Editing GoBots

{{disambig3|GoBots}}

[[Image:TonkaGoBotsLogo.jpg|250px|thumb|Note: not actually robots. Also, very occasionally [http://www.toyarchive.com/Gobots/Zod.html not actually vehicles].]]

"Autobots versus Decepticons" wasn't the only war between shape-changing robots in the 1980s, as there was an even bigger, if briefer conflict... the war on toy shelves between [[Hasbro]]'s ''[[The Transformers (franchise)|The Transformers]]'' and [[Tonka]]'s '''''GoBots'''''.

''GoBots'' was ''Transformers''' main competitor... at least in the realm of "robot-based toy lines". (Among other heavy hitters, [[Kenner]]'s ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' was cranking out ''Return of the Jedi'' toys aplenty throughout 1983 and 1984.) It is, overall, not looked upon very favorably by the [[fandom]]-at-large, with most of the criticisms leveled at the way it was marketed, with goofy character names and a less sophisticated cartoon (and it's not like [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original ''Transformers'' cartoon]] was exactly highbrow entertainment). That ''GoBots'' ran for barely three years, as opposed to the seven of ''Transformers'', only further reinforces the idea that ''Transformers'' was the powerhouse winner between the two.

The series does have its fans and collectors, however. Hasbro also now owns the GoBots [[intellectual property|IP]] thanks to its acquisition of Tonka in the early 90's... but don't go expecting any kind of revival. The relationship between Hasbro and the GoBots is... ''complicated''.


{{TOCclear}}

==The original Tonka ''GoBots''==
[[Image:ShootingStarGoBotsAd.jpg|right|200px|thumb|This was printed in an issue of [[Shooting Star!|the Marvel ''Transformers'' comic]]. Proving the old adage that, if you can't beat 'em, subvert their publications to your own ends!]]
===Toyline===
GoBots made its US premiere in [[1983]], nearly a full year before [[The Transformers (toyline)|original ''Transformers'' toyline]]'s debut. It had a similar origin, being mostly made up of pre-existing Japanese toys used under license by an American distributor, in this case the ''Machine Robo'' series by [[Bandai]] spinoff company Popy. The bulk of these figures are roughly the size (and retail price) of a ''Transformers'' [[Mini Vehicle]], though often more complex and with a much broader variety of [[alternate mode]]. The line was also filled out with some larger original molds, including spaceship-bases, cap guns, and several designs originally intended for ''Machine Robo'' that didn't actually see release in that series (like how the ''Transformers'' "[[Scramble City (toyline)|Scramble City]]" combiners were not-yet-implemented ''[[Diaclone]]'' designs). 

===Cartoon===
''Challenge of the GoBots''  was produced in the United States by Hanna-Barbera (and [[Wang Film Productions]] in Taiwan). It aired in some markets outside the US (such as Australia) with the title ''Challenge of the Machine Men''. The 65-episode series ran in syndication from 1984 through 1985. It focused on a much smaller cast than [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the ''Transformers'' cartoon]], mainly the Guardian trio of [[Leader-1 (GoBots)|Leader-1]], [[Turbo (GoBots)|Turbo]], [[Scooter (GoBots)|Scooter]] and their human allies, and the Renegade triumvirate [[Cy-Kill (GoBots)|Cy-Kill]], [[Crasher (G1)|Crasher]] and [[Cop-Tur (GoBots)|Cop-Tur]], and their own human "ally" [[Zebediah Braxis|Dr. Braxis]]. While many other GoBots toys were featured throughout the series, they were typically relegated to guest spots, though the Guardian [[Small Foot]] would show up frequently enough to almost be considered a main character.

One of the most notable aspects of the cartoon was it had multiple recurring female GoBots, in stark contrast to the really, really, really guy-heavy cast of ''Transformers''. Crasher and Small Foot saw the most screen time, but [[Path Finder|many other female GoBots]] showed up, often in recurring roles. One the Guardians' human allies was even a woman of color. Chalk it up to Hanna-Barbera's generally more progressive attitudes for their time!

Despite the Tonka-toyline-created tagline "Mighty Robots, Mighty Vehicles", the background material for the cartoon established that the GoBots are not true robots, but rather alien ''cyborgs''; a race of alien humanoids, who, after a great catastrophe, had to put their brains into "GoBot forms" to survive.

