6:12 The McRobots!! So glad you mentioned them, those are probably some of the toys I ever remember having and getting from McDonald's and was born right around the time they were released (1988). I have a goal to collect all of the lines just for the weirdness they have and one of those Happy Meal Toys that really stands out as being a one of kind unique toyline.
Not everyone can know everything, that’s why these videos are great, cuz we can share extra knowledge but also learn things 😁 For instance, i’m a big Zybots fan, but had never seen that particular Remco product catalog with the Hardcastle & McCormick and Riptide transforming car wristwatches 😳
Thanks Jeffrey always interesting to learn these facts... it was easier to jump to the conclusion they tried cashing in with a KO name like Robert Cop instead of researching whether this was an official release
Takara introduced a few of the Diaclone and Microman Transformers to the US market as "Diakron" and "Kronoform" among other names like the stand-alone F-15 fighter and "Cassette-Man," which is probably how Hasbro got introduced to them.
Great video, Ed! There was such a mind-boggling amount of transforming robot merchandise in the 80's. It seems like every toy company in existence was trying to cash in on the craze (legally or otherwise). And, yes, those McDonald's Changeables were the best Happy Meal toy ever. Hell, they're still awesome decades later.
A lot of toy shops and dealers in the US imported the original non US versions of robot toys like Transformers and Voltron. It cost the toy shops and dealers less and they could sell them for less as well. In cases like Voltron , The import version was better than the US version. The import version came with all of the accessories for the lions and the sword and shield.
Cool Video. Here in germany, around 85, at that time we could see Transformers and Gobots on the UK Sky Channel - we had in the stores Diaclone and Robo Machine (Aka Gobots), the Transformers Brand came out some time later. At that time i tought, that both were some kind of Knock ofs - but was also happy to have 'Transformers' to play. Now with the Internet i know it better, but at that time nobody knows. Thanks Buddy.
“Transistor Robots” by Four Star will always be my favorite KO series, with some original figures plus lots of unique redecos, weird remoulds, and random imports from other lines 😄
this is even better than the toys that made us transformers documentary !!!!! all that info from the 70's shogun stuff and Japanese culture , I never heard of it , this is mind-blowing !!!! I say this is the best transformers documentary I ever seen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man I miss the age of bootlegs in every dollar store. You just don't see the awesome ones like you did back in the 80s and 90s anymore. I'm still looking to run into a robert cop toy one day.
OMG... I just remembered my Slot-Machine transformer knockoff... Damn, I haven't thought of that thing in about 35 or 40 years... It hit me like a mind melting epiphany all of a sudden after you mentioned it... It was like a nostalgic blinding flash and now I taste "purple"... anyone else?... Ow, my brain.
There's a "Curiosity Shop" (don't know how else to define it as it has everything from lamps to Resin Eagle statues to novelty shot glasses to moccasins AND random Toys) about 15 miles out of town... as of 2019 (and well before) they had knock off G1 Combiner sets on Blister packs the front of the cardboard was all flash & splash, the back of the card was plain brown
Mc changeable were truly the best... I see these things in my son happy meals and shake my head ... wish I still had them.. I remember the Bennie babies happy meals in early 90 were high demand!!! Just think about happy meals..great stuff Ed
I have heavy nostalgia for a set of dinobot knockoffs. I remember a blue trex, Brown triceratops, and I think a red stegosaurus and a green brachiosaurus? I remember the rex's arms looking like guns. I played with those all the time.
"Rocks, Bugs, and Things" -I forgot all about those! I had one, apparently called Gravelguts." You threw me off with the Raideen being the first transformer-I knew Getter Robo was, but it wouldn't have a proper fully transforming toy for decades-most the toys were just the combined form (three jets that combined into three very different giant robots). Getter Dragon was even one of the Shogun Warriors as "Dragun"
Back when in the early 90s when i got my Megazord, my oldest brother (born 1971) kept saying "That guy looks like Mazinga. But Mazinga is way better!" I never heard of Mazinga but years later I found it was Mazinger so I told him. He still says Mazinga 😂
@@whosaidthat84 Interesting! Back in the day of Shogun Warriors Mazinger was known as Tranzor-Z. It's pretty cool that he knew more or less Mazinger's actual name.
