Let's just get this straight from the start - yes, we all know about the Transformer of the same name. No, you're not big and clever asking whether he comes with any cassettes. You can cut that right out, don't make me get the Sit Down Gun out. Besides which the Gobot came first, so ner, Gobots is definitely better than Transformers, so shut up, you're gay, no comebacks. That out of the way, I wasn't especially enthused by the choice of Missile Tank Robo; I mean, I wanted him at some point but alongside Shuttle Robo it made for a less than enticing relaunch for the range and in a way a fairly brave one when series lead Blue Jet and the more obviously popular Supercar Robo are there for the remaking.
The joy I felt from the return (after what felt like a worrying hiatus) of Action Toys' Machine Robo Series was tempered a little by the choice of two characters I wasn't particularly keen on in any real form. The original Shuttle Robo, ported over to Gobots as the Guardian Spay-C, was one of the weaker toys of the series despite the cool alt mode, while the character didn't grab in either of the cartoons. In Revenge of Cronos Shuttle Robo was largely a background character, a member of the arrogant but basically sound Land Commander 5 team; in Challenge of the Gobots Spay-C was a female Guardian who didn't really do much, especially as the faction had a more popular space-going female in Path Finder. But obviously I bought the toy anyway, because Masterpiece Gobots.
And we're back to entries which make a bit more sense. Blackbird Robo was one of the more prominent 'guest' Machine Robo frequently flying as wingman to Blue Jet after overcoming an early appearance where his face melted. There's added notoriety for the American market too; there Tonka named the character Snoop and Hanna-Barbera made the Renegade a female. As usual she followed the standard female Gobot pattern of looking like the male characters in terms of not being pink and curvy, one area where Challenge of the Gobots deserves a little credit. Despite featuring in a handful episodes in respectable roles no toy was forthcoming, the Snoop figure getting beyond no more than a couple of sealed samples in the USA, though it was issued in Canada.
The reason why it was skipped are still a bit of a mystery; the closest I've been able to come up with is that the shape of the SR-71 complete with the figure's diecast quotient gave Tonka's legal teams some worries becuase you could probably stab someone in the eye with the thing but that never stopped similar toys coming out and the figure was released in Europe (with some releases naming it as Sky-Spy, though Robo Machine is a nightmare so I'd hate to speculate how many). Whatever the reason, it's long given Snoop a certain mystique among American fans, so Blackbird Robo could well have been produced with an eye on export sales.
Blackbird Robo's robot mode is probably the most faithful in the line so far in terms of the actual toys; as it already looked good in the toyline Ashii didn't overly stylise the animation model and therefore this is very, very close to the look of the original figure, just neatened up. What is redesigned greatly helps, flipping the fins the other way around and attaching some proper feet, improving the proportions and eliminating some of the clumsier alt mode parts while retaining the figure's key parts, notably a near-identical head design and the cool spire-topped shoulders. It all pegs together well and naturally is less prone to collapse than the 1985 attempt while most of the details are carried across - I do miss the silver ring around the shoulders but that really is nitpicking.
Being the sixth in the series there's a feel Action Toys are really getting into the swing of things; articulation is superlative and the figure also has the balance to make proper use of it. The relatively unfettered robot mode helps but so does having the design savvy to keep the head full mobile, the independent feet that aren't limited by the jet engines on the outside of the legs, the free shoulders and the work put in to make sure there's still a waist joint. Even the accessories aren't that weird; a pair of clip-on blasters for the hands, which works really - in Challenge of the Gobots Snoop was one of the few Gobots to actually use a rifle (though it didn't look much like this). It's one of the more normal Action Toys additions, certainly.
Like most of the figures in the range so far Blackbird Robo's transformation loosely follows the original, just with extra steps to accomodate the increased complexity. This to me speaks volumes for just how good the engineering of the originals was for their time and size. Getting the head with its' mounted back panel in just the right place can be a black art but overall it retains the great flow I'm coming to expect from Action Toys; worthy of note are the upper fuselage panels which fold neatly out of the back and reduce the clutter around the waist and hips plus a flip-out tail section so the part isn't dangling off the figure's bum in robot mode. Good work, overall.
