturdier toys than Gobots' main line of Hot Wheels-sized characters. Whatever the case, Tonka had to do something to compete and tried, in its own way, to emulate the play features which brought success to Transformers. After Hasbro hit it big with combiner teams like the Constructicons, Aerialbots and Stunticons, GoBots tried the concept with Puzzler, Monsterous and Power Suits. GoBots also released larger, deluxe versions of many characters that were closer in scale to most Transformers. Alas, GoBots vanished off store shelves in 1987, while Transformers in some form have remained to the present day. In a later indignity, Tonka was bought out by Hasbro. The GoBots live on somewhat in occasional homage toys in the Transformers line and as cannonfodder troops in a few Transformers comics.
9) Robo Force
Ideal's Robo Force was another awesome, short-lived toyline that copied the idea of two factions of robot warriors battling each other. The fat, cylindrical robots didn't transform, but featured suction cups instead of legs, arms that waved around when you pressed a button, and various hidden weapons and other gimmicks. They also had some cool vehicles and bases. The biggest celebrity from Robo Force was Maxx Steele (no, not the hero from early-2000's CGI series Max Steel), the leader of the good guys, who was also available in a larger scale as an actual, working robot that every kid on the planet desired. Give Transformers all the credit they deserve, but Hasbro never gave kids an Optimus Prime that could walk around their homes and serve drinks.
8) Convertors
Most boys in the 1980s had at least one mysterious transforming robot in their collection they knew wasn't a Transformer or a GoBot, but had no idea to which toyline it belonged. These figures were usually given as presents by cheap and/or clueless relatives because they knew we liked Transformers and thought any robot that could turn into a car would do. For many of us, these toys usually became the less famous, nameless denizens of Cybertron. There's a good chance that some of those mysterious robots were Convertors. Although they had no comic book or cartoon to depict their battles, there were over 30 Convertors toys released and they sported some nifty designs that often had a crazier aesthetic than the Transformers. And they went places Transformers didn't touch, like having robots that turned into slot machines. The Convertors licensed some designs from Bandai just like was done for Transformers, meaning some of the toys looked eerily like the Deluxe Autobots, Deluxe Insecticons and Jetfire. Convertors even had knock-offs made of them!
7) Zybots
Those unknown Transformers in your collection also might have been Remco's Zybots. While somewhat GoBot-like, they had unique designs and features, like a fire truck that had a different robot on its front and back when transformed, and a very odd Zybot combiner.
6) Starriors
The Starriors were robots created in three different classes (Protectors, Guardians and Destructors) to protect a hibernating humanity, restore Earth and defend against potential alien invaders. But battle began among the robots when the Destructors revolted due to fear of being deactivated upon the return of humans. The toys were very cool, with parts that could be exchanged between robots and motorized features (which makes sense, since they were an offshoot of Zoids). Like Transformers, some of the toys were available in different color schemes as different characters. Also like Transformers, they had an awesome Marvel comic book. But the Starriors did not meet the same success, and this extremely cool and offbeat toyline was left in the dust of the deserts in which its robot warriors fought.
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Tags: Rip-Offs, Transformers
53 comments
Comments
The Clayba said:
Rock Lords ftw!!! I used these guys as little helper bots for my He-Man Comet Warriors. This brings back a lot of memories.
Crowley said:
I still have the Rock Lord on the far right in a closet somewhere with all my other abandoned toys.
Dep103 said:
I grew up to be a Geologist, and even I thought the Rock Lords were lame.
LAY said:
There was another line of... somethings. I don't think they were officially "Transformers", but they came out just before I aged out of interst in such things.
I had a blue Eagle (actual bird-like thing) that came with a sword and another one of my friends had a red bird thing and then I was jealous when some other douche we knew found a black Bat that had some cooler weapon...
Anyone else remember what these were? The "transformation" was fairly simple -- the head folded down into the chest and the legs swivelled around, leaving the wings on the back. I think they were all bird-like somethings.
Joe said:
anyone remember Gobots battles the Rock Lords movie?
LAY said:
I tracked them down -- just a line of "Converters" called Avarians. The red one was an owl.
Apparently there was also a Peacock... named "Feathers".
Anyway, the eagle with a sword was cool.
Sean said:
Money was tight as a kid, and I always ended up having the cheap offshoot variant knock off toyline because according to my parents the real toys took away from food, clothes, and rent. I remember trying so hard to convince my friends that Transformers were a flash in the pan and GoBots were the way to go. I never convinced them of that, but I think I convinced them that poor friends were annoying.
Bigdonkey1 said:
i love rock lords jsut for the sheer stupidity of the conept
J_strappe said:
Remco Zybots -- so THAT'S what they're called! I've had a cheap transforming space shuttle since forever, and I never knew what it was, besides the fact its maker was Remco.
Aaron said:
Ah... Machine Robo - uh, I mean, Go Bots. Let the nostalgia roll. And lets not forget the fact that they marketed the Legioss armo-fighter from Mospeada (the Alpha fighter from the third series of Robotech [the war with the Invid]) as a Leader 1 model and Yellow Belmont's Blowsperior ride armor for Cy-Kill. These were really difficult models, considering the fact that the average Go-Bots fan was what, 8 years old?