I remember the rubsign. While I thought it was cool. I thought it looked dumb compared to the Transformers that had the regular Autobot/Decepticon insignia sticker. I thought Soundwave looked terrible with that black square on his chest instead of the Decepticon sticker of the first release.
I had a bunch of those Converters back when I was little! Ah, the sweet memories when every Friday, my mom would take me to a discount store and buy me a knock-off Transformer and even a bootleg Voltron.
I remember those McDonald's transformers. I had the cup and burger, I dont remember how I got them even back then, they kinda just showed up with my toys one day.
I have a knockoff Ravage (and probably another) that is brown and has no eye details. I bought it at Kmart. They came with plastic cassette cases like more contemporary Transformers cassettes. I remember seeing the earlier Reflector at Spencer Gifts, and I have a grey Shockwave knockoff called Electronic Magnum that came from JCPenney. The trigger is quite phallic relative to a "real" Shockwave. I remember in 1983 kids bringing Kronoforms to school that would later be Sunstreaker (only red), Ironhide (only black), and Trailbreaker/Hoist. I thought the Ironhide was coolest, so my perspective is a little different from the people complaining that Ironhide and Ratchet just have faces on the seats but no real heads (they also looked like this in the first issue of the comicbook). I continue to see knockoff Transformers to this day, most often at Lot-Less and independent 99 cent stores, and, before they went put of business, National Wholesale Liquidators.
Here in Hungary we had "Trafikformers" Bootleg Transformers sold in Tobacco/Gift shops. One of my favorites is one that turns into a Giant Motorcycle, and it's Robot mode looks like the Mech that Dexter had. (I have a Hungarian Transformers Review channel, so if you don't mind my gibberish, you can check out my Bootleg Playlist to see a few fun ones like the Titanic Transformer!)
Dude, I've never heard that before, that's a really cool concept. The idea that an inanimate object can become possessed after existing long enough. Japan knocks it outta the park again. Also, I totally had some Zybots as a kid
In northern europe i know in some "happy meals" dont remember if it was mc donalds or some other burger selling brand, there were toys that transformed into letters. Remember my neighbour had several of those, 1 that turned into a M and another that turned into a L and several more
Thanks for this video. I totally want to know more about the Machine Dragon. That sounds awesome! When I was a kid I had one of the generic Dinobots, it was the Tryceratops. I didn't mind it being generic though because it was the exact same toy but it also included a little book about dinosaurs so I was happy. :)
Does anyone remember a line of transformable toys from the early to mid 80s - they may have been Happy Meal exclusives - where one became a silver plastic robot with a single dish for its "foot" and spindly "arms," but its alt mode could be configured to look vaguely like the starship Enterprise?
I used to think as a teen that Transformers were the toys that could never be pirated due to the whole complex transforming design, and if they did it was the more simple design of car toy just having the legs under and such. Boy was I wrong in how there are pirated versions of every line, including the more recent designs based on the movies (I once saw a offbrand large size movie starcream in a Mexican rural stop). I can't help but admire some of the lengths bootleg toys go and how creative they get to the point you gotta have them just for how bizarre some of those bootlegs are, like the Titanic Transformers and the Thomas trains that combine into one giant robot!
I remember those robots with the windshield/cab heads. I wanted nothing to do with the knockoffs. I did have a transforming watch. Blue if I remember correct.
Transformers and Go Bots were the only two toy lines on my radar as a kid. Its cool to see all of these other knock offs that were on store shelves. Is there as big of a market for knock off Transformers as there is for knock off He-Man or TMNT? Also, it seems we are having a resurgence of the empty toy shelf in 2020. Not so much with Transformers but some of these other toy lines can't stay stocked long enough, that is for sure. Don't even get me started on online availability lol. Anyhow, great video as always Ed.
