Convertors: The Transformers Knock-Offs That Weren't | Oddities #9
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Back in the 80's copyright and licenses were like the Wild West.
One story that came out of that was Select Convertors. An out of business Japanese company sells their licenses to another Japanese toy company who then licenses those designs to an American company to cash in on the Transformers craze.
This is how the Robotech Valkyrie, a few Transformers, a robot Peacock and a slot machine all wound up in the same toy line.
Fully licensed and not knock offs.
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Wow guys! Thanks for mentioning my little channel, and thanks for shining a light on these goofball toys I love so much. Beard!
D Gray Re-volt is pretty damn cool, I can't argue that!
mantis999999999 just was I was curious enough but didn't get enough information he comes thru with my friends youtube channel lol I'll be over sooner then later, to see what the buzz on these is about "in hand" lol
the jet converter looks like the body of a robotech mech with a new head slapped on
Mantis9 and Dan, ya got me tumbling down this 'Convertors' rabbit hole! NOW what am I supposed to do?! ; )
How fitting that Taka-Toku's logo looks like a crying face.
Holy shit! Thats where that crazy bird transforming toy came from!!!
Super Robot Bird King
I had that one eons ago.
I forgot I ever even had that bird or that it even existed. Then I see the pic and vague memories come back. Love it when that happens!
At last the toy I had but could never prove existed.
Indigo Yarkindell I had an owl and a combination lock, and I’ve seen pinball machines, cash registers, and I want to say a roulette. You wouldn’t have needed to prove anything to me.
I had the Convertors "Train".
From some mall in Detroit.
I had the Spider and macross jet
When I first saw Robotech as a kid, I thought it was a Converters cartoon because I had the figures based on the SDF-1 and Valkyrie...
The first transforming valkyrie figure I ever has was one of these. loved that thing!
That slot machine looks like some background robot on futurama.
they were everywhere! I remember them in red, grey, black and probably more.....or I'm just remembering them wrong....there was a roulette table too....made no sense to me......made them seem like cheap ass knock offs.
I’m pretty sure the Ferengi were behind the whole transforming toy craze of the 80’s.
Glad you showed Robotech/Macross
One small criticism: We came for the cheap knock-off Transformers. I spent half the video saying "So *show* them already!" Just sayin'.
@fwiffocd1 I actually liked G1 Ratchet when I was a kid....sure, the design was wonky but still a likeable toy.
The Convertors bat was my absolute favorite transforming toy. I think I broke like 3 of them, but they were so cheap you could find hem in "surprise" packages.
EDIT - And now I bought another one :)
I had the Bat (Robat) and the Peacock. They were my favorite and most hated transformers respectively. Robat was cool because as a robot you could still have the bat wings and face if you wanted. Mine was a good guy with batface but turned evil when using the robot head.
scockery that sucks, after the wings, the articulated knee and foot made Robat better than most transformers. You could have him kick your other toys for real.
I'm still in shock seeing that Valkryie from Macross/ Robotech and Transformers. Wish I had a couple of them.
Just arrived this morning "fresh" from eBay, and in great condition! Beats the used MP Grimlock that came also today, and has like 1/4 the age!
XthegreatwhyX what did you search for? Converters? Select Converters? Was yours an arm or leg to buy?
IIRC this was exactly why Transformers added the Heat sensitive 'Holographic' Team Insignia , to help distinguish their Brands
The Oddities videos are my favorite. Solving that Blue Snaggletooth mystery has really helped me get to sleep at night.
Thank you for making this video! I'll admit it, I'm a Convertors fan. They had a fun range of designs, especially the Avarians. Off-brand transforming robots from the '80s just fascinate me. If you ever want to delve into another weird line, I recommend Marchon, especially the Mysterians.
A channel filled with possible "oh wait, I had that!" videos? I'm sold!
I remember having at least a set of gambling-themed Converters: A roulette wheel, slot machine, pinball table, and cash register
I have the slot machine and pinball machine, and love them! Super weird, super fun toys.
Great stuff, Dan and Greg!!
And you can play the pinball even.
Pixel Dan I love your channel
Pixel Dan ikr I have a slot machine and a pinball machine they are really
I renamed Johny 5 Cash (register) and made a vine where Bandit (slot machine) shakes a gambler yelling “stop throwing your money away!”. God I miss vine.
