Go-Bots: Transformers On Welfare?

The Go-Bots are a civilization of robots divided into two factions: The good Guardians and the evil Renegades. The main Guardian, Leader-1, could transform into a jet plane. If he wanted to, he could've taken John Denver anywhere in the world. In many ways these Go-Bots followed similar guidelines to the better-known, and more popular, Transformers. The Go-Bots were featured in a cartoon show, Challenge of the Go-Bots, which was really just a half-hour advertisement for the toys that were made in (you guessed it) Japan. The Go-Bots characters even hailed from the Planet Gobotron. I can't fucking make that up.



 But weren't the Go-Bots just a Dollar Store version of the Transformers? In the same way that if you don't have enough money to get good beer like Old Speckled Hen or Hobgoblin, you find yourself spending your hard earned money on something like Coor's Light because in the end it does the job just the same. The Go-Bots were more like Transformers Lite. That's Hanna-Barbera for you. They just weren't more than meets the eye.

As a kid, I had more Go-Bots toys than I did Transformers figures. It was just the simple fact that Go-Bots were cheaper to buy. I never really got any Transformers toys until after the Transformers Movie was released and I just had to have a Galvatron and an Ultra Magnus. Needless to say my Autobot and Deceptacon reguglarly beat up on my Leader-1 figure.

One huge difference was the fact that none of the Go-Bots used any guns. They shot lazer blasts from their hands instead. On the plus side, that meant you wouldn't lose a gun accessory for your figure. Mind you, if your friend called you up and said, "Dude, I'm bringing over some Transformers to play;" and then he showed up with a Go-Bots' Cy-Kill figure, you'd probably kick him in the nards and recycle his Go-Bot for parts in case your Starscream needed a wheel.

Go-Bots couldn't even mimic the Transformers without fucking up. Most of the bad guys in the first season of Transformers were jets. Leader-1, the main heroic Go-Bot, is a fucking jet. This messed with many kids' minds. If the bad guys are jets, then why is this good guy a jet? Is he really a bad guy in disguise? Nope. He was a good guy through and through, but you just couldn't trust him because he was a jet. So that's why I decided to let my Optimus Prime figure loose on my Leader-1 figure. 

Leader-1 Versus Optimus Prime!

As you can tell, Optimus Prime would wipe the floor with Leader-1. Even if by some strange reason Leader-1 could knock away Optimus' blaster, Prime could still transform his hand into a glowing axe.

Hasbro eventually bought out the Go-Bots franchise, and released some new Transformers toys under the name of Gobots. Not that it matters though, because when someone says Go-Bots, the first thing that comes to mind is that silver jet, Leader-1. And how if you turn your back for long enough, he might just steal your wallet.

What an asshole.

Thanks for reading!
-ryan