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When Hasbro first introduced America to Transformers, it felt monumental and completely new. A simultaneous release of cartoons and toyline each featuring robots that changed into vehicles was unprecedented for Western audiences. Yet here it was, intricate lore, immersive world and all. Little did the children consuming Transformers' animated series and play with their toys know they were indulging in well-established concepts.

As early as a decade before Optimus Prime bellowed his "Autobots, roll out!", Japanese animation studios had already had several successful iterations of nearly every concept that made Transformers what it was. From warring factions to intricate robotic engineering, an abundance of anime bore the torch for Transformers. The Hasbro franchise undoubtedly took said torch and ran with it, achieving unparalleled success, but its predecessors, from Voltron to Brave Raideen, are more than deserving of a deep dive.

Machine Robo Was Kickstarted the Form-Changing Machine Trend Not Currently...

The following contains spoilers for Transformers One, now playing in theatersTransformers One includes a sly reference to one of their biggest original rivals, over thirty years after they defeated and absorbed them. Debuting in 1984, Transformers has been a consistent element in western pop-culture for decades, with the robotic heroes and villains of Cybertron coming to life in several different iterations across film, television, animation, video games, and comics. What makes that success unique is the fact that Transformers was actually beaten to the market by another similar franchise, that even shared a lot of core concepts.

Despite being the second one to launch, Transformers became a far more successful franchise, while the rival eventually went defunct and got bought out by the company that produced Transformers, Hasbro. Since then, those characters and concepts have faded into obscurity while the latest version of the characters from Transformers One highlight the adaptability and enduring qualities of Transformers.

Quick Links The GoBots Were a Poor Man's Transformers GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords Marked the End of the GoBots The Transformers Drove the GoBots to Extinction

The Transformers franchise was born in 1984 when Hasbro launched the toy line, which quickly became a pop culture phenomenon. The immediate popularity of the franchise obscured the fact that the toy line was preceded by another transforming robot toy line, the GoBots, which was released by Tonka in 1983.

In 1984, the first and only GoBots animated television series, Challenge of the GoBots, debuted in syndication on September 8, 1984, approximately one week prior to the debut of the eponymous Transformers animated series. However, the most climactic battle between the GoBots and Transformers took place in 1986, with the release of the GoBots animated film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords, which was followed, less than five months later, by the Transformers animated film The Transformers: The Movie.

Quick Links 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

Since their debut in the 1980s and even in the face of highly divisive live-action movies the Transformers franchise keeps going strong. The war between the Autobots and Decepticons has been ongoing for decades, with no end in sight.

This conflict served as the inspiration for countless cartoons and anime of varying tones and animation styles. While the times and media may change, the rivalry between Optimus Prime and Megatron wont. With so many TV shows and anime about the robots, it might be hard to keep up. Luckily, the release date of each installment makes it easy to follow all Transformers shows in order.

Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on July 17, 2024: There are numerous Transformers cartoons, with the franchise having had animated shows consistently since 1984. With the brand now celebrating its 40th anniversary, many fans want to watch all the Transformers shows in order.

Today, MeTV Toons goes live, bringing back the wacky animated shows you may remember from the 60s to the 80s and beyond. Viewers will see classic cartoons from Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera, Universal Pictures and Fleischer Studios. This means you can kick back with icons like Woody Woodpecker, Bugs Bunny, Popeye, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Speed Racer and more!

If you’d like to stream the channel, you have two options: Philo and Frndly TV.

Philo gives you 18 of the top 35 cable channels, compared to Frndly TV with 4. Philo also includes free AMC+.

7-Day Free Trial $28+ / month philo.com 7-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month frndlytv.com Dtv Stream Frndly TV Fubo Hulu Philo Sling TV YouTube Free Trial Free Trial Free Trial Free 3-Day Trial Free Trial Get 50% Off Sign Up $79.99 $7.99 $94.99 $76.99 $28 $40 $40 $72.99 MeTV Toons - ✓ - - ✓ - - - MeTV Toons Shows

At launch, these are the titles on the MeTV Toons schedule:...

Speed Racer is one of the most iconic classic anime shows and characters, with several generations of fans being familiar with the demon on wheels. Now, it will be easier than ever to watch the series via digital platforms, as well as on a new channel devoted entirely to classic cartoons.

MeTV is expanding its retro programming with old-school animation, including one of the first anime that Westerners encountered. The series will also be available to purchase digitally, both in its English incarnation and in the original Japanese dub. This comes as the Tatsunoko series and its manga source material near their sixth decade of existence.