The one downside is that as a result the Blackbird mode has a lot of join lines on the upper fuselage - more than the original figure, where the aircraft mode was largely made up of a couple of large blocks. It still looks very striking and has less clutter on the underside than the eighties figure, giving less of an impression of being an SR-71 model mounted on the back of a robot, though the underside is still less than clean (especially compared to Eagle Robo), with the robot head obviously visible alongside most of the torso. It's still a fine alternate mode (if, also like Eagle Robo, badly crying out for a couple of USAF decals). the only other fault is there's only a nose wheel - instead the guns clip to the underside of the fuselage as landing skids, though the figure rests just as well without these in place.
A couple of minor niggles aside, this is a fantastic figure. Good looking and faithful in both mode with a fantastic transformation and very much feeling like an ultimate version of what was already a striking figure. If you were going to pick one from the line as a taster you probably wouldn't find a better ambassador for what Action Toys' Machine Robo Series is capable of.
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Another odd choice for the Machine Robo Series; Mixer Robo was a fairly average middle-run figure with a handful of brief appearances on the Revenge of Cronos anime while in the West he had a similar profile as a run-of-the-mill Renegade named Block Head. The only thing that was particulary distinguishing was the toy's smart transformation, impressively complex and smart for a small figure in 1983. It's possible Action Toys are trying to spread the headliners out, which is nicely confident; I'm not going to complain about Mixer Robo getting to be the fifth figure in the line if it's part of a plan that will see most characters get this treatment.
The new robot mode is the spit of the originaal for the most part, with the same drum head and surpisingly minimal alt mode features - aside from the wheels on the arms and legs, the cab windows on the side and the drum on the back there's little clue as to the alternate mode.
I'm always divided on this as a matter of style; you don't want a robot that's a vehicle stuck on its' end with limbs jutting out, nor a shell that peels away like basically every Transformer made between 1997 and 2000. At the same time it's quite an engineering feat to hide so many parts away so naturally, even if does leave Mixer Robo looking just a little bland. The proportions aren't fantastic either, probably coming off worse than the original with the head being a fraction oversized and the arms a fraction too weedy.
The clean robot mode does give Mixer Robo a really good range of movement but the problem is that the head clips in and has no neck movement - so, like Bike Robo he can't pull many of the poses the limbs and exquisite balance are capable of off without looking a bit weird, while he's also the first in the series to be missing a waist joint.. A minor saving grace is that the face can turn as part of the transformation, though you can only get a few degrees before this looks a bit odd too. Oh, and to round off the strangeness he has a pair of combat knives as weapons. Despite never even looking at a knife in the cartoons. And they're not some weird robot-y bits that look like knives, these things could come off a G.I.Joe and might even have done so. Like some of the previous weird choices of weaponry like Bike Robo's axe it doesn't do any harm, it's just a bit bizarre.
Transforming Mixer Robo is a really fun experience as it follows the original's fantastic sequence with a few bells and whistles added. It's all low on frustration and full of neat work, the rotating face being a nice touch as are the wheels and drum. It takes a few tries to work out the best order for getting the cab jst right but that's more a strive for perfectionism than a problem.
Mixer Robo's cement mixer truck alternate mode is still every bit as odd as the original, which if follows closely. While the actual layout is good, only the obvious destination of the robot's arms being a problem, it's a very strange colour scheme. Red and silver in patches largely dictated by the robot mode layout (red arms and legs) makes for a strange patchwork and it looks more like a prototype scheme left in place rather than an actual construction vehicle. The turning drum is appreciated, however, and if you're after strange additional features his knives can clip on behind the cab looking sort-of like smokestacks but not actually like smokestacks.
Overall Mixer Robo's fault is that he's a cracking homage to the original figure, in that he's an exquisitely well-engineered way of turning a mediocre robot into a mediocre vehicle. Personally I find the mechanics more than enough to make the update worthwhile; that and the fanatical completism. For anyone else the sad truth is that there are probably enough bugbears to make this one a pass unless you're actively collecting and reminding yourself that most of the problems were build into the basic design.
