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Staks Transport

Comments

16 comments posted
Beautiful!

Awesome review!! Very informative of the early years of Transformers/Go-Bots and their mysterious and complex origins. Looking forward to seeing more figures from this line of toys.

Leonardo Flores
CollectionDX Staff Writer-West Coast Bureau

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 23 May, 2009 - 15:11
good review

Good review. I always appreciate measured analysis of Machine Robo, and I like the thoroughness of the background/history. More of this would be welcome. Thanks!

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 23 May, 2009 - 15:13
What a great, thorough

What a great, thorough review. I like the historical perspective and detailed analysis with the toy's competitors.

I always thought GoBots had an unfairly bad reputation. I loved how even their small toys had lots of metal. Sure, the show was terrible (I hated it as a kid), and some of the toys were lame, but early Transformers were no great shakes either (it's true, the famous Seeker jets are terrible toys!). I hope you'll do more reviews like this.

Wicker808's picture
Posted by Wicker808 on 23 May, 2009 - 16:19
You've got Puzzler?! Man

You've got Puzzler?! Man you're one heck of a collector :D You have to review it here one day :)

Kudos on the review and the collection :)

Wallas's picture
Posted by Wallas on 24 May, 2009 - 05:14
Mighty Vehicles, Mighty Robots

Glad everyone enjoyed the review! I'm definitely going to do more GoBots in the future. I already have pictures taken of Puzzler, Herr Fiend, and Zeemon. And as much as I dig Puzzler, it's not really hard to get one. GoBots don't seem to go for very much money on eBay. I guess it's that bad reputation again.

I agree that the GoBots cartoon is pretty horrible, but I still like a lot of the toys, especially the Super GoBots.

Ginrai's picture
Posted by Ginrai on 25 May, 2009 - 19:22
Psycho

Staks is awsome, especially with that trailer for actually carrying cars.
Nice review, looking forward to more GoBots. Bring on Monsterous!

The Psycho Super Gobot was my only one as a kid, and still have one, but I wanted Staks also. I loved the more realistic take of the little chrome pilots in the head, looking out the windsheilds.

They were great because Gobots could be had in the little toy section of our local drug stores, more so than Transformers. As the oldest of 4 kids, who were always sick with something or other, my mom was always dragging us through the drug store again. And I loved it cuz I got to keep checking out the Gobots, Matchbox, and Robotech model kits, and saving up to get 'em.

repairtechjon's picture
Posted by repairtechjon on 26 May, 2009 - 22:43
Look,I usually defend

Look,I usually defend Gobots. As a child I enjoyed the cartoon,and had many of the figures. I was a fan,and I definately still like them,allthough I no longer collect them and don't have any left from childhood (moved several times).

That being said,to compare this dork in any way to Ultra Magnus or Optimus Prime is pretty crazy. Optimus is the iconic figure for our generation.

Have you been getting into those funny cigarettes?

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 27 May, 2009 - 16:29
Not cool.

I resent the implication that I use drugs because I like a toy you do not.

Ginrai's picture
Posted by Ginrai on 27 May, 2009 - 16:41
Sorry,I only meant it as a

Sorry,I only meant it as a joke,forgot to put a :)

And I wouldn't say I don't like Staks,but compared to Ultra Magnus?

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 27 May, 2009 - 20:42
Yeah, did you read the review?

I think I made a pretty good argument in the article itself. Ultra Magnus is an awkward reworking of Optimus Prime. The trailer mode looks like crap and does not resemble a car carrier at all, period. Ultra Magnus is also colored like an ice cream truck threw up on it. So yeah, I can definitely say I prefer Staks.

Ginrai's picture
Posted by Ginrai on 28 May, 2009 - 11:25
Hey, differing opinions are

Hey, differing opinions are cool. If Jeremy didn't prefer Staks, we may not have even gotten this review.

I didn't love Gobots growing up, but I certainly didn't hate them. I had, maybe, three *ever* throughout my childhood, but I recently picked up the original Japanese version of the Courageous Power Suit. Been meaning to review it, but I wanted to pick up some 600's to fill the suits...just never got around to it...

Anyway, I definitely prefer the original Powered Convoy to Staks, but I can totally dig the lofty versus modest goals point. There'll always be something in me that resonates with the intricate, techy surface details of G1 TFs (and other previous Diaclone toys), but I can certainly respect the more simple, almost iconic Machine Robo designs.

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 28 May, 2009 - 13:06
Powered Convoy

Don't get me wrong, I actually love Powered Convoy. I just think the trailer mode is half-assed at best. The Ultra Magnus colors are lame, but the original Powered Convoy colors look nice. It does have those typical Diaclone flaws I mentioned though: looks awful from the back, full of extra parts you have to attach, et cetera.