===''GoBots'' versus ''Transformers''===
Despite being first to the market, having many more low-price items than its competitor (theoretically making them more desirable, at least to parents' wallets), and a ''ton'' of early press coverage stating that it would likely be the victor in the battle of shape-shifting robot toys, ''GoBots'' was left in the dust by the ''vastly'' better-marketed ''Transformers''. The line struggled its way into 1986, with a spin-off toyline (complete with theater-release movie) called ''Rock Lords'' featuring transforming [[Rock Lord|robot rocks]]. Yes, ''rocks''. Didn't exactly set the world on fire with that one. Shortly after, the line fizzled out, while ''Transformers'' enjoyed a few more years before it too finally "died".

==''GoBots'' in the "modern era"==
===Hasbro & Takara===
Following its mid-Eighties demise, ''GoBots'' remained a dead line in every regard up until [[1991]]. Hasbro bought Tonka and its subsidiaries (including Kenner), acquiring all of Tonka's intellectual property, which included the ''GoBots'' IP... sort of. Due to a lot of factors, much of the ''GoBots'' property was and still is outside of Hasbro's control.

The toy designs are unquestionably 100% owned by Bandai, direct rivals to Hasbro's partner [[TakaraTomy]]. In 2015, Bandai announced a series of high-end, super-posable toys based on several of the original ''Machine Robo'' toys that got turned into GoBots, but sold under the original banner. The cartoon, by every indication, is primarily the property of Hanna-Barbera. The entire series was released on DVD by Warner Bros (who now own Hanna-Barbera) as an online-order-only, "manufactured on demand" series, and is still available today. The website makes no mention of Hasbro, while the DVD disks and packaging note Hasbro's ownership of GoBots and [[:File:Gobots_copyright_notice_modern.jpg|"all related characters and elements"]]. Since the cartoon's character models are based on Bandai's toys, those too are of questionable ownership. Basically, this leaves Hasbro and TakaraTomy either unable or unwilling to use the original likenesses of the GoBots characters without ''heavy'' alteration.

In fact, both companies have done very little with the ''GoBots'' IP overall, seemingly content to bury it outside of periodically using the line's name as a [[Trademark]] for non-Tonka-''GoBots'' products, primarily for [[Transformers: Go-Bots (franchise)|pre-school]]-[[Robo Power|aimed toys]]. Hasbro staked that claim early on with the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|''Generation 2'']] Autobot toy "[[Gobots]]" in [[1993]], and [[GoBots (disambiguation)|various uses of the name (in various parsings)]] over the next decade. The name "Leader-1" was Trademarked in [[2003]] for [[Megatron (Armada)|''Armada'' Megatron]]'s [[Mini-Con]] [[Leader-1 (Armada)|partner]], but there's been little to no use of ''GoBots''-original names since. (At one point in development, ''Armada'' [[Unicron/toys#Armada|Unicron]]'s Mini-Con [[Dead End (Armada)|Dead End]] was going to be called "Gobotron", but that idea was ultimately discarded.) Remember also that Trademarks can expire if not used regularly, leaving them open for other entities to snap them up, so this lack of use leaves much of the ''GoBots'' cast names in a sort of rights limbo. Hasbro once again renewed the Trademark application in [[2015]], for currently-unknown products.

[[File:G1_GoBots_adv.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Hope you're ready to drop some serious funds for these.]]

In [[2004]], Takara took the first tentative poke at using the ''GoBots'' fictional property under the ''Transformers'' banner with the "[[G1 GoBots]]" set, an [[e-HOBBY]]-[[exclusive]] [[redeco]] of six recently-reissued [[Mini Vehicle]]s. Early online images of the set labeled each of the six toys with the name of a GoBot who had that [[alternate mode]]: [[Bad Boy]], [[Bug Bite (GoBots)|Bug Bite]], [[Path Finder]], [[Road Ranger]], [[Small Foot]], and [[Treds]]. However, feeling skittish over how Bandai might react (despite Bandai's lack of Trademark on any of those), Takara dropped the names from the final packaging and promotional materials, leaving only the more defensible "G1 GoBots" group name, with the packed-in [[bio]] for the whole group introducing them as visitors from another universe (conveniently not identified), with technology ''astoundingly similar'' to the technology seen in the ''GoBots'' cartoon. The toys themselves are not even colored like the GoBots they were briefly named after, using "prototype" color schemes for the original toys, or all-new decos seemingly created without direct inspiration.