I still have the slot machine too
That silver spider is still my childhood favorite transforming robot toy. Still have it (but lost the gun).
Another solid video, Dan! You have unlocked hidden childhood memories I thought lost forever. Things that maybe should have stayed locked away.
My two favorite channels talking to each other!!!
one Transformer knock-off was a Shockwave distributed & sold by Radio Shack!
need to get one!
I have two of them
I want one!
I will talk with my brother and see if he is willing too get rid of 1
We are always willing too trade but we do he man and transformers so it would hafta be related
ok
Would really like to have seen more pics of the knock-offs.....
And here I was assuming that I knew everything there was to know about Transforming robot toys from the '80s. What a fool I was. This is why Oddities is probably my favourite of your series. Keep it up.
I love always hearing the people in the background giggling or putting in their input. Makes it feel more like a conversation than s news report. Keep up the good work
It's Producer Greg. He and I are the only ones in the room during the shoot. He's standing right next to the camera I'm looking at.
I remember the Valkyrie jet was also licensed to another manufacturer and sold as a pencil sharpener, the back engine was modified to insert a pencil and it still was able to change back to robot.
Thanks for reminding me of ENTIRE toy lines I forgot that I owned as a kid!
Oh God. I have that blue bird one. It's standing on the cabinet behind me.
I had that blue bird one too along with the Transformers voice changer.
Watch out... it may come to life...
I have the bird, the peacock, as well as the scorpion, and a beetle.
The peacock is cool!!!
I remember this toyline very well & loved it. It would have been a great TV series if they bothered to produce one.
@ 4:22 the classic "Don't do E" via Ebaum's world!
imagine being a robot in all of that entire world of every robot and trying to be different from the rest of them..
Hey! I was a teen when this transforming robot thing started and I’ve been obsessed every since.
The Valkyrie was also used for the Phoenix Hawk in MechWarrior. MechWarrior used a lot of designs that came from Macross that caused its own legal challenges.
The dumping on gobots will never cease..lol
I still have the Slot Machine AND the Pinball machine. And COMPLETELY forgot I had that Spider-robot until I saw this video! Thanks Dan, for giving me something else to search for on eBay!!!
Wow I had the bat. Every episode jogs loose another old memory.
I had that spider one. I had COMPLETELY forgotten about it till I saw it in your video.
Thank you for doing this episode. I thought I was the only one that played with these when I was a kid. I had all the Valkyrie's, and the SDF1, and a few of the others. I loved these toys so much.
I love it when you do this types of videos, always learn something new, confirmed something I suspected and remember something I totally forgot.
Great video, definitely one of next favorites ✌🏽👍🏽
Holy shit! I remember getting one of these from a Big Lots when i was a kid and it literally just snapped in my hands when i moved some joints slowly.
In my country the first of the Go-Bot toys were launched in 1983. Back in 1985 I recall seeing Convertors and Transformers toys in shops. At first I decided that Convertors and Transformers were probably copies of Go-Bots. I did end up becoming a fan of Transformers. I like how you dissect the marketing campaigns for these toy lines.
I had Zark, I actually loved playing with that when I was a kid, I wish I still had it, brings back some happier memories of a childhood that had some rough patches around then.
I had a few of these, the spider and the slotmachine. Always thought they were such cheap toys but irresistible as a kid
I definitely had some of those Converters.😂
JUST JOINED TOY GALAXY AND SIGNED UP ON PATERON! YOU GUYS ARE THE FREAKING BEST!!!
My small 80's allowance did not allow for extravagant Transformers and Gobot figures. I was a Convertors kid lol. I was later stoked and surprised to see two of my Convertors featured in the Robotech tv series.
It kinda sounds like the early days of the third party Transformers, sort of existing in a grey area!!
Had the train, way cooler than it should have been. Thanks for the nostalgia trip.
Thanks for this video, I have a bunch of these from when I was a kid and I had completely forgotten where they came from.
I had the Hawk, Bat, & Peacock robots. You're totally right, back then i didn't even notice the brand or anything, if it's a transforming robot then it's good enough.
I remember getting my parents to take me to specific places in order to try to get vees because they were more within my budget and I particularly liked, as it turns out the stuff from Dorvac.
DUDE...talk about flashback. I HAD that Spider converter! SO COOL. Never even knew that's what it was.
I have that Peacock... I thought it was worthless KO trash so it's long misplaced. Now I wanna dig it up, never knew about this line until now. Great vid Dan!
