I think overall Gobots tend to have a surprising level of quality. It's too bad that Tonka dropped the ball on their marketing - imagine if Puzzler was named something cool and imposing like "Menasor" - kids from the 80s might have different memories of the toyline :)
In an alternate universe, when Gobots were as popular as 80's Transformers toys: Cy-Kill: "Renegades! Merge to become Puzzler!" Puzzler: "NOTHING DEFEATS THE PUZZLER! NOTHING!"
while I'm a hard core transformers fan I gotta admit these toys and what they combine into were pretty advanced for their time and while I love transformers most of the gobot toys looked more impressive then most 80's transformers toys. while transformer toys from the 90's to today are much better then gobots. still I would love to have all 6 of these dudes
Honestly it took a good while for transformers combiners to surpass this in terms of engineering and playability. Kudos to tonka for this gem, pathetic as its legacy ended up being
I know this is an old review, and you probably won't see this, but I gotta say. This is a great review of a really-underrated and overlooked combiner. I'm more than tempted to go through eBay and look for him, now!
It's nice to see a high quality review of this guy.... I've had his legs for the last two decades and have wondered what he looked like. It's amazing how advanced this GoBot was when compared to his contemporaries in the G1 line. If the rest of the GoBots would have been as advanced as he was, maybe that line might have survived.....
I agree with you completely, man. For 30 years ago, this was really excellent design. And I kinda like the way the pelvis car sticks out. Gives him some character. Thanks for showing him off!
I'm really glad you have Puzzler such a wonderful review Peaugh. Having collected Gobots for years I usually find myself defending them at Botcon by folks saying the normal 'they're not as good as Transformers, or 'they're just cheap knock offs) when in reality many of them are better converting figures that Transformers at the same price. I'm hoping more fans start respecting the toy line based on all the toys achieved even back then and not judge it by just the cartoon.
I have that orange gobot too! Never knew it was part of a combiner. I found it in a old box, but never messed with it much. Now I kinda want to track down the others, the combiner form is quite impressive.
You may not realize this, but you just solved a mystery for me that I've had for almost 25 years. I own Crossword still, and never knew who or what the heck he was. I knew he was a combiner of some sort, but I never knew he was a Gobot, and let alone part of a six piece combiner. Thank you, Peaugh, thank you. Guess I might give the other five a little hunt down myself to finally checkout Puzzler.
Oh this was great! Brigs back so many good memories from childhood. I was one of the few kids that Preferred the go-bot cartoon/toys over transformers. Cy-kill, Crasher and Cop-tor FTW!! Would love to see more retro go-bot vids like this.
I dig this set. I always wanted this as a kid, but never got it until not to long ago. And I lucked out on it. Some guy was selling Gobots for a dollar a piece and this set was in the bunch. So I only paid $6 for Puzzler. I have him displayed next to my Devastator. They look good together.
Oh man, this brings back memories! I have all of them, except Rube. I swear I had him in the past, though, I just probably lost him in storage, just like half of my Superion and almost all of Menasor...
I still have mine from when I was a kid. I didn't know they were sold separately, I think mine came as a set. It was well played with. I loved GoBots when I was a kid. I never owned any Transformers.
Devastator came out in 1985. Puzzler is great as far as swivel in the waist and the arms. Puzzler doesn't have the extra connection parts like Devastator, which is a plus.
I remember these Puzzler toys. I always regret not getting the entire set. In my world, the Puzzlers were heroic Guardian robots. They were the opposite of the Monstrous team of Renegade monster robots.
Gobots got as much love as teansformers in the eighties... yes we made fun of them, like a red headed step child, but we ALL had them and played with them amd watched the show, and loved them... they were all over the playground at recess
While watching your review, I dug my Puzzler set out and transformed it with you. I've had it since it originally came out and traded with a friend to get it. It's funny, but over the years, the friend has come and gone, but the memory and this toy still remain. It's weird to think that next year the toy will be 30 years old.
I'd picked this guy up a few years back & thought he was a pretty cool figure, *especially* for a Gobot. I managed to find all 6 figures together in a bag of misc. cars at Goodwill, but even the current 'going' price is pretty nice these days! I *LOVED* the fact that he didn't need any misc. combiner pieces like all the TF combiners did...