A long dry spell followed, until [[2007]] when Hasbro released [[Fracture (Movie)|Fracture]], a Crasher-inspired redeco of [[Mirage (G1)#Classics|''Classics'' Mirage]], as part of a [[Walmart]]-exclusive series of toys for the [[movie (toyline)|live-action movie toyline]]. The toy (as well as the others in that wave) was originally intended as part of the Generation-1-based [[Transformers: Classics|''Classics'' line]], and in fact "Fracture" was originally intended to ''be'' Crasher-the-GoBot, having crossed dimensions. Her cardback bio makes reference to GoBot Crasher's personality and powers... but also does ''not'' actually call her out as a GoBot in any way, not even a sideways "came from another universe" hint. At face value, she's a native Cybertronian. Deco artist [[Joe Kyde]] later noted that they had to prove to Hasbro higher-ups that the chosen color scheme actually existed on a real life racing car in order to color her that way, suggesting the desire for a bit of plausible deniability. After that, ''GoBots'' was relegated mostly to much smaller deco references. Movie-series toys [[Backtrack (Movie)|Backtrack]] (also deco'd by Kyde) and [[Deadlift]] have deliberate deco homages to the GoBots Night Ranger and Spoons (respectively), complete with [[tampograph]]s of the "MR-**" designation numbers from the original ''GoBots'' toys, but they too are fictionally Transformers-universe natives. There's been precious little else out of Hasbro or Takara toy-wise since Deadlift, and he came out in [[2010]].

All in all, Hasbro and Takara seem quite shy about having any actual toy product directly, unambiguously branded as a Tonka ''GoBots'' character.

===Hasbro licensees===
In fiction, GoBots made some "appearances" in ''Transformers'' comics... mainly by [[Cy-Kill (GoBots)#Notes|various Cybertron-native Cy-Kills getting killed]], a gag that is ''not at all'' hack and tiresome each and every time it happens over and over again, wow so clever<ref>The negative fan reaction to the violent deaths of the [[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]] iterations of [[Cy-Kill (TransTech)|Cy-Kill]] and [[Scooter (TransTech)|Scooter]] resulted in [[Pete Sinclair]] stating that this would be the [[Transcendent:_Part_5#References|last GoBot death scene in Fan Club works]], and they've since stuck to that.</ref>. "GoBots" was also a frequent "cute" term of derision for human characters to use in reference to the Transformers in various comics. It's extremely likely that these references would have remained even ''if'' Hasbro didn't have some fingers in the GoBots IP.

While ''GoBots''-as-''GoBots'' has been virtually nonexistent in the mass-market ''Transformers'' outlets, Hasbro licensee [[Fun Publications]] has not been shy about making more overt ties to the former competitor.

[[Image:Witheredhopeinterrogated.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Bandai is ''very'' unhappy.]]

[[BotCon 2007]] followed up on the earlier e-HOBBY use of the GoBots and continued the story begun there, specifically naming the box set's white [[Bumblebee (G1)/toys#Classics|Bumblebee]] [[redeco]] "[[Bug Bite (GoBots)#Toys|Bugbite]]"{{sic}}, thus firming up the connection that was always implied... though his bio card only hints at him being more than just another Decepticon, and the accompanying comic stopped just short of outright stating that Bug Bite was a displaced GoBot. He explained that he came from another universe, seeking to destroy the cause of the [[Cataclysm (GoBots)|Cataclysm]] threatening his reality, which lines up with the G1 Gobots bio information from the e-HOBBY set, but again, did not outright name his home... juuuust inching towards the line but not actually crossing it. The storyline was followed up in the [[2008]] [[Transformers Collectors' Club]] online-exclusive text story "[[Withered Hope]]", which ''unambiguously'' cemented the G1 GoBots as being GoBots from the GoBots universe as depicted in the ''Challenge of the GoBots'' cartoon. 

GoBots-as-GoBots once again lay fallow for a while after "Withered Hope". Occasionally side-references would be made in-fiction, mostly in the form of "[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (fiction)|Shattered Glass]]" and "[[Transformers: TransTech|TransTech]]" iterations of GoBots as native Cybertronians. In 2010, the Collectors' Club membership "freebie" toy [[Dion (G1)#Timelines|Dion]] came with [[Cop-Tur (G1)|Cop-Tur]], a blue redeco of the toy's mold-mate [[Mini-Con]] [[Jolt (Armada)#Universe (2008)|Jolt]]. Though his characterization was inspired by the ''GoBots'' Cop-Tur (the blue deco was actually a result of the [[gang-molding]] with the Dion toy rather than a deliberate choice), they were quick to declare that he was a native Cybertronian, ''not'' a displaced GoBot. In [[2013]] a "Withered Hope" follow-up story called "[[Spatiotemporal Challenges]]" was announced, but to this date has not seen release.