I think most of them are perceived less as a ko cuz a lot of them had a cartoon or were licensed, its just that transformers ended up standing the test of time 🤔 I think
I had that blue pinball robot!! I remember my mom bought it for me from the drug store :D It was cool as you could actually play Pinball.. I don't know if I still have it though, lost a lot of stuff throughout the years :(
i never had transformers g1 toys and i never had zybots and gobots but i did have moto bots changeables alpha bots beast wars and some of the later transformers
I think the coolest knockoff Transforming robot I had as a kid was a small Irongear Xabungle. No idea what it was at the time and I didn't find out til later, around my 20's, what its name was. It red and was red and blue as opposed to the red and yellow like the original but had firing missiles and everything. No idea what happened to it though. The best KO I have now is Sky Garry which I got second hand, failry accurate to the original bar the micromaster and his chest sticker is missing.
This is a fantastic video. I've added it to the first page of "The Knockoff Transformers Thread" at the Allspark site, as part of a collection of information of all things TF knockoff related. Feel free to pop in and say high anytime.
I'd like to thank Machine Robo, Diaclone, Mighty Orbots, Voltron, Macross, Super Sentai, Megaman and many other robot anime and cartoons for helping me realise that the idea of transforming robots aren't a Transformers only thing I myself have an idea of my own transforming robot series. Differences being that they're not giant aliens, a wider variety of vehicles and machines, and the ability to transform going from an ability unique to my main character to a universal ability by almost all robots
Ironically, Transformers and Gobots were knockoffs, as they were simply renamed and recolored from their original Japanese toy lines, Diaclone and Machine Robo.
5:27 Did he just dropped Soundwave? I still have Soundwave, the blue pinball and grey jet Gobot, a McDonalds hamburger robot and some small (fake?) transformers.
Yes he did. But i dont think it was an original, or maybe an early prototype, because ive got that version and it isnt THAT big, even in a small childs hands. But there exists some oversized knock offs and might be something like that
Hasbro has the Rights... and they are using the Go-Bots name for their 'pre-school' line (think Duplo for Lego)... Several of the Names have been recycled to keep copyrights alive... as to the Recognizable characters (Leader 1 the Jet & Cy-Kill the Motorcycle et al) I think they did establish a 'Parallel Universe' that they only revisit occasionally, again to keep their trademarks up to date - Part of the problem (IIRC) with using them to their Fullest Value is because the international rights to models/molds are not as clear cut... I seem to recall a 'Leader 1' (in everything but name) toy being re-released in a scale where his Robo-Form was ~1 foot tall within the last 2 years
I still remember the jingle (before I looked up the video): Switch on Chargertron / Robots like you've never seen Switch on Chargertron / Supersonic machines Rev the meter til it's red Launch out the tracker Switch on Chargertron Now it's an attacker ruclips.net/video/RCz9WIKli8c/видео.html In the secret lab / It's Profesor Zon His inventions are called the Powertrons The secret is they're machines that drive But in an instant they are alive ruclips.net/video/LgxUp6NGu5k/видео.html
I had a few. There was a shop owned by a Chinese family that sold the Chinese and Japanese versions. Always for a better price and the quality was the same. I even got my Voltron set there in the original Go Lion package for a lot less money than the US edition sold at Toy R Us and KayBee
You didn’t get it wrong or anything, just thought you’d like to know if you thought Machine Dragon looked cool: Machine Dragon wasn’t a single character, you could army build him. Also, google ‘Machine Saurer’ if you want to see the comedically violent comics the figure started in, before Takara repainted him for Diaclone. :)
I have a KO version of Neon genesis evangelion x optimus prime, which I believe came out before the official version. Could be a fun idea for a vid, KO's that inspired real canon toys
Those were the days wow.What we use to do we would use the knock offs like Cybertron citizens innocent civilians.The real deal for the best actions only.Be safe be blessed take care everyone.
