Dave's Go-Bot Rant:

     Hauler-Bot

     This here's the big boy of the set, large enough to make Unicron pause a
moment before attacking.

CAPSULE

     Hauler-Bot: Huge and rugged, although the trailer halves don't hold
together very strongly.  Multiple sounds and modes, but not a whole lot of
poseability, even by Go-Bot standards.  Overall, I like it, but I recognize
that in this my tastes may be a bit off-center, so I'm only going to give it
a "mildly recommended".  $39.99 (and the price is part of why the low
rating)


RANT

     Okay, starting with the packaging.  All three elements are twist-tied
onto cardboard mini-boxes taped into the main box, which is open-faced so you
can touch the toys and activate the sound gimmick.  The box is yellow and
orange with an orange interior, 20" (50cm) wide, 13" (33cm) tall and 7"
(18cm) deep.  The back of the box has picture instructions for all the
various modes, although even on a 20"x13" surface there's not really enough
room to show everything clearly (hooking Bird's feet onto Turtle is a little
tricky).  It proclaims "6 different forms in 1 awesome toy!"  Not a
six-changer in the classic sense, though.  The modes listed are individual
robot/animal modes, combined tractor-trailer mode, super robot mode and the
trailer turning into a command post mode.  There's actually a seventh mode
halfway to the giant robot mode, with just Bird attached as a jetpack.  The
toy will say "Flight Mode Activated" when you attach the Bird.
     Freeing this toy from the packaging is difficult.  A lot of the
twist-ties are very hard to get it for using a wirecutter, but you have to
take apart a bunch of cardboard to get at them and just un-twist 'em.

     Oh, and there's a new storyline for the Go-Bots on the packaging, I
neglected to mention it in my Speed-Bot Dragster review.

     GO-BOTS: Mission Earth

     From far across the universe, the GO-BOTS have come to Earth to protect
our planet, and to guide it to a better future!  The unfriendly invaders who
create hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters are no match for the power
of the ultimate form-changing force, the GO-BOTS!
     With GO-BOTS robots, anything is possible, because they have the ability
to change - to become something new.

     Interesting setting, it allows them to use natural forces (unnaturally
generated) as the proximal antagonists, so the Go-Bots aren't actually
fighting anything directly...they rescue people and deflect disasters.  Of
course, invaders that attack with hurricanes and earthquakes immediately give
me a Flash Gordon movie vibe...Go-Bots versus Ming the Merciless!

     The co-sells on the bottom of the box are the same as those on the
Dragster: Aero-Bot Ultra Jet, Silver-Bot (formerly Silverbolt) Ultra Jet,
Aero-Bot Racer (recolor of the Deluxe formula racers), Speed-Bot Racer (a new
mold, comes with recolors of Speed-Bot II's minifigs), Cop-Bot (slight
recolor of Prowl-Bot), Beast-Bot (slight recolor of Gorilla-Bot), Tigertron
(red recolor of Cheetor), Reptron (darker recolor) and Speed-Bot Dragster.

Bio Note -

GO-BOT: HAULER-BOT

He's huge, very strong and always ready to roll into action!  He can turn
himself into a giant GO-BOTS robot with the ability to break apart and change
into smaller robots, each able to take on other forms!  HAULER-BOT can even
turn himself into a trailer truck!

     I'm going to split this review up into Hauler-Bot on his own, then the
two subsidiary robots individually and combined into both trailer and command
post, then the Giant Go-Bot Robot.

Hauler Bot:

     Vehicle Mode: Sort of a hybrid of semi-tractor and pickup truck.  The
big smokestacks say it's a semi, but the four wheels and pickup bed say
truck.  It's 11" (28cm) long, 8.5" (22cm) wide and 6" (15cm) tall at the
stacks.  The main colors are yellow-orange (the same color as Strong-Bot's
scoop), orange (same as Reptron's orange) and grayish blue, with grayish
brown wheels.  There are metallic blue windows, silver paint on the hubcaps
and the diamondplate truckbed, and some blue and red paint for decor.  The
new Go-Bot symbol (G-hexagon) is in yellow and red on the front windshield.
Oh, and for those who don't know, diamondplate is metal sheeting with criss-
crossing slender diamond shapes that give it strength and help with traction.
This part of the toy weighs 2.5 lbs (1.14 kg) on its own.
     The pickup bed is 6" (15cm) long and 5" (13cm) wide, EXACTLY the right
size for the Deluxe formula racers Mirage-Bot and Speed-Bot II.  It's also
just long enough to accomodate Strong-Bot, and more than enough for any other
Basic vehicles or beasts.
     The wheels roll well on most surfaces, although if you're not careful
the front wheels (attached to the robot arms) can come unaligned and make
trouble.  
     Pressing the front windshield activates the sound and light gimmick
(which uses 2 AA batteries, the battery case is at the back of the cab).
Whenever the sound goes off, the headlights flash red (as do the robot eyes,
which are faintly visible through the yellow plastic of the roof).  It says
the following things in this mode:
     (Engine revving sound) "Truck power!"
     (Truck horn sound) "Truck power!"

     Transformation: It's almost exactly the classic G1 Prime's
transformation.  Legs fold down as a block, bend the toes forward.  Pull
stacks out to the sides, flip arms around.  The head automatically pops up
when you drop the legs down (there's a button under the bumper).  There's
also an internal switch that lets the toy know if it's in robot or truck
mode.  It will say "Robot Mode Activated!" or "Truck Mode Activated!" as
appropriate when you transform it.  If you attach Bird while in robot mode,
this presses a different button and the toy says "Flight Mode Activated!"
(and "Robot Mode Activated" when you remove Bird).  Pressing this button
while in truck mode does nothing.
     When transforming back to truck mode, you need to push the robot head
down until it clicks into place, and make sure the arms are pegged firmly to
the sides of the cab.  The legs and feet snap into place solidly either way.

