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Revision as of 02:04, 23 August 2006 by Prodego (talk | contribs) (restore correct version)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 1984 TV series or program| Challenge of the GoBots | |
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| Starring | Keone Young Brock Peters Rob Paulsen Rene Auberjonois Ike Eisenmann Candy Brown Houston Phil Hartman Frank Welker Gail Matthius B.J.Ward Soon-Teck Oh Peter Cullen |
| No. of episodes | 66 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Original release | |
| Release | September 8, 1984 |
Challenge of the GoBots (also known as Mighty Machine Men) is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, based on the toy-line released from Tonka. Most of the toys were imported from the Japanese toy line Machine Robo.
Animated series
The show is similar in theme to Hasbro's more popular Transformers series. GoBots dealt with two opposing forces of transforming robots from the planet Gobotron: the heroic Guardians and the evil Renegades. The Guardians were led by Leader-1 with others including Turbo and Scooter. The Renegades were led by Cy-Kill, with Crasher and Cop-Tur among their ranks. The characters never had guns, instead shooting energy blasts out of their fists. Unlike Transformers, GoBots had regular female characters. (Transformers didn't introduce female robot characters until its second season, and then only as recurring, not regular characters.) However, the females were built like the males.
Thousands of years ago on the planet that came to be known as GoBotron (It is unclear if the planet was originally known as GoBotron or if its name had been changed by the robots that became the dominant lifeform), there lived a race of human-like beings. At some point in time, whether by natural causes or by catastrophe, this humaniod race ceased to exist... save two.
One became known as the Last Engineer, the stuff of GoBotian legend. The other is referred to as the Master Renegade. Nothing has been revealed about the humaniod Renegades, why they were referred to as such, or why the Master Renegade was in suspended animation. It is also unclear as to why Cy-Kill named his faction of GoBots "Renegades". Whether it was a coincidence, a matter of fact, or if Cy-Kill had some knowledge of the humaniod Renegades remains a matter of speculation.
In the last quarter of the 20th Century, the planet Earth became involved in the conflict between Leader-1's Guardians and Cy-Kill's Renegades. During one of the these battles, one of Leader-1's lieutenants became severely damaged. Unwilling to let his friend and teammate die, Leader-1 began his quest to find the legendary Last Engineer. Leader-1 found the person he believed to be the Last Engineer, but Leader-1 had unwittingly released the Master Renegade. Later realizing his mistake, Leader-1 and his allies found the true Last Engineer and Leader-1's teammate was restored to optimal condition.
The Master Renegade later escaped the custody of the Guardians and continued to plauge both factions of GoBots as the Master Renegade attempted to usurp Cy-Kill's leadership of the Renegades.
As to why the Master Renegade was completely forgotten and the Last Engineer became legend is again up to speculation.
Among the Renegades were Tux, a GoBot that changed into a white Rolls Royce, Zero who changed into a version of his namesake and Crasher, a female Renegade who changed into a racecar.
Unlike in The Transformers, GoBots had no clear divide between the two factions. The characters (as well as the toys) had no identifying insignias or markings to indicate their allegiance, although it was clearly indicted on the packaging. Likewise, there was no commonality of design within each faction. Unlike The Transformers, all the characters can fly. (Within the Transformers universe, flight was a skill found only in Decepticons, with a few exceptions.)
The only “theme” to a side was that anything that turned into a “monstrous” looking robot or vehicle was a Renegade. Perhaps the most distinguishing trait dividing Guardians from Renegades was the way their voices sounded. The Guardians' voices had an echo, while the Renegades' voices were more computer-like.
The show was first broadcast on September 8, 1984.
Toy line
The initial GoBots toys were re-releases from the Japanese Machine Robo series, sold on blister cards. Other toys from the Machine Robo DX line were also released as ‘Super GoBots’. Tonka also created a number of original toys for the line, such as the Command Center, Thruster attack ship and the robot dinosaur, Zod. The initial GoBots were released in 1984. The good robots were initially designated "Friendly" and "Enemy" and were only later dubbed "Guardian" and "Renegade" after the TV series had been on a season.