The 2010 [[IDW Publishing|IDW]] book ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II]]'', a retrospective covering the third season of ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]'', would take things further. In the profile for [[Stretch]], a character created for the book based on [[Porter C. Powell]]'s GoBots-homage limousine from the show, it was heavily implied that he wound up in the actual ''Challenge of the Gobots'' cartoon after the events of the book. Additionally, a news story in the multiversal paper [[ALTernity Today]] (itself drawing connections between Transformers and ''[[Robotix]]'', a former Hasbro '80s robot line) gave ''Challenge of the Gobots'' a [[universal stream]] designation, thus implicitly pulling it into the multiverse. Finally, the book used its ubiquitous [[Cybertronix]] text to, among many pop-culture references, introduce new installments of "[[Ask Vector Prime]]", a feature from the Hasbro web site during the [[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|''Cybertron'' series]]. These question-and-answer segments were not limited to events and characters from the ''Animated'' universe (a point of contention among many fans), and one declared that Gobotron was another manifestation of the Transformers' creator-god [[Primus]]. 

[[Image:The Evil One.jpg|right|130px|thumb|And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, ''Come and see!'']]

In [[2015]], as a part of the run-up to [[BotCon]], Fun Publications unveiled a number of new Facebook-published features, broadcasting on the [[Axiom Nexus News]] network. One of them was yet another revival of Ask Vector Prime. With a prodigious output of answers to user questions, sometimes more than ten a day, the feature managed to cover the depth and breadth of the ''Transformers'' franchise... and the Tonka GoBots. The word "GoBot" or "[[Gargent]]" (the [[universal stream]] designation of the GoBots universe) show up almost 50 times in the column. New GoBot universes were introduced, and many characters and concepts were explicitly referenced by name. The first major example of this was when <strike>[[Jim Sorenson]]</strike> Vector took the step of publicly canonising a GoBots character as a Transformers character: the Evil One, an ancient and villianous GoBot, was said to be the Gargent incarnation of [[the Fallen]]. A picture was even put up of the Evil One's animation model. <ref>"Q: Dear Vector Prime,

Who is the Evil One from Gargent?

A: Dear Evil Enthusiast,

Megatronus, in his shame, goes by many names. You may know him best as The Fallen. The Gargent Cluster birthed a version in which he became known as The Evil One. Sadly true-to-form, his Dark Heart nearly destroyed Cybertron--er, Gobotron, only to wind up under the Nazca Lines on Earth.

Interesting that in both the Gargent and the Tyran clusters, my tragic brother was drawn to your Pyramids. I note that Devil Z had similar affinities, both for the Pyramids and for the Nazca Lines. Hmmmm... "</ref> Stretch was explicitly confirmed to be ''the'' GoBot Stretch (and the reason many GoBots look like Earth vehicles). The amount of GoBots questions shot up once the Evil One question was asked. Vector Prime later described a dimension-hopping encounter where Optimus Prime and a small team of [[Autobots]] teamed up with the Guardians to battle the Renegades, marking the second official GoBots/Transformers crossover.

But all of this was insignificant next to a doubling-down on this strategy...

[[Image:Ask Cy-Kill.jpg|left|160px|thumb|And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.]]

[[Renegade Rhetoric]]. During a storyline wherein [[Vector Prime (Cybertron)|Vector Prime]] was called away on urgent business, he was replaced by a series of rotating guest hosts, one of which was Cy-Kill. Not a covert nod or a ''Transformers'' Cy-Kill or even a Cy-Kill under a deniable new body, the actual Hanna-Barbara Cy-Kill with a modified screen capture from ''Challenge of the GoBots'' as his profile. Notably, this picture was swiftly replaced by an illustration originally commissioned by Fun Publications. This suggests that, while Fun Publications is able to reference names and events from the cartoon and is willing to turn a blind eye to character designs, they draw the line at actual screen captures.

