LogFAQs > #961010449

So back in the early 80s there were a number of transforming toylines in Japan and Korea. US toy company Tonka headed over and talked with Bandai. They got the rights to license their Machine Robo toys for the west. At first they marketed them as is, and sales were poor. They changed the name to Machine Men, but much the same happened. Then they went a totally different direction and split the figures into two factions (Guardians and Renegades), appointed a figure to each as leader, gave them all new names, and developed a story tie-in with a comic. Thus the GoBots were born.

Meanwhile Hasbro saw what they were doing and headed east as well. They spoke with Takara to license their Diaclone and Micro Change lines, Bandai for their valkyrie jet, and ToyCo for their Astro Magnum. They teamed up with Marvel and split the figures into two factions (Autobots and Decepticons), leaders, new names, story and comic, etc. The Transformers were born.

Tonka then worked with Hanna-Barbera to produce a cartoon they titled Challenge of the GoBots. Hasbro continued to work with Marvel along with Sunbow and Toei (among other studios) to create their animated series. Challenge of the GoBots premiered on September 8, 1984 and The Transformers on September 17. Both began with a mini-series to test the waters, and then started up proper in October.

Both brands later had a theatrical film in 1986. GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords came out on March 21 with Transformers: The Movie hitting August 8. Battle of the Rock Lords sadly retained the same budget as the televised cartoon. Same look, same music. They had 3 celebrities come in to voice new characters. Margot Kidder as Solitaire, Roddy McDowall as Nuggit, and Telly Savalas as Magmar. The movie was meant to premier the Rock Lords for a new toyline and spin-off cartoon. While the toys did hit stores the cartoon never came to be.

Transformers on the other hand had a much bigger budget with an amazing soundtrack, and Toei putting out some of their best animation. Celebrity voices included Judd Nelson as Hotrod, Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron, Eric Idle as Wreck-Gar, Robert Stack as Ultra Magnus, and Lionel Stander as Kup. The movie acted as a bridge to the third season of the cartoon, and staple actors from the show would take over the celebrity roles from then on.

Overall GoBots had 65 episodes over 1 season while Transformers had 98 over 4 seasons. The G1 Transformers brand would continue in Japan with 6 more seasons (3 of which were told through magazine), while GoBots faded away. In 1991 Hasbro bought out Tonka and obtained the GoBots characters along with it. The G2 line from 1993 had a Go-Bots sub line. There was a figure simply named Gobots which was marketed in Europe, and since then there have been a number of figures sold through Transformers as an homage to GoBots, and some of the characters have appeared in the comics in some form as well.