Related Crunchyroll Adds Robotech '80s Classic Genesis Climber Mospeada to Its Mecha Anime Lineup Crunchyroll is adding two mecha anime shows to its lineup, with one being a recent video game tie-in and the other a classic that's tied to Robotech. MeTV Is...

When I was a kid, my mom steered us toward toys that looked like G.I. Joe or Transformers action figures, but weren’t. Their faces were wack, the joints all wrong, such that the limbs didn’t move right, or else they popped out altogether. Sure, these off-brand imitations cost less than the real thing — that made a difference on my meager allowance — but no amount of imagination could turn my busted GoBots into Optimus Prime.

Now, if 10-year-old me could’ve predicted the future (the way Cassie Webb can), he would’ve seen this disappointment as valuable practice for a movie like “Madame Web,” a hollow Sony-made Spider-Man spinoff with none of the charm you expect from even the most basic superhero movie. The title mutant — who’s never actually identified by that name — hails from the margins of the Marvel multiverse, which suggests that, much as Sony did with “Morbius” and “Venom,...

Step out of your 6000 Sux, stop watching Tj Lazer re-runs, put down that flier from the Home Heart Centre, box up your game of Nukem. That’s right folks, we’re time-traveling to the not too distant future of 2043 Detroit in this episode of Revisited where Paul Verhoeven set his seminal, all time classic sci-fi action epic Robocop. The Dutch director showcases all of his trademark filmmaking skills and a penchant for graphic violence in the movie and it remains an often copied, but never bettered, example of visceral sci-fi filmmaking. Just think of entertainment empires that are now synonymous with the era in which they first emerged and have gained longevity in various forms – for example; Star Wars, Marvel, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and it’s hard to imagine a mid-budget movie such as Robocop having the same cultural appeal or influence. However, just like its hero,...

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Jered Barclay, the veteran stage and screen actor who performed in vaudeville and had voiceover roles in TV’s Smurfs and Transformers, has died. He was 91.

Barclay died Saturday in North Hollywood from Mds Leukemia, actress Myra Turley, his longtime friend with whom he performed in the two-person play A Tantalizing, directed by Harvey Perr, announced.

Jered Barclay in ‘His Model Wife’ (1961)

Also a director, photojournalist and acting coach, Barclay began his nine-decade career in 1934 at age 3, performing in vaudeville with Judy Garland, Shirley Temple and Sammy Davis Jr. At 6, he became a radio actor and at 12 traveled with the Clyde Beatty Circus before his theatrical debut at 14.

After receiving a B.A. in drama from the University of Washington, the Seattle native moved to Los Angeles and performed on three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, in Otto Preminger’s The Man With the Golden Arm...

Don Lusk, an animator and director who worked on Disney classics including Fantasia, Bambi and Pinocchio before moving to Hanna-Barbera in the 1960s, died Sunday. He was 105. His longtime friend Navah-Paskowitz Asner, announced the news on social media.

Born on October 28, 1913, in Los Angeles, Lusk was just 20 when he joined the Walt Disney Company just after the Great Depression, as its animation studio was riding high on Mickey Mouse shorts. He would work on those cartoons for his first several years there before contributing to Disney’s second and third toon features, 1940’s Pinocchio and Fantasia. For the latter, Lusk worked on the classic “Nutcracker Suite” and “Pastoral Symphony” segments.

He went on to draw for cartoons and such classic Disney features as Song of the South, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians, among others.

The GoBots are a staple of my childhood. I think I own more GoBots toys than I did Transformers because they were cheaper. With all of the 1980s cartoon and toy properties being developed as feature films, I guess it was only a matter of time before GoBots joined in on the party. 

The property never really caught on like Transformers did, so it eventually died off. One thing that GoBots and Transformers had in common, though, was the voice of Peter Cullen, who played both  Optimus Prime and Tank. Now, thanks to TFW2005, we've learned that Hasbro recently filed documents to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a new GoBots trademark under "distribution of motion pictures, ongoing television programs" and "Toys, games and playthings, namely, toy vehicles and accessories for use therewith."

They are obviously interested in resurrecting the GoBots, but who knows if anything will actually happen with it.

Are we about to see an epic sci-fi action adventure movie based on the animated series Challenge of the GoBots? We just might! Hasbro, who now own the rights to the transforming toys, has applied for a new Gobots trademark, which seems to indicate they are planning a revival of the dormant property. But in what form will it take? That is not yet known.

