Transforming robots

A transforming robot is a robot that can change to take the appearance or form of another object. This type of robot was a very popular toy concept in the 1980s; such toy robots could morph to resemble everyday objects, machines, or animals, and vice versa.

Toylines that used this concept include:

• Transformers (by Hasbro and Takara), a very popular franchise with two robot factions that fought against each other. The robots could transform into a wide range of things, from insects to airplanes.
• Gobots and Machine Robo (Tonka, Bandai), mostly die-cast toy robots that could transform into machines like cars, boats and airplanes.
• Rock Lords (Tonka, Bandai), robots that could transform into rocks.
• Changeables, or McRobots, an attempt by McDonald's to capitalize on the transforming robot boom. These robots could transform into company products such as french fries or hamburgers.
• Escaflowne Figures were incredibly popular in Japan in 2005 because they changed from a humanoid into a dragon.
• Switch & Go Dinos by (VTech), all vehicles will transforms into the dinosaurs.
• Diarobo (ダイヤロボ) by (Agatsuma Ltd), Road vehicles can changed into the humans, animals and dinosaurs.
• The variable fighters from the popular Macross franchise is another example of transforming robots that have been produced since the eighties.