Still shocked by how many people have said they had the peacock.
Me too. Don't know where is it now😅
Had the hawk too
Oh man, I had that green train Converter! I had always wondered where that came from, I could never remember how I got it. Thank you for solving a mystery that has been bugging for years!
Diggin' the synth music.
I'm getting Tron and Stranger Things vibes.
omg, sudden flood of forgotten memories...I had the bat!
I forgot all about these guys! I had quite a few of them as a kid. There were definitely some that stood out even among Transformers. I used to love all the cool colors they came in-- and that sweet, sweet chrome! Sooooo much chrome!
Weird right? No chrome expense was spared! Foil stickers for everyone!
Man, I had those animal Converters as a kid. I also recall a not-Robotech Valkyrie knockoff in a dark wine color with the same transformation sequence.
After watching this video I now know what some of these knock Transformers are in my childhood collection. I had the peacock Converter and I never knew what he was called until know. This video was very informative 👍🏻
Oh, man, I totally had that purple hawk with silver wings. It was pretty cool.
I loved Convertors. Sold my collection on eBay last year.
I just recently reacquired my Convertors CREEPER.
I was doing reviews of the G1 Insecticons and remembered this guy, he was actually the leader of the Bad Guys of my mixed bag of transforming bots until the great Transformers Christmas haul of '84.
I knew nothing about the line until watching this, thank you for adding to my Nerd Knowledge.
I still have a couple of the Convertors, myself, (the blue bird
and a futuristic looking car) and love them. ;)
I remember one of my favourite things about these figures
was the packaging artwork. It was amazing, in itself!
Keep the awesome videos coming! ^_^
I had that spider character when I was kid. Probably a gift from an aunt.
Loved Converters! I originally thought they were better than Transformers, but after watching the Transformers cartoon I quickly changed my mind.
I HAD THE PEACOCK, TOO! Holy crap. I totally forgot about these toys.
Cool, I remember having the spider, bat and jet.
As a Macross fan the quality of VF-1S causes me physical pain.
For me, Gobots were always the poor man's transformer with cheap and poor transformations.
I had Tanker(the two barreled tank) and Focus(the camera). They were fun. One of my cousins had Tenticus (a spider). Still fun.
I had the bird transformer and loved it. Was a favorite as a child.
Oh cool, we had a few of these when we were kids. The ones that looked like Whirl and Roadbuster knockoffs. Never knew that they were based on the same license but just made by a different company!
Good times with the Converters. I had the Orguss, the Bird, a SDF1, and my cousin had a crappy scorpion with broken legs.
the Batrobot was my favorite toy as a kid.
I had several of these Converters! I kept trying to remember what the hell the robot Slot Machine was from. Now I remember. Thank you!
Interesting history. I buried a 'Beast Fighter' on a favourite beach, I regretted leaving it though it was a fun game as it was shot from the sky. Any transforming robots were welcome during the dark times.
Wow, my brothers and I had the several of these, and I remember the the spider and the macros ones that we added to the decepticons.
As a kid I think I may have aquired from a jumble sale the 'Calypso' or Peacock toy, minus the flip hood for the the bird head over the robot head, and of course the tail feathers. I remeber thinking at the time "this is deffinetly not a transformer!".
I had a mate in school whose little brother had that Jetfire looking guy with the skull and cross bones on the cockpit. As an adult fan of G1 Transformers, I'd always be curious about which toy line it came from and whether it was a knock off or not, so thanks for this! I'm pretty certain this toyline was never available over here in the UK, so his family must've picked it up on a trip to the US.
originally its a macros toy. It is a valkeryie for robotech (not sure the Japanese name for it) and if you are a BattleTech fan it is also a wasp. or a phoenix hawk
actually it's called VF-1 (Variable Fighter) Valkyrie in the MACROSS series (the Japanese ver.) then renamed as VF-1 Veritech Fighter in the ROBOTECH series (US adaptation ver.) also renamed as Jetfire/ Skyfire in Hasbro's G1 Transformers toyline...
ALSO renamed as GUNDAM (!?) in the south korean (unlicensed?) adaptation (they literally creating their own animated series & toy-lines based on Valkyrie's design but renamed it as gundam instead...)
CMIIW
You can find them on eBay .. comes with all the jetfire weapons and boosters etc. Jetfire wasn’t the original it was made from the Macross line ... wait until you see the other versions !