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Battle Robo was a relatively low profile character in Japan, with his animated appearances in the Revenge of Cronos anime; the problem with the show was that only a few characters had much to really do and with Rod Drill already out and Blue Jet being held back (either to boost a later wave or because the Fewture Gokin version is still relatively recent) the rest are much of a muchness in terms of exposure. It's more likely that simply being the second toy in the original series saw him bumped near the toy of the queue. It certainly didn't hurt his profile in the West, where he got released early doors in Machine Men, Robo Machine and Gobots - the latter seeing him the subject of one of Tonka's less inspired brainstorming sessions and get named Tank, a name even more generic than his Japanese title. He was featured in Challenge of the Gobots in the standard Renegade pattern of moderate exposure in his debut episode followed by occasional outings as muscle, though he did get to be voiced by Peter Cullen.
One of the notable things about the original figure was that it was a head taller than most in the line, something carried across to his various media appearances. Thus we get off to a good start with this being retained, freakish Eagle Robo aside. And the sculpting is good too, keeping the memorable trapezoid head, the tracks on the legs and the raised chest, all rendered well by Jizai Toys - there's a real blocky, retro feel to the design. However, the ball is dropped badly on the colour scheme; while I was prepared for a lighter colour than the rich dark blue of the original figure more in line with the anime appearances but the toy is lighter again and the result is a little wishy-washy. There are also inexplicably white paint applications on the wrists and knees while again don't really co-ordinate with anything previously and further lighten the robot's palette. Which wouldn't be a problem if it didn't look plain unimpressive; a darker, more solid colour would have made Battle Robo much more imposing.
It's a shame because there's a lot else to recommend. The robot is dynamic if not having the same extraordinary level of balance some of the others in the range have due to the diecast tracks on the back of the legs and the relatively small feet, while the head nestles inside a cowling to enable it to turn. In simple poses it's an imposing figure and the lack of agility actually fits in nicely with the lumbering characterisation bestowed on him, especially in the West.
Battle Robo's weapons also get a nice workout; the rifle is separated from the rest of the turret so it's less obvious in robot mode. The remainder is fixed to the back with can be arranged to form two shoulder-mounted cannons if desired; it's a vast improvement on the original which carried around a straight-up turret and/or a weird twin-barrel thing that didn't feel very organic or practical. There is an annoying little design flub, however - due to the nature of the transformation the right fist doesn't tab into the rest of the arm securely like the left, meaning if the rifle is placed in the right hand it can't actually support the weight of the gun in some poses.
The 1982 version of Battle Robo had the simplest transformation of a series that - in the early days especially - wasn't renowned for complex sequences, involving literally bending the figure double. Here it's technically the same but with a vast number of additional steps, though after a small amount of practice you're rewarded with the best transformation of the line so far, a fantastically flowing piece of genius as the upper torso and legs fold back from the chest and tuck together.
The vehicle mode strays a little from the original but the original was a folded up robot, with no attempt to even hide the arms. The rough gist of the design is carried over here but infinitely refined into a tiny, compact and much neater design with some neat touches. The turret is still a triple-barrelled unit but a more imposing one that actually looks like it belongs on a combat vehicle, with the guns able to rise in addition to the turret's rotation. The front weapon is replaced by a small pair of built-in guns that do the same job in a much less clumsy fashion. The tracks don't move or even have slave wheels (which is fine, they're quite unnecessary on premium figures) but are neatly mounted on individual ball-joints in a nice touch.
Mechanically Battle Robo is a great figure; the only real fault with the engineering is the limited range of poses and even that's only poor by comparison to most of the other figures in the series, with the actual display options still being decent. Both modes are radically improved and the transformation is a genuine marvel; I'd recommend any fan of transforming robots at least tries to handle one of these. Personally though I just can't get past the colour scheme - not that it's different but that it's simply too light and weak, though naturally someone less fixated on something like that will get a lot more joy.