Over the course of his nine-day run, he proceeded to mention virtually every significant GoBot character and toy (and some that weren't), often sharing biographical and descriptive details. He also went into detail about their adventures, including both detailed descriptions of ''Challenge of the GoBots'' episodes and fanciful tales invented wholecloth. This was partly down to leading questions from some fans, who would ask for any information on a specific GoBot and then added that to this very wiki.

When Cy-Kill proved to be the most popular of the guest hosts, the column was expanded to its own feature, which as of today ([[November 10]], 2015) remains ongoing.

==Easter Eggs==
{{bigquote|This is a universe of nigh-infinite possibilities, so perhaps...|[[Unicron]] reflects on the possibility of GoBots in Transformers|[[The End|TF Armada #18]] (letters page)}}

Given the similarity between the properties, as well as the transition from a ''Transformers'' competitor to dead product line partially owned by Hasbro, it is perhaps inevitable that there would be a large number of GoBots [[Easter egg]]s:
* Several GoBots appear in the background in a number of [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]] ''Transformers'' comics as visual jokes.
* In the ''[[G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers: The Art of War]]'' [[The Art of War issue 5|#5]], [[Cobra Commander]] refers to the Autobots as "glorified GoBots".
** Similarly, the later [[IDW Publishing]] series ''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' has the human characters repeatedly refer to the Transformers as "GoBots".          
* In [[IDW Publishing]]'s ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin]]'', [[Cy-Kill (G1)|Cy-Kill]] is Megatron's first opponent in the [[Forge]]. He gets a cover appearance and dialogue before being defeated and killed. Further, a robot that is clearly his fellow Renegade [[Crasher (G1)|Crasher]] is part of [[Clench (G1)|Clench]]'s inner circle/gladiatorial team, and later fights alongside Megatron.
* In IDW's [[The Ascending issue 2|''Beast Wars: The Ascending'' #2]], the GoBot monster [[Pincher (GoBots)|Pincher]] is shown as a murdered [[Angolmois]] junkie.
* In the ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (fiction)|Shattered Glass]]'' alternate universe, Renegade GoBot [[Fitor]] and Guardian GoBot Leader-1 (the latter in Cy-Kill's color scheme) are among the evil Autobot forces.  What looks like Cy-Kill's claw is seen amongst the cheering throngs joining the evil Autobots too. Heroic Renegade [[Crasher (SG)|Crasher]] is described as [[Blurr (SG)|Blurr]]'s cousin in Blurr's tech spec, and even appears (with earthquake-like powers) in "[[Dungeons & Dinobots]]".
* In "[[Transcendent: Part 5]]", the two [[Axiom Nexus]] guards who die at Alpha Trion's hands are designed after Cy-Kill and Scooter.  (The fan reaction to [[Cy-Kill (TransTech)|Cy-Kill]] and [[Scooter (TransTech)|Scooter]]'s deaths resulted in [[Pete Sinclair]] stating that this would be the [[Transcendent: Part 5#References|last GoBot death scene in Fan Club works]].)
* The canceled movie toyline [[Target]]-exclusive figure [[Backtrack (Movie)|Backtrack]] was designed as an homage to the Guardian Night Ranger, and even sported Night Ranger's "MR 37" designation number on his license plate.
* ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Deadlift]] is an homage to Spoons, bearing Spoons's "MR-34" designation number.
* The ''[[Beast Wars: Uprising]]'' story "[[Head Games]]" makes off-hand reference to the [[Monster GoBot]]s [[Creepy]] and [[Vamp]].
** [[Ask Vector Prime]] would later confirm that these were indeed dimensionally-displaced GoBots masquerading as [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]].

==Notes==
*It is worth pointing out that several of the authors involved in GoBots fiction are wiki editors with passionate feelings about the topic.
**''AllSpark Almanac'' co-author and primary "Ask Vector Prime/Renegade Rhetoric"  author [[Jim Sorenson]] has in the past [[Transformers_Wiki_talk:Community_Portal/GoBots|argued at length that this wiki should cover the entirety of the Tonka ''GoBots'' property]].
** [[Greg Sepelak|Greg "M Sipher" Sepalak]], co-author of Withered Hope, has likewise [[Transformers_Wiki_talk:Community_Portal#GoBots_2015|passionately argued]] against its inclusion, as well as drafted large swaths of this very article. Clearly this is a topic that can engender strong feelings.



==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://counter-x.net/gobots/index.html Counter-X GoBots coverage]
*[http://www.tfu.info/Gobots/index.htm TFU.info GoBots coverage]