5:51 “Zybots” is pronounced with a “Y” sound (like “fry”). Only pointing it out because there were actually “Z-bots” too, but they were different (1992 by Galoob) 😉
@Ed's Retro Geek Out Lol, no worries 😉 Like i said, i wouldn’t normally bother someone over something so minor, except that “Z-bots” are a different thing 😁
If I were to theoretically purchase one or two of these knock-offs for a short film that I theoretically intended to enter into theoretical film festivals would I still be at risk of a copyright lawsuit or breaking any other laws theoretically?
McDonalds had this one changeable toy that was in the shape of a cheeseburger but then 'transformed' into a cute as hell dinosaur haha. Was my favorite damn toy ever. Not even exactly sure why...I just thought it was the coolest thing! I still have the little thing and now I'm SUPER tempted to tear my closet apart to find the little thing lol. Found a pic of it! i.ebayimg.com/images/g/QPUAAOSwH-Ve4OjS/s-l400.jpg
Nice vid. Just subbed!
Thanks 🤣 it took a year or 2 but finally I got greco to sub 🦄
6:12 The McRobots!! So glad you mentioned them, those are probably some of the toys I ever remember having and getting from McDonald's and was born right around the time they were released (1988). I have a goal to collect all of the lines just for the weirdness they have and one of those Happy Meal Toys that really stands out as being a one of kind unique toyline.
The Zybot episode from robot chicken was the best one they made. "Awwww it looked like those guys needed a win" - Megatron.
Haha 🤣👌
"Trasformers" was the Italian release of Diaclone and Microman by Gig, which preceded their release of Transformers over there.
It's a bummer he didn't know that.
Not everyone can know everything, that’s why these videos are great, cuz we can share extra knowledge but also learn things 😁 For instance, i’m a big Zybots fan, but had never seen that particular Remco product catalog with the Hardcastle & McCormick and Riptide transforming car wristwatches 😳
Thanks Jeffrey always interesting to learn these facts... it was easier to jump to the conclusion they tried cashing in with a KO name like Robert Cop instead of researching whether this was an official release
@Ed's Retro Geek Out
“Robert Cop” still makes me LOL to this day 🤣
@@Gappasaurus he should do better research before doing a video. Ignorance is not an excuse.
Who just came after Chris McFeely video about Muffy and the Mysterians video?
I did!
I gotta check out that video
I still have 3 McRobots from when I was a kid 😂
I thought it was funny when the person in the video dropped Soundwave.
Takara introduced a few of the Diaclone and Microman Transformers to the US market as "Diakron" and "Kronoform" among other names like the stand-alone F-15 fighter and "Cassette-Man," which is probably how Hasbro got introduced to them.
Great video, Ed! There was such a mind-boggling amount of transforming robot merchandise in the 80's. It seems like every toy company in existence was trying to cash in on the craze (legally or otherwise). And, yes, those McDonald's Changeables were the best Happy Meal toy ever. Hell, they're still awesome decades later.
Thanks 🤓
A lot of toy shops and dealers in the US imported the original non US versions of robot toys like Transformers and Voltron. It cost the toy shops and dealers less and they could sell them for less as well. In cases like Voltron , The import version was better than the US version. The import version came with all of the accessories for the lions and the sword and shield.
Same here in europe for nes games they’d import the ntsc ones and offer a gamekey cuz they were cheaper 😅
Cool Video. Here in germany, around 85, at that time we could see Transformers and Gobots on the UK Sky Channel - we had in the stores Diaclone and Robo Machine (Aka Gobots), the Transformers Brand came out some time later. At that time i tought, that both were some kind of Knock ofs - but was also happy to have 'Transformers' to play. Now with the Internet i know it better, but at that time nobody knows. Thanks Buddy.
Dude, your accent is so freaking relaxing. Haha. I love the mix of accent, awesome toys and punk rock tee-shirts.
“Transistor Robots” by Four Star will always be my favorite KO series, with some original figures plus lots of unique redecos, weird remoulds, and random imports from other lines 😄
this is even better than the toys that made us transformers documentary !!!!! all that info from the 70's shogun stuff and Japanese culture , I never heard of it , this is mind-blowing !!!! I say this is the best transformers documentary I ever seen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks dude
@@EdsRetroGeekOut thanks to you brother, you are doing an excellent job !!!!
