Bat-Robô

The Bat-Robôs are (possibly) an Autobot subgroup from the Estrela portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

BIFF! BANG! POW! Comics aren't just for kids anymore!

The mysterious Bat-Robôs have the capability to hit walls and become invincible robots. In that order.

The Bat-Robôs include:

• Pick-Up
• Turbo

Toys

Transformers (Estrela)

Nanananananana.

• Bat-Robô (1986)
  • Pick-Up (light grey/green & dark grey/orange)
  • Turbo (light grey/red & dark grey/blue)

The Bat-Robô molds were originally made in Japan. Their origins are complicated (see Notes). Estrela evidently licensed the toys to sell in Brazil, and included them as part of their unique Transformers range.

The two toys feature a friction-driven motor, which, as part of their gimmick, is used to trigger their transformation. After pulling them back, they drive forward until they hit something with their front bumper, whereupon they spring up into robot mode and then will roll back the other way as a robot.

Notes

I'm Bat-Robô.

• The name "Bat-Robô" is based on Portuguese for "crash", "bater" being the verb and "batida" being the noun.
• The Bat-Robô molds were originally made in Japan. They were sold there in 1985 by a company called Fujisho (株式会社不二商) as the "Fairlady 300ZX" and "Dattora Turbo" (ダットラターボ) in a toyline called Attack Change Machine Powertron (アタックチェンジマシーン パワートロン). The toys were also released in 1985 by the Ertl Company, sold in their Pow-R-Trons line in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Ertl's use of the molds included the evil Distroid (grey/black truck) and Fy-Ton (black/grey car) versus the heroic Zoomer (red/black truck), Turboid (yellow/grey car), and "Knight Rider" (black/red car, based on the TV show, possibly only available in the UK and mainland Europe).
• Confusingly, the 1985 advertisement for Fujisho's Powertrons shows them as already having their Ertl stickers, which are also present in their Japanese packaging stock photos. Furthermore, while a 1986 Tokyo Toy Show catalog has the Fujisho Powertrons in unique decos, all of the samples on the Japanese aftermarket retain Ertl's color schemes, stickers, and copyright stamps! As Fujisho had a large business as a toy importer (including LEGO, Fisher-Price, Märklin, and Ravensburger), it is difficult to say whether Fujisho put the Ertl stock they were already making into localized Japanese packaging, or if they actually re-imported the toys from Ertl for the Japanese market (meaning someone else in Japan was responsible for their original creation).
• It is likewise uncertain what company Estrela licensed the Bat-Robô molds from, as the only copyright stamps on them are for Estrela itself (which state the toys were physically made in Brazil). In any event, the color schemes Estrela used appear to be unique to South America.
• Due to the lack of faction symbols on the toy or packaging, it is not explicit what faction the Bat-Robô fight for. However, the toys do use Hasbro's Autobot style packaging, so we're going to default to Autobot. (The red Turbo Bat-Robô was used as a Malignus in the Transformers Collectors' Club "Withered Hope" text story, but that was 20 years after the original release...)
• Korean Brave and Transformers licensee Sonokong released several Korean-exclusive Brave toys with the same gimmick as the Fujisho Powertrons, often in police car decos.

External links

• Bat-Robos at Super Toy Archive
• Pow-R-Trons Toy Commercial