Dave's Go-Bots Rant: Glow-Bots Taxi-Bot Buzzer-Bot Truck-Bot Racer-Bot BETA Yay, new (mostly, sorta) Go-Bots toys! Got tired of waiting and hoping they'd actually hit shelves anywhere near me, and ordered them at toysrus.com (shipping pumped the price up a bit, naturally). CAPSULES Taxi-Bot: Another Speed-Bot variant, more directly of the Prowl-Bot mold, plus a light on the roof. I'm getting a wee bit tired of this mold. Don't bother with this one unless either you're a completist or really want a taxi (this may be the first Taxi Transformer, not sure). $8.99 at toysrus.com Buzzer-Bot: Abdomen-change on the original wasp Buzzer Bot, with slight painting changes. Strongly recommended if you don't have a chibi-Waspinator, mildly recommended if you already do. $8.99 at toysrus.com Truck-Bot: Flash-Bot with his roof rack lights replaced with an actual light-up unit, and recolored in black and taupe. Recommended if you don't already have the Flash-Bot mold, mildly recommended if you already do. $8.99 at toysrus.com Racer-Bot BETA: The only new mold of the Glow-Bots, a superdeformed 50s muscle car with a light-up supercharger. Looks good in both modes, but suffers from some really annoying design flaws. Recommended. $8.99 at toysrus.com RANTS Packaging: There's not a huge difference in packaging between these and the next-most-recent wave of Basic Go-Bots. The upper right corner proclaims "Awesome LIGHT-UP feature!" and it says Glow-Bots under the main Go-Bots logo on the bubble insert card. Each has a "Try me!" hole so you can kill the batteries without buying it. :) Individual names are on oval stickers attached to the inner bubble tray. The toys are twist-tied onto the bubbles in non-robot mode. On the back of the card is the update to the Go-Bots story: Gobrillium: The New Power (TM) The GO-BOTS robots are equipped with bold new powers, and stand ready to protect our planet and guide it to a better future! Some GO-BOTS have a dazzling light-up power and others have launching fists with amazing strength. A select few GO-BOTS have been equipped with a special INVISIBILITY FORCE, giving them such incredible speed that they're invisible to human eyes. Unfortunately, some dangerous young robots have also been equipped with the new powers too [sic], and they are recklessly zipping across the galaxy. So it's up to the GO-BOTS to save the day. The insert card has a new co-sell picture on it. The new figures, other than those reviewed here, are: Strong-Bot: Might be a heavily modified Flash-Bot mold, hard to tell at this scale. It appears to be one of the INVISIBILITY FORCE ones, using clear yellow plastic. Racer-Bot ALPHA: A sort of NASCAR racer, doesn't look to be yet another Speed-Bot basic remold. Uses transparent purple, so part of the invisos. Speed-Bot: Yes, ANOTHER to take the name. A this rate, there will be more Speed-Bots than Optimus Primes. This one seems to be a new mold, with transparent red plastic for invisibility. Reptron: Shown on the card, but I can't tell if it's a new smoky clear inviso-force version, or just the previous black remold stuck in to round out a half-wave of Basics. Speed-Bot Racer: A Daytonus-tyle racer, this might be one of the power punchers. Well, the only power puncher. Has the original Deluxe level minifigs (driver and gas pump) in dark green. Third mold of the name. Mototron Racer: The previously most-recent Speed-Bot Racer mold (#2) repainted in black with neon green stripes. Has the same figures as the toy it's a remold of, but in neon green and gray. Fast-Bot: The original Formula-1 Speed-Bot Racer mold (aka Mirage-Bot and Aero-Bot Racer) in yellow and red. Has the red pump-bot companion, and a new yellow driver. Aero-Bot and Silver-Bot both look to be getting moderate repaints in this wave (noticeably different, but still the same basic look). GLOW-BOT: TAXI-BOT Altmode: Taxi Original Mold: Prowl-Bot (http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/Play2b) Twist-Ties: 4 When GO-BOTS robots are looking for a lift, he's the one they call to duty. This cool-looking, fast-moving taxi knows his way around the world and around the galaxy. After dark, his power-glow lights cut through the darkest nights and guide him to his destination. He's got the potential to some day become a glowing example of what a GO-BOTS team member should be. This is the Prowl-Bot mold, also used in Fire-Bot and Cop-Bot, but with the roof lights removed