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The third figure in Action Toys' range of Machine Robo revamps was an odd choice in some ways and not in others. Eagle Robo was a non-descript toy and character in Japan - a standard mid-run Bandai release only really distinguished by being also chosen for the Big Machine Robo range. In the Revenge of Cronos anime the character made no more than a handful of background appearances. However, across the Pacific he was chosen somewhat inexplicably as the leader of the heroic Gobot Guardians and named as Leader-1, netting a lead role in Hanna-Barbera's cartoon and becoming one of the front-men for the franchise. The BMR release was issued as a Super Gobot (there's a chance Tonka might even have nudged Bandai in this direction considering the original figure's 1985 release). So if you're taking it face value as a Machine Robo toy it's a really weird choice but obviously Action Toys realise that in the global market putting out such a famous Gobot would bring in Western buyers.
The original small Eagle Robo toy was not one of the line's finest moments and its' long been one of my (and possibly other fans) that such a weak design was given such exposure; the Super figure was better but naturally was hindered by so few decent figures being produced at that scale, let alone so few major characters. That the colour scheme was so bland and the character so uninspiring (in the cartoon he's a book of weak Saturday morning platitudes; his special skill is a forcefield he can cower behind, for God's sake) hardly helped either. I bit anyway, but largely because I know what I'm like - sooner or later I'd want them all and better to while the toy was abundant rather than in a year's time when the price has doubled (or halved, possibly, but I've never been a patient buyer).
The result is a very odd figure. Eagle Robo doesn't look much like the original figure or the occasionally glimpsed Ashi character model; this much was expected. What is unusual is that it doesn't look much like Leader-1 either - Hanna-Barbera in their wisdom having converted the original (which drew inspiration from a fighter pilot's visored helmet and oxygen mask, an occasional trend for the original Machine Robo figures - most famous for Tux/Limousine Robo being sculpted with a top hat to match his Rolls-Royce vehicle form). What we get here still has the fighter pilot influence a little but has more of a modern mech feel - together with some other more modern styling like the spitting shoulders the overall impression is of something more influence by Paramount's Transformers films that eighties cartoons.
There are some other odd touches too like a contrived bit of work to simulate the panels either side of the head, a necessary design point of the original figures that didn't really need to be added; that they're in dark grey plastic, which just looks odd, and the upper arm/shoulder adds a couple of extra steps that feel more like something from an overengineered third party fanboy toy, in stark comparison to the chunky retro engineering than influences the look - if not necessarily the mechanics - of the others so far in the series. In addition to this the toy is very tall, about level with Battle Robo as the largest of the releases to date. He's got a good inch over Bike Robo which - added to having an almost Terminator-feel compared to the other figure's rounded toy-like feel - means they make an odd pair posed together, with Eagle Robo looking more like the evil aggressor. Which again would be fair enough if they were generic Machine Robo but it comes back around to the only reason Eagle Robo ending up so far up the running order surely being to cash in on Western fans who wanted to have a Leader-1/Cy-Kill match-up. Eagle Robo also has a weapon like most of the MRS toys thus far; his is a four-barrelled rifle made up of the aircraft's ordinance than doesn't really have any basis in previous appearances but isn't particularly bizarre - though speaking for myself I'm far too used to most Machine Robo/Gobots not carrying handguns to display it with him often.
All of which sounds very negative - and it's not meant to be because Eagle Robo's a very good toy. Aside from excellent articulation and balance it's work noting how much of a better fist of the basic configuration it makes than either vintage efforts - the addition of unobtrusive proper feet not only gives the toy more balance but a better look while the breaking up of the arms with darker grey sections and the neater folding of the wings makes him look a lot more interesting. The transformation is the most complex of the figures thus far; it also has the first bit I've found outright frustrating as lining the shoulders and back panels up behind the chest on the journey to robot mode basically requires trial and error to get everything to peg in right, some of the parts not having a specific place to be apart from to line up with some other tabs. The balance is provided by some superb work on the legs, however.
The F-15 mode is a good one, nice and sleek with a hefty compact feel that extends through to a fair stab at a smooth underside. Just about everything is packed way, the only slight fault being the jet exhausts just looking a bit too much like folded robot feet, especially as they're still ball-mounted. The colour is also nondescript with the largely plain grey of course, though the level of engraved detail helps and really it would be easy to find a model kit of a similar scale if you fancied spicing it up with realistic aircraft markings. There are two hardpoints under the wings for missiles while the two gun handle halves slot in under the wings to blend into the fuselage, though the latter can be fiddly to remove afterwards. And - joy of joys - he has an retractable tricycle undercarriage Rather than four awful rollers on posts.