As the line continued, Tonka added new toys, including the Power Suits and the Secret Raiders. A spin*off line, the Rock Lords was launched in 1986, but it was a failure. The GoBots line was discontinued in 1987, with the Dread Launchers being the last toys released in the line.
Gobots were sold in Australia under the name Mighty Machine Men.
Episode list
- Battle For Gobotron
- Target Earth
- Conquest Of Earth
- Earth Bound
- The Final Conflict
- It's The Thought That Counts
- Renegade Alliance
- Time Wars
- Terror In Atlantis
- Trident's Triple Threat
- Lost On Gobotron
- Cy-Kill's Shrinking Ray
- The Quest For The Rogue-Star
- Ultra Zod
- Sentinel
- Speed Is Of The Essence
- Genius And Son
- Dawn World
- Pacific Overtures
- Forced Alliance
- Invasion From The 21st Level (Part 1)
- Invasion From The 21st Level (Part 2)
- Doppleganger
- Scooter Enhanced
- Tarnished Image
- Cold Spell
- Crime Wave
- Auto-Matic
- Renegade Rampage (Part 1)
- Renegade Rampage (Part 2)
- Search For The Ancient Gobonauts
- Gameworld
- Wolf In The Fold
- Depth Charge
- Transfer Point
- Steamer's Defection
- The GoBot Who Cried Renegade
- The Seer
- Whiz Kid
- Ring Of Fire
- Cy-Kills Escape (Part 1 of 5)
- Quest For The Creator (Part 2 of 5)
- The Fall Of Gobotron (Part 3 of 5)
- Flight To Earth (Part 4 of 5)
- Return To Gobotron (Part 5 of 5)
- Element Of Doom
- Destroy All Guardians
- Escape From Elba
- Fitor To The Finish
- Clutch Of Doom
- The Third Column
- A New Suit For Leader-1
- Renegade Carnival
- The Gift
- Nova Beam
- The Last Magic
- Braxis Gone Bonkers
- Inside Job
- Element Of Danger
- Mission Gobotron
- Et Tu Cy-Kill?
- The GoBots That Time Forgot
- The Secret Of Hailey's Comet
- Guardian Academy
- Quest For New Earth
- Cy-Kill's Cataclysmic Trap
Transformers Gobots
Tonka was bought out by Hasbro in 1991, and either in spite for or in homage to their old competition, Hasbro has used the name "GoBots" several times in their Transformers line.
G2
In 1993, an Autobot car whose name was Gobots was released as part of the Transformers Generation Two Line.
Function: Rear Guard
Motto: "If we don't finish the job and flatten them – we might as well not be in the fight at all."
Bio: He's a vital cog in the vast Autobots battle machine and can endure the most extreme conditions while fighting without fear. Behind the lines, he ties up all the loose ends by mopping up enemies. With his devastating water power, he's a tough vehicle and ready for any endurance challenge. And as a robot, he is equally as deadly.
In 1995 a line of Transformers called Go-Bots (small, Matchbox sized car Transformers which had racing axels) were released (subsequent uses of these molds were renamed Spychangers).
Japanese
Takara released a sixpack of minibot Transformers which were recolored into Gobots characters. The storyline behind the set is that the Gobot's dimension is being threatened by a new evil and the key to the universes' survival is being sought by the Gobots in the Transformer's dimension. They are undercover and disguised as both Autobots and Decepticons. The set included both Guardians and Renegades and was comprised of the characters Pathfinder, Small Foot, Road Ranger, Bad Boy, Bug Bite, and Treads. This set was an E-hobby exclusive and was available in Japan in 2004.
Current
Playskool later released a series of toys called Transformers: Gobots, which has no relation to Challenge of the GoBots.