Good day, grinders! Welcome to Toygrind, or as it was kind of always destined to become,
The Gobot Show.
Time today to dive into the Action Toys Machine Robo toyline, which is pretty
much the official modern-day Machine Robo revival, bringing some collector quality cred
to many of the OG Bandai series's deliciously delirious designs. It's basically Generations Gobots.
And I'm always hyped to see what they come out with, cos much as the Gobos and the
Machine Robos are dearly beloved by weirdos like me and you, presumably, they do have
- and have always had - an image problem. Like in the minds of the masses they're either
forgotten or sneered at. Ooh, you killed off Cy-Kill? Wow. Fresh. So anything that could
potentially bring the Gobots back into the public eye is okay with this guy.
No, not like that!
So, as a toyline, the Action Toys Robo Boys have, for me at least, proven a bit hit and
miss - I mean I've got exactly two of them and I like exactly one of them, that's textbook
hit and miss. To be fair these are the very first ones from a few years back, so things
have probably progressed a bit. And what better way to get caught up than by checkin' one
out that's so brand new it's not even properly finished! That's right, welcome to a Toygrind
exclusive first-look sneak peek at Action Toys Tough Trailer!
So this bruisin' blue bombshell is set to release some time in 2019 with his chonkin'
hugeness and charisma for days! But first - who is he? I mean as a character, Tough
Trailer's an absolute enigma to me! I think he comes from the Revenge of Cronos anime
which obviously I haven't seen, because I've barely seen anything, and nobody's seen Revenge
of Cronos. I guess it's fairly safe to assume he is tough and has a trailer, and I'm pretty
sure he's mates with Staxx? Like, they're a couple, I think? Not a huge fan of his name
either - it just sounds like a bunch of words in a row. I mean, try explaining to the layman
that "Action Toys Machine Robo Tough Trailer" actually means something.
And just to make things even more nebulous, this is a prototype, yeah? It's not the absolute
set-in-stone 100% Platinum trophy final product, so let's take everything with a pinch of perhaps.
Cool? Cool.
So check out this chunky hunkster! Right off the bat I'm just lovin' this lad's vibe. From
his hefty cuboid legs to his ridiculous robotic tabard, every piece of him is just A Big Chunk,
bringin' the Bandai boxiness and 80s oblongs for maximum simplistic impact.
And this kind of unpretentious geometric honesty coupled with his gorgeous blue hue
- makes him one of the purest examples of thoroughbred robot handsomeness I think I've
ever seen!
Size-wise then, Tough Trailer positively towers over his incumbent Machine Robo compatriots,
but I don't think he's quite the same scale as that other Bike Robo DX they did, and I'm
not totally sure what'd be the Transformers equivalent here. Not to say it matters, and
not that he SHOULD have to fall in line with our Hasbro overlords,
but, y'know, this is a review, so ballpark comparisons, I'd say he's kinda got a Masterpiece Inferno thing
on the go, but make no mistake - Double-T-Dawg is very much his own beast.
Like he's bringin' this wonderful blend of design conventions that draws as much from
classic Machine Robo and Transformers as it does cheesy 70s tokusatsu and manga motifs!
I mean check out his gorgeous noodle with its earnest youthful features, big zappy Ultraman
eyes and sweet Bancho trucker cap.
Love the see-thru Irn Bru chest cockpit there and these shoulder stages which cascade down
like Manhattan architecture to this giant foldy-flat truck nose. That's such a Gobot
move, man! Very Staxxy, very Baron von Joy-y. Not totally sure what the deal is with that
big red clickbait arrow though? Like I don't know if it means anything or if it'll get
a decal eventually, but it works as a sweet retro robo detail and that's enough for me.
The bodblock itself can get pretty intrusive though, like it comes down a weirdly long
way and can obscure the waist wiggle, so fortunately you can unclip the bellybox from his slinky
spine and bounce it outward for some sweet swivel clearance!
There you go - you'd never know.
Bit of a backpack on the go there but it's fairly flat and untroublesome, and it almost
brings to mind some kind of orc war god effigy.
Now, I dunno if this is the final production plastic they're gonna use, but Goddamn he's
a hefty one! Like it's super dense and smooth in a way that leans into the chonkular visual
design and heavy clickety-clack joints to make it feel like something truly next-level.
I'm really into this thing, can you tell?
Arms are inordinately interesting there! I mean at first glance they just look like standard
clunksome robot arms with chunky chunks and hefty machine screw elbows, but there's actually
kind of a lot goin' on here! Like the sweet sculpted fingers are bangin', the wrists don't
swivel, but the entire forearms do, and the biceps actually physically fold out of these
shoulder shells, which I don't think i've ever seen before! Also I love these tilty
smokestack zappers - like I prefer 'em at about 45, but you can point 'em straight up
for the Optimus realness or flop 'em fully forward for the full Flash Titan fantasy.