Me and my kid were just looking at one of these last night on eBay and wouldn't you know it...UA-cam has your video on my UA-cam homepage. How creepy is that? Nice vid.
Peaugh, I really want to thank you for doing this review for two reasons. 1. Everyone I know only knows about Transformers and I really like Go-Bots. 2. In the 4 years I've had this figure, I never figured out how to secure the chest using that metal piece near the head of the main robot.
Cool to see you do a vintage review. This is like the Stunticons of Gobots. This was probably one of the coolest Combiners. I still am not understanding how the Toyworld's figures are a hommage as they aren't even the same style of vehicle.
It's pretty sad that Puzzler looks to be the better combiner, at least as far as bang for your buck goes, than TFC's Uranos. I really like how the front of the cars for part of the torso. It's a unique aesthetic that I wish other combiners would use. I'm honestly tired of the whole "this guy is the torso and these guys are the limbs" thing. I wish there were more non-Scramble City combiners. If that Toy World Throttlebot combiner is as self-contained as Puzzler, I may have to try and get it.
The other Gobots had from my youth were:Scooter,Tux,Renegade,Spoons,Stalion,Streetheat.Personally I preferred the more costly Hasbro Transformer toys line to Tonka's Gobot toy line!
Puzzler is FAR better than devastator. As a playable kids toy, puzzler is far superior. Pieces of Devastator just fall off all the time. If you want a bit more obscure try monsterous, he's not bad either, puzzler I think is better, but monsterous isn't bad either.
I remember having these guys, much akin to all my Transformers, G.I.Joes, Go-Bots, and Macross toys, they were well played with, stored poorly and became a nasty mess... As long as they were enjoyed, they had a good life
I still have a handful of Go-Bots, they where a lot of fun & normaly only a dollar or two at KBToys. They just suffered from bad marketing, still fun toys with diverse transformations
Ive always felt Puzzler looks better than Devistator, and much more solid. Plus the articulation for differant display poses are better too. Gobots were so underrated in my opinion. Plus I like that most Gobots have more diecast metal than transformers. Also, Gobot toys actually look and transform very accurately to their cartoon. Transformers toys didnt transform like cartoon. Gobot vehicle modes look more realistic too. I'm one of those rare people that have always preferred Gobot of TF. However, the TF cartoon show was way better than Gobots.. Hanna Barbarra could of made more of an effort of not making the Gobots show and story line so tacky. Scooter was pretty awful. LoL. Scooter is equivalently to Gobots what Jar Jar Binks was to Star Wars. LoL..
Ooh...I kinda dig this guy. Six-man combiner? Check. Innovative (for its time) design choices? Check. Team comprised entirely of 80s sportscars, at least two of which are classic Japanese designs that I have a massive fanboner for? Oh, hells yeah.
I actually prefer puzzler over transformers combiners, simply because it was all in one. You don't need 20 other parts to put it together. I just wish they would've continued!
They really went all out with these names didn't they. I still have a load of Gobots at home. I wonder if they'll ever be fully embraced into mainstream Transformers instead of just cameos or stolen names.
Forgot all about this guy. Never was a Go-Bot fan, though I do admire a gestalt that does not have all the fiddly bits that most of the TF combiners had. Would have been curious to see a side-by-side with G1 Devastator.
I bought Puzzler about a year ago and, yeah, he's just about my favorite combiner. I'm thinking about buying the other GoBor combiner 'Monstrous' next!
I think overall Gobots tend to have a surprising level of quality. It's too bad that Tonka dropped the ball on their marketing - imagine if Puzzler was named something cool and imposing like "Menasor" - kids from the 80s might have different memories of the toyline :)
Transformer combiner names are awesome you right..lol
Gobots is severely underrated. A self contained combiner from the early 80's and the line itself was scaled very well unlike Transformers.
Still have mine! The best part is he doesn't require excess parts. Unlike Transformers that usually require fists, feet and a head.
Brian's Man Cave And convenient for storage, so you don't have to lose any parts.
And the square small heads on all the limb robots. They always look out of scale with the leaders
In an alternate universe, when Gobots were as popular as 80's Transformers toys: Cy-Kill: "Renegades! Merge to become Puzzler!"
Puzzler: "NOTHING DEFEATS THE PUZZLER! NOTHING!"
