So, I had a decent-sized collection of GoBots when I was a kid. I hardly have any of them now, because Hasbro brainwashed me into believing that only Transformers had any worth. GoBots, meet tennis racket. Since that time, I've been rebuying a lot of the toys I had as a kid, and I haven't played GoBot Tennis with a single one of them!

Yes, he's a tank named Tank. This was the toy line that had a bulldozer named Dozer and a scooter named Scooter, you know.

For years, I've had an accessory for Tank, possibly my original or possibly a part I got in a mixed eBay lot. I don't recall with precise clarity. But, in any event, I recognized that if I got an incomplete Tank, I could equip him with this piece I've been saving, and build myself a complete toy. His parts are fragile and easily-lost, and a complete and unbroken Tank tends to go for around $40 USD. I got this one for about six bucks, who came with a broken dual gun that I was able to replace with the one I've been hanging onto for years.

As a robot, Tank is about three and a quarter inches in height. He's blue, pretty much from head to toe, with only his chrome upper legs and some paint deco and stickers breaking up the look. His head is embedded within the armor that protrudes from his shoulders, like the Juggernaut from the X-Men comics. He looks like a real bruiser. He comes with two weapons, a three-pronged blaster and a double-barreled gun, which he can carry in his hands.

Tank is one of the reasons that GoBots have a reputation for having incredibly simplistic transformations. All you do is fold his legs until his toes are touching his face. Done. GoBots in general seemed to fall into one of two design philosophies: realistic Earth-style vehicles, or fantasy-based sci-fi vehicles. This is a tank only because Tonka said it was. It's got treads, sure, but it's also got a funky trapezoidal cockpit. Also, the robot arms are pretty obviously poking out on either side. There's no attempt made here to disguise them. (The arms on this toy tend to be pretty loose and floppy. The front and back of the robot torso are die-cast metal, so rotating the arms would grind away at the plastic of the shoulder joint until the arms could no
longer stay up in vehicle mode unsupported.)

The chrome weapons serve to complete the tank mode, with the three-pronged gun mounting to the top of the vehicle to form a turret, of sorts, while the dual-pronged gun plugs into the robot's feet to form some kind of auxiliary armament. Without these parts, he really doesn't look like a tank at all. But, he still stays together better than Kingdom Slammer, so there's that.

In recent years, Bandai has returned to Machine Robo, the Japanese toy line from which GoBots originated, and they've released an updated version of MR-04, the original designation for Tank:

https://tfsource.com/machine-robo/battle-robo/

Zob (is not collecting the new Machine Robo, because money)

Zobovor <zmfts@aol.com> wrote:
> So, I had a decent-sized collection of GoBots when I was a kid. I hardly
> have any of them now, because Hasbro brainwashed me into believing that
> only Transformers had any worth. GoBots, meet tennis racket. Since that
> time, I've been rebuying a lot of the toys I had as a kid, and I haven't
> played GoBot Tennis with a single one of them!
>
> Yes, he's a tank named Tank. This was the toy line that had a bulldozer
> named Dozer and a scooter named Scooter, you know.
>
> For years, I've had an accessory for Tank, possibly my original or
> possibly a part I got in a mixed eBay lot. I don't recall with precise
> clarity. But, in any event, I recognized that if I got an incomplete
> Tank, I could equip him with this piece I've been saving, and build
> myself a complete toy. His parts are fragile and easily-lost, and a
> complete and unbroken Tank tends to go for around $40 USD. I got this
> one for about six bucks, who came with a broken dual gun that I was able
> to replace with the one I've been hanging onto for years.
>
> As a robot, Tank is about three and a quarter inches in height. He's
> blue, pretty much from head to toe, with only his chrome upper legs and
> some paint deco and stickers breaking up the look. His head is embedded
> within the armor that protrudes from his shoulders, like the Juggernaut
> from the X-Men comics. He looks like a real bruiser. He comes with two
> weapons, a three-pronged blaster and a double-barreled gun, which he can
> carry in his hands.
>
> Tank is one of the reasons that GoBots have a reputation for having
> incredibly simplistic transformations. All you do is fold his legs until
> his toes are touching his face. Done. GoBots in general seemed to fall
> into one of two design philosophies: realistic Earth-style vehicles, or
> fantasy-based sci-fi vehicles. This is a tank only because Tonka said it
> was. It's got treads, sure, but it's also got a funky trapezoidal
> cockpit. Also, the robot arms are pretty obviously poking out on either
> side. There's no attempt made here to disguise them. (The arms on this
> toy tend to be pretty loose and floppy. The front and back of the robot
> torso are die-cast metal, so rotating the arms would grind away at the
> plastic of the shoulder joint until the arms could no
> longer stay up in vehicle mode unsupported.)
>
> The chrome weapons serve to complete the tank mode, with the
> three-pronged gun mounting to the top of the vehicle to form a turret, of
> sorts, while the dual-pronged gun plugs into the robot's feet to form
> some kind of auxiliary armament. Without these parts, he really doesn't
> look like a tank at all. But, he still stays together better than
> Kingdom Slammer, so there's that.
>
> In recent years, Bandai has returned to Machine Robo, the Japanese toy
> line from which GoBots originated, and they've released an updated
> version of MR-04, the original designation for Tank:
>
> https://tfsource.com/machine-robo/battle-robo/
>
>
> Zob (is not collecting the new Machine Robo, because money)
>

