Review – Robo Force Maxx Steele

“MAXX is the toughest of the tough and the leader of the Robo Force. With the motto “Any mission, any time, any place,” his primary assets are his brute strength and his almost total indestructability. His personal arsenal of attack weaponry includes a pair of laser hand weapons stored in his chest and a back-mounted, swiveling double-barreled attack gun.”
— from the back of the box

Back in January I took a close look at the Robo Force toy, Hun-Dred (review here), a silly robot from 1984 that I accidentally encountered while searching the web for a completely different toy. I decided after completing the Hun-Dred review that I’d try to find a few more Robo Force toys, but it wasn’t until we hit the Vintage Action Figures store in Dallas last week (mentioned here) that I actually encountered more Robo Force toys.

I passed on several Robo Force toys — including a RoboCruiser (check it out at the Official Robo Force Page) — because of the lack of packaging, but there was a boxed Maxx Steele at a decent price so he had to come home with me.

Welcome home, Maxx! Let’s get you out of that cardboard prison.

Packaging

Since Maxx Steele comes at us from 1984, he comes from a time when toy companies put some energy into their packaging. The box front features gorgeous painted artwork depicting Maxx, Enemy, and Coptor (though he’s concealed by a price tag on my box). Every image on this box is painted, including the lineup of toys shown on the box back.

You know what would be awesome? An art book packed with nothing but the paintings from toy lines of the eighties. Page after page of large, colorful painted artwork taken directly from G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe, Transformers . . . and as many obscure toy lines as can be uncovered. Yeah, I’d buy a book like that within seconds of encountering it.

Maxx Steele, The Leader

Maxx follows the same basic design as Hun-Dred (review here): roughly six-inches tall with a suction cup base and accordion-like arms, Maxx Steele has limited articulation but a ton of play possibilities. The toy’s durable, well-constructed, and can hang from windows or other smooth surfaces with his suction cup.

Blue Paint

Maxx isn’t exactly an example of a spectacular paint job; the toy’s color comes primarily from the cast plastic and stickers, with the only splash of paint the blue on each arm. I can’t begin to guess why Ideal would have even spent the money for that little bit of paint, since Maxx’s design and fun value wouldn’t have been affected at all if he didn’t have the blue spots of paint.

Accessories

Maxx comes with three simple weapons that can be attached to either one of his hands or to his back. These peg and post attachments are functional and simple, but the weapons themselves are a little dull in their design. Fortunately, Maxx can free up his hands by mounting the double barreled laser cannon on his back and storing the other two weapons in a compartment in his chest; just pull and the chest swings down. Quick and easy, and the first place to look if you find a loose Maxx Steele toy and can’t find his weapons.

And there aren’t just weapons. Maxx comes with a simple instruction sheet (for those kids who were too stupid to figure out how to push the button on Maxx’s back) and a mini-comic. Damn, yet again a toy from the eighties shows us what we’re missing today. Where did the mini-comics go? When did toy companies stop packing these in with action figures and vehicles? I know we can get “comic packs” these days (the Marvel Universe Secret Wars pack that I reviewed back in August is an example of today’s common comic pack), but that’s not quite the same as the old mini-comics we used to get.

Maybe I’m just old, but it feels to me like we got more fun extras in our toys back in the eighties than we do today.

Closing Thoughts

Basically the exact same toy as Hun-Dred (review here) with a cosmetic differences, Maxx Steele stands out from the rest of the Robo Force toys because he’s the leader and the star of the series.

Once you’ve got one Robo Force robot toy you’ve basically got them all — there are differences, yes, but the suction cup base and accordion-like arms are the same on each toy — but that doesn’t make Maxx any less fun than Hun-Dred.

Maxx Steele isn’t a great toy, but he’s a fun addition to any toy collection of a robot lover or a child of the eighties.

Philip Reed will keep his eyes open for more Robo Force toys. These little robots are goofy as hell, but they’re so unlike any other robot toy that it’s impossible to not love them once you play with one.