"NOTHING LITTLE ONE"? What would you say about ME"? LOL
while I'm a hard core transformers fan I gotta admit these toys and what they combine into were pretty advanced for their time and while I love transformers most of the gobot toys looked more impressive then most 80's transformers toys.
while transformer toys from the 90's to today are much better then gobots.
still I would love to have all 6 of these dudes
He actually looks and articulates better than the transformers combiners of the same time period.
Honestly it took a good while for transformers combiners to surpass this in terms of engineering and playability. Kudos to tonka for this gem, pathetic as its legacy ended up being
I really hope Action Toys decide to do release an updated version in their Machine Robo revamp.
Yes! And Courageous and Grungy!
My wallet winced, I don't know if I would be able to resist. They gotta do Hans Cuff and Crasher too. Fingers crossed!
@@balloonman8796 If they did do a Crasher, it would be white instead of black. As the version that appeared in the anime show was white.
@@georgeowain Hey that's cool with me, always liked that color scheme too
I know this is an old review, and you probably won't see this, but I gotta say. This is a great review of a really-underrated and overlooked combiner. I'm more than tempted to go through eBay and look for him, now!
Holy hell I remember this!!! I had all six! I haven’t thought about this in 30 years... The nostalgia is strong with this one.
I love how you dont have to add on a bunch of extra bullshit on him like you have to do on devastator.
Just got done buying all of mine... using your video to help put them all together... thanks!
Glad I could help!
It's nice to see a high quality review of this guy.... I've had his legs for the last two decades and have wondered what he looked like. It's amazing how advanced this GoBot was when compared to his contemporaries in the G1 line.
If the rest of the GoBots would have been as advanced as he was, maybe that line might have survived.....
I agree with you completely, man. For 30 years ago, this was really excellent design. And I kinda like the way the pelvis car sticks out. Gives him some character. Thanks for showing him off!
Wow...I played with some of these when I was kid... I’m nearly 40...brings back good memories 👍🏿
Wow! Toys I forgot I had until now. I think I had all, but the white and red one. The feet of the blue and black ones really stick out in my memory.
You these come together better then the Transformers with the support bar and how hands are combined.
I've bought mine because of this video, I've bought my Exosquad because of your reviews... And I'm really grateful, these were some great toys! Ciao!
I had no idea this guy even existed! It is one serious amazing combiner.
As far as Gobots go, those are some pretty cool designed robots in both modes. The combined form is pretty cool too.
Yeah I agree
Holy crap that is an amazing combiner for the time period... WOW. Thanks Peaugh, first gobots I really respected.
I'm really glad you have Puzzler such a wonderful review Peaugh. Having collected Gobots for years I usually find myself defending them at Botcon by folks saying the normal 'they're not as good as Transformers, or 'they're just cheap knock offs) when in reality many of them are better converting figures that Transformers at the same price.
I'm hoping more fans start respecting the toy line based on all the toys achieved even back then and not judge it by just the cartoon.
This is honestly really awesome for the time. Here's hoping a third party company comes along and creates a new version of him.
How have I never seen this thing, wow. My folks mostly got me gobots in the 80s but I never knew about the combiners.
+peaugh please do more throwback reviews like these! most of the younger fans need to know about classy vintage stuff too
ghanighetok Will do!
Im buying it on ebay a couples of day ago for 200 € and im very happy to buying it! It remembers my childhood!!!
I have that orange gobot too! Never knew it was part of a combiner. I found it in a old box, but never messed with it much. Now I kinda want to track down the others, the combiner form is quite impressive.
Actually this one is a lot more advanced than I expected ut would be, for being a Gobot combiner!
You may not realize this, but you just solved a mystery for me that I've had for almost 25 years. I own Crossword still, and never knew who or what the heck he was. I knew he was a combiner of some sort, but I never knew he was a Gobot, and let alone part of a six piece combiner. Thank you, Peaugh, thank you. Guess I might give the other five a little hunt down myself to finally checkout Puzzler.
I like how a good number of Gobots are just normal cars. The kind of cars you might be driven to school in.
Oh this was great! Brigs back so many good memories from childhood. I was one of the few kids that Preferred the go-bot cartoon/toys over transformers. Cy-kill, Crasher and Cop-tor FTW!! Would love to see more retro go-bot vids like this.
I've had Puzzler since the early 90's. Got it at a garage sale. Nearly 35 years old, and still in great condition.