The trademark, which is brand new and not a renewal was applied for under 'distribution of motion pictures, ongoing television programs' and 'toys, games and playthings, namely, toy vehicles and accessories for use therewith'. This could simply mean that they are gearing up to launch a new toy line, but it does hint at the possibility of a live-action movie or possibly a new animated series, which could lead to bigger things in the future. To read the trademark documents filed with the United States...

Remember the GoBots? I sure do. I used to get their toys every Christmas in the early 80s from my aunts and uncles who knew I was really into Transformers, but of course they thought there was no difference between them and the GoBots. As a kid, there was clearly a difference, but now that I'm an adult I can see that there really wasn't anything different between the two. Both had sentient robots that could transform into vehicles and such. For those that don't know, GoBots had a toyline an animated Challenge Of The GoBots series in the 80s. They never caught on in popularity like the Transformers did and they died off. They were originally produced by Tonka, but in 1991 Hasbro purchased the company. TFW2005 has discovered that Hasbro has recently filed documents to the United States Patent & Trademark Office for a new GoBots trademark under "distribution of...

0:00 - Intro 2:40 - Headlines: MoviePass is Netflix for Movie Theatres, G.I. Joe Casting, Bridesmaids Becomes Judd Apatow’s Biggest Movie Ever 20:15 - Review: Transformers: Dark of the Moon 1:08:15 - Review: The Trip 1:23:05 - Trailer Trash: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, War Horse, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Captains 1:42:55 - Other Stuff We Watched: Road to Perdition, True Legend, Robot Jox, Crash and Burn, Robot Wars, The Adjustment Bureau, Challenge of the Gobots, The Last Man on Earth 2:12:45 - Junk Mail: Movie Watching Estimates, Mystery Melody and Triangle, Film Junk Quick History, Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer, First Film to Get You Interested in Filmmaking, Reed Rewatching J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, Steven Soderbergh's Retirement 2:35:00 - This Week's DVD Releases 2:38:40 - Outro » Download the MP3 (74 Mb) [1] » View the show notes [2] » Vote for us on Podcast Alley!

Everybody as a kid loved Hanna Barbera cartoons. The company put out numerous titles over the years which brings me to Challenge of the Gobots, which originally started out as a toy line from Hasbro. You know, I think I might have had a Gobot toy when I was a kid, fuzzy memory there.

Challenge of the Gobots came out in the early 80’s, right before The Transformers I believe. Which is the first thing I’ll come to. The Gobots were pretty much a generic version of the Transformers even they came first. The Gobots came from Gobotron and The Transformers came from Cybertron. There are so many similarities with these two series, the biggest being robot races from space.

Challenge of the Gobots puts The Guardians up against The Renegades in battle to save Earth. The core team of the Guardians are Leader-1, Turbo and Scooter, everybody remembers that annoying voice of Scooter,...

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)

It was seen as a strident, preachy end to The Little Tramp when it originally premiered, but the years have proven what lovely political stand Charlie Chaplin was taking with The Great Dictator (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 Srp), released while the Us was still actively avoiding entry into Europe’s war. The new Criterion edition features a beautiful print of the film with enhanced sound, plus an audio commentary,...

It’s a film about robot boxing, and its poster has a big mechanoid fist on it. Take a look at the first piece of artwork for Real Steel right here…

There’s nothing subtle about the concept of having big robots beat the tin out of each other, so it’s unsurprising that the first poster for Real Steel, which arrives via Coming Soon, is bold and brash.

It’s also worth noting that the poster doesn’t feature flesh-and-blood protagonist Hugh Jackman, but a hulking robot fist – I think this is a fair indication of who the real stars of Real Steel are.

Given that there’s another giant robot movie out this summer (I think it’s called Challenge Of The Gobots or something), it’ll be interesting to see how Real Steel compares. At the very least, we’ve high hopes for what could be a...

Eddie Barth was a veteran character actor who was a familiar face on television from the early 1960s, guest-starring in episodes of such series as The Twilight Zone, The Invaders, The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Whiz Kids, Mike Hammer, and Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

Barth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 29, 1931.  He co-starred as Lt. Al Rossi in the short-lived 1973 television version of Shaft starring Richard Roundtree, and appeared in the recurring role of Myron Fowler, a rival private detective, in the series Simon & Simon from 1981 to 1988.  He was also seen in the tele-films The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (1979) and The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1984), and the feature films The Amityville Horror (1979) and Killing Obsession (1994).

He was also noted as a voice actor in such films as Rover Dangerfield (1991), Babe: Pig in the City (1998), and Osmosis Jones (2001), and in the animated television series Challenge of the GoBots,...