Holy shirtballs, that new Machine Robo looks good. I love the blocky sort
of a tank design. Do I need more crap in my house? I’ve been considering
quitting my job, so maybe another hobby is a bad thing from a money
perspective… but he’s so blue. And so boxy. Like Volvo made a transformer.
And had blue.

On Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at 3:57:38 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
> > So, I had a decent-sized collection of GoBots when I was a kid. I hardly
> > have any of them now, because Hasbro brainwashed me into believing that
> > only Transformers had any worth. GoBots, meet tennis racket. Since that
> > time, I've been rebuying a lot of the toys I had as a kid, and I haven't
> > played GoBot Tennis with a single one of them!
> >
> > Yes, he's a tank named Tank. This was the toy line that had a bulldozer
> > named Dozer and a scooter named Scooter, you know.
> >
> > For years, I've had an accessory for Tank, possibly my original or
> > possibly a part I got in a mixed eBay lot. I don't recall with precise
> > clarity. But, in any event, I recognized that if I got an incomplete
> > Tank, I could equip him with this piece I've been saving, and build
> > myself a complete toy. His parts are fragile and easily-lost, and a
> > complete and unbroken Tank tends to go for around $40 USD. I got this
> > one for about six bucks, who came with a broken dual gun that I was able
> > to replace with the one I've been hanging onto for years.
> >
> > As a robot, Tank is about three and a quarter inches in height. He's
> > blue, pretty much from head to toe, with only his chrome upper legs and
> > some paint deco and stickers breaking up the look. His head is embedded
> > within the armor that protrudes from his shoulders, like the Juggernaut
> > from the X-Men comics. He looks like a real bruiser. He comes with two
> > weapons, a three-pronged blaster and a double-barreled gun, which he can
> > carry in his hands.
> >
> > Tank is one of the reasons that GoBots have a reputation for having
> > incredibly simplistic transformations. All you do is fold his legs until
> > his toes are touching his face. Done. GoBots in general seemed to fall
> > into one of two design philosophies: realistic Earth-style vehicles, or
> > fantasy-based sci-fi vehicles. This is a tank only because Tonka said it
> > was. It's got treads, sure, but it's also got a funky trapezoidal
> > cockpit. Also, the robot arms are pretty obviously poking out on either
> > side. There's no attempt made here to disguise them. (The arms on this
> > toy tend to be pretty loose and floppy. The front and back of the robot
> > torso are die-cast metal, so rotating the arms would grind away at the
> > plastic of the shoulder joint until the arms could no
> > longer stay up in vehicle mode unsupported.)
> >
> > The chrome weapons serve to complete the tank mode, with the
> > three-pronged gun mounting to the top of the vehicle to form a turret, of
> > sorts, while the dual-pronged gun plugs into the robot's feet to form
> > some kind of auxiliary armament. Without these parts, he really doesn't
> > look like a tank at all. But, he still stays together better than
> > Kingdom Slammer, so there's that.
> >
> > In recent years, Bandai has returned to Machine Robo, the Japanese toy
> > line from which GoBots originated, and they've released an updated
> > version of MR-04, the original designation for Tank:
> >
> > https://tfsource.com/machine-robo/battle-robo/
> >
> >
> > Zob (is not collecting the new Machine Robo, because money)
> >
> Holy shirtballs, that new Machine Robo looks good. I love the blocky sort
> of a tank design. Do I need more crap in my house? I’ve been considering
> quitting my job, so maybe another hobby is a bad thing from a money
> perspective… but he’s so blue. And so boxy. Like Volvo made a transformer.
> And had blue.

I had many of those thoughts. Someone made Tank look cool, like cooler than Sixgun or Slammer, but that $50 pricetag, ouch.