Once the FCC did away with the rule that cartoons couldn’t be created around a line of toys, all hell broke loose on 80s animated television.  Though kids would be bombarded with a nearly unending cycle of promotion and mass-merchandising, we have it to thank for cartoon favorites, like Rainbow Brite, Transformers, and of course Challenge of the GoBots, created around Tonka’s line of toys, the Gobots.  It first aired at the start of the school year in 1984.  Tonka sought to bring their mechanical warlords to life on the small screen, enticing kids to play with their toys before, during and after the show – and it worked.

Challenge of the GoBots starts off on the planet Gobotron.  The first group of note is the Guardians, sworn protectors of the planet.  A certain band of robots, under the careful yet evil guidance of the motorcycle/robot Cy-Kill, became ‘bad’ and turned against Gobotron; they became known as the Renegades.  It was then up to Leader-1 and his team of loyalists to protect the planet from the destruction the Renegades sought to bring upon it.  In the pilot episode, the battle had moved to Earth, where the Guardians would make friends and go on to defend Earth, as well as Gobotron.

The series found a huge following that grew bigger after the tremendous success of the Transformers.  Except, they weren’t the Transformers; there was many significant differences between the shows.  First off, there really wasn’t a clear dividing line between being ‘good’ and ‘bad.’  Anyone could turn at any time, keeping viewers tuned in throughout the entire episode.  Secondly, unlike the Transformers, who only had token females starting the second season that weren’t regular members of the show, Challenge of the GoBots had Crasher, a female who was one of the most dedicated of the Renegades.  They also had Small Foot, an eager Guardian soldier who was regularly by the side of Leader-1 and Scooter. 

Though the show would end in the fall of 1985, it did lead to an animated feature, GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords.  Sadly, for the GoBots, once the Transformers were on the scene, there was pretty much no hope for them.  More recently, Challenge of the GoBots has been featured on USA Cartoon Express, giving a new generation the chance to get to know the mighty GoBots.