and replaced with real lights. Refer to the URL above for details of the rest of the mold. The light unit is dark blue, 1.5" (4cm) long, a little less than that (3.5cm) wide in a sort of tapering point-to-the-back triangle, and about half an inch (1.5cm) tall. The front face and button are made of clear yellow plastic, and "TAXI" is written on the front in blue paint. Pushing the button causes a single yellow (I presume, haven't taken it apart to see if it's really white) LED to light up. The main body is yellow, with white paint on the doors and hood. Blue checkerboard patterns are in the white areas, with red Go-Bot "G" symbols on the doors and a blue-outline one on the hood. The windows, headlights and grille are silver, the taillights are a metallic red that almost looks like they're clear plastic. The wheels are the usual gray-brown taupe color for Go-Bots, as are the "boot" fronts. The engine details on the underside are painted silver, a nice touch for an overused mold. The upper legs and inner joint pieces are red, the head is taupe with silver chin and yellow eyes. There is a way to reverse the head and fists on this mold to avoid the "I have a huge pocket for a torso" look, as seen in this picture: http://www.protoformproject.com/dvd/kitbash/copbotrev.JPG However, the positioning of the rooftop lights on Taxi-Bot would look rather immodest if I performed that mod on him. GLOW-BOT: BUZZER-BOT Altmode: Lightning Bug/Wasp Original Mold: Buzzer-Bot (http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/Play2a) Twist-Ties: 5 He has a sttinging sense of humor and uses his expertise to solve any disagreement between GO-BOTS members. When he buzzes into insect form, he employs his highly-developed light-up tracking system to see far beyond the normal range of vision. When help is needed, he's the first one aware... and always the first one there. Buzzer-Bot's new abdomen is significantly bigger and more "realistic" (i.e. not football shaped, more like an actual wasp abdomen), and made all of clear golden yellow plastic. You can see the batteries and wires inside. Pressing in on the stinger lights up a single yellow (again, I presume) LED and also makes an audible click. There are no other mold changes. Colors are almost identical to the original. The chibi Autobot symbols have been replaced by the G-hex symbol, and several paint apps have been removed. The purple paint on the chest, the green paint on the arms and middle insect legs, and the yellow paint on the boots are all gone in this version. Plastic colors are essentially identical, save for the possibility of slight batch variations. GLOW-BOT: TRUCK-BOT Altmode: Off-road 4x4 Original Mold: Flash-Bot (http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/Basic3a) Twist-Ties: 2 He's tough as nails and always ready to roll into unexplored terrain. This rugged roadster is also known to be very bright. That's because he has special high-powered fog lights that let him see everything in his path. With his determination and desire, he's got the potential to be a GO-BOTS team member in the near future. Sooooo, looks like this is one of those dangerous robots that has to be cleaned up after, yes? After all, he's not actually a GO-BOTS team member yet. The swiveling roof light rack of Flash-Bot has been replaced by a static LED-light block, about 4cm long, 3.5cm wide and 1.5cm tall with two round clear yellow lights and a light gunmetal/taupe body. The clear plastic is molded well, and makes a single LED appear to be two foglamps. There is no sound when the button is pushed. The main body is black, with deep metallic red windows, silver headlights, orange taillights and a red G-hex emblem on the engine block. The steps, hubcaps and rear bumper are the same weird metallic gray/taupe as the light block, while the tires and underside are a light gray. In robot mode, there's a little bit of yellow in some of the hidden joint pieces. The head and central chest, plus the fists, are that weird metallic gray/taupe. His visor-eyes are orange, faceplate is silver, and "hair" is black. His light block is in an unfortunate position, but good for telling scary camptime stores I suppose. He shares Flash-Bot's inability to raise his arms up very much. [Late note: I'm referring to raising the arms forward, not to the sides. He has an extra joint to flap the arms, but the "swing forward" joint blocks at about 50 degrees forward.] GLOW-BOT: