Review – 1985 Lock-Man Transforming Robot

1984. Transforming robot toys were so popular for Christmas in 1984 that the toys were featured in television news reports, magazine articles, and even newspaper articles. With the sales Hasbro and Tonka enjoyed for Christmas, and all of the buzz is it really surprising that 1985 was loaded with a ridiculous number of cheap transforming robot toys? Nah. And it’s a great thing, too, because it left us with all sorts of terrible transforming robot toys to chase down decades later.

Lock Converts to Robot!

According to the packaging, Lock-Man was released in 1985 from Four Star, and as we see at theoldrobots.com this is only one of four different transforming robot lock designs. And damn, don’t look at that theoldrobots.com page because then you’ll see Chain Lock and want one as much as I do. Look elsewhere for a few months until I score a Chain Lock on eBay, okay?

Working Lock

Yes, the Lock-Man transforming robot is a working combination lock. What’s kinda cool is that there are two different combinations for the lock: One unlocks the lock while the second unlocks the toy’s transformation to robot mode. The packaging (see above) shows numbers on the lock, but the reality that you have to count the notches as you twist the dial. Both unlocking and transforming the toy are pretty quick and easy, but I have to count? How is counting fun? I wanna play with a robot and not count!

Robot Mode

Standing 3.75-inches tall (to the top of the robot’s head), Lock-Man is a bulky brick of a toy with limited articulation. The hinged knees and elbows work fine, but the wrist hinges exist solely for transformation and don’t add a lot to playability. The flip-out feet were the toughest part of the transformation process — I scarred the plastic and snapped a piece trying to flip those feet out — and this is as brick-like as most other cheap transforming robot toys of 1985. At least the die-cast metal body gives the robot some serious weight; I bet you could hurt someone with this if you wanted to.

Fun, Bulky, and Cheap

If there’s a toy that’s gonna make you think cheap transforming robot, then it’s gotta be Lock-Man. From the ugly design to the cheap plastic, everything about this toy feels cheap and reminds me of the mid-eighties when transforming robot toys were everywhere. It’s fairly average quality for the time, and there’s something innocently terrible about the look of the robot that makes me completely happy to add it to the shelf of robot toys. I know it’s not for everyone, but if you like the look — and can find the robot for $10 or so — it would make a fun addition to your own shelf of cheap transforming robot toys.