Matt said:
"Worst"??
I think you mean *Best* rip-offs.
m.
coconut Monkey said:
I totally had one Rock Lord and I loved him. I also had a Converter.
http://www.toyarchive.com/Convertors/Avarians.html
I had Calypso. I thought he was awesome. Now that I see him again, I can't believe I bragged about this toy.
Cap said:
Dude, I had a Rock Lord, he was gold though, and I don't see him in that pic. Sturdy little nugget, think I still
have it in a box somewhere.
soylent robot said:
CASH IS ONLY LOYAL TO THOSE WHO KEEP FEEDING HIM
Yakub Shabazz said:
Perhaps Hookorr hung out with Robo Tron's Trashtron, Dragtron and *shudder* Loadtron?
Anonymous said:
I had a lot more rock lords then I thought, thanks nostalgia bomb. Does any one remember the giant rocks that had teeth and the asteroid animals.
also I had the black square Mysterian as well as the blue one.
Kristopher said:
Man, I had Starriors, Rock Lords and both the awesomely lame Cash Register and Slot Machine bots!
I never realized how many spectacular offshoots I had growing up until this list....
chad said:
rock lords proved that the transformers rip off had run out of ideas. as for Gobots Roboforce and Starros hate to admit i had some of those lines . cool list proving that if a trend is hot sooner or later someone will want to get on the bandwagon and try to duplicate it
Bill said:
I loved the Starriors and Go-Bots! They were no replacement for Transformers, obviously, but they were great for unaffiliated residents of Cybertron...or Unicron chow. Heck, because of the scale, I even used the Starriors with my Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars toys!
Brion said:
Awesome robot nipples on Starriors, and the uni-nip in the back!
Skeletor said:
Lay,
I think I may have had one of these, too. Was there a black and silver bat? I tried looking for more info on the line, but my half assed search proved in vain.
Also, the starriors were awesome! Thanks for digging up the names on these. I used to have two or three...wish I still did. :|
67alecto said:
I still have that GoBots Puzzler set in the box w/ the instructions!
Guy.enigmatico said:
You forgot "Changeables!" (at least I think that was the name.)
They came with McDonalds Happy Meals and transformed into burgers & fries... I say transformed, they were actually just horrible plastic renditions of horrible plastic food that unfurled into vaguely humanoid shapes. Then they did a follow up with versions that changed into robot dinosaurs.
Combining Robots, Dinosaurs and McDonalds, you just know that was invented by a marketing firm...
Kid Nicky said:
That Convertor pinball machine "Tilt",was the fucking man. I got him for Christmas from my first grade teacher. Who cares if it's not a cartoon character,that was a great toy.
Some of these toys,like the Avarians,still have dollar store knockoffs even today!
Xanthippas said:
Before any of you 8 hardcore GoBots go into a nerd rage and slam your mouse cursor into the comment button, hear me out.
Good thing you started that out that way, because I saw GoBots and was drafting my comment in my head before I even finished reading the first sentence. My defensiveness might be due to the fact that I trashed Transformers as being "way less awesome" than GoBots and confidently predicted failure for Transformers. Sadly, my predictive powers are as effective now as they were when I was 10.
Trism said:
Robotix would have made a good contribution here, even though they had one 'movie' to their name =o)
I remember the GoBots vs Rock Lords movie! My granddad got it for for my birthday because he thought it would tide me over til I got the Transformers Movie =oD And I had one of the Rock Lord toys as well, and I can see him in the picture in the article! lol
Alan Bryan said:
I had a lot of action figures and toys on top of my work locker at my previous job and someone gave me two Rock Lords only until today I didn't KNOW they were Rock Lords.
Thanks topless robot for clearing that mystery up.
Oh, I had the jade one and the maroon one.
Skeletor said:
Update: I can't read, apparently. My question was answered in two previous posts, one with visuals. I suck at life.
Kevin said:
D'OH, totally forgot Changeables! Those were hilarious. I love the thought that some poor Transformers ignorantly took on the form of McDonalds meals to hide in human society, blissfully unaware of their horrible fate.
Gargamel The Alchemist said:
What about Z-Bots?!?!?! They were my favorite and ive been reading since september hoping for some mention and they still havent shown up! At least you mentioned the Tick the other day.
Arcane said:
I totally forgot about rocks 'n Bugs 'n Things! I loved those things, I used to collect other kids Mordles.
Kevin said:
I think I always associated Z-Bots more with M.U.S.C.L.E. and Micro-Machines, and they came out after G1 Transformers ended. There were cool as hell, though.
NeoXorn said:
How come the McDonals' Food Changeables are NOT in the list?
It should be Number 1 and Rock Lords only 2.
Jack of all games said:
Even though Yakub Shabazz already commented on it, I couldn't stop laughing when I saw "Loadtron" in the Robo Tron picture.
I can now envision a Transformers Fan Fiction Friday with Arcee getting Hot Rod's.. erm 'hot rod' to blow it's loadtron all over her face.
Big Bad Booty Daddy said:
Remember when Masters of the universe copied the rock lords. They had Rokkon and Stonedar and the meteorbs.