But for actual weapons he's packin' a small arsenal of makeshift gun chunks. Like you've
got this base unit thing with a fold-out secondary handle, a couple of kinda cool lookin' barrels,
and a gatling gun that spins and everything! And most of them clip on Megatron-style, or
you can construct a bunch of different frankenshooters all the way up to the giant monster minigun!
Now who's tough?
Anyway, the legs aren't quite as clever but they are marvellously meaty, just a stack
of giant blue rectangles like a robot drawn by a toddler.
Robots-are-technology-shaped-like-square-people!
Definitely something incredibly appealing about these clusters of wheels 'round the back!
They remind me of that old board game, Rebound, that I'd forgotten about until right now,
and they sorta say a lot about how this guy deals with his alt-mode kibble. They're not
really hidden, they're just on there, but somehow they look nice. Likewise, the feet
are pretty fierce and flavoursome down there, mounted on these super strong ball-and-tilt
double-ankles for seriously sturdy posage, and againit's almost weird how natural the
truck details look! Like of COURSE he's got grills for heels! Why wouldn't he have bumpers
for toes and just headlights and partial wheelarches hangin' out?
And that's kind of the whole thing about Tough Trailer. He's so wonderfully unapologetic
about what he is. Just a big, balls-out, blue collar badass, and one of the best lookin',
most satisfying and refreshingly raw robots I've seen in years, He makes me feel a bit
better about who I am because he is all the things I wanna be. A good man. An honest man.
A workin' man. A tough man.
A... trailer man.
[WEIRD COOL STACCATO METAL BUILDUP]
[SICK GROOVE RIFF]
JUN-JUN-JUGGA-JAAA JUN-JUN-JUN-JUGGA-JAAA
JUN-JUN-JUN-JUGGA, A JUGGAJUGGAJUGGAJUGGA
[HELL YEAH THIS RIPS]
Transformation - or I guess Machinerobonation? - is actually pretty unconventional and surprising!
Basically the tummy flap folds out and then everything else sort of gravitates around it.
The feet flip around like a mad ratbag, the back wheels fold out on these giant underplanks
- arms and backpack are a smidge scrappy 'round there but you can deal with it, and once it's
locked in it's goin' nowhere.
And what even is this truck mode? I mean, it is a truck, but more? Like, Truck Plus!
So yeah, I guess this is what Tough Trailer looked like in the past, but de-goofified
into a high-grade hunk of pure plastic power you could definitely brain an intruder with.
It comes off like some industrial beefbeast made to tow only the biggest loads! Just a solid
brick of pure mechanical mass that happens to have a truck cab on it.
How big would this be? I mean, the windscreen looks almost out of place up there, perched
on this multi-storey platform of scifi techno meat with this awesome but highly odd sort
of chunky balcony skirt. It's like if Ultra Magnus f***ed a skyscraper.
Real talk though, this is mighty impressive. Like you do believe it could pull anything
with whatever monstrous engine lies within and eight independent wheels with wonderfully
tactile black tires.
The rear end does seem a smidge unrefined though, much like your mum's does.
Like theforearms do have a tough time tabbing in there, but benefit of the doubt and all that, it
might just be because I'm a giant oaf man. That is a factor. And I dunno if he's gonna
come with an actual trailer, tough or otherwise, but just in case he's definitely geared up
for it with this handy hitchhole and acres of room to manoeuvre. Honestly though, I'm
hopin' he doesn't. Like, who has room? Besides, you can cram all his gear into the gaps underneath,
so who even needs a trailer?
So yeah, Tough Trailer's alt-mode is super slick and extremely him. For me, it doesn't
feel like a disguise at all, it's just what he needs to be when it's time to go to work?
He's a robot that looks like it turns into a truck, and a truck that looks like it turns
into a robot! It's just who he is!
Overall then, Tough Trailer is no joke! This is the kind of figure that I feel like I'd
love regardless of identity or franchise. Like, you don't need to be super into Machine
Robo or even know who Tough Trailer is to get a kick out of this thing. That is, I imagine
it helps, but I came in completely blind and I've totally fallen in love with it. Mainly
he's just a damn fine figure with an appeal all his own! And honestly, I dunno if there's
really that much room for improvement. This is great! Just release it! He's like a capsule
of righteous robot charm stuck out of time - a sparkling singularity of pure chunky fun.
So cheers for watching, huge thanks to the Action Toys gang for giving me the scoop on
this magnificent machine man, and please, grind on!
And he's back! Just wanted to give these names a little bit more room to breathe so you can
actually read them. And extra special mega thanks to the Patreon squad for letting me
keep doing what I do! I'd be nothing without you. See you next time!