Eagle Robo is a strange beast largely across the board. It's a great figure despite a couple of overdone parts, a smashing bit of engineering that does a good job of spicing up a dull design. But visually it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the retro-tinged range and it doesn't look like either of its' possible influences. As such appreciation will vary depending on whether you're after nostalgia, part of a themed collection or a stand-alone figure.
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The second in Action Toys' Machine Robo Series is a logical choice given that its' licence is based on the Revenge of Cronos anime. Drill Robo was released originally in the series as a standard figure but was chosen by Ashi Productions and Bandai as one of the leads, being renamed Rod Drill. Along with Rom and Leina Stol, Blue Jet and Triple Jim he featured in every episode; a Chara DX non-transforming figure was made to complement a reissue of the original. Rom, Leina and Blue Jet have since received updates for Soul of Chogokin and EM Gokin so Rod was an obvious one to be on the list, especially as everyone hated and still hates Triple Jim.
It's a good choice because Rod, with his happy-go-lucky personality and perennial hunger was the Patrick Star of the anime and a much needed bit of fun in a po-faced series. In the West the figure was sold as the Renegade Screw Head among the small figures and was retired fairly early on, with the character in the Challenge of the Gobots cartoon being a surly but otherwise generic heavy who appeared in a handful of episodes. The character served as the inspiration for a key figure in Machine Robo Rescue as well.
The robot mode is a very good likeness of the anime character model, a nicely-featured robot with a strong colour scheme and largely sensible proportions sculpted by Lu K. of Awaken Studio. One interesting quirk is the use of a very dark blue for most of it rather than actual black, likely a nod to cartoon colour palettes. It's actually done nicely enough that it doesn't look weird. All the details are spot on, with the drill head done at just the right height and the distinctive system of caterpillar tracks retained on the legs. Rod is one of the shorter figures in the line to date at around 4" tall, which is an oddity as the character was of standard height.
There is a lot of diecast on the toy, making up the bulk of the legs and the torso - which might go some way to explaining the diminutive stature. It makes for a dense and solid toy and gives Rod superb balance. Articulation is superb; while the lower legs restrict the ankles slightly but the feet being made up of two parts and the thoughtful use of a moving waist panel. And unlike Bike Robo the head moves freely - the soft rubber unit is ball mounted and unrestricted; the collar doesn't move with it but doesn't get in the way either. Accessories come in the form of a pair of bladed gauntlet/gunpod-type things that clip to his hands; these are really more to hide the arms in vehicle mode but they don't look bad in place. Naturally they can be removed for a cleaner anime-accurate look.
Transforming him is a largely neat process; there's one bit of "3P" silliness where you have to get the feet angled out of the way to get the legs in place but aside from that it's fun and very much in the spirit of the original. The arms especially are all but lifted, just with additional joints. The other accessory included is a longer hard plastic drill which can be switched in place of the head, making for a longer drillbit and also meaning he doesn't have the face visible underneath. I actually prefer to leave the head one in place for convenience and because it doesn't look bad but it's an additional feature that does no harm and at least makes more sense than Bike Robo's axe or Mixer Robo's twin knives.
The drill tank mode itself is all present and correct, a neat compact thing that strongly resembles the original. The clear point of reference here is the Mole from Thunderbirds; Gerry Anderson's sixties puppet shows made quite an impression on the Japanese and the influence on sci-fi design is still felt there today, though the original Drill Robo was oddly placed in the middle of the original run of Machine Robo, coming out at a time when most of the toys were based on real-world vehicles. The 15+ age banding means Action Toys can also give Rod an actual pointed drill bit rather than the original's understandable but silly rounded one. Sadly at this size moving caterpillar tracks are an impossibility; a pair of small rolling wheels do that instead but let's be honest you're not going to be whizzing him around a table-top anyway.