Even He-man was trying to stay relevent by going transformer.
KevinGarcia said:
Wow... I can't believe I owned RoboForce... I had totally blocked that out until I saw them here... those freaky bendy arms and the nonsensical armor designs... classic!
LBD "Nytetrayn" said:
Matt> "Worst"??
I think you mean *Best* rip-offs.
If that were the case, the list should be backwards.
As for me, I've developed a newfound appreciation of the GoBots, having learned more of their origins (and I don't mean Machine Robo) which I remained ignorang of as a kid. I'd love to see the characters given the TransFormer Universe treatment (since the molds' rights are held by Bandai), and a reboot of the fiction.
But give Leader-1 and Cy-Kill their alternate colors.
--LBD "Nytetrayn"
Nick Ahlhelm said:
I remember using that yellow box Mysterian as a fix-it droid with my Transformers quite a bit. Honestly, he was a better figure than Ratchet anyway...
Oh, and Nugget from Rock Lords was by far my favorite toy when I was a kid. I don't know if it helped that he was a robot or shiny or what, but he was the only Rock Lord that was cool.
Hypersapien said:
I remember having a couple converters. One was a pinball table, and the other was a roulette table. I think they actually worked. Had little BBs inside them.
Anonymous said:
I had Nugget as well, still do somewhere. And thank you for mentioning the Mysterians! I had the little black sphere dude and I beat the hell out of him. Awesome.
Also, either McDonald's or Burger King did at one point have little toys that transformed from vehicles into robots. I had a race car and a space ship. They mostly ended up as cannon fodder for the Autobots.
Eek! The Cat said:
Fuck me sideways, I used to have rex, he'd swoop down on the unsuspecting citizens of my lego/plamobile town and devastate everything in sight like some angry jehovah's witness jesus, "no mercy for the weak" I'd shriek in my best eagle voice. Afterwards, a cookie and a nap. Good times...
Alvie said:
Wow, I had no idea that Wall-E's semi-retarded grandfather was in the Mysterians... thats swell!
Zach Oat said:
We interviewed the Robo-Force creators for ToyFare, and if I remember correctly, they debuted the toys at the same Toy Fair where Transformers debuted, and they kind of got blindsided by it. So not really a knockoff, so much as really unfortunate timing. I could be remembering wrong. Starriors are a total rip-off, though. Not play-wise, but definitely story-wise.
Kevin said:
Zach, I think the stars aligned that year to bring about the trend of robot toy fiction. While Robo Force might not have in reality been a Transformers rip-off, it unfortunately ended up appearing that way. Most of the toys on this list were good toys that deserved a better shot, but got eclipsed. The truth (as many of you likely know) is that robots toys (including transforming ones) were popular for years in Japan, so Transformers and GoBots and others had been developed long before their debut in the U.S., and later were imported.
newave said:
OMG thank you so much Topless robot. I've been trying to find out what the Rocks & Bugs & Thingstoyline was called. I freaking loved them as a kid and never seen any online material on them.
Also the only cool Rocklord was the gold one.
Titanis walleri said:
Heh, I think I've still got that square black Rock Lord guy somewhere...
ThatToyDude said:
Toy Hell.com has probably the most eye searing,poorly excused and most nightmare enhancing color schemes I have seen in a long time regarding transformer-ish knock-offs.Speaking for myself only,I have a few knock offs that are made of highly durable plastic and a green tank with die cast feet that i enjoy a lot.
ThatToyGuy said:
I've seen far worse knockoffs at toyhell.com
With memorable names as Transfornables and Animizers
The horrible "toys" will never cease to astound me.
chris24jc said:
Don't forget the girly offshoots?
Anyone remember Sweet Secrets? Little jem transformers with life-sized accessories that turned into their playsets / vehicles / houses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVUxMJn27Ss
Or even Wish World Kids? the dolls with transforming playsets! Wanna go bowling? Just open up the grandfather clock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxwwjlITPoc
I had my Transformers and Go-bots, my sister had these.
chris24jc said:
Oh yea, and don't forget that Battle Beasts had cool transforming playsets! Fire Eagle, Wood Beetle, and Water Shark.
: )
Hell, I was such a transforming sucker, I even loved the Micro Machine transforming playsets... sigh... too bad I have to be so picky now.
SteveFox said:
I had most of the changables, and still display the burger/dinosaur one on my riffraff shelf.
Also, i hope someone will recognize what im about to ramble about:
Whenever my grandmother (guardian) would take me to get immunized as a young young child, she always had a knockoff transformer in her purse to sooth my traumatized soul. These knockoffs were EGGS that opened up on hinges to reveal parts that could fold out into bodyparts. Then you folded the egg back up and the shell formed the torso of a Trex or some other creature.
Anybody know what the hell im talking about?
gee money said:
The Transformers idea itself is a rip off of the Japanese Gundam series which ran from 1979 tillpresent.
Nate Winchester said:
I can't believe it but reading through this, I identified some old toys of mine that I never knew the origin of.
Now I know I had 1 Mysterian and 1 Rock Lord. Thanks Topless Robot!