I've still got my original G1 Jetfire, complete with box, inserts and accessories and still in pretty good nick too. The only bit I'm missing is the little clip you could use to attach his gun to his arm. One of the best toys ever!
THANKS!
Now I know what that bat I loved was!
CONVERTERS!!!
Robotech should be made into a modern movie
I'd hate to say it, but because Hollywood executives are more interested in profitable movies these days, they'd most-likely make it like Michael Bay's "Transformers" or the awful "Power Rangers" movie.
@@DrDK144 How was Power Rangers awful? Costumes and Zords were bad, but the story was fine.
Robotech would be cool and battletech would awesome for a more realistic one.
Check out robo jocks from the 80s
Holy crap I had so many of these convertors. I remember the slot machine one and I remember loving the "Jetfire" robot because he was the Skull Fighter from Robotech. These were very popular here in Fiji back in the 80s.
It's a shame that Hasbro beat Harmony Gold to get the VF-1 toy. If it had been released in the US under the Robotech name, I think Robotech would have been much bigger because the toy was so awesome! Even Hasbro had to downplay the Jetfire toy release and even change his appearance and name in the cartoon because Takara had issues with the design now being a toy from Bandai for Macross: Do You Remember Love? Even sadder is the fact that Takatoku Toys went bankrupt. They had some great toy designs with the VF-1 being the best. I think if they had been able to license it to Harmony Gold for distribution outside of Japan, they might have lasted longer.
I think I had one of these. As I recall there were several off brands and bootleg transforming toys in those days that you'd find in gas stations or flea markets. Kids like me didn't mind. The toys were all close enough in scale that you could just play crossover with the name brand Transformers.
I had a no-name brand robot that literally transformed into a yellow tool shed, complete with a ton of tools. Grandparents bought it for me. I was glad to have it (it was the only toy I had at their house) but I knew it was quite odd.
I remember the Convertors. Ironically, I got the one robot that was a robot that transformed into a blue helicopter and another one that transformed into a tan jeep. They were less expensive versions of Whirl and Roadbuster respectively the deluxe Autobots, but Whirl was light grey.
Awesome, nailed those names Dan!! A must for oddities is gold lightan!!!
Had Avarians Rex (eagle) when I was a kid. He was actually one of my favorite toys, since he actually had elbows, thigh swivels, knees, and ankles, all in the early 80s...
I had the red Owl and I really liked him.
I had the blue bird one! Totally forgot about it until I saw this video!
Nostalgia. Those were popular when I was a kid but never owned one.
Watches with half-closed eyes... sees the black bat robot: "I HAD THAT!"
Welcome to Convertors Club. You were already here.
I remember my first "Transformer" was a knock off,lol. It was a green butterfly my dad had gotten me from Odd-Job I think.
Holy Crap I had one has a kid and have been trying to remember which toy line this was for years to get one. THANK YOU
You are welcome.
Whoa... Convertors! Available at finer grocery stores everywhere! I had that Valkyrie and the Orguss toy. Loved those things. Major thanks for the trip down the obscure alleys of memory lane.
I had a bunch of these...loved em
My parents were convinced I had a lot of Transformers (brand) toys when in reality they were Go Bots or knock off toys from Venture or even Aldi.
Oh my gosh, I had that Zark toy, the one with the jolly roger on it. Knockoff or not, that toy was awesome and I even remember it being really well made.
I almost can't believe these were real
The pre-1986 Toei and Nomura Toy copyright and licenses in United States and Canada were like the Wild West.
Love all of your series, but The Oddities is probably my favorite of them all - brings back a lot of forgotten (repressed??) memories! I'd love to see an Oddities feature on Eagle Force (I believe Mego made these) and they have a special place in my childhood, as I was the only one in my friend circle that had any idea what they were! Great job on everything you guys do!!
I think Eagle Force will get covered under our "History Of" segment. Hard to say that it's much of an Oddity when the line just had a successful relaunch Kickstarter.
Oh, that's right - I forgot about the kickstarter campaign recently!
I used to collect these damned things. I think you hit the nail on the head; while some are amazing turds, others are pretty awesome.
Loved this review! While I was in Ecuador I ran into fully transforming "knock off" Macross Valkyries with a booster pack that was actually a pencil sharpener.
Big fan of Convertors . I had a few as a child