Very cool review. I'd love to see more GoBots reviews from you in the future.
I never had these when I was a kid,but I wanted them,Awsome review.
Now that brings back memories. Had this as a kid for many years. It sure could survive a beating. I made him apart of my autobot army
Oh cool, you made him a good guy!
I dig this set. I always wanted this as a kid, but never got it until not to long ago. And I lucked out on it. Some guy was selling Gobots for a dollar a piece and this set was in the bunch. So I only paid $6 for Puzzler. I have him displayed next to my Devastator. They look good together.
i had these as a kid....loved them!
We still have these in our toy collections. My great nephew is here and playing with the T
ransformers now. Can't locate the Gobots...some place SAFE!
I always trashed this toy, but now hearing you point out it came out the same year Devastator did, I can appreciate it more.
I had the red and yellow as a child, so at least they could connect!
Finally got a complete set a few years ago
Damn... I remember conning a friend into trading His Tic Tack for my Zig Zag... doesn't sound right when you say it out loud...
anyway #remorse
Oh man, this brings back memories! I have all of them, except Rube. I swear I had him in the past, though, I just probably lost him in storage, just like half of my Superion and almost all of Menasor...
I'm impressed by how these guys look.
I still have mine from when I was a kid. I didn't know they were sold separately, I think mine came as a set. It was well played with. I loved GoBots when I was a kid. I never owned any Transformers.
Devastator came out in 1985. Puzzler is great as far as swivel in the waist and the arms. Puzzler doesn't have the extra connection parts like Devastator, which is a plus.
Fantastic video, I love this guy, might need one
I remember these Puzzler toys. I always regret not getting the entire set. In my world, the Puzzlers were heroic Guardian robots. They were the opposite of the Monstrous team of Renegade monster robots.
Gobots got as much love as teansformers in the eighties... yes we made fun of them, like a red headed step child, but we ALL had them and played with them amd watched the show, and loved them... they were all over the playground at recess
Wow I've had Pocket hanging around my house for ever. Nice to know what he was from finally.
This totally needs a 3rd party version..
While watching your review, I dug my Puzzler set out
and transformed it with you. I've had it since it originally
came out and traded with a friend to get it. It's funny, but
over the years, the friend has come and gone, but the memory
and this toy still remain. It's weird to think that next year the
toy will be 30 years old.
I'd picked this guy up a few years back & thought he was a pretty cool figure, *especially* for a Gobot.
I managed to find all 6 figures together in a bag of misc. cars at Goodwill, but even the current 'going' price is pretty nice these days!
I *LOVED* the fact that he didn't need any misc. combiner pieces like all the TF combiners did...
I had pocket and jigsaw as a kid, since I didn't have a prowl n sunstreaker at the time I used them as substitutes with my Autobots.
Me and my kid were just looking at one of these last night on eBay and wouldn't you know it...UA-cam has your video on my UA-cam homepage. How creepy is that? Nice vid.
Its pretty damned good. Loved the gobot toys.
Great review dude! I remember seeing the commercial for Puzzler when I was a kid. Alas I never got him. Cool looking combiner though.
Great find, and good review mate!
Peaugh, I really want to thank you for doing this review for two reasons.
1. Everyone I know only knows about Transformers and I really like Go-Bots.
2. In the 4 years I've had this figure, I never figured out how to secure the chest using that metal piece near the head of the main robot.
Cool to see you do a vintage review. This is like the Stunticons of Gobots. This was probably one of the coolest Combiners. I still am not understanding how the Toyworld's figures are a hommage as they aren't even the same style of vehicle.
This looks like a really good set.
I kind of think of Toy World's Throttlebot combiner as a tribute to Puzzler. Awesome!
I so miss this toy / set!!! I got this set and Monsterous as gift sets and I LOVED THEM!!! Seriously payday I am hunting ebay for both.
GO BOTS are cool because of their simplicity, lower cost to collect, smaller footprint on shelf
Thanks for doing that review Peaugh, I had that toy as a child never really knew the name of it. I will have to keep my eye out for one know.
