GoBots

The GoBot toy line was based on figures produced by Popy of Japan (the now-defunct character division of Bandai), named Machine Robo.

[4][5] Introduced in 1983 by Tonka Inc., the GoBots toys were part of the robot "sensation" that swept the nation for a short time.

The robot figures transformed into a mixture of generic and specific contemporary machines, plus a handful of Second World War fighter aircraft, and a number of futuristic designs.

In addition to these, two versions of the Power Warrior were made for both the Guardians and the Renegades, using molds from the Machine Robo line and recolored.

Hanna-Barbera produced a cartoon series called Challenge of the GoBots to promote the toy line, which ran for 65 22-minute episodes from 1984 to 1985.

This included a short comic strip, based on the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon continuity, as well as features on real-life robots, quiz pages and the like.

After Fleetway discontinued their licence agreement, the property was leased to World Distributors, who produced annuals following the cartoon continuity in 1986 and 1987.

A Gobots video game was released in 1986 by Ariolasoft for the Commodore 64,[14] Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum[15][16] computer formats.

[17] In October 2018, IDW began publishing a Go-Bots mini series written and illustrated by Tom Scioli.

Also, Botcon 2007 Bugbite, an off-white repaint of Classics Bumblebee, was released as the second Bug Bite toy in Transformers.

[19] A deleted scene included in the Blu-Ray release of the 2018 film Bumblebee, set in 1987, involves the character Guillermo Gutierrez asking the protagonist Charlie Watson if the Transformers are like the fictional toy line GoBots.

Cover to #2 of the Gobots comic series by IDW Publishing. Art by Tom Scioli.