@@EdsRetroGeekOut I just shared your video on the New Zealand community of collectors , your video was mind blowing !
Man I miss the age of bootlegs in every dollar store. You just don't see the awesome ones like you did back in the 80s and 90s anymore. I'm still looking to run into a robert cop toy one day.
OMG... I just remembered my Slot-Machine transformer knockoff... Damn, I haven't thought of that thing in about 35 or 40 years... It hit me like a mind melting epiphany all of a sudden after you mentioned it... It was like a nostalgic blinding flash and now I taste "purple"... anyone else?... Ow, my brain.
🤖 transformeriffic
There's a "Curiosity Shop" (don't know how else to define it as it has everything from lamps to Resin Eagle statues to novelty shot glasses to moccasins AND random Toys) about 15 miles out of town... as of 2019 (and well before) they had knock off G1 Combiner sets on Blister packs the front of the cardboard was all flash & splash, the back of the card was plain brown
Mc changeable were truly the best... I see these things in my son happy meals and shake my head ... wish I still had them.. I remember the Bennie babies happy meals in early 90 were high demand!!! Just think about happy meals..great stuff Ed
...still love the Mc D. CHANGEBELS 😅 so i MUST collect them 😆 and they stands next to my BattleBeasts 😅 💪
Thx for the great video 👍💪
Omg I had that red sports car Converter! Forgot about it. That's a badass-looking robot!!
At 5:26 poor Soundwave dies...
I have heavy nostalgia for a set of dinobot knockoffs. I remember a blue trex, Brown triceratops, and I think a red stegosaurus and a green brachiosaurus? I remember the rex's arms looking like guns.
I played with those all the time.
Those were the G2 colors for the dinobots 🤠
"Rocks, Bugs, and Things" -I forgot all about those! I had one, apparently called Gravelguts."
You threw me off with the Raideen being the first transformer-I knew Getter Robo was, but it wouldn't have a proper fully transforming toy for decades-most the toys were just the combined form (three jets that combined into three very different giant robots). Getter Dragon was even one of the Shogun Warriors as "Dragun"
Back when in the early 90s when i got my Megazord, my oldest brother (born 1971) kept saying "That guy looks like Mazinga. But Mazinga is way better!" I never heard of Mazinga but years later I found it was Mazinger so I told him. He still says Mazinga 😂
@@whosaidthat84 Interesting! Back in the day of Shogun Warriors Mazinger was known as Tranzor-Z. It's pretty cool that he knew more or less Mazinger's actual name.
I don't know why transformable robots never got my heart when I was a kid.
I remember the rubsign. While I thought it was cool. I thought it looked dumb compared to the Transformers that had the regular Autobot/Decepticon insignia sticker. I thought Soundwave looked terrible with that black square on his chest instead of the Decepticon sticker of the first release.
This dude is the Chris stuckman off retro toy review's🤣🤘
Cool stuff I've always been a fan of the original g1 transformers series since '84 lol
At 6:56 the little boy with the green eyes that’s the way Hasbro’s lawyer looked like in court when it went after Sparkle Toys, Inc.
Sparkle Toys - “Bootlegs In Disguise” 🤣🤣
Just when I thought I knew everything about Transformers and Gobots. Well done Ed! Great video.
Thanks 🤓
I had a bunch of those Converters back when I was little! Ah, the sweet memories when every Friday, my mom would take me to a discount store and buy me a knock-off Transformer and even a bootleg Voltron.
I remember those McDonald's transformers. I had the cup and burger, I dont remember how I got them even back then, they kinda just showed up with my toys one day.