Ginrai's picture
Posted by Ginrai on 29 May, 2009 - 13:26
Agreed; it's a deeply flawed

Agreed; it's a deeply flawed toy...but I just can't get enough of this Powered Convoy ad! Sooo good. I mean, it can carry some of the other Car Robots...but, yeah, the kibble gets nuts.

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 1 June, 2009 - 17:13
I like most of the Western

I like most of the Western exclusive Supers - Throttle is probably still the best robot-to-motorcycle ever made (the diecast and realism just pips TF's Roadpig), Spy-Eye is a really good twist on the jet-to-robot thing, Night Fright is damn fine and the Super Vamp is ideal for recreating the ultra-violent second story from the British Robo Machines comic (http://counter-x.net/gobots/comic/robo_machines/index.html).

Super Couper is a bit bland, Raizor's probably a bit too weird, but I'd say the only one that's outright poor is the awkward Clutch. Sure, they're not as unusual and striking as the Scale Robo figures, but they're still worthy (and still have a decent diecast quotient, some rubber tyres and realistic detailing at a time when Transformers was turning out nasty all-plastic 'futuristic' things like Scourge and Blurr).

The big problem is that from what I can gather they cost a fortune for you guys in the States... for some reason they're a lot easier to find in Europe, where we had Transformers, Robo Machine and that was pretty much it, rather than tons of minor competitors.

IIRC, there was a third 'foot colour' variant that's rather rare - grey, I think.

The Ideon's picture
Posted by The Ideon on 5 June, 2009 - 18:38
GoBots

I checked your website out and it's pretty cool, but I can see we totally disagree. I like Staks and you don't and that's cool. Your website definitely has some good info (my Big Trailer Robo actually has a ¥2650 sticker on the box in fact).

Like I said in my review, I'm not a fan of the western exclusive Super GoBots. They all have extremely awkward robot modes (I guess Spy-Eye looks alright), which is a big part of my problem with them.

I definitely do not agree that Throttle is the best robot-to-motorcycle. The Mospeada bike by Gakken and the Megazone 23 Proto Garland by Yamato both easily trump it in my book.

Cost has nothing to do with why I don't really care for these toys. I mean, I've spent hundreds of dollars on Japanese toys. And like I said, I have a Big Trailer Robo, so it's not like I'm unwilling to buy stuff off the internet.

I really like the aesthetic of the Scale Robo DX toys and I think Staks more or less carries on that tradition. It doesn't have big diecast in the top of vehicle mode like Bug Bite or most of the other Scale Robo DX toys do, but its legs are entirely big slabs of metal so I'm fine with the zinc content.

The other Big Machine Robo toys and the western exclusive Super GoBots are a strange mismash of spindly, awkward robots and blown up versions of 600 series robots. Blowing up 600 series toys always seemed lazy to me, but I guess I'm not the biggest fan of the 600 series toys anyway. They have pretty nice diecast content and are a lot better than the Transformers Minibots they were competing with, but their transformations are mostly of the "flip the car over and pull out the legs and arms" variety and that's not that much fun.

I have a Super GoBots Vamp and while it's got enough metal and is kind of fun to transform, I just don't really like the aesthetic. It doesn't really look robotic to me. It just kind of looks like a monster and turns into some weird swamp buggy/monster movie car thing. I guess I just like the ones that transform from realistic vehicles to robots.

As for the gray foot color on Staks, I've never ever seen that. Interesting. Do you know if was a foreign exclusive or something?

Comics don't really factor into it for me when I am buying a toy. Growing up in the US, all I had were the GoBots TV show and the GoBots Magazine (I actually had a subscription as a kid), but they are both pretty terrible in hindsight and I don't really have much nostalgia for them the way I do for the toys.

I still think Staks is a great toy and I'll probably review Big Trailer Robo in a bit. You may find you it more attractive in the sort of blood red color scheme it has.

Ginrai's picture
Posted by Ginrai on 6 June, 2009 - 17:35
I happily endorse Machine

I happily endorse Machine Robo. I think many Robot fans, especially Transformers fans, who dismiss MR are sorely missing out on GREAT toys that often, if not usually, surpass TFs of comparable size and price point. The diecast, the realistic alt modes, the robots' proportions are great. If "Gobots" had been kept as Machine Robo, or Robo Machines, and were represented better in the cartoon, and the episodes were written better, then the toyline would have been taken more seriously and probably would have given TFs a better run for their money.

It's always nice to see someone else giving MR the credit it deserves. Great review!

REX-203's picture
Posted by REX-203 on 12 June, 2009 - 20:13