Patrol Car Robo (Hans-Cuff)
Review by JoshB
While most old Machine Robo toys have a sort of vintage charm, this one barely makes the grade.
Yes, it's a bootleg, and that's really why I have this. In the 80's, as bootlegs proliferated across flea markets and discount stores, Machine Robo knockoffs ruled. They were cheap and easy to make due to their simplicity, making them an ideal target for counterfeiters.
Patrol Car Robo is one of the more frequently bootlegged of all of them. Its simple design and transformation made for a low-cost knock off.
The thing is just plain ugly, and is not one of PLEX's finer moments. The face is derpy, the arms hang low and uneven, and they are all generally loose as hell. I've never held one of these, bootleg or original, that was tight in any way.
So what's it got going for it? Well, it has some metal, and real rubber tires. Despite being nearly 30 years old, the tires have not rotted off.
The box is more interesting than the toy to me. Many different Machine Robo toys came in this packaging, secured only with a twist tie. In this case, it was secured backwards.
The box is labeled MR-MACHINEROBO, which as a child I thought was "Mr. Machinerobo". I had no idea that Gobots had come from the Machine Robo line when I was younger.
On the back, four releases are shown, with arbitrary numbers:
PR-01 - Steam Robo (Loco)
PR-02 - Jet Robo (Fitor)
PR-03 - Space Shuttle Robo (Spay-C)
PR-04 - Patrol Car Robo (Hans-Cuff)
So many MachineRobo toys were bootlegged in so many packages, I wouldn't be suprised if we saw other toys in this packaging.
Comments
4 comments postedCool! I think when I got you that blue car bootleg the store had a couple in this style packaging as well. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing you the KO Super Gobot that was boxed as well. It was the Fairlady Z mold (Zeemon in Gobots?).
I always liked Hans-Cuff (not the name so much, but that was always a weak point for the Go-Bots) because he fit in with my Hot Wheels City by looking like a "legitimate" police car in alt mode. The non-KO version also has the ends of the front bumper as part of the arms, which I always thought made a cool set of "brass knuckles" in bot mode.
The genuine version is actually a nice little toy, that I wouldn't mind owning.
Yes, I own multiples of this toy by chance, and oddly I don't think I have ever come across the KO version. Spencer is right, it fit in quite well Hot Wheels/Matchbox wise.
Also, many other MRs were KO'd and sold on simple blister cards (tons of different ones). Some came both carded and boxed from either the same or different companies.
I never gave a whole lot of love to Go-Bots, Convertors, Remco stuff, etc. because I come from the Transformers side of the hobby, but I have had tons of them since I was a kid. Maybe it was because I didn't have many of the good ones, but since I have picked up more and more, you will see that many of the machine robo/go-bots were VERY intricate and deserve praise. One of my favorites is Flypaper (garbage truck, Japanese name escapes me at the moment). He is so unique for such a little bot and absolutely amazing. Definitely worth a look if you find a shiny one.