Of the six figures so far released Rod Drill is probably the strongest overall considering the three main areas of robot mode look, vehicle mode look and transformation, with the very slight qualifier that I adore the character and the original figure because you can't go wrong with a cheerful drill tank. At ~£45 a throw you'll probably need some sort of attraction to him to get real satisfaction but overall he's a success, a faithful update that still functions as a strong 21st century premium toy in its' own right.
With the ever-increasing number of 3rd party toys and their ever-increasing range it was perhaps not totally unforeseeable that someone would have a look at updating a couple of Gobots as the line is gradually rehabilitated. What was perhaps more surprising was that the licence would be officially picked up by Action Toys, a small premium outfit from Hong Kong. They seem to have specifically licenced the 1986 Revenge of Cronos anime which bundled most of the classic Machine Robo toys in with a few newly repurposed figures and was a small success - it's enjoyed a few premium market figures in recent years, most famously the Soul of Chogokin Baifanku but also including the EM Gokin version of Blue Jet, also by Action Toys. However, the Action Toys interpretation seem to be made at least partly with an eye on being a backdoor Masterpiece Gobots line; for those not in the know Hasbro actually own all the Gobots trademarks (such as the character names) via their takeover of Tonka but not the physical likenesses or toy moulds, which were only loaned by Bandai.
The tail end of 2016 saw two batches of three figures released in the series - the first consisted Bike Robo, Rod Drill and Eagle Robo. Bike Robo was perhaps inevitably one of the earliest; the original version was the first Machine Robo toy released by Popy back in 1982, was one of the few to be revisited within the line's life with a Big Machine Robo mould and in the West became Renegade leader Cy-Kill - a major factor with the export market for this sort of toy. The character also had a moderate supporting role in the Revenge of Cronos anime, where all the Machine Robo were good guys.
The resulting figure is largely a success, capturing the look of the original with mild stylisation (designed by Awaken Studio), a pleasant relief considering the exaggerated look of the actual anime model and its' overtly phallic helmet. The design actually does a good job of drawing the disparate looks of the original toy and the animated version together. There's not much influence from Cy-Kill unsurprisingly but it looks as much like him as the original toy did and really Hanna-Barbera's cartoony face would not blend well with the toy. So the robot mode retains the clean, neat red/white/blue colour scheme that always seemed far too heroic for a bad guy anyway. The only shame is that silvery-grey has replaced chrome on the limbs - inevitable perhaps to keep the costs down and probably for simple reasons of durability. That said, there's a nice solid hunk of diecast for the upper torso which really adds to the feel of quality.
Articulation and detail are all to Masterpiece standard or thereabouts. The arms are nicely dynamic with good movement at the shoulders, elbows and wrists while the legs move nicely at the hip and knee. Foot movement is variable due to the legs slightly overlapping them but overall the figure has decent balance while there's also a simple rotating waist. The only weak point is sadly the neck - the rear cowl of the head overhangs just by enough to limit movement, meaning that Bike Robo can only really look to a few degrees either side and down to his chest. This sadly the number of practical display poses he can achieve without looking weird. The figure also comes with a battle axe for some strange reason; I don't really recall him using one in the anime and there wasn't one with any of the previous toys so it seems to just be bunged in to look cool. It's harmless but a harbinger for Action Toys' apparent decision to do one really weird thing for each figure.
Transforming the figure to bike mode is a slightly convoluted process, partly due to the incorporation of the engine into the sequence. On the original small figure it was a removable part that had to be put somewhere safe when in robot mode and on the larger one it rotated around to the back to form a giant clumsy backpack with the wheels as well, greatly detracting from the final look even if it meant there was no chance of anything getting lost. Here the unit is split in half and secreted inside the lower legs; it's a nice solution but combined with the need to fold the feet away, get the exhausts in just the right place and remember to pop one of the wheels in between leads to a slightly fiddly piece of work. It's not a complex puzzle exactly but neither is it a fantastic amount of fun; while the rest of the transformation isn't bad Bike Robo's change is probably the worst of the six released so far if nothing else. The wheels are fair game as removable parts as this allows them to neatly be placed on the robot's shoulders to complete the look but the handlebars are also additional parts; they can be stored on the back of the feet in robot mode if you don't want to remove them completely.