I have a knockoff Ravage (and probably another) that is brown and has no eye details. I bought it at Kmart. They came with plastic cassette cases like more contemporary Transformers cassettes. I remember seeing the earlier Reflector at Spencer Gifts, and I have a grey Shockwave knockoff called Electronic Magnum that came from JCPenney. The trigger is quite phallic relative to a "real" Shockwave. I remember in 1983 kids bringing Kronoforms to school that would later be Sunstreaker (only red), Ironhide (only black), and Trailbreaker/Hoist. I thought the Ironhide was coolest, so my perspective is a little different from the people complaining that Ironhide and Ratchet just have faces on the seats but no real heads (they also looked like this in the first issue of the comicbook). I continue to see knockoff Transformers to this day, most often at Lot-Less and independent 99 cent stores, and, before they went put of business, National Wholesale Liquidators.
Nice - another quality video, cheers for the Patreon mention at the end - keep up the good work buddy
Thanks 🤓
There's also V-World fighting animal robots that change into big cats, reptiles and insects.
Awesome ill look into those 🤠
Here in Hungary we had "Trafikformers" Bootleg Transformers sold in Tobacco/Gift shops.
One of my favorites is one that turns into a Giant Motorcycle, and it's Robot mode looks like the Mech that Dexter had.
(I have a Hungarian Transformers Review channel, so if you don't mind my gibberish, you can check out my Bootleg Playlist to see a few fun ones like the Titanic Transformer!)
Awesome ill look into those 🤓
5:27 the poor kid dropped his Soundwave :D
Dude, I've never heard that before, that's a really cool concept. The idea that an inanimate object can become possessed after existing long enough. Japan knocks it outta the park again. Also, I totally had some Zybots as a kid
Everyone remember retro Soundwave and sticking Cassettes in him. Toys nowadays suck
@Cat Hill Kinda feel bad for kids today riding the wave of their parents nostalgia. If only modern cartoons didn't suck.
I used to get a giggle out of a knock-off transformer a local milk bar had on the shelf called "Deformation Car Man".
🤣👌 i gotta find me one of those
I had that cash register robot as a kid! And the crane and dumptruck from RoadBots.
Awesome 🤓
How come I’m not even born in the 80’s or 90’s or even The early 2000’s and I still want those to toys even the Knock off’s
They just have that impact 😁 cool toys
This Chanel Is wonderful congratulation .
I'm a Motu vintage,NA ,2002 and Classic italian collector.
In northern europe i know in some "happy meals" dont remember if it was mc donalds or some other burger selling brand, there were toys that transformed into letters. Remember my neighbour had several of those, 1 that turned into a M and another that turned into a L and several more
Thanks for this video. I totally want to know more about the Machine Dragon. That sounds awesome! When I was a kid I had one of the generic Dinobots, it was the Tryceratops. I didn't mind it being generic though because it was the exact same toy but it also included a little book about dinosaurs so I was happy. :)
Awesome 🦖🤓
Does anyone remember a line of transformable toys from the early to mid 80s - they may have been Happy Meal exclusives - where one became a silver plastic robot with a single dish for its "foot" and spindly "arms," but its alt mode could be configured to look vaguely like the starship Enterprise?
I used to think as a teen that Transformers were the toys that could never be pirated due to the whole complex transforming design, and if they did it was the more simple design of car toy just having the legs under and such. Boy was I wrong in how there are pirated versions of every line, including the more recent designs based on the movies (I once saw a offbrand large size movie starcream in a Mexican rural stop). I can't help but admire some of the lengths bootleg toys go and how creative they get to the point you gotta have them just for how bizarre some of those bootlegs are, like the Titanic Transformers and the Thomas trains that combine into one giant robot!
The thomas train one is over the top indeed 🤣
Founded several KO carded gobots at an estate sale last year. He had some other bootleg toys but not like action figures unfortunately.
Great video loved the Shogun Warrior line. Sidenote I'm now up to 12 Super Powers figure and a Lex Soar 7
Epic
I remember those robots with the windshield/cab heads. I wanted nothing to do with the knockoffs. I did have a transforming watch. Blue if I remember correct.