     Robot Mode: Just shy of 12" tall (30cm), he picks up more blue and
orange accents on arms and legs.  His head is a slant-cut cylinder helmet
with a silver chin, orange mouth and clear blue eyes that light up red.  The
shoulders ratchet and have limited universal joint motion.  The elbows also
ratchet, mostly turning around (for transformation) but also unbending a
little.  However, the elbows are closer to the wrist than to the back of the
forearm, and they can only bend through about 30 degrees.  Stubby little arms
ending in three-fingered fists.  There is no other poseability in the figure.
     Pressing the windshield generates the following phrases, apparently at
random: 
     "Go-Bot Power!" (this one is kinda clipped in the middle)
     "Go-Bots, Power!"
     "Go-Go-Go-Bots!"
     "Go-Bots, Assemble!"

     In Flight Mode, the first phrase becomes "Go-Bot Flight Power!"

     It's a pity his hands are just solid fists.  The Star Saber and Dark
Saber roleplay toys are actually proportional to him.

The Critters:

     First off, I find it odd that the packaging calls these two Bird and
Turtle, considering that they're a pterodactyl and an ankylosaur (early
pictures suggested a stag beetle due to the shape of the tailspikes and no
pictures of the head deployed).  I mean, the target audience knows
dinosaurs.  I'd call these two Swoop-Bot and Slapper-Bot to tie into the
recent Dinobots releases.  Not that I like calling Bazooka "Slapper", but
there you have it.

     Bird: A blue and gray pteradactyl with dark blue-gray feet and tail
(same color as Hauler-Bot's arms), an orange chest, eyes and wingtip
supports.  There's a blue Go-Bots symbol on the chest and gold paint on the
"engine" detailing on the back.  The wingspan is 21.5" (55cm), and in flying
position Bird is 7" (17cm) from snout to tail.
     The head can turn and tilt, the wings can flap (as can the tail), and
the legs move a little so it can stand hunched over.  The mouth opens,
revealing an orange "tongue" that's for the radar dish of the command post
mode.  The wings ratchet, all other joints move smoothly.
     To become part of the trailer, the wings fold back 90 degrees and the
legs straddle Turtle's tail while the orange wingtip supports hook onto the
other side of Turtle.  For command post mode, leave the wings extended, flip
the tail down only halfway (it becomes a keyboard), raise the head on the
extendable neck and open the mouth up as a radar dish.

     Turtle: A flat, four-wheeled critter mostly made from a single piece of
silvery gray plastic ending in a spiked hammer-tail/trailer hitch.  The
wheels are the same color as Hauler-Bot's wheels, and they're attached to
pieces of dark blue-gray plastic.  The head is made of blue-gray plastic,
with the top painted mostly orange with silver eyes and a bright blue
v-stripe.  A bright blue Go-Bots symbol is just behind the head on the
"shell".  Turtle is 10.5" (27cm) long, 8" (20cm) wide and 2.5" (6cm) tall.  
     To become part of the trailer, stow the head.  To become part of the
command post, stow the head and fold the wheel chunks up to reveal four
pylons.  And if you leave the head out, it looks kinda like a ducted fan
flying ankylosaur.
     There is no poseability, but it rolls along nicely.

     Trailer: The trailer is as long and wide as Turtle, and Bird's wings
form curved sidewalls and a solid front.  The trailer's interior isn't as
flat as Hauler-Bot's trailer bed, but it's just as large, holding Mirage-Bot
snugly.  The trailer hitch goes in underneath Hauler-Bot's bumper.  This is
fine for totally flat surfaces, but on even medium carpeting the trailer
tends to get left behind.  The trailer holds together pretty well as long as
you don't push Bird's wings apart, Bird's feet latch on at the front but the
wings only hook under the lip of Turtle's shell without any sort of hook or
catch.  

     Command Post: As wide as Bird's full wingspan and as long as Turtle, you
can transform this directly from the trailer without separating Bird and
Turtle.  Bird doesn't make a very convincing radar dish, but it was a nice
effort to do something with the critter's head.  The control station is a bit
low for anything but a Mini-Con, though, unless the car Go-Bots use it in car
mode.  

Super Hauler-Bot:

     Bird clips onto Hauler-Bot's back fairly firmly, and slots in Hauler-
Bot's feet snap onto tabs on Turtle's back.  Hauler-Bot makes all Flight Mode
sounds, there's no extra Super Mode sounds.  It helps to fold Bird's feet up
towards its back before attempting to clip it on.  Hauler adds wings and
platform shoes, making him similar to Victory Sabre or Super Ginrai (Apex
Armor Prime).
     What little range of motion Hauler-Bot's arms had before is seriously
hampered by Bird's wings.
     Super Hauler-Bot's main asset, of course, is sheer size.  Aside from the
21.5" wingspan, he's now 14" (36cm) tall at the head, a little bit more for
Bird's head.  For a stark comparison, here he is near Scavenger and
Starscream: http://www.protoformproject.com/dvd/images/haulerbot.JPG  
     He's deceptively big, in fact.  The level of detail seems wrong for such
a huge toy...at first look you think he's only as big as the Basics, because
of the way he's put together...then you realize he's four times as large,
easily.  Objects may be farther away than they seem....

     Overall: It's big, it's fun, but it is kinda a brick, even by the
standards of Go-Bots.  A kid will LOVE it.  An adult Transformers collector
might not.  If you like Go-Bots in general, this is VERY Go-Bot in every
way.  

     Dave Van Domelen, got some new shelves and will be moving all his
Go-Bots to them tonight.