The resulting bike isn't the best either; again I'd say it's arguably the weakest of the line with the caveat that the line has been very good so far. It's recognisable immediately for what it is but the problem is the original looked - more than a little intentionally as the whole 'robots in disguise' thing wasn't part of Popy's original ethos - like a crouching robot gripping a couple of motorcycle. The more curved proportions of the update make this just a little more obvious especially the tops of the legs towards the back. And it's a shame, considering they worked it in for Mixer Robo, that the race can't be rotated away - there's nostalgia value in having the character's face not particularly well hidden just behind the front wheel but a cleaner fix would have been nice. The mode also gets a removable kick-stand for display.
All of which sounds like a lot of griping. And it is; the problem is that Bike Robo's a difficult character to get right with his unrealistic alt mode and extreme simplicity of the original figure are something which wouldn't necessarily translate well to this style of toy. It's to Action Toys' credit that they've stayed faithful to the original despite the restrictions but the result feels very much like the first toy in a line with a few problems that need addressing. Bike Robo is a good figure but not a great one and at £45 I'd think twice; I got mine at £25 from Kapow! Toys and that's about right compared to, say, the RRP of the deeply flawed Transformers Titan Returns line. It's just a shame as due to Cy-Kill's profile and the simple dint of being the first released Bike Robo is likely to attract some attention and he's not the greatest ambassador for the series.
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The new robot mode is the spit of the originaal for the most part, with the same drum head and surpisingly minimal alt mode features - aside from the wheels on the arms and legs, the cab windows on the side and the drum on the back there's little clue as to the alternate mode. 
I'm always divided on this as a matter of style; you don't want a robot that's a vehicle stuck on its' end with limbs jutting out, nor a shell that peels away like basically every Transformer made between 1997 and 2000. At the same time it's quite an engineering feat to hide so many parts away so naturally, even if does leave Mixer Robo looking just a little bland. The proportions aren't fantastic either, probably coming off worse than the original with the head being a fraction oversized and the arms a fraction too weedy.
Transforming Mixer Robo is a really fun experience as it follows the original's fantastic sequence with a few bells and whistles added. It's all low on frustration and full of neat work, the rotating face being a nice touch as are the wheels and drum. It takes a few tries to work out the best order for getting the cab jst right but that's more a strive for perfectionism than a problem.
Mixer Robo's cement mixer truck alternate mode is still every bit as odd as the original, which if follows closely. While the actual layout is good, only the obvious destination of the robot's arms being a problem, it's a very strange colour scheme. Red and silver in patches largely dictated by the robot mode layout (red arms and legs) makes for a strange patchwork and it looks more like a prototype scheme left in place rather than an actual construction vehicle. The turning drum is appreciated, however, and if you're after strange additional features his knives can clip on behind the cab looking sort-of like smokestacks but not actually like smokestacks.
Battle Robo's weapons also get a nice workout; the rifle is separated from the rest of the turret so it's less obvious in robot mode. The remainder is fixed to the back with can be arranged to form two shoulder-mounted cannons if desired; it's a vast improvement on the original which carried around a straight-up turret and/or a weird twin-barrel thing that didn't feel very organic or practical. There is an annoying little design flub, however - due to the nature of the transformation the right fist doesn't tab into the rest of the arm securely like the left, meaning if the rifle is placed in the right hand it can't actually support the weight of the gun in some poses.
The vehicle mode strays a little from the original but the original was a folded up robot, with no attempt to even hide the arms. The rough gist of the design is carried over here but infinitely refined into a tiny, compact and much neater design with some neat touches. The turret is still a triple-barrelled unit but a more imposing one that actually looks like it belongs on a combat vehicle, with the guns able to rise in addition to the turret's rotation. The front weapon is replaced by a small pair of built-in guns that do the same job in a much less clumsy fashion. The tracks don't move or even have slave wheels (which is fine, they're quite unnecessary on premium figures) but are neatly mounted on individual ball-joints in a nice touch.