Transformers and Go Bots were the only two toy lines on my radar as a kid. Its cool to see all of these other knock offs that were on store shelves. Is there as big of a market for knock off Transformers as there is for knock off He-Man or TMNT? Also, it seems we are having a resurgence of the empty toy shelf in 2020. Not so much with Transformers but some of these other toy lines can't stay stocked long enough, that is for sure. Don't even get me started on online availability lol. Anyhow, great video as always Ed.
I think most of them are perceived less as a ko cuz a lot of them had a cartoon or were licensed, its just that transformers ended up standing the test of time 🤔 I think
I like the transformers and the go bots.😀👍
Fantastic video! Love the research and all the old 70s/80s footage takes me back 🙂💜😻
If i asked my parents for a Transformer toy, they would come with knockoffs, and i would still love it! ;)
They’re all interesting 🤠
My mom got that gold dino set for me.Still have the stego !
Oh yeah !! 44 seconds after uploaded 😎
I had that blue pinball robot!! I remember my mom bought it for me from the drug store :D It was cool as you could actually play Pinball.. I don't know if I still have it though, lost a lot of stuff throughout the years :(
Been binge-watching your content, love it fs, let’s get Ed to 40k!
Thanks 🤓
Another great video!!
i never had transformers g1 toys and i never had zybots and gobots but i did have moto bots changeables alpha bots beast wars and some of the later transformers
Outstanding video! Very high quality content! 😁👍
Thanks
You're welcome.
Love learning about the toys I loved as a kid and as an adult. Another great video Ed
Thanks 🤓
No powertrons? Can't have a transformers knock off video without powertrons!
Ill have to look into those 🤠
Yeah, those McDonald's toys were frickin' awesome...🤘🏼💯✔
I need more 🤩
If that kid from 5:25 who drops Soundwave would know what it would bring up now, i bet he would be more carefull !!
I think the coolest knockoff Transforming robot I had as a kid was a small Irongear Xabungle. No idea what it was at the time and I didn't find out til later, around my 20's, what its name was. It red and was red and blue as opposed to the red and yellow like the original but had firing missiles and everything. No idea what happened to it though. The best KO I have now is Sky Garry which I got second hand, failry accurate to the original bar the micromaster and his chest sticker is missing.
Keep up the great work Ed! 👍🏼
Thanks 🤓
This is a fantastic video. I've added it to the first page of "The Knockoff Transformers Thread" at the Allspark site, as part of a collection of information of all things TF knockoff related. Feel free to pop in and say high anytime.
Dude this new show of yours (toy history) is making wanna get back into retro toys :p STAPH! :p
love these videos! so well done, and very interesting to watch!
Thanks 🤓
Alright!!! I made the cut!!!! Thx!!!
Thanks for sending in the pictures 🤓👌
I'd like to thank Machine Robo, Diaclone, Mighty Orbots, Voltron, Macross, Super Sentai, Megaman and many other robot anime and cartoons for helping me realise that the idea of transforming robots aren't a Transformers only thing
I myself have an idea of my own transforming robot series. Differences being that they're not giant aliens, a wider variety of vehicles and machines, and the ability to transform going from an ability unique to my main character to a universal ability by almost all robots
Tank Head Go-Bot.
Destroyer had one of the coolest names
Even with the advent of the internet people still dont believe me when I tell them Go-Bots came out before Transformers lol
I guess they just assume cuz its the bigger toyline it was first 🤓
Ironically, Transformers and Gobots were knockoffs, as they were simply renamed and recolored from their original Japanese toy lines, Diaclone and Machine Robo.
The McDonalds Robots are cool. Weird but cool.
Hell yeah, great stuff!
5:27 Did he just dropped Soundwave? I still have Soundwave, the blue pinball and grey jet Gobot, a McDonalds hamburger robot and some small (fake?) transformers.
Yes he did. But i dont think it was an original, or maybe an early prototype, because ive got that version and it isnt THAT big, even in a small childs hands. But there exists some oversized knock offs and might be something like that
Mars Converters and Roadbot
My favorite bootleg transformer is the remote control auto change robo van
my favourite ko transformers are the masterpieces, some of them are better the original
Cool video very intersting
7.46: the one in the back looks a bit like Skylynx.