RACER-BOT BETA Altmode: Muscle Car Original Mold Twist-Ties: 5 (and one rubber band) Meet the wilder half of the RACER-BOT brothers. He's all about speed and style, and he's never met a GO-BOTS member he couldn't beat. His high performance engine takes him everywhere in a blink. He and his big brother love a challenge, so they shifted into high gear and went on a winner-take- all race through the galaxy! And yes, its BETA, not Beta. The way they're using "GO-BOTS" in these writeups makes me think it's an acronym for something, not just capitalized for trademark purposes. :) Vehicle Mode: A violet 50s hot rod sort of car, like Hubs the Micromaster. It's a very "chibi" version of such a car, looking almost like a Volkswagen Beetle (classic) in its lines. It's 5.5" (14cm) long, 4" (10cm) wide and 2.5" (6.5cm) high. The grille, headlights, front bumper and big side exhaust pipes are silver. The windows are metallic blue, and the front window is almost completely blocked by the engine block. The hubcaps and taillights are a dark metallic red. Wheels are medium gray. There's a neon green G-hex emblem on the right end of the front bumper. The engine block itself is clear yellow plastic, with a coat of metallic blue over the supercharger bit on top. There's three unpainted lights at the front (really valves for the supercharger, if I remember my hot rodding anatomy correctly). Pushing the unpainted button on top results in an audible click and a single LED turning on. It really only shines out of the central valve...they really should have either used more LEDs or frosted the interior plastic to diffuse the light better. Frosting would be preferable, as it would also make the engine block beneath light up better. Serious flaw time. After a few transformations, the grille on mine will no longer stay down, so the robot face is always visible in vehicle mode. Rather annoying. Transformation: Kinda like a Micromaster, actually. The feet fold out in classic Micromaster style, and then the legs extend. Pull down the front fender and the arms pop out, the grille pops up (if it still works). The front end snaps onto a peg on the torso, assuming you don't have the arms in the wrong positions. You have to use excessive force to extend the legs all the way...if you don't, they'll collapse down pretty easily. Robot Mode: 5" (13cm) tall at the head, 6" (15cm) tall at the supercharger mounted atop his head. This is the only Glow-Bot who can actually use his lights to illuminate the area in front of him while in robot mode. The robot mode adds large amounts of screaming neon green to the color scheme, in the form of the torso, upper legs and fists. There's a purple patch painted on the pelvis armor. There's some dark red parts as interior connectors and joints. The head is a green helmet with red eyes and a huge jutting silver chin, very Judge Dredd. The grille forms a sort of helmet "bill". The front bumper becomes chest armor, and the front fenders big shoulderpads. Overall, the colors work surprisingly well, and I really like the look of the robot mode. Poseability, on the other hand, is at the low end of Go-Bots. The legs can separate to 25 degrees apart, and really have to: the figure stands very poorly with the legs together, because there's curved heel bits. The arms can rotate at the shoulders, but it's hard to move them very far without popping the torso apart. It's like a puzzle...the arms will swing forward to their maximum very smoothly, but it's very hard to get them to swing back down without either popping up the chest or making a nasty snapping sound. Part of this is because the swivel joint is about a centimeter below the spring-loaded joint that makes the arms spread away from the body. Overall: it looks good in both modes, but engineering issues cause significant problems, especially the whole spring-up grille bit. For those interested in messing with the latch for the grille, it's a dark red piece just ahead of the farthest-forward green part of the underside. It's supposed to be pushed forward by the green piece as things rotate, but it can get bent back so as to not catch. If you remove the screws right under the front bumper, you can slide out the robot head and bend the latch forward a bit to restore its position for a while. This is a significant potential failure point, though. Dave Van Domelen, bets he sees all four in the store next time he goes shopping.