It's pretty sad that Puzzler looks to be the better combiner, at least as far as bang for your buck goes, than TFC's Uranos. I really like how the front of the cars for part of the torso. It's a unique aesthetic that I wish other combiners would use. I'm honestly tired of the whole "this guy is the torso and these guys are the limbs" thing. I wish there were more non-Scramble City combiners. If that Toy World Throttlebot combiner is as self-contained as Puzzler, I may have to try and get it.
i also bought this on ebay a few months back on a wim
surprisingly a really nice toy for the era
The "pointy car section" cannot be unseen!
I
The combined mode makes up for the bad robots
Wow, didn't realize Puzzler and Devastator came out the same year. Not a bad Combiner for its time!
The other Gobots had from my youth were:Scooter,Tux,Renegade,Spoons,Stalion,Streetheat.Personally I preferred the more costly Hasbro Transformer toys line to Tonka's Gobot toy line!
One of if not The best pieces to come out of the gobots line and still inexpensive
Puzzler is FAR better than devastator. As a playable kids toy, puzzler is far superior. Pieces of Devastator just fall off all the time.
If you want a bit more obscure try monsterous, he's not bad either, puzzler I think is better, but monsterous isn't bad either.
I really wanted this when I was a kid.
I remember having these guys, much akin to all my Transformers, G.I.Joes, Go-Bots, and Macross toys, they were well played with, stored poorly and became a nasty mess...
As long as they were enjoyed, they had a good life
this set is so cool!!!! baltmatrix gave puzzler every negative comment possible..........
nice, used to have this when i was a growing up.
great review!
And all with no combiner kibble! Take that, Devastator! Of course I only say that in the kindest way possible.
why did they take such a badass robot design and name it “puzzler” of all things. literally the nerdiest dorkiest name possible
I still have a handful of Go-Bots, they where a lot of fun & normaly only a dollar or two at KBToys. They just suffered from bad marketing, still fun toys with diverse transformations
De gran utilidad el video, mil gracias 🖖🏼
peaugh ty for posting this vid of these go-bots i actually have one of them and now i know wat he is and wat he belongs to ty ^^
Ive always felt Puzzler looks better than Devistator, and much more solid.
Plus the articulation for differant display poses are better too.
Gobots were so underrated in my opinion.
Plus I like that most Gobots have more diecast metal than transformers.
Also, Gobot toys actually look and transform very accurately to their cartoon.
Transformers toys didnt transform like cartoon.
Gobot vehicle modes look more realistic too.
I'm one of those rare people that have always preferred Gobot of TF.
However, the TF cartoon show was way better than Gobots..
Hanna Barbarra could of made more of an effort of not making the Gobots show and story line so tacky.
Scooter was pretty awful. LoL.
Scooter is equivalently to Gobots what Jar Jar Binks was to Star Wars.
LoL..
Very cool ! I like gobot !
Honestly this is a pretty well engineered figure (for the time it was made)
Ooh...I kinda dig this guy. Six-man combiner? Check. Innovative (for its time) design choices? Check. Team comprised entirely of 80s sportscars, at least two of which are classic Japanese designs that I have a massive fanboner for? Oh, hells yeah.
So cool
this guys looks pretty damn cool.
I've been wanting to pick up one of these guys for a few years now, but there's always been something else I wanted to spend my money on more.
they're basically the Stunticons in the Gobots universe...
They could really do with being remade with today's toy tech, like a Classics/Universe/Generations style. They look pretty good.
wow i had all of them wen i was a kid never knew they fit togather
I actually prefer puzzler over transformers combiners, simply because it was all in one. You don't need 20 other parts to put it together. I just wish they would've continued!
They really went all out with these names didn't they.
I still have a load of Gobots at home. I wonder if they'll ever be fully embraced into mainstream Transformers instead of just cameos or stolen names.
I asked for the Constructicons for Christmas 1985 and got this instead.
You may have gotten a better deal.
All my friends made fun of it and said it sucked, lol.
Forgot all about this guy. Never was a Go-Bot fan, though I do admire a gestalt that does not have all the fiddly bits that most of the TF combiners had. Would have been curious to see a side-by-side with G1 Devastator.
i'm a transformers guy but this looks cool
i could say it looks better than the cartoon version of itself
Wow! Totally fun review! Thanks. Though I'm not too impressed by their individual bot modes, their alt-modes and combined mode look great!
I bought Puzzler about a year ago and, yeah, he's just about my favorite combiner. I'm thinking about buying the other GoBor combiner 'Monstrous' next!
Amazing!
Thanks!