The original small Eagle Robo toy was not one of the line's finest moments and its' long been one of my (and possibly other fans) that such a weak design was given such exposure; the Super figure was better but naturally was hindered by so few decent figures being produced at that scale, let alone so few major characters. That the colour scheme was so bland and the character so uninspiring (in the cartoon he's a book of weak Saturday morning platitudes; his special skill is a forcefield he can cower behind, for God's sake) hardly helped either. I bit anyway, but largely because I know what I'm like - sooner or later I'd want them all and better to while the toy was abundant rather than in a year's time when the price has doubled (or halved, possibly, but I've never been a patient buyer).
The result is a very odd figure. Eagle Robo doesn't look much like the original figure or the occasionally glimpsed Ashi character model; this much was expected. What is unusual is that it doesn't look much like Leader-1 either - Hanna-Barbera in their wisdom having converted the original (which drew inspiration from a fighter pilot's visored helmet and oxygen mask, an occasional trend for the original Machine Robo figures - most famous for Tux/Limousine Robo being sculpted with a top hat to match his Rolls-Royce vehicle form). What we get here still has the fighter pilot influence a little but has more of a modern mech feel - together with some other more modern styling like the spitting shoulders the overall impression is of something more influence by Paramount's Transformers films that eighties cartoons. 
There are some other odd touches too like a contrived bit of work to simulate the panels either side of the head, a necessary design point of the original figures that didn't really need to be added; that they're in dark grey plastic, which just looks odd, and the upper arm/shoulder adds a couple of extra steps that feel more like something from an overengineered third party fanboy toy, in stark comparison to the chunky retro engineering than influences the look - if not necessarily the mechanics - of the others so far in the series. In addition to this the toy is very tall, about level with Battle Robo as the largest of the releases to date. He's got a good inch over Bike Robo which - added to having an almost Terminator-feel compared to the other figure's rounded toy-like feel - means they make an odd pair posed together, with Eagle Robo looking more like the evil aggressor. Which again would be fair enough if they were generic Machine Robo but it comes back around to the only reason Eagle Robo ending up so far up the running order surely being to cash in on Western fans who wanted to have a Leader-1/Cy-Kill match-up. Eagle Robo also has a weapon like most of the MRS toys thus far; his is a four-barrelled rifle made up of the aircraft's ordinance than doesn't really have any basis in previous appearances but isn't particularly bizarre - though speaking for myself I'm far too used to most Machine Robo/Gobots not carrying handguns to display it with him often.
All of which sounds very negative - and it's not meant to be because Eagle Robo's a very good toy. Aside from excellent articulation and balance it's work noting how much of a better fist of the basic configuration it makes than either vintage efforts - the addition of unobtrusive proper feet not only gives the toy more balance but a better look while the breaking up of the arms with darker grey sections and the neater folding of the wings makes him look a lot more interesting. The transformation is the most complex of the figures thus far; it also has the first bit I've found outright frustrating as lining the shoulders and back panels up behind the chest on the journey to robot mode basically requires trial and error to get everything to peg in right, some of the parts not having a specific place to be apart from to line up with some other tabs. The balance is provided by some superb work on the legs, however.
It's a good choice because Rod, with his happy-go-lucky personality and perennial hunger was the Patrick Star of the anime and a much needed bit of fun in a po-faced series. In the West the figure was sold as the Renegade Screw Head among the small figures and was retired fairly early on, with the character in the Challenge of the Gobots cartoon being a surly but otherwise generic heavy who appeared in a handful of episodes. The character served as the inspiration for a key figure in Machine Robo Rescue as well.
The robot mode is a very good likeness of the anime character model, a nicely-featured robot with a strong colour scheme and largely sensible proportions sculpted by Lu K. of Awaken Studio. One interesting quirk is the use of a very dark blue for most of it rather than actual black, likely a nod to cartoon colour palettes. It's actually done nicely enough that it doesn't look weird. All the details are spot on, with the drill head done at just the right height and the distinctive system of caterpillar tracks retained on the legs. Rod is one of the shorter figures in the line to date at around 4" tall, which is an oddity as the character was of standard height.