"Sold out within 2-3 days" I wish, now its like a few seconds. I think Hasbro owns Go-Bots now and they exist in the Transformers universe.
Hasbro has the Rights... and they are using the Go-Bots name for their 'pre-school' line (think Duplo for Lego)...
Several of the Names have been recycled to keep copyrights alive... as to the Recognizable characters (Leader 1 the Jet & Cy-Kill the Motorcycle et al) I think they did establish a 'Parallel Universe' that they only revisit occasionally, again to keep their trademarks up to date
- Part of the problem (IIRC) with using them to their Fullest Value is because the international rights to models/molds are not as clear cut... I seem to recall a 'Leader 1' (in everything but name) toy being re-released in a scale where his Robo-Form was ~1 foot tall within the last 2 years
I still remember the jingle (before I looked up the video):
Switch on Chargertron / Robots like you've never seen
Switch on Chargertron / Supersonic machines
Rev the meter til it's red
Launch out the tracker
Switch on Chargertron
Now it's an attacker
ruclips.net/video/RCz9WIKli8c/видео.html
In the secret lab / It's Profesor Zon
His inventions are called the Powertrons
The secret is they're machines that drive
But in an instant they are alive
ruclips.net/video/LgxUp6NGu5k/видео.html
Mc-cepticons!
🤣👌
My favorite is probably Sunyak from conversters
I had a few. There was a shop owned by a Chinese family that sold the Chinese and Japanese versions. Always for a better price and the quality was the same.
I even got my Voltron set there in the original Go Lion package for a lot less money than the US edition sold at Toy R Us and KayBee
Cool toys 😎
Indeed 😁
You didn’t get it wrong or anything, just thought you’d like to know if you thought Machine Dragon looked cool:
Machine Dragon wasn’t a single character, you could army build him. Also, google ‘Machine Saurer’ if you want to see the comedically violent comics the figure started in, before Takara repainted him for Diaclone. :)
Awesome 🤠 too bad they’re tough to find 🤓 he would have sold well I think
I have a KO version of Neon genesis evangelion x optimus prime, which I believe came out before the official version. Could be a fun idea for a vid, KO's that inspired real canon toys
The CUTEST toy guy on RUclips!!!;❤❤
🤣
I spy a Fat Wreck Chords shirt. \m/
Got it at punkrock holiday in Slovenia last year 🤓
Those were the days wow.What we use to do we would use the knock offs like Cybertron citizens innocent civilians.The real deal for the best actions only.Be safe be blessed take care everyone.
5:51 “Zybots” is pronounced with a “Y” sound (like “fry”). Only pointing it out because there were actually “Z-bots” too, but they were different (1992 by Galoob) 😉
Ah like that 😅🤦♂️ now I feel silly
@Ed's Retro Geek Out
Lol, no worries 😉 Like i said, i wouldn’t normally bother someone over something so minor, except that “Z-bots” are a different thing 😁
Was Transformers big in the UK? I seem to have gone through the entire 80s without seeing a single episode. And I watched a lot of cartoons.
Not sure i dont live in the uk
I always end up buying knock off toys from the dollar store. Although I had bought real toy back then. The knock offs didnt last too long.
Dont forget foldabots❤
If I were to theoretically purchase one or two of these knock-offs for a short film that I theoretically intended to enter into theoretical film festivals would I still be at risk of a copyright lawsuit or breaking any other laws theoretically?
McDonalds had this one changeable toy that was in the shape of a cheeseburger but then 'transformed' into a cute as hell dinosaur haha. Was my favorite damn toy ever. Not even exactly sure why...I just thought it was the coolest thing! I still have the little thing and now I'm SUPER tempted to tear my closet apart to find the little thing lol.
Found a pic of it! i.ebayimg.com/images/g/QPUAAOSwH-Ve4OjS/s-l400.jpg
Loe these retro videos man! Does anybody know of a book with vintage gobots toys